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The Reality of Women in the Universe of the Ancient Novel
Edited by María Paz López Martínez, Carlos Sánchez-Moreno Ellart and Ana Belén Zaera García
[IVITRA Research in Linguistics and Literature 40] 2023
► pp. 230–243

Chapter 15
The reality of women in ancient popular literature

The case of Alexander-Romance

| National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

The paper centers around the methodological question of whether “open texts” could be viewed as representing an image of extra-textual reality at a certain point in time. Assuming a positive answer to the question, it then proceeds to investigate, as a case study, the role of three women in the Alexander Romance, namely that of Olympias, Rodogoune and Candace. Curiously enough, the representation of Olympias in the work is in stark contrast with her depiction in historiographical sources (e.g. Plutarch, Arrian, Diodorus, Justin), as well as with the representation of the other two female characters of the Romance. One way to interpret this incongruity is to attribute it to a narrative technique aiming to present Alexander as a completely independent heroic character, without human weaknesses. On the other hand, the depiction of women in the Romance can be related to the assumed author’s social standing and stereotypes, and probably reflects quite faithfully the reality of the majority of women of the period.

Keywords: Alexander Romance, fictionality, open text, female figures (Olympias, Rodogoune, Candace), narrative techniques, stereotypes
Article outline
  • The Olympias of the Romance
  • The Rodogoune of the Romance
  • The Candace of the Romance
  • Conclusions
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
Published online: 1 December 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ivitra.40.15kar
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