Michael Baizerman Author

  As I have promised, I returned to the publication of my second project, " The Enchanting Encounter with the East:  Breaking the Ice between the Latin West and the Far." I stopped updating the chapters of my second book in summer 2019 when the Academia site introduced a new outlet, Discussions. This feature exposes articles to a large audience of about 1K people, who might be interested. An additional benefit is a chance to get a response.  I had to take a bite since I felt that I could enhance the readership. I redirected most of my previous articles to Discussions: 14 chapters of my book. Each time I was determined to re-edit the text and offer the readers the most up-to-date version. Then, I uploaded the four chapters of my third project. Now, I returned to complete the circle.  The current paper is titled "Alexander versus Gog-Magog". Here is the abstract:   The paper explores the blending of the Biblical myth of Gog and Magog with the Hellenistic legend of...

My new chapter points out to the Greek twist of the legend which relates to Alexander putting up a wall or a gate at a mountain pass. I cite Arrian, one of our primary historical sources on Alexander, who mentions no such thing. I show that this yarn had already come into existence at the time of  Josephus Flavius, who makes it part of his narrative. I quote Pliny the Elder who testifies of a great confusion among his contemporaries concerning the location of the Caspian Gates. I'd like to give you a taste of my writing: "It was a long and breaking down chase. The bleeding but still alive Persian emperor took to flight into his eastern satrapies in the last-ditch effort to muster a new army against his victorious contender. The royal escape route passed through the Caspian Gates, a winding ground-level breach in a mountain wall. The pursuer, who would spare neither horses nor riders, was breathing down his neck in a desperate attempt to intercept the fleeting antagonist. ...