Megasthenes biography definition
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Megasthenes biography definition
Megasthenes
Ancient Greek ethnographer and explorer
Megasthenes | |
|---|---|
| Died | c. 290 BCE |
| Occupation(s) | Historian and diplomat |
| Notable work | Indica |
Megasthenes (mi-GAS-thi-neez; Ancient Greek: Μεγασθένης, died c.
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.[1]
Biography
While Megasthenes's account of India has survived in the later works, little is known about him as a person.
He spent time at the court of Sibyrtius, who was a satrap of Arachosia under Antigonus I and then Seleucus I.[2] Megasthenes was then an ambassador for Seleucid king Seleucus I Nicator and to the court of the Mauryan Emperor Cha