#Calanus

[jeannereames]

Can you tell us a little more about Kalanos? Did he actually exist and if so which stories about his interactions with ATG are likely real or fake?

Kalanos/Calanus

To those for whom the name is unfamiliar, he was an Indian yogi who attached himself to Alexander train somewhere in India, probably Taxila/Gandhāra. He famously immolated himself in Susa in 323, and (supposedly) prophesied Alexander’s own death months later by saying, “We’ll meet again in Babylon.” Whether or not he really said this a good question; I’m quite dubious. But he did certainly exist, although “Kalanos” wasn’t apparently his name (Plutarch says ‘Sphines’ which is still a Greekification, Alex. 65.3-4). What we know about him is kinda iffy, largely because the sources don’t agree. He came along willingly, at Alexander’s invitation, and Alexander reputedly treated him well with gifts he may have been somewhat bemused by and had little use for. Perhaps he genuinely thought he could teach Alexander something, I don’t know. But Alexander had a fascination with philosophers that was not entirely the invention of Plutarch, although I think Plutarch exaggerated it. (I've written on that before.)

Not a lot has been written academically about Kalanos, interestingly (although see below). In his somewhat recent Soldier, Priest and God, Fred Naiden spends some time on the reported contest between Alexander and the Indian philosophers, described in Plutarch (which IS probably 95% invented). Not sure I agree with his assessments, but I mention it, as Naiden does address ATG and the Indian yogis, but he had little to say about Kalanos himself and seems to accept the prophecy uncritically or at least as something Kalanos actually said, asking (no doubt rhetorically) what he meant by it. Well, I don’t think he said it, so what he meant by it would be whatever the original author (whoever that was) meant by it.

Other ATG biographers discuss Kalanos, and there may also be an article I don’t recall, in this or that collection. A lot have come out in the last 20 years, some of which I’ve simply not read, or I glanced through them, looking for material relating to my own work and that wasn’t it.

Kalanos is used by Curtius as a sort of totally-second-rate-Indian-philosopher-but-still-so-much-wiser-than-Alexander figure that’s part of Curtius’s general framing of Alexander’s latter years. He’s presented more positively in Arrian, Plutarch, and Diodoros (who confusingly calls him Karanos, which in other, later accounts was the supposed founder of Macedon—a completely different figure).

So, I think some good work could be done on Kalanos, academically, if someone wanted to take it up—particularly perhaps, someone able to read ancient Indian texts as well, and who could contextualize Kalanos better. For instance, Naiden suggests that he immolated himself because he felt he’d committed some sacrilege. I’m dubious. Then again, I’m just not that familiar with Brahminic traditions of that period. (Although see a different take in an article mentioned below.)

Kalanos’s manner of suicide went on to have interesting ramifications later in the Hellenistic/Roman periods. First, he wasn’t the only yogi to travel west, and immolation seems to have been a crowd draw and weird morbid-but-respectful fascination with the “Wow, they didn’t even flinch!” Consider the stories of Zarmanochegas. In any case, the story of Kalanos (and specifically his death) grew legs and pops up in a fair bit of later Roman-era writing.

I think we can lose sight of the fact Indian philosophy did have an impact in the west, maybe more than is sometimes acknowledged, and perhaps predating Alexander and Kalanos.

I found two articles that are at least somewhat recent and the first of which is the sort of real cultural dig I’d like to see more of: The Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, “The Self-immolation of Kalanos and other Luminous Encounters Among Greeks and Indian Buddhists in the Hellenistic World” (Georgios T. Halkias), proposing that Kalanos may have been Buddhist, not a Hindu yogi at all. It looks quite interesting, with a solid bibliography, and is available publicly, so I will be downloading it for my own purposes. But as he’s not an Alexander scholar, so I’m not sure how the assessment of the Alexander sources will go. (This is the eternal problem when trying to combine two quite different fields of study. But I’m at least intrigued by the questions raised in the article abstract.)

