From Alexander to Jesus

261 Pages·2010·2.42 MB·English

by  Jesus Christ

In honor of beloved Virgil—
“O degli altri poeti onore e lume…”
—Dante, Inferno
The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution
to this book provided by the Classical Literature Endowment Fund
of the University of California Press Foundation, which is
supported by a major gift from Joan Palevsky.
HELLENISTIC CULTURE AND SOCIETY
General Editors: Anthony W. Bulloch, Erich s. Gruen, A. A. Long, and Andrew F. stewart
I.Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age, by Peter Green
II.Hellenism in the East: The Interaction of Greek and Non-Greek Civilizations from
Syria to Central Asia after Alexander, edited by Amélie Kuhrt and susan sherwin-
White
III.The Question of “Eclecticism”: Studies in Later Greek Philosophy, edited by J. M.
dillon and A. A. Long
IV.Antigonos the One-Eyed and the Creation of the Hellenistic State, by Richard A.
Billows
V.A History of Macedonia , by R. Malcolm Errington, translated by Catherine
Errington
VI.Attic Letter-Cutters of 229 to 86B.c., by stephen V. tracy
VII.The Vanished Library:A Wonder of the Ancient World, by Luciano Canfora
VIII.Hellenistic Philosophy of Mind, by Julia E. Annas
IX.Hellenistic History and Culture, edited by Peter Green
X.The Best of the Argonauts: The Redefinition of the Epic Hero in Book One of
Apollonius' Argonautica, by James J. Clauss
XI.Faces of Power: Alexander's Image and Hellenistic Politics, by Andrew stewart
XII.Images and Ideologies: Self-definition in the Hellenistic World, edited by Anthony
W. Bulloch, Erich s. Gruen, A. A. Long, and Andrew stewart
XIII.From Samarkhand to Sardis: A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire, by susan
sherwin-White and Amélie Kuhrt
XIV.Regionalism and Change in the Economy of Independent Delos, 314-167 B.c., by
Gary Reger
XV.Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Imperium in the East from
148 to 62 B.c., by Robert Kallet-Marx
XVI.Moral Vision in The Histories of Polybius, by Arthur M. Eckstein
XVII.The Hellenistic Settlements in Europe, the Islands, and Asia Minor, by Getzel M.
Cohen
XVIII.Interstate Arbitrations in the Greek World, 337-90 B.c., by sheila L. Ager
XIX.Theocritus's Urban Mimes: Mobility, Gender, and Patronage, by Joan B. Burton
XX.Athenian Democracy in Transition: Attic Letter-Cutters of 340 to 290 B.c., by
stephen V. Tracy
XXI.Pseudo-Hecataeus, “On the Jews”: Legitimizing the Jewish Diaspora, by Bezalel
Bar-Kochva
XXII.Asylia: Territorial Inviolability in the Hellenistic World, by Kent J. Rigsby
XXIII.The Cynics: The Cynic Movement in Antiquity and Its Legacy, edited by R. Bracht
Branham and Marie-odile Goulet-Cazé
XXIV.
XXIV.The Politics of Plunder: Aitolians and Their Koinon in the Early Hellenistic Era,
279-217 B. c., by Joseph B. scholten
XXV.The Argonautika, by Apollonios Rhodios, translated, with introduction, commentary,
and glossary, by Peter Green
XXVI.Hellenistic Constructs: Essays in Culture, History, and Historiography, edited by
Paul Cartledge, Peter Garnsey, and Erich s. Gruen
XXVII.Josephus's Interpretation of the Bible, by Louis H. Feldman
XXVIII.Poetic Garlands: Hellenistic Epigrams in Context, by Kathryn J. Gutzwiller
XXIX.Religion in Hellenistic Athens, by Jon D. Mikalson
XXX.Heritage and Hellenism: The Reinvention of Jewish Tradition, by Erich s. Gruen
XXXI.The Beginnings of Jewishness: Boundaries, Varieties, Uncertainties, by shaye d.
Cohen
XXXII.Thundering Zeus: The Making of Hellenistic Bactria, by Frank L. Holt
XXXIII.Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora: From Alexander to Trajan (323 B. C.E. -117
c.E.), by John M. G. Barclay
XXXIV.From Pergamon to Sperlonga: Sculpture and Context, edited by Nancy T. de
Grummond and Brunilde s. Ridgway
XXXV.Polyeideia: The Iambi of Callimachus and the Archaic Iambic Tradition, by
Benjamin Acosta-Hughes
XXXVI.Stoic Studies, by A. A. Long
XXXVII.Seeing Double: Intercultural Poetics in Ptolemaic Alexandria, by susan A. stephens
XXXVIII.Athens and Macedon: Attic Letter-Cutters of 300 to 229 B. c., by stephen V. Tracy
XXXIX.Encomium of Ptolemy Philadelphus, by Theocritus, translated with an introduction
and commentary by Richard Hunter
XL.The Making of Fornication: Eros, Ethics, and Political Reform in Greek Philosophy
and Early Christianity, by Kathy L. Gaca
XLI.Cultural Politics in Polybius's Histories, by Craige B. Champion
XLII.Cleomedes' Lectures on Astronomy: A Translation of The Heavens, with an
introduction and commentary by Alan C. Bowen and Robert B. Todd
XLIII.Historical Fictions and Hellenistic Jewish Identity: Third Maccabees in Its Cultural
Context, by sara Raup Johnson
XLIV.Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions, by Frank L. Holt
XLV.The Horse and Jockey from Artemision: A Bronze Equestrian Monument of the
Hellenistic Period, by seán Hemingway
XLVI.The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa, by Getzel
M. Cohen
XLVII.Into the Land of Bones: Alexander the Great in Afghanistan, by Frank L. Holt
XLVIII.Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate War, and the Rise of Rome, by Arthur M.
Eckstein
XLIX.Hellenistic Egypt: Monarchy, Society, Economy, Culture, by Jean Bingen. Edited
and introduced by Roger s. Bagnall
L.Jewish Perspectives on Hellenistic Rulers, edited by Tessa Rajak, sarah Pearce,
James Aitken, and Jennifer Dines
LI.
LI.
The Image of the Jews in Greek Literature: The Hellenistic Period, by Bezalel Bar-
Kochva
LII.From Alexander to Jesus, by Ory Amitay
From Alexander
to Jesus

