Lecture 'From Alexander to Ashoka: Encounters Between Ancient India and the Hellenistic World. A Story Told Through Textual Records and Material Traces'
- For whom
- Alumni , Employees , Private individuals , Students
- When
- 27-05-2026 from 19:30 to 22:00
- Where
- Leslokaal 0.4, Blandijnberg 2, 9000 Ghent
- Language
- English
- Organizer
- Department of Literary Studies - Faculty of Arts and Philosophy
- Contact
- eleonora.lauro@ugent.be
- Website
- https://www.grieks.ugent.be/events/daniela-de-simone-from-alexander-to-ashoka/
In her lecture, Daniela De Simone explores the complex interactions between Ancient India and the Hellenistic world from the late fourth to the third century BCE.
Anchored in the historical arc from Alexander the Great’s incursions into northwestern India to the reign of Ashoka, third emperor of the Mauryan dynasty and first Buddhist sovereign, the talk examines how these two civilisational spheres came into contact and what material traces they left behind, and the forms of interaction that continued to shape the region in subsequent centuries.
Drawing on a range of sources, including Greek diplomatic accounts, Ashokan inscriptions, coins, monumental architecture, and sculptural forms, the lecture considers how visual and textual media were mobilised to express authority, religious ideals, and shifting geopolitical relationships.
Rather than framing this encounter as a unidirectional influence, the lecture brings into focus zones of interaction, where cultural forms were exchanged and recontextualised.