Alexander histories and Iranian reflections : : remnants of propaganda and resistance / / Parivash Jamzadeh.

• Author: Jamzadeh, Parivash.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, 2012.
• Year of Publication: 2012
• Language: English
• Series: Studies in Persian Cultural History 3.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (viii, 193 pages)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

Alexander the Great’s military campaign to conquer the Achaemenid empire included a propaganda campaign to convince the Iranians his kingship was compatible with their religious and cultural norms. This campaign proved so successful that the overt display of Alexander’s Iranian and Zoroastrian preferences alienated some of his Greek and Macedonian allies. Parivash Jamzadeh shows how this original propaganda material displayed multiple layers of Iranian influences. Additionally she demonstrates that the studied sources do not always offer an accurate account of the contemporary Iranian customs, and occasionally included historical inaccuracies. One of the most interesting finds in this study is the confusion of historical sources that arose between the opponents Darius III and Alexander. Jamzadeh argues that the Iranian propaganda regarding Alexander the Great has contributed to this confusion.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- I The Plight of the Achaemenid Royal Women -- II Darius’ Letters to Alexander and the Responses: Ideology of Conquest in Retrospect -- III The Campaign for Persia in Iranian and Zoroastrian Lights -- IV Darius’ Last Days and Counter-Propagandas -- V Bessus’ Fate -- VI Alexander’s Persian Attire -- VII Reflections from Darius I’s Rhetoric -- VIII Zoroastrian Echoes in Alexander Histories -- IX Iranian Echoes in Mutiny’s Accounts -- X Alexander’s Final Days and Iranian Reflections -- XI Alexander’s Entombment and Iranian Echoes -- XII The Plight of Alexander’s Family -- XIII Reverence for the Fravashī of Alexander -- XIV Testimony of Zoroastrian Sources -- XV Concluding Remarks -- Bibliography -- Index.