The Convergence of Gods: the Buddha in Hellenistic Attire

Alexander’s conquests reached from Macedonia, through Persia, up to a border on the North-west corner of India, similar to that of modern-day India. This all included Central Asia, or what is now a large group of countries including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and parts of Afghanistan. These conquests were part of a larger goal to continue eastward and, notably, Alexander reached Bactria, planting plenty more cities named Alexandria as he went. While it’s humorous to see all these cities named after him, that action truly played a significant role in promoting Greek culture and administration in newly conquered territories. The integration of Greek culture and philosophies in Central Asia led to a fusion of Hellenistic and local traditions and values, even after his death, with the continued synthesis of Greek and indigenous elements across art, architecture, and religion. Alexander’s conquests in Central Asia expanded the bounds of the Greek-known world at the time, and very notably, affected a young, developing Buddhism.

The Indo-Greek Kingdom was established around 180 BC and led to an exchange of Greek rulers and officials in India. Through this emerged a showcasing of belief systems, ranging from Hellenism to early Buddhism, which at the time was contained to India. Indo-Greek King Menander, who is known as Milinda in Buddhist texts, was featured in a fictional dialogue with the monk Nagasena. This dialogue attempted to explain Buddhist teachings and provides much insight into the beliefs of the region. In the Milindapanha, Nagasena argues that the Buddha was prophetic and omniscient, and that Buddhist disciples controlled natural elements. Essentially the only thing that stops Nagasena from calling the Buddha a god, is the slightly doubtful claim that the Buddha ceased to exist upon his death.

Menander responds asking that if the Buddha did not exist, then why did he accept offerings? Arguing that if he did exist, then giving him offerings would be equivalent to worshiping him as a god. Nagasena argues these gifts generate good karma because the act is valued by the universe, not because the Buddha is rewarding his followers, but the character of “Menander would never have asked this question in the story if it had not occurred to contemporary Buddhists.”[1]

At the converging North-east corner of Afghanistan and Pakistan was Gandhara. Gandharan Buddhism is credited with being the face of Greco-Buddhism. Especially used when referring to art, the title of “Gandharan” essentially means where a movement of deification of the Buddha occurred.

Many of my sources credit a significant development of intricacy and intellectualism in early Buddhist development to Hellenism. This is usually argued in two ways, firstly that the scientific, analytical approach that Alexander took to conquest influenced Buddhism, which at the time was closer to a philosophy, to develop into a complex storyline with intellectual reasoning incorporated into it. The second credits the deification of the Buddha to the Greeks.

The first is a highly controversial argument, and from what I have seen, does not have much evidence to support it, especially because Buddhism was very contained at this point. As well as this, many sources utilize Greek values of debate, logic, and reasoning, to define intellectualism. This Greek intellectualism, as a product of the Classical era, held philosophers such as Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle in high regard. It emphasized understanding through the aforementioned methods, however, Buddhist philosophy focused on a goal of enlightenment to transcend suffering and achieve Nirvana. A study from the TCNJ Journal of Student Scholarship notes that at this point, the notion of the Buddha was not seen as divine, supernatural, or omniscient, but rather as someone who had had an innumerable number of rebirths, and had thus died, reached Nirvana, and ceased to exist. This seems to be more of a success story than that of a divine entity to be worshiped. The source also notes that some groups such as the Mahasanghika sect believed that the Buddha was a transcendental being, but were labeled as heretics for exactly that.

However, there is much archaeological proof, such as first century coins with an anthropomorphized Buddha as the face of the coin, monasteries, reliquaries containing his remains, and donors claiming that they hoped the Buddha, their favorite god, would give them benefits. In particular, the coins served a unique purpose being that they were a portable item. Through small, everyday items, significant transmission of stylistic practices could occur. As images depicting Greek mythology, or in a Greek style were shared through Greek coins, the art style was introduced to this central Asian region. This all shows a development in the glorification of the life of the Buddha, and now in present day Buddhism we can see how, as a religion, many view the Buddha as a godly figure. This is evident through the continued use of monasteries and temples where Buddhists can worship, meditate, and pray.

Another part of this is the Greeks that were in India. No Indo-Greek texts have survived, but mediterranean and Buddhist texts as well as more archaeological evidence continues to show the gradual change to an emerging ritualistic side of Buddhism. One example of this is a late 2nd or early 1st century BC vase found in the Swat region of India that once contained Buddhist relics. The vase was donated by a Greek official, Theodorus, however the inscription refers to him as that, a Greek official, thus proving it was endorsed by the leaders of the Indo-Greek kingdom. Other sources also show that the Indo-Greek methods of viewing the Buddha closely match Hellenistic views of divinity and the ritualistic items prepared match those of hellenistic nature. For example, the Buddhacarita, “a play written in the first or second century CE, depicts the historical Buddha as a supernatural being who soars through the heavens and shines like the sun in order to attract followers. Other works claim the Buddha has such godlike traits as a limitless mind and innumerable virtues.”[2] Works like these, and also anthropomorphized sculpture and ritual sites resembling those of Greece furthered that idea.

Bringing with him the western tradition and form of Hellenistic style, Alexander conquered the area including Gandhara in 327 BC. This is primarily evident in unearthed art pieces such as stone dishes, statues, and visages.

