Onesicritus

Onesicritus (Greek: Ὀνησίκριτος; c. 360 BC – c. 290 BC), a Greek historical writer and Cynic philosopher, who accompanied Alexander the Great on his campaigns in Asia. He claimed to have been the commander of Alexander's fleet but was actually only a helmsman; Arrian and Nearchus often criticize him for this. When he returned home, he wrote a history of Alexander's campaigns. He is frequently cited by later authors, who also criticize him for his inaccuracies.

Life

He was a native of Astypalaia,¹ and it was probably to this island origin that he owed the nautical skills which would prove so advantageous to him. He was a disciple of Diogenes of Sinope, the Cynic philosopher.² Diogenes Laërtius also calls him "Onesicritus of Aegina",³ and says that he came to Athens because his two adult sons, Androsthenes and Philiscus, were attracted to the philosophy of Diogenes the Cynic, for which reason Onesicritus also became an ardent disciple. If so, he must have been already advanced in years when he joined the expedition of Alexander.⁴

There is no known account of the circumstances which led him to accompany Alexander into Asia, nor in what capacity he attended on the conqueror; but during the expedition into India he was sent by the king to hold a conference with the Indian philosophers or Gymnosophists, the details of which have been transmitted to us from his own account of the interview.⁵ It was Onesicritus, whom Alexander first sent to summon to his court. When later Onesicritus returned empty-handed with the reply of Dandamis, the King went to forest to visit Dandamis. When Alexander constructed his fleet on the , he appointed Onesicritus to the important position of pilot of the king's ship, or chief pilot of the fleet (: ἀρχικυβερνήτης). Onesicritus held this position not only during the descent of the , but throughout the long and perilous voyage from the river to the . Alexander was so satisfied with his work that, on his arrival at , Onesicritus was rewarded with a crown of gold, at the same time as . Yet blames him for lack of judgment, and on one occasion expressly ascribes the safety of the fleet to the firmness of Nearchus in overruling his advice. We know nothing of his subsequent fortunes; but from an anecdote related by it seems that he attached himself to , and it was perhaps at the court of that monarch that he composed his historical work; though, on the other hand, a passage of suggests that this work was begun during the lifetime of Alexander himself.