Ory Amitay
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley Los Angeles London
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University of California Press
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London, England © 2010 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-
in-Publication Data
Amitay, Ory.
From Alexander to Jesus / Ory Amitay.
p. cm.—(Hellenistic culture and society ; 52)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-520-26636-0 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Alexander, the Great, 356-323 B.C. 2. Generals—Greece—
Biography. 3. Greece—Kings and rulers—Biography. 4. Greece—
History—Macedonian Expansion, 359-323 B.c. 5. Alexander, the Great,
356-323 B.C.—Legends. 6. Alexander, the Great,
356-323 B.C.—Influence. 7. Jesus Christ. 8. Christianity. 9. Church history.
I. Title.
DF234.2.A48 2010
938'.07092—dc22 2009049416
Manufactured in the United states of America
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on Cascades Enviro 100, a 100% post consumer waste, recycled, de-inked fiber. FsC
recycled certified and processed chlorine free. It is acid free, Ecologo certified, and manufactured by
BioGas energy.
To Effie, who followed me to the West of West and back home again
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Son of Man, Son of God
2. In the Footsteps of Herakles
3. The Passage to India
4. Symbiosis
5. Amazon Queen
6. Post Mortem
7. Alexander and the End of Days
8. Alexander and Jesus
Conclusion
Appendix A. Alexander and David
Appendix B. Sacrifices and Related Matters in the Alexander Histories
Appendix C. Alexander Alcoholicus
Notes
References
Index