The second was written by a George Bruseker with the British School at Athens, “Calanus and Dandamis: a Greek Sketch of Ancient Indian thought.” But the only journal Talanta I can find is for chemistry, so whether peer-reviewed or not, I’m skeptical about the article appearing there and not in something related to ancient history. Also, the bibliography is rather thin. For that reason, I’m not linking to it directly.

Again, I’ve not read either article, so I can’t speak further than very quick, first impressions.

[barstoolblues]

so desperately want a calanus pacificus copepod tattoo but im terrified that people will think its an iud 😭

[hardearnedwisdom]

A Marvelous World

I spend a considerable time looking at photos of plankton. These larger-than-life images are some of the most beautiful that we have captured in our research. Sometimes I forget that these organisms could all fit in a drop of water and that I can never see them with my naked eye, and that fills me with a certain sense of sorrow. I will never be able to truly see a Calanus spp. and admire them, I will never behold a crab zoea. There is a sadness to the study of plankton. Our subjects will never know or comprehend our fondness and adoration for them like the charismatic megafauna do.

[casualcarpetshark]

Taking pictures through a microscope on a rocking moving ship is hard but wanted to share a bunch of lil guys I recently found in zooplankton samples ( •◡•)

In order:

- Siphonophore with 2 copepods (Calanus sp.) stuck inside

- an ostracod & 2 radiolarians

- Calanus hyoperboreus (copepod)

- Bottom left: Calanus finmarchicus (copepod, young stage, probably CII), middle: cirriped larva (barnacle), top right: radiolarian, bottom right: pluteus larva (brittle star)

- Amphipod that I didn't have time to ID

- Termora longicornis (copepod)

[ammg-old2]

In the fall of 1819, William Edward Parry and his crew prepared to spend the winter in the Canadian Arctic. For this team of British explorers, the unforgiving cold and round-the-clock darkness were obstacles to be overcome in their search for the Northwest Passage. Looking out across the flat, treeless expanse of ice and fog, the barren landscape must have seemed wholly inhospitable. “It was a novelty to us,” he later wrote in the account of the expedition, “to see any living animal in this desolate spot.”

From Parry’s accounts, and those of other travelers, scientists built a picture of the polar night as a period of Arctic dormancy, an extended slumber in the endless twilight—when all but the hardiest of life either fled for warmer climes, or hunkered down to wait for the Sun to return. But now, researchers are discovering that the explorers had it all wrong.

A pair of new papers describing the latest discoveries reveals that the Arctic night is far from desolate: it’s alive with activity. It’s a time when microbes and animals feed, grow, and reproduce in the polar ocean, with special adaptations allowing them to thrive in the dark.

Many Arctic creatures have evolved to make use of light that is invisible to the human eye. Meanwhile, “an astonishing number” have developed bioluminescence, says Jørgen Berge, lead author of both new studies. Others live by moonlight, or by the soft red and green glow of the aurora borealis.

Berge, a marine biologist with UiT The Arctic University of Norway, is no stranger to life above the Arctic Circle. Berge has spent 13 years studying zooplankton in Svalbard, a group of mountainous, ice-covered islands far off the northern coast of Norway. Yet while cruising around a fjord in January 2012, he leaned over the side of his small boat, peered into the water, and saw something new.

“I saw a fantastic cosmos of blue-green light in the middle of the fjord,” Berge says. “That’s when I decided we needed to study the polar night.”

Berge and his colleagues have since discovered algae that grow without normal sunlight, and zooplankton that maintain their circadian cycles even without the Sun’s cues. And with these minuscule organisms forming the base of the food chain, larger organisms have adapted to prey on them.

Berge found healthy seabirds in winter with stomachs full of krill and Calanus glacialis, a fat-rich copepod that he calls the “avocado of the ocean.” How the birds located their prey in the dark remains a mystery, but he suspects that they spot the planktons’ faint bioluminescence.

Iceland scallops, meanwhile, can detect enough ambient light from the weak glow of the sun over the horizon to swim and feed on a summer-like schedule. “For me, seeing the bivalves grow through the polar night was the most surprising,” says biologist William G. Ambrose, Jr., a coauthor of the Current Biology study.

