NAWOTKA, K., WOJCIECHOWSKA, A. (eds.): Legacy of the East and Legacy of Alexander, 2024
It is obvious that Alexander had to use the interpreters’ services during his expedition in such ... more It is obvious that Alexander had to use the interpreters’ services during his expedition in such remote areas as Bactria, Sogdiana, or India. And indeed ancient sources in many places speak about it directly. However, little attention has been devoted to this problem by researchers so far. The only work, which is an attempt at a comprehensive development of the topic, is an early article by Henry S. Gehman, The Use of Interpreters by the Ten Thousand and by Alexander (1914). However, the author of this five-and-a half-page article devoted only two pages to the conquests of Alexander the Great. While in the first part of this article he described the use of interpreters by Cyrus in the campaign of the Ten Thousand. In addition, a deeper analysis of the phenomenon is lacking. Moreover, this article is of necessity rather out of date, because from 1914 a lot of relevant research in the field of linguistics and anthropology appeared.
Therefore, this paper is an attempt to analyse available sources concerning the use of interpreters by Alexander in Bactria, Sogdiana, and India with taking into account contemporary research on the languages and dialects used by the population of these regions. Apart from the linguistic dimension, this paper also considers the anthropological aspect of the translation, namely, the problem of the translation of the culture and of cultural untranslatability, which arises from linguistic limitations and cultural differences.
This article is an analysis of the two preserved passages of the work Ἰνδικά by Bardesanes, a Syr... more This article is an analysis of the two preserved passages of the work Ἰνδικά by Bardesanes, a Syrian historian, philosopher, poet, and astrologer who lived in the years 154-222 AD. These passages are the account from the meeting of the members of an Indian embassy with the emperor Elegabalus and can be significant for our understanding of contacts between ancient Syria and India, as well as of ancient Indian religious practices. Therefore the purpose of this article is to reconsider a realistic interpretation of these passages by finding a possible identification of the described phenomena (namely, the ordeal of water, the ordeal of door, and a cave in the first passage handed over by Porphyry and Stobaeus, and two groups of Indian ascetics, the Βραχμᾶνες and the Σαμαναῖοι, in the second passage handed over by Porphyry) based on archaeological and textual evidence.
Academic Journal of Modern Philology vol. 14, 2021
As Amartya Sen has rightly noticed (Sen 2005: 182), one of Buddhist main principles was attaching... more As Amartya Sen has rightly noticed (Sen 2005: 182), one of Buddhist main principles was attaching special importance to discussions and dialogue. This argumentative tradition, which is traceable in Buddhism from the very beginning, for example in the texts of the Sutta Piṭaka or the so-called "Buddhist councils," especially the third of them in the time of Aśoka, who in his edicts advocated respect for dissenting views, finds its exemplification in the Milindapañha-a Pāli Buddhist text, missing original version of which was probably written in Gāndhārī. The analysis of this text, taking into account a variety of possible influences in a multicultural environment of the region of its origin-Gandhāra and during its transmission, as well as the applied artistic means, will give us the opportunity to reconsider the crucial questions regarding the religious and ethnic identity of the Indo-Greek ruler and the attractiveness of Buddhism to the Greeks living in the region of Gandhāra in the second and first century BC. These questions, in a broader perspective, relate to the matters of the dialogue on its many levels: socio-political, intercultural, interpersonal and intrapersonal. Analysis of these levels enables us to notice the essence of the dialogue and its importance.
The meetings with Indian gymnosophists (γυμνοσοφισταί) or 'naked philosophers' are one of the mos... more The meetings with Indian gymnosophists (γυμνοσοφισταί) or 'naked philosophers' are one of the most popular motifs from the stories of Alexander the Great. The accounts of these meetings are preserved in Strabo, Plutarch, Arrian, Diogenes Laertius, and some later sources. These descriptions have been repeatedly analysed by previous scholars. However, most researchers focused on the problems of cultural differences and overlooked the issue of intercultural relations. They have often considered these descriptions in a dichotomous perspective. Therefore, the aim of this study is reconsideration of these accounts in the broader context of relations between the Greeks and the Indians with particular emphasis on the following issues: the communication problems, which occurred between the Greeks and the Indians, the relation between the asceticism in India and the Cynic philosophy in Greece, the relation between the Buddhist and early Indian sceptical thought and Greek philosophy. Because the study of these problems can lead to a biased search for influences, way of looking at them proposed in this paper is the so-called middle ground.
This paper presents a reflection on the history of research on the Milindapañha with a comparison... more This paper presents a reflection on the history of research on the Milindapañha with a comparison of the text to the medieval dialogue Kitab al Khazari. The comparison of these two independent texts is intended to demonstrate the problem of searching for a cross-cultural influence on the basis of similarity of phenomena.
Greco-Buddhist Relations in the Hellenistic Far East. Sources and Contexts, 2023
20% discount with this flyer!
This book provides the first comprehensive and interdisciplinary v... more 20% discount with this flyer!
This book provides the first comprehensive and interdisciplinary view of the relationship between the Greeks and Buddhist communities in ancient Bactria and Northwest India, from the conquests of Alexander the Great to the fall of the Indo-Greek kingdom circa 10 AD. The individual chapters of this book provide an analysis of the main textual, archaeological, and numismatic sources for Greco-Buddhist relations and draw upon philological and historical methods as well as postcolonial and sociological approaches. A valuable resource for those working on the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms and cultural exchange in the Hellenistic world.
NAWOTKA, K., WOJCIECHOWSKA, A. (eds.): Legacy of the East and Legacy of Alexander, 2024
It is obvious that Alexander had to use the interpreters’ services during his expedition in such ... more It is obvious that Alexander had to use the interpreters’ services during his expedition in such remote areas as Bactria, Sogdiana, or India. And indeed ancient sources in many places speak about it directly. However, little attention has been devoted to this problem by researchers so far. The only work, which is an attempt at a comprehensive development of the topic, is an early article by Henry S. Gehman, The Use of Interpreters by the Ten Thousand and by Alexander (1914). However, the author of this five-and-a half-page article devoted only two pages to the conquests of Alexander the Great. While in the first part of this article he described the use of interpreters by Cyrus in the campaign of the Ten Thousand. In addition, a deeper analysis of the phenomenon is lacking. Moreover, this article is of necessity rather out of date, because from 1914 a lot of relevant research in the field of linguistics and anthropology appeared.
Therefore, this paper is an attempt to analyse available sources concerning the use of interpreters by Alexander in Bactria, Sogdiana, and India with taking into account contemporary research on the languages and dialects used by the population of these regions. Apart from the linguistic dimension, this paper also considers the anthropological aspect of the translation, namely, the problem of the translation of the culture and of cultural untranslatability, which arises from linguistic limitations and cultural differences.
This article is an analysis of the two preserved passages of the work Ἰνδικά by Bardesanes, a Syr... more This article is an analysis of the two preserved passages of the work Ἰνδικά by Bardesanes, a Syrian historian, philosopher, poet, and astrologer who lived in the years 154-222 AD. These passages are the account from the meeting of the members of an Indian embassy with the emperor Elegabalus and can be significant for our understanding of contacts between ancient Syria and India, as well as of ancient Indian religious practices. Therefore the purpose of this article is to reconsider a realistic interpretation of these passages by finding a possible identification of the described phenomena (namely, the ordeal of water, the ordeal of door, and a cave in the first passage handed over by Porphyry and Stobaeus, and two groups of Indian ascetics, the Βραχμᾶνες and the Σαμαναῖοι, in the second passage handed over by Porphyry) based on archaeological and textual evidence.
Academic Journal of Modern Philology vol. 14, 2021
As Amartya Sen has rightly noticed (Sen 2005: 182), one of Buddhist main principles was attaching... more As Amartya Sen has rightly noticed (Sen 2005: 182), one of Buddhist main principles was attaching special importance to discussions and dialogue. This argumentative tradition, which is traceable in Buddhism from the very beginning, for example in the texts of the Sutta Piṭaka or the so-called "Buddhist councils," especially the third of them in the time of Aśoka, who in his edicts advocated respect for dissenting views, finds its exemplification in the Milindapañha-a Pāli Buddhist text, missing original version of which was probably written in Gāndhārī. The analysis of this text, taking into account a variety of possible influences in a multicultural environment of the region of its origin-Gandhāra and during its transmission, as well as the applied artistic means, will give us the opportunity to reconsider the crucial questions regarding the religious and ethnic identity of the Indo-Greek ruler and the attractiveness of Buddhism to the Greeks living in the region of Gandhāra in the second and first century BC. These questions, in a broader perspective, relate to the matters of the dialogue on its many levels: socio-political, intercultural, interpersonal and intrapersonal. Analysis of these levels enables us to notice the essence of the dialogue and its importance.
The meetings with Indian gymnosophists (γυμνοσοφισταί) or 'naked philosophers' are one of the mos... more The meetings with Indian gymnosophists (γυμνοσοφισταί) or 'naked philosophers' are one of the most popular motifs from the stories of Alexander the Great. The accounts of these meetings are preserved in Strabo, Plutarch, Arrian, Diogenes Laertius, and some later sources. These descriptions have been repeatedly analysed by previous scholars. However, most researchers focused on the problems of cultural differences and overlooked the issue of intercultural relations. They have often considered these descriptions in a dichotomous perspective. Therefore, the aim of this study is reconsideration of these accounts in the broader context of relations between the Greeks and the Indians with particular emphasis on the following issues: the communication problems, which occurred between the Greeks and the Indians, the relation between the asceticism in India and the Cynic philosophy in Greece, the relation between the Buddhist and early Indian sceptical thought and Greek philosophy. Because the study of these problems can lead to a biased search for influences, way of looking at them proposed in this paper is the so-called middle ground.
This paper presents a reflection on the history of research on the Milindapañha with a comparison... more This paper presents a reflection on the history of research on the Milindapañha with a comparison of the text to the medieval dialogue Kitab al Khazari. The comparison of these two independent texts is intended to demonstrate the problem of searching for a cross-cultural influence on the basis of similarity of phenomena.
Greco-Buddhist Relations in the Hellenistic Far East. Sources and Contexts, 2023
20% discount with this flyer!
This book provides the first comprehensive and interdisciplinary v... more 20% discount with this flyer!
This book provides the first comprehensive and interdisciplinary view of the relationship between the Greeks and Buddhist communities in ancient Bactria and Northwest India, from the conquests of Alexander the Great to the fall of the Indo-Greek kingdom circa 10 AD. The individual chapters of this book provide an analysis of the main textual, archaeological, and numismatic sources for Greco-Buddhist relations and draw upon philological and historical methods as well as postcolonial and sociological approaches. A valuable resource for those working on the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms and cultural exchange in the Hellenistic world.
Uploads
Papers by Olga Kubica
Therefore, this paper is an attempt to analyse available sources concerning the use of interpreters by Alexander in Bactria, Sogdiana, and India with taking into account contemporary research on the languages and dialects used by the population of these regions. Apart from the linguistic dimension, this paper also considers the anthropological aspect of the translation, namely, the problem of the translation of the culture and of cultural untranslatability, which arises from linguistic limitations and cultural differences.
Books by Olga Kubica
This book provides the first comprehensive and interdisciplinary view of the relationship between the Greeks and Buddhist communities in ancient Bactria and Northwest India, from the conquests of Alexander the Great
to the fall of the Indo-Greek kingdom circa 10 AD. The individual chapters of this book provide an analysis of the main textual, archaeological, and numismatic sources for Greco-Buddhist relations and draw upon philological and historical methods as well as postcolonial and sociological approaches. A valuable resource for those working on the
Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms and cultural exchange in the Hellenistic world.
Therefore, this paper is an attempt to analyse available sources concerning the use of interpreters by Alexander in Bactria, Sogdiana, and India with taking into account contemporary research on the languages and dialects used by the population of these regions. Apart from the linguistic dimension, this paper also considers the anthropological aspect of the translation, namely, the problem of the translation of the culture and of cultural untranslatability, which arises from linguistic limitations and cultural differences.
This book provides the first comprehensive and interdisciplinary view of the relationship between the Greeks and Buddhist communities in ancient Bactria and Northwest India, from the conquests of Alexander the Great
to the fall of the Indo-Greek kingdom circa 10 AD. The individual chapters of this book provide an analysis of the main textual, archaeological, and numismatic sources for Greco-Buddhist relations and draw upon philological and historical methods as well as postcolonial and sociological approaches. A valuable resource for those working on the
Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms and cultural exchange in the Hellenistic world.