Alexander and the Persians
The ShÄnÄmeh or âBook of Kingsâ by Ferdowsi includes King Alexander. What does this tell us about Persian attitudes towards the man the west celebrates as a military conqueror?
What made him great? Celebrated as a military leader, Alexander took over an empire created by the Persians. Julia Hartley's essay looks at two examples of myth making about Alexander: The Persian Boy, a 1972 historical novel by the English writer Mary Renault and the ShÄnÄmeh or âBook of Kingsâ, an epic written by the medieval Persian poet Abdolghassem Ferdowsi.
Julia Hartley lectures at King's College London. She was selected in 2021 as a New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by ±«Óătv Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council which turns research into radio. You can hear her in this Free Thinking discussion Dante's Visions /programmes/m000zm9b and in another episode about Epic Iran, Lost Cities and Proust /programmes/m000xlzh
Producer: Torquil MacLeod
Last on
Broadcast
- Wed 4 May 2022 22:45±«Óătv Radio 3
Featured in...
![]()
New Generation Thinkers—Free Thinking
From prison breaks to VR dinosaurs: insights from the AHRC & ±«Óătv's scheme for academics.
Death in Trieste
A 1760s murder still informs ideas about aesthetics, a certain sort of sex, and death.
Watch: My Deaf World
Five compelling experiences of what it is like to be deaf in 21st-century Britain.
The Book that Changed Me
Five figures from the arts and science introduce books that changed their lives and work.
Download The Essay
Download all the episodes from the series and listen at your leisure.
Podcast
-
![]()
The Essay
Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
