Alexander the Great : The Making of a Myth

Fascinating exhibition at the British Library looking at the stories surrounding Alexander the Great and how they developed.

The show began by looking at the birth and education of Alexander, both real and mythical, then moved onto his conquests. It then went on to the myths surrounding his further travels and then his death.

Being the British Library the show was heavy on books and documents but I would like to have seen more objects both about him and seeing him in his time. As my companion on the day said he’d have preferred a British Museum take on the subject.

That said I was interested that’s the stories basically came down to four ‘books’ in different version including Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander” and the “Romance of Alexander”. The show has various versions of these each being used to show a different aspect of the story. They varied in date but my favourites were the illuminated manuscripts.

There was lavish use made of texts from the areas Alexander conquered so there were some beautifully illustrated texts from Persia and India. I love that style of art and it was interesting to see it beside Western texts of similar dates.

I confess I didn’t know a lot about Alexander before the show and will now be more alert to his stories particularly in medieval and Renaissance  art.

Closes 19 February 2023


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