5. Sanskrit Authors Adapting Greco-Roman Texts

Abstract

Lastly, Chapter 5 discuses two main conclusions. On one hand, general influences appear as plausible, particularly regarding the adaptation techniques (the ways in which each tradition turns their epic into theater). Therefore, “Greco-Roman motifs” (literary motifs from the Greco-Roman world that would have made it into India) must at least be considered – alongside “Folk motifs” and “Indo-European motifs” – when comparing these literatures. On the other hand, specific borrowings would have also been possible for the adapted elements (the themes coming to the theater from each epic), considering that there is indeed a Greco-Roman component to other Indian disciplines (astronomy, mathematics, architecture, painting, and sculpture), that India developed a written literary culture only after its contact with Greece and there is evidence of bilingualism with a Greek component in India, and that India had long-standing diplomatic and commercial exchanges with Rome, who by that time, made sure that books were readily available all over its territory. All this adds up to an ideal scenario for cultural exchanges, which although still hypothetical, are certainly worth acknowledging.