El mito de Alejandro Magno en las obras de Maquiavelo y en el debate político francés del siglo XVI

Abstract

During the early Modern period many myths from ancient and recent histories become part of the culture and of the political and institutional debate. The Myth of Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, can be a clear example. His great story, ambiguous and controversial as well, and the legends that surround him, inspire not only artists and writers, but also political thinkers who want to understand and get some useful learning, either from the bold and successful condottieri, or from the politician who conquered and organized such diverse lands and peoples. For Machiavelli, Alexander's figure is fully inserted in line with those models that have been proposed to the princes and powerful; in sixteenth century France this figure was used to defend different views of politics and of the good monarch, in the way of a flaunted rather than a sincere anti- Machiavellianism.