Did Alexander learn the persian language?

[aleksandros]

I knew he didn't but in 'virtues of war' he did.

[karen]

I think he did learn Persian, based on the admittedly thin evidence -- and I'm going by recall here, so anyone correct me if I'm wrong -- that interpreters aren't mentioned in the sources until he gets to India.

Certainly he had conversations with Sisygambis, so either he spoke Persian or she spoke Greek, and the latter seems less likely when she grew up a princess and then a queen in the middle of a vast and mighty empire which considered itself far superior to the squabbling rabble of city-states to its west...

Warmly,
Karen

[Beatriki]

I think he learned the few things that were necessary for his diplomatic affairs. Sisygambis probably knew Greek or they had an interpreter in their chats. Remember that Greek was like English nowadays...

Kisses, Beatriki

[Callisto]

He made use of interpreters. From the top of my head i can remember at the time Darius, fled abandoning his relatives to Alexander, someone had informed the prisoners that Darius was killed. Curtius at least (cant recall right now if other sources verify the same) mentions Alexander senting Mithrenes, an interpreter skilled in Persian to reassure them, Darius was still alive. There is also a case related with Bucephalas. Bucephalas was supposedly being stolen by Mardians and Alexander sent an interpreter to warn them if they didnt return the horse, they would all die.

[marcus]

He made use of interpreters. From the top of my head i can remember at the time Darius, fled abandoning his relatives to Alexander, someone had informed the prisoners that Darius was killed. Curtius at least (cant recall right now if other sources verify the same) mentions Alexander senting Mithrenes, an interpreter skilled in Persian to reassure them, Darius was still alive. There is also a case related with Bucephalas. Bucephalas was supposedly being stolen by Mardians and Alexander sent an interpreter to warn them if they didn't return the horse, they would all die.

I also seem to recall, but might be wrong, that when Bagisthenes arrived in Alexander's camp to give details of Darius' being taken prisoner by Bessus and Nabarzanes, specific mention of interpreters is made.

Whether he had his conversation with Sisygambis with or without the aid of interpreters is impossible to say - except that I doubt the sources would mention the interpreters anyway - more than anything else it would spoil the flow of the story. Of course, one must also question whether the meeting ever took place ...

I suspect that the relative lack of mention of interpreters is once again down to the fact that, as in so much history, the role of the "little people" is ignored. Why do they need to mention interpreters all the time? It's that old "absence of evidence does not mean evidence of absence" (that phrase gets used a lot in Alexander studies, unfortunately).

There's certainly more evidence that he needed interpreters than there is that he didn't.

ATB

[smittysmitty]

A boyhood friend of Alexander's, Laomedon, spoke fluent Persian. Given the frequency of interaction between the Macedonians and Persians historically, I think it would be fair to say there were numerous people with some command of both languages.

Although having said that, the sources make very little mention of the above proposition.

cheers!

[ScottOden]

If I recall correctly, at the Sogdian Rock Alexander's interpreter was Cophen, one of the sons of Artabazus; all of old Artabazus' children were supposedly bi-lingual (for all we know, it was Barsine who served as translator between Alexander and Sisygambis).

I wonder, though, if they spoke Persian or Aramaic, since the latter was the lingua franca of the empire?

Scott

[Callisto]

Alexander's interactions with Persians begin as back as the first years of his life. At the time being, there were found in Philip's court exiled, high-ranking officers of the Persian king such as Artabazus, Memnon of Rhodes and the Egyptian Menapis. A little later we are also given by literary sources the conversation of Alexander with the Persian envoys but obviously the 7 y.o. Alexander couldnt have spoken Persian but instead Persians could communicate in greek. Anyway, we may assume a few of these "little men" who accompanied Alexander's army, travelers, artisans and the like, could speak Persian. But its safe to say an army going into an unfamiliar and hostile territory requires the presence of native guides who will ensure army's successful passage and will be able to communicate with the native tribes. One such good example is Pharnuches the Lycian, used to communicate with barbarian tribes (Arrian 4.3.7)