Christopher Marlowe’s "Tamerlane the Great" Summary

This book is a groundbreaking Elizabethan tragedy written between 1587 and 1588. Christopher Marlowe’s text elevated English drama to a new level with its use of powerful blank verse for the commercial stage. Drawing on the works of European historians, the work details the rise of a cruel Scythian shepherd to the heights of global power.

Part One

The weak Persian king Mycetas sends the general Teridamas with a thousand-strong cavalry force to destroy the Scythian shepherd Tamerlane. The Scythian is plundering trade caravans and terrorizing the surrounding area. The king’s brother, Khosrow, organizes a rebellion. He plans to overthrow the weak-willed Mycetas.

In the Scythian camp, Tamerlane holds the captured Egyptian princess Zenocrate. The shepherd promises to make the captive the rightful ruler of the East. Theridamus, who has arrived, is amazed by Tamerlane’s majesty. The Persian commander defects to the enemy along with his detachment. Khosrow joins forces with Tamerlane against Mycetes. The allies easily defeat the royal forces.

Khosrow dons the Persian crown. Tamerlane betrays the newly crowned king. He sends Khosrow a daring challenge, attacks his forces, and mortally wounds the ruler. A Scythian takes the dying Khosrow’s crown. The former shepherd rules all of Persia.

War with the Turkish Sultan

The powerful Turkish Sultan Bayezid sends an ambassador to Tamerlane demanding his retreat. The Scythian refuses. The armies meet at the borders of Bithynia. Tamerlane’s warriors win a resounding victory. Bayezid and his wife Zabina are captured.

Tamerlane imprisons the Sultan in a cramped iron cage. The victor uses the captive Bayezid as a footstool, leaning on him as he ascends the throne. Zabina is forced to serve Zenocrate’s maid. Scythian feeds Bayezid scraps from his table.

The troops approach Damascus. The city is ruled by the Egyptian Sultan, Zenocrate’s father. Tamerlane pitches tents. His military rules are strict: white tents signify mercy, red ones mean death to all men, and black ones mean the complete annihilation of the inhabitants. On the third day, the tents turn black.

The ruler of Damascus sends four innocent girls to meet him, begging for mercy. The cruel conqueror orders his mounted guards to kill them with spears. The girls’ corpses are hung on the city walls. The population of Damascus is mercilessly slaughtered.

Bayezid and Zabina, unable to bear the hunger and humiliation, smash their heads against the iron bars of the cage. The Egyptian Sultan and the Arabian King, Zenocrate’s former fiancé, engage in battle with the Scythians. The Arabian King is mortally wounded and dies before the eyes of his beloved.

Tamerlane captures the Sultan of Egypt. For Zenocrate’s sake, the conqueror spares his life. The Scythian returns his possessions to the Sultan, demanding only his submission. Tamerlane then solemnly crowns Zenocrate with the Persian crown.

Part two

The Anatolian king, Orkan, prepares for a full-scale war with the Scythians. He concludes a peace treaty with the Magyar king, Sigismund. The opponents seal the document with oaths by Christ and Muhammad. Orkan sends part of his Turkish troops to fight Tamerlane. Upon learning of this, Sigismund succumbs to the persuasion of his generals and treacherously breaks his oath.

Christians attack Orkan’s camp. During the battle, Sigismund is seriously wounded. His army suffers complete defeat. Orkan orders the body of the oath-breaking king to be fed to vultures.

Bayezid’s son, Kalapin, languishes in Egyptian captivity. He bribes his jailer, Almeda, with the generous promise of a royal crown. The fugitives find a hidden Turkish galley and secretly depart for their homeland. Kalapin gathers a gigantic army to avenge his father.

The death of the queen and the education of the heirs

Zenocrate falls gravely ill in Larissa. Doctors admit the ineffectiveness of their remedies. The queen bids farewell to her husband and three sons — Khaliph, Amir, and Celebinus. Soft music plays as Zenocrate dies.

Tamerlane, distraught with grief, burns the city to the ground. He forbids any future rebuilding of the settlement. Scythian orders his wife’s body embalmed. A golden coffin containing Zenocrate will accompany his army everywhere.

Tamerlane instructs his sons in the art of war. He explains the principles of fortification construction, the placement of ditches, and the correct angles of bastions. To demonstrate his personal fearlessness, the father inflicts a deep wound on himself with a knife. The Caliph openly admits his reluctance to shed blood. The eldest son’s cowardice angers Tamerlane.

The commanders Theridamus and Tehelles storm Bassorah in Syria. The fortress’s commander is killed by a bullet. His widow, Olympia, kills her own son to save him from enemy torture.

Theridamus is captivated by Olympia’s beauty. The captive refuses to marry him and resorts to trickery. She offers the general an ointment that supposedly makes human skin impervious to blades. Olympia applies the ointment to her neck and asks him to stab her with a dagger to test it. Theridamus stabs and kills the woman.

The execution of the son and the fall of Babylon

Tamerlane’s army clashes with Kalapin’s united Turkish forces. A fierce battle ensues. The Caliph hides out in his tent, playing cards with his servant Perdicus. Returning with another victory, Tamerlane learns of his son’s behavior.

The victor drags the Caliph out of the tent. He kills the cowardly youth with a dagger in front of the captive Turkish kings. The conqueror orders the Turkish concubines to be handed over to his soldiers.

Tamerlane harnesses the kings of Anatolia and Jerusalem to his chariot. The conqueror drives them, mercilessly lashing the captives with a whip. Soon the retinue arrives at the mighty walls of Babylon.

The ruler of Babylon flatly refuses to surrender. Siege weapons breach the city. Troops capture it. Tamerlane orders the ruler chained and hanged from a high wall. The soldiers shoot the condemned man with rifles.

On the Scythian’s orders, the warriors drown all the inhabitants of Babylon in the local lake, Limnasfaltis. They then collect the stacks of the Quran and set them on fire. Tamerlane openly challenges Muhammad, calling on him to avenge the burning of the holy books.

Illness and the end of the journey

Suddenly, Tamerlane feels acute physical pain. A doctor examines the patient. The physician confirms a complete depletion of vital fluids and the drying up of arteries. Death is approaching the conqueror.

Kalapin’s Turkish troops are gathering fresh forces. They attempt to attack the weakened Persian camp. The ailing Tamerlane demands a chariot and rides out to meet the enemy. The mere sight of the formidable commander instantly puts the Turks to flight.

Returning to camp, Tamerlane asks for a map. He traces his incredible route from Scythia to Egypt, a distance of 8,000 kilometers. The conqueror laments that the vast gold mines of the South Pole and the lands of the East remain unconquered.

Death is inevitable. Tamerlane orders his son Amir to mount the royal chariot. The father hands over the Persian crown and his whip to his heir. The warriors place Zenocrate’s coffin next to the throne. The former Scythian shepherd bids farewell to his loyal commanders and dies. Amir mourns his father, accepting the burden of world power.