The translator’s and later revisers’ additions to the old Armenian version of the Alexander Romance
Keywords:
Alexander Romance, old Armenian translation, recensions, revision, interpretation, additionsAbstract
The ancient Greek Alexander Romance by Pseudo-Callisthenes, translated into Armenian probably in the 80s of the 5th century, has come down to us in two complete and two abridged recensions, as well as in a medieval oral version, written down later and preserved in manuscripts. The two complete recensions (only one of which has been published) are slightly modified versions of the original translation. Comparing them with the two earliest Greek recensions, α and β, gave me and Gohar Muradyan the opportunity to prepare a new critical edition of the Old Armenian version of the Alexander Romance which reflects the state of the text closest to the original translation. Although the translation is quite accurate, often even literal, both the translator and the two revisers used some elements of interpretation or moderately altered the text. The article presents some of the most interesting examples of such changes. The translator sometimes armenianized the text (for example, replacing Zeus with Aramazd). The author of the first complete edition A, the 13th–14th century poet Khach‘atur Kech‘aṛets‘i, embellished the text with short poems (often on biblical themes) and added four ethopoeias at the end, as well as a comparison of Alexander with Christ. He inserted some brief explanations in order to make the text more understandable to medieval Armenian readers. The anonymous author of the second complete edition, D, which apparently already existed in the 10th century, like Khach‘atur, slightly modified the text at some places, inserted in it a passage from the Armenian translation of Pseudo-Methodius’ Apocalypse describing the twenty-two barbarian peoples and an apocryphal story about how Alexander transferred the remains of the prophet Jeremiah to Alexandria. He also composed a letter of the dying Alexander to his mother and added a few minor details.Downloads
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