File:Embassy_of_Megasthenes.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Megasthenes
Sign in to saveMegasthenes ( ; , died 290 BCE) was an ancient Greek historian, indologist, diplomat, ethnographer and explorer in the Hellenistic period. He described India in his book Indica, which is now lost, but has been partially reconstructed from literary fragments found in later authors that quoted his work. Megasthenes was the first person from the Western world to leave a written description of India.
In the Vinony graph
Vinony's link graph records 425 inbound references to Megasthenes, and connects out to Chandragupta Maurya, Poros and Alexander the Great.
It is catalogued under topics including 3rd-century BC deaths, 3rd-century BC geographers and 3rd-century BC Greek historians.
Vinony links it to 43 Wikipedia language editions.
Person · Open Library
- Works
- 10
Top works
- Indica
- Megasthenes' Indica
- Ancient India as described by Megasthenês and Arrian
- Megasthenis indica
- Indica
via Open Library + Wikidata
Key facts
- Person.name
- Megasthenes
- Person.native_name
- Μεγασθένης
- Person.occupation
- Historian and diplomat
- Person.notable_works
- Indica
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
Show 3 more facts
- date of birth
- 0350-01-01
- date of death
- 0290-01-01
- birth name
- Μεγασθένης
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
8 sectionsContents
- Biography
- As ambassador
- Assessment
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
- Further reading
- External links
Megasthenes ( ; , died 290 BCE) was an ancient Greek historian, indologist, diplomat, ethnographer and explorer in the Hellenistic period. He described India in his book Indica, which is now lost, but has been partially reconstructed from literary fragments found in later authors that quoted his work. Megasthenes was the first person from the Western world to leave a written description of India.
== Biography ==
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Megasthenes” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.