Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great: Translations of the Ethiopic Histories of Alexander

This work serves as a translation of the Ethiopic version of the Alexander Romance, a collection of legends and historical accounts surrounding the life of Alexander the Great. Originally emerging from the Greek text attributed to Pseudo-Callisthenes, the narrative evolved through centuries of translation and cultural adaptation. The Ethiopic manuscripts, which provide the basis for this specific volume, represent a significant integration of Hellenistic mythology into the literary traditions of the Horn of Africa, blending historical fact with the fantastical feats characteristic of medieval legend.

E.A. Wallis Budge, a prominent Egyptologist and keeper at the British Museum, undertook the scholarly work of translating and editing these Ethiopic texts in the late 19th century. His goal was to provide a comprehensive record of how Alexander was perceived within the Coptic and Ethiopic traditions, emphasizing the linguistic evolution of the mythos. The resulting publication is valued by historians for its preservation of a version of the Alexander legend that had been largely inaccessible to Western scholars prior to his rigorous academic inquiry.