Bending the Bow

Abstract

This chapter discusses Greek literature in India. The first Greek play ever performed on Indian soil may have been written by Alexander the Great. This was Agen, a satyr play performed on the banks of the river Hydaspes before Alexander's departure from India. The chapter also considers whether Greek drama became well enough known in India to have an impact on the development of indigenous Indian performance; and the influence of the Homeric poems on Indian poetry. It also argues that Greek ideas became associated with non-Brahmanical trends, especially Buddhism, and an attempt to impose the Brahmanical view of the world must surely turn its back on things Greek.