Although Walter of Châtillon's Alexandreis is undisputedly one of the most important Latin epics of the Middle Ages, it has led a regrettable shadowy existence in Latin philology, despite some outstanding individual contributions. With a prose translation close to the text and a detailed commentary, this work attempts to interpret the Alexandreis in its entirety and to make it accessible to a wider audience in addition to specialised scholars and students of Latin philology. In particular, the aim is to show that an understanding of the Alexandreis as a whole, in addition to its extraordinary complexity, is inextricably linked to an insight into the epic's multiple mirror-image framework structure. Based on Walter's central demand, implemented at the end of the fifth book, to find an Alexander-like leader for the fight against the Muslim enemies, questions that have been controversial in research up to now, such as the Christian author's moral evaluation of Alexander the Great or the significance of Aristotle's speech for the work as a whole, can be satisfactorily clarified.

Martin Lehmann, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany.