[Buddha-l] Re: Natural lucidity for Socrates

[James Ward]

Hi Joanna,

Here is an interesting entry for "kalanos" from the Suda On Line:

http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl? 
db=REAL&search_method=QUERY&login=guest&enlogin=guest&user_list=LIST&pag 
e_num=1&searchstr=kalanos&field=any&num_per_page=100

(It looks like the address is going to be broken up in the post...)

It refers to Arrian, Plutarch, Diodorus, and Strabo as the principal  
sources for this person.

Megasthenes' _Indika_:

http://www.mssu.edu/projectsouthasia/history/primarydocs/Foreign_Views/ 
GreekRoman/Megasthenes-Indika.htm

 From Diogenes Laertius on Pyrrho (IX 61):

"Pyrrho of Elis was the son of Pleistarchus, as Diocles relates.   
According to Apollodorus in his _Chronology_, he was first a painter;  
then he studied under Stilpo's son Bryson:  thus Alexander in his  
_Successions of Philosophers_.  Afterwards he joined Anaxarchus, whom  
he accompanied on his travels everywhere so that he even forgathered  
with the Indian Gymnosophists and with the Magi.  This led him to adopt  
a most noble philosophy, to quote Ascanius of Abdera, taking the form  
of agnosticism and suspension of judgement.  He denied that anything  
was honourable or dishonourable, just or unjust.  And so, universally,  
he held that there is nothing really existent, but custom and  
convention govern human action; for no single thing is in itself any  
more this than that."

(Diogenes Laertius, translated by R. D. Hicks, Loeb Classical Library,  
vol. II, p. 475)

All the best,

James Ward


On Sep 5, 2006, at 7:03 PM, jkirk wrote:

> Hi Eric,
> Any references for any of these? Who wrote that Alex. the Gr. took a  
> sadhu with him? Who wrote about Pyrrhon and Jains?
> Thanks
> Joanna
> =====================
>
> I remember some more. A certain Megasthenes was ambassador for the  
> king of Syria. He lived in Pataliputra (Patna) for some time. This man  
> wrote a book about his discoveries. Indian logic and astrology is of  
> Greek origin. Another French scolar, Georges Dumézil wrote about the  
> common heritage of Aryans and Greeks, like the gods, the three layers  
> of society etc. Alexander took with him a yogi who lived in Athens  
> under the name of Kalanos (translation of sadhu). Pyrrhon based his  
> scepticism presumably on dicussions with Indian sadhus, perhaps Jains.
>
> Erik