Life in the polar night is “far more active than we ever thought,” says Carin Ashjian, an oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, who was not involved with the new papers. “This is a paradigm shift.”

Now, researchers are working to determine if the burgeoning life they see is common across the Arctic, or if it’s an abundance particular to Svalbard. Then, they’ll need to figure out the whys and hows. “It appears you can’t understand the system fully by just focusing on the period of time when the Sun is up,” Ambrose says wryly.

But the rapid onset of polar warming, driven by anthropogenic climate change, means that the time for discovery may be running out. “We need to first understand the processes currently occurring. We call this the baseline,” says Kim S. Last, who worked on both of the new papers. “Without a baseline we have no way of assessing change in the biological system.”

Like the old explorers, scientists still have much to learn about what goes on when the Sun goes down.

“We have lifted the curtain on the darkness,” Berge says, “and now we’re watching the active players on stage.”

[tamilakam]

From one place in India, and from one king, namely, Pandian, or, according to others, Porus, presents and embassies were sent to Augustus Caesar. With the ambassadors came the Indian Gymnosophist, who committed himself to the flames at Athens, like Calanus, who exhibited the same spectacle in the presence of Alexander.

Strabo's (died AD 24) account at Geographia xv,i,4 

[eclecticstarlightblogger]

Το Μαντείο που Σταμάτησε την Εισβολή του Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου στην Ινδία

«Ο Μέγας Αλέξανδρος λαμβάνει την είδηση του θανάτου διά της θυσίας του Ινδού Γυμνοσοφιστή Calanus», του Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne. Εικόνα Δημόσιος τομέας Η σχεδιαζόμενη εισβολή του Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου στην Ινδία ανακόπηκε μόνο το 326 π.Χ. από τη μαντεία που έλαβε από τον Ινδό Καλανό (sadhu Kalanus Calanus). Από τον Ajith Kumar     Όποιος γνωρίζει […] Το Μαντείο που Σταμάτησε την Εισβολή του…

[thoughtfullyblogger]

Το Μαντείο που Σταμάτησε την Εισβολή του Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου στην Ινδία

«Ο Μέγας Αλέξανδρος λαμβάνει την είδηση του θανάτου διά της θυσίας του Ινδού Γυμνοσοφιστή Calanus», του Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne. Εικόνα Δημόσιος τομέας Η σχεδιαζόμενη εισβολή του Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου στην Ινδία ανακόπηκε μόνο το 326 π.Χ. από τη μαντεία που έλαβε από τον Ινδό Καλανό (sadhu Kalanus Calanus). Από τον Ajith Kumar     Όποιος γνωρίζει […] Το Μαντείο που Σταμάτησε την Εισβολή του…

[greekblogs]

Το Μαντείο που Σταμάτησε την Εισβολή του Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου στην Ινδία

«Ο Μέγας Αλέξανδρος λαμβάνει την είδηση του θανάτου διά της θυσίας του Ινδού Γυμνοσοφιστή Calanus», του Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne. Εικόνα Δημόσιος τομέας Η σχεδιαζόμενη εισβολή του Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου στην Ινδία ανακόπηκε μόνο το 326 π.Χ. από τη μαντεία που έλαβε από τον Ινδό Καλανό (sadhu Kalanus Calanus). Από τον Ajith Kumar     Όποιος γνωρίζει […] Το Μαντείο που Σταμάτησε την Εισβολή του…

[skandaladiaplokidiafthora]

Το Μαντείο που Σταμάτησε την Εισβολή του Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου στην Ινδία

«Ο Μέγας Αλέξανδρος λαμβάνει την είδηση του θανάτου διά της θυσίας του Ινδού Γυμνοσοφιστή Calanus», του Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne. Εικόνα Δημόσιος τομέας Η σχεδιαζόμενη εισβολή του Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου στην Ινδία ανακόπηκε μόνο το 326 π.Χ. από τη μαντεία που έλαβε από τον Ινδό Καλανό (sadhu Kalanus Calanus). Από τον Ajith Kumar     Όποιος γνωρίζει […] Το Μαντείο