|
| PANEL
DISCUSSION, FEBRUARY 6 |
- Sources
One of the challenges historians of Alexander's life face deals
with the reliability of the extant historical sources. The sources
for the life of Alexander are virtually all non-contemporaneous,
are based upon other (now lost) works, and were composed in
different periods of history in a variety of socio-political
contexts. Consider the following questions:
- who
are the primary sources for the life of Alexander?
- what
do the two sets of stemmata (one
and two)
tell us about how these works were composed?
- when
and what did these authors write?
- who
was their audience?
- what
were their historical methods?
- what
were their goals?
- what
precautions should readers of these sources take as they
attempt to understand Alexander's life, achievements and
impact?
|
|
