2020-02-01_Fortean_Times

The Greek

Experience of India

From Alexander to

the Indo-Greeks

Richard Stoneman

PrincetonUniversity Press 2019

Hb,525pp,£30, illus,bib,index.

ISBN: 780691154039

It’sreceived wisdomthatthe

Ancient Greeks startedWestern

civilisation withabig bang, the

echoes of which canbe found

almosteverywhere to this day.

Maths andgeometry, philosophy,

democraticgovernment, the

eponymous Games, distinctive

architecture,sculpture and pot­

tery, greatliterature,archetypal

myths...and,apparently, taking

showers.

It turnsout that although

Western civilisationlegitimately

claims the Greeks as itsforefath­

ers, itowesaconsid­

erable debt to India

too. ProfRichard

Stonemanis not the

first toexamine this

debt,butinTheGreek

ExperienceofIndiahe

analyses it insatisfy­

ingdetail.

Stonemanpaints

abroad portrait of

theworld knownto

the Greeks.Fromthe

Black Seatothe At­

lantic coastofFrance,coastlines

were dotted withGreek colonies,

eachspreading theirlanguage,

philosophies,learning and tech­

nologywiththe benefitof their

tradesand trading routes. Even

the armiesand battles spread

ideas of organisation, discipline

and tactics,manyofwhichstill

have martialinfluence today.

This Hellenisticidyll lasted

from the eighthcenturyBCuntil

the Romansbegan their domi­

nance in thesecond centuryBC.

Before he died in 323 BC at the

age of32,Alexander established,

in Alexandria, Egypt,thecapital

of an empirethatstretched from

the Mediterraneantothe cityof

Taxila in whatisnownorthern

Pakistan.

After Alexander,the Greeks’

idea of Indiareferredto mostof

the northern halfofthe subconti­

nent.Tothe Greeks its inhabit­

antswerecalled Indoi (peopleof

the IndusRiver); to the Indians,

the GreekswereYavanas (de­

rivedfrom“Ionians”).

Even beforeAlexander’sdeath

there had beenacontinual flow

of culturalinfluences–particu­

larly of philosophy–along the

traderoutes to India.

TheculturalhistorianMax

Dashunotesthatwhat the

Christians later called “pagan”

wasotherwiserepresentedby

theword “Hellene”which“for

manymeantsome­

thingcloser to Indian

Vedanta thanclassical

belief in an Olympic

pantheon”.

This two­way

exchangeis brought

outwell in Stone­

man’sbook:youcan

findcolumnsinthe

Greek stylesfaraway

in north­eastern

India, and thereis

someevidence that

Greekmythologyabsorbedele­

ments from contemporaryVedic

sources:thereare similarevents

in both theMahabharataand the

Iliad,and the GreekZeus (Dios)

resembles theVedic Dyaus.

While Stonemanpresents

much tangibleevidencefor

thesemutualinfluences (mainly

artefacts and artworks),itseems

almost ironicthatthose that

hadagreaterand longerlasting

effectwerethe more intangible

evidences:such subjectsas math­

ematics (including an accurate

valueofpi), naturalhistory,

early sciencesand particularly

philosophy.

Just as,inthose days,“Egypt”

became thebyword for“esoter­

ic magic”, so “India” came to

represent,for the Greeks,avery

different worldthatwas both

exotic andutopian.

As Stoneman notes: “The

GreekswereentrancedbyIndian

philosophyfromearly times. Py­

thagoras,whohas the creditfor

inventingthe word [philosophy],

wassaidtohavelongedto go to

Indiabut nevermade it.”

India inspired thatpure“love

of wisdom”,and also thevirtues

ofataraxia(a state of inner

tranquillity asexpoundedby

Epicurus),andeudaimonia(the

“naturalgoodness”extolledby

Aristotle). It isnotsurprising

that inspirationalfigures suchas

Jesus andApollonius(amongoth­

ers) acquiredlegends that they

toowenttoIndia earlyintheir

careers.

One of the most significant

events occurredwhen Alexander

arrivedinTaxila and observed

acompanyof“nakedphiloso–

phers”–undoubtedly yogis–

practising their austerities.When

Alexander’sofficers, through

interpreters, inquiredabout

their beliefs andlifestyle, they

were surprisedbythe answers.

Herewereintelligentmen, who

extolledthevirtue ofowning

nothing andwho were content

with whateverwas giventothem,

telling the most powerfulwarrior­

kingofthe knownworldthat his

wanderings and splendourwere

ultimatelyuseless.Wealldie and

cantakenothingwith us,they

said.Thiswas not pessimismbut

ademonstrationofataraxiaand

detachment.

It is an indicationthatAlexan­

derwasmovedbythis encounter

with the nakedgymnosophoithat

he welcomedone of theminto

his company.The sadhuKalanos

travelled with Alexander on his

returntothe West.

Aftersevenmonths, the aged

Kalanos fell ill inPersepolis.As

this illnesswasincurableand

“havingreceived the utmost

limit of happinessfromnature

andFortune”, he asked Alexan­

dertobuild himapyre. Before

the assembledarmy, Kalanos

“cheerfullymounted thepyre

and perished.Somethought him

mad, somevaingloriousabouthis

abilityto bear pain,while others

marvelled at hisfortitudeand

contemptfordeath” (Diodorus).

Stoneman’schapteronKalanos

and the historyofsuttee (after

the goddess Sati)isabsolutely

fascinating.

Above all, itwasthe doctrines

of the transmigration of soulsand

vegetarianism thatimpressed

the Greekworldmost; both had

preceded Alexanderamongthe

pre­Socratic philosophers,espe­

ciallythe Pythagoreans.

Stoneman depicts thisworld

brilliantly, drawing on the prim­

aryclassical sources from Strabo

to Megasthenes (who actually

travelled to India c. 300BC) with

suchadirect narrativeskill that

thecasualreader will hardlyreal­

isethisisasolidscholarly thesis.

This is anexcellent introduction

to therelevant sourcematerials

andtheir authors, anddestined

to be avaluedreference.

HHHHH

“Therehad been a

continual flow of

cultural influences

along the trade

routes to India”

FT389 59

What did India everdofor us?

BobRickardfindsthatourcivilisationgoesbacktotheAncientGreeks,yes– butthatGreeceinits

turnwasstronglyinfluencedbyIndia

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