Naked philosophers: the Brahmans in the Alexander historians and the Alexander Romance

Abstract

The encounter of Alexander the Great with the Indian Brahmans or Oxydorkai/Oxydracae forms an important episode of the Alexander Romance as well as featuring in all the extant Alexander historians. The purpose of this paper is to consider how far the various accounts reflect genuine knowledge of India in the sources in which they are based, and to what extent the episode in the Alexander Romance diverges or adds to them and to what purpose. A future paper will consider the development of the episode in later works, Geneva Papyrus inv. 271 andPalladius De gentibus Indiae et Bragmanibus, as well as theCollatio Alexandri et Dindimi.

Apollonius in India: The Vita Apollonii and the Indo-Graphic Tradition

“…It is interesting to observe the discrepancy in the Alexander tradition between Nearchus and Onesicritus regarding the habits of elephants, specifically whether they are good swimmers. The former (correctly) claims they are, the latter says they are not: Stoneman (2019) Eshleman (2017) 185-6 notes that while the symposion is clearly Hellenic in character, references to whole lions and tiger loins remind the reader of its exotic Indian setting. Moreover, some of the banquet's "un-Greek" features (food, wine and entertainment) can be contrasted with the subsequent more philosophical banquet hosted by the Sophoi .…”

Philosophy in the Narrative Mode

“…To provide just one example, in a tradition attributed to Wahb ibn Munabbih, Dhū l-Qarnayn comes across a morally exemplary community. 10 He poses a series of questions to them-the episode is reminiscent of Alexander's encounter with the Indian Brahmins, an episode known from antiquity (STONEMAN 1995). The community does not have any kings or any rich people because they are all modest in their worldly ambitions.…”

Ancient GreekPhilosophiain India as a Way of Life

“…Even if Onescritus's and (later) Clearchus's anthropologies of Indian philosophers serve as offshore debates about Cynicism, the fact that Greeks were able to call certain actual Indian people philosophoi meaningfully reveals the lexical shift I am addressing here. On Onescritus's Cynicism see Moles 1995, 144-46;Stoneman 1995;Powers 1998;Desmond 2008, 30;Bosman 2007.…”