Alejandría y el conocimiento libresco en las ktíseis de Plutarco y Pseudo Calístenes

Abstract

This article analyzes how two accounts of the indirect tradition of Alexander’s life (Plu., Alex. ; Ps. Callisth., β) re-elaborate the episode of the foundation ( ktisis ) of Alexandria, the Egyptian capital. An attempt will be made to show how both versions modify the sources transmission and inscribe in their own account the importance of the written word and bookish knowledge (which characterizes the city in the Hellenistic and Roman period) in the literal and literary circumstances of the foundation. Thus, the imperial world is predicted at the origin of the big city and promotes an image of continuity with the legacy of Alexander in the imaginary of the literary Alexandrias.