Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Onesicritus, Naked Wise Men, and the Cynics' Alexander

1998; University of Iowa Press; Volume: 9; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/syl.1998.0001

2160-5157

Nathan Powers,

Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies

70Syllecta Classica 9 (1998) Onesicritus, Naked Wise Men, and the Cynics' Alexander Nathan Powers Alexander the Great crossed the Indus River early in the spring of 326 B.c. and set up camp at Taxila (Takshiçila), then the largest city between the Indus and the Hydaspes.1 The army tarried at Taxila for nearly three months while Alexander put out diplomatic feelers to the neighboring princes Abisares and Porus, gathered advance information for the coming expedition into the heart of India, and secured local supply lines.2 The prince of Taxila, Ambhi, had prudently made full submission to Alexander and put his territory at the Macedonians ' disposal. Consequently, after three years of nearly constant fighting in the mountains of Bactria and Sogdiana and the Kabul valley, the Macedonians found themselves on friendly territory at last, and they eagerly absorbed the attractions of a strange and exhilarating culture. Not least among these were the stern, detached, and naked ascetics whom the Greeks dubbed "gymnosophists." With a relish that shines through even in Strabo's retelling, Aristobulus relates the remarkable scene of fakirs lining up outside Alexander's dining-tent to demonstrate their wisdom: one lay down on the ground and endured inclement weather; another stood on one leg holding a large log all day long.3 In one way or 1 Arr. 5.3.6. 2 Some modern accounts pare Alexander's stay in Taxila down to a few weeks; but the Indus crossing occurred in February or early March, and Alexander did not arrive at the Hydaspes before the river was in full spate (probably late June). Our sources are careful to mention this because it was a tactical blunder (Arr. 5.9.4, PIu. Alex. 60; cf. Str. 15.1.18). 3 Str. 15.1.61. N. Powers: Onesicritus, Naked Wise Men71 another, the gymnosophists left an indelible impression on the memories of the Westerners who rested at Taxila those three months, and in particular those of the Greek philosophers on Alexander's staff; their interest is attested by a considerable body of tales and anecdotes preserved for us in a variety of sources from later antiquity. As we shall see, most of this literature is ultimately Cynic in origin; and the purpose of this paper is to examine the tales of the gymnosophists with a view to recovering (and reconstructing) the early Cynic view of the gymnosophists , which in turn will lead us to the early Cynic portrait of Alexander. To this end, I shall first briefly examine the historical events underlying the tales: who were the gymnosophists? Which of Alexander's men had dealings with them? As it turns out, Onesicritus, a philosopher on Alexander's staff, was the single most important source on the gymnosophists throughout antiquity. What did he write, and what was his motivation? Finally, I shall survey the body of gymnosophist tales, focusing on the earliest versions. For my purposes, this body can be neatly divided under two headings. First, there are interviews with the gymnosophists, which derive directly from Onescritus' account; second, riddle contests in which Alexander himself asks the gymnosophists a series of ten paradoxical questions. Some excellent studies have already been done on individual accounts and motifs in the gymnosophist tales;4 but work of this sort tends all too quickly to become mired in Quellenforschung. I want to take a synoptic view instead; if the reader will forgive, for a brief space, my methodological vagaries, he or she will see a remarkably consistent view of Alexander the Great's character and the meaning of his career emerge from a variety of diverse sources which span a thousand years—a view that was Cynic in origin and which exercised enormous influence over ancient and modern historians alike. In Alexander's day, the Punjab was divided into a multitude of princedoms engaged in constant border warfare.5 Among these quarrelsome statelets, Taxila enjoyed a unique position. Situated on the easiest direct road from the highlands of Central Asia to central India, it was a crossroads and center of commerce, boasting an unusual variety of foreign cults.6 But, more importantly for our purposes, Taxila was also a university town of...