Stone dishes are some of the earliest forms of this type of art, dating back to the second century BC. These rounded stone trays were used to mix cosmetics before applying to the skin. A majority of the surviving examples display scenes thought to be derived from Greek mythology and are carved in relief into the stone which is commonly schist. The first image referenced is of Daphne turned back to face Apollo. This composition makes it evident that Gandharan artists, such as this one, were familiar with Hellenistic stories and motifs. However, it is worth noting that these images are not definitely showing these stories, that is simply hypothesized due to their familiar visuals. Stone dishes like this one could even be using imagery from Greek mythology to tell their own Buddhist stories. There is simply no definite way to tell whether these stone dishes are depicting Greek myths, however when analyzed compared to Greek and general Hellenistic art depicting this scene of Daphne looking back at Apollo, there is little that disagrees. While an overlap of visual content may not necessarily correlate with religious syncretism, the significance of items such as these stone dishes, which were used in both a domestic function as well as religious, supports a connection between the two. There are less common examples that include images of the Buddha, portraying his death. The artists of this period also reinterpreted the Greek myths and combined them with Buddhist iconography, furthering a cultural conquest of the region.

Gandharan sculptures and the lasting visages also make this history of Greek conquest clear. Before Greek influence, the life of the Buddha was the focus of Buddhist philosophy. Pre-hellenistic Buddhist art ranged from stupas, filled with his ashes after death, to his footsteps, to an empty throne. In other words, it was aniconic, and avoided direct representation of the Buddha. The stupas were dome shaped structures containing Buddhist relics. They were often heavily adorned with carvings and reliefs. There are also certain cave sites with carved and painted interiors. An example of these caves is the Ajanta caves in India. These caves are full of well preserved frescoes and were used for monastic retreats. There are 30 caves here, but caves #1, 2, 16, and 17 are most famous for their significance. The sculpture Head of the Buddha can be compared with Marble Head of Athena. The Head of the Buddha was carved 500-600 years after that of Athena, though. Both sculptures utilize very stylized, symmetrical facial features and intricately woven hair. The lines and curves of the Gandharan sculpture seem bolder (due to them being less weathered), allowing the artist to emphasize the Buddha’s attributes. Also, the

Buddhist visage was made of stucco (a cement-like mixture of lime, sand, and water) while the Greek was carved out of marble. Stucco is lighter and better for use in creating relief sculptures, such as those of Gandhara, and was carved then painted. Interestingly, stucco is more vulnerable to weathering than marble. Moisture, temperature fluctuation, and other environmental factors affect the binding used which may damage the sculptures. Marble is much more resistant to these environmental factors, so some greater effort must have gone into preserving the Head of the Buddha. Between the matching shadows cast by brow bones on both faces, which highlight the urna, or signifier of his ability to see into the divine world placed in the middle of the Buddha’s forehead, and the matching waves of hair, which lead toward a topknot, reminding us of the Buddha’s origins, there is obvious semblance between both visages. Overall, a heightened realism and softening of facial features becomes present in Gandharan art. Other interactions with Greek art include using scenes from Greek mythology of mythological figures being included in newly made Gandharan art, architectural changes (i.e. columns), and new sculptural techniques. This interaction, especially in terms of religious syncretism, was incredibly uni-directional. The establishment of the Seleucid empire furthered this introduction of Greek ideas, styles and practices in central Asia.

Along with this, Gandharan sculptures were among the first to portray the Buddha in anthropomorphized form. Even the way folds in his monk’s robes resemble classical togas furthers this. In a temple context, statues like this one would have been painted and gilded, some have remaining flecks of gold around the mouth and chin. The anthropomorphic sculpture allowed for followers of the religion to have a sense of relatability to their god. This created a new focal point for prayer and symbolism. A human visage assigned to a god leads the follower to believe their relationship with their god is reciprocal, and being that the Buddha was already spoken about as someone who had lived, anthropomorphizing him would just allow for followers of Buddhism to have ‘conversations’ through prayer. The depicted actions or moods could also work to increase relatability or lesson-learning from Buddhist stories. These sculptures depicted the Buddha at both a young and old age, as well as in death.

Returning to that fictional conversation between Menander, or Milinda, and Nagasena, the presence of these holy relics for the Buddha ended up being a primary “focus for Gandharan lay and monastic veneration…Overtime, [these] attracted donations that often took the form of sculptural imagery.”[3] This newfound deification and anthropomorphization of the Buddha pronounces a period of religious change due to Alexander’s conquest. While Buddhism was majorly spread across Central Asia, smaller sects developed at changing rates, such as the Mahayana sect which dating back to 150 BC, was outcasted for how they worshiped and believing enlightenment could be achieved within one lifetime. Now, over half of the global population of Buddhists are Mahayana Buddhists.[4] As further evidence emerges, we can continually learn more about the multicultural and multireligious implications of Hellenistic conquest.

Notes

[1] Scott Blair. Answers For Milinda: Hellenistic Influence On The Development Of Gandharan Buddhism. TCNJ Journal of Student Scholarship. April, 2009.

[2] Scott Blair. Answers For Milinda: Hellenistic Influence On The Development Of Gandharan Buddhism.

[3] The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History-Essays-Gandhara." April, 2012.

[4] Wikipedia contributors. "Mahayana." Oct 6, 2023.

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