Romm Chapter 3 Wonders of East Questions

1. Various Indographers like Scylax of Caryanda and Ctesias of Cnidus seemed to have stories that were over-embellished with their findings. Why would these men - Scylax: an Ionian who could have been seen as a reliable observer of topographic data; and Ctesias: physician and collector of tales from different merchants - intend to merely entertain the Greeks rather than inform or educate them?

● Based on these men's backgrounds, how they got their intel, and what seems to be discussed, does one's recollection have more significance or accuracy over the other?

2. After looking over the section of Strabo and his work, Romm shows that this man slowly loses his veracity. What do we think might have caused him to change is method of discussing India?

3. The last section speaks to Alexander and his conquest into India. He was like a "collecting arm" for Aristotle - as Romm put it. The term "Aristotelianism" comes up alot for Alexander's voyage, what does that mean? Does Alexander seem to keep that in mind as he collects and records his findings? Scylax of Caryanda ● Ionian sea captain servicing Darius I of Persia (5th century BC) ● Logs shown within Herodotus’ Histories ● Skiapodes (shadow-foot) and Otoliknoi (winnowing-fan-ears) ● The Monophthalmoi (one-eyed), the Enotikiotoi (ear-sleepers) and the Ektrapeloi (freaks)

Scylax’s expedition, 5th Century BC Ctesias of Cnidus ● Collected reports and stories from merchants and travelers ● The Indika: ethnographic and zoologic account of India ● Indika lost, but contents explained in Photius’s Bibliotheka

The deadly Manticore: Anthropophagon (Man-eater) Strabo of Amaseia

Map of the world according to Strabo Alexander the Great