Alexander the Great, Norman F. Cantor
Alexander the Great, Norman F. Cantor
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Alexander the Great
Journey to the End of the Earth

Author: Norman F. Cantor

Narrator: Bronson Pinchot

Unabridged: 4 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/08/2008

Synopsis

In this succinct portrait of Alexander the Great, distinguished scholar and historian Norman Cantor draws on the major writings of Alexander's contemporaries as well as the most recent psychological and cultural studies to illuminate this most legendary of mena great figure in the ancient world whose puzzling personality greatly fueled his military accomplishments. Cantor describes Alexander's ambiguous relationship with his father, Philip II of Macedon; his oedipal involvement with his mother, the Albanian princess Olympias; and his bisexuality. He traces Alexander's attempts to bridge the East and West, using Achilles, hero of the Trojan War, as his model. Finally, Cantor explores Alexander's view of himself in relation to the pagan gods of Greece and Egypt. More than a biography, Cantor's Alexander the Great is a psychological rendering of a man of his time.

About Norman F. Cantor

Norman F. Cantor was Emeritus Professor of history, sociology, and comparative literature at New York University. His many books include In the Wake of the Plague, Inventing the Middle Ages, and The Civilization of the Middle Ages, the most widely read narrative of the Middle Ages in the English language. He died in 2004.

Reviews

Goodreads review by William

Several reviews have criticized this book for adding nothing new to the field of Alexander scholasticism. To them, I would counter with this: I wanted a brief overview of who Alexander was and what he did. This book was exactly that, plus an excellent summation at the end of Alexander's influence on......more

Goodreads review by Halik

Alexander the impulsive, Alexander the ambitious, Alexander the ruthless, Alexander the vicious, Alexander the megalomaniac, the warlord, the daring, the bisexual, the drunkard. And some call him the Great. But was Alexander truly great or merely bloodthirsty? The whole point fades to nothingness whe......more

Goodreads review by Irene

A good overview of Alexander life and its cultural and political setting. It was brief and to the point, there was little new information but it was great for building a frame of reference.......more

Goodreads review by Hyrum

This was a short telling of the life and conquests of Alexander the Great, followed by a discussion of his legacy and historiography. In the last chapter when the author is discussing other biographies, he doesn’t seem to consider his book a biography. The book does not shy away from the faults of t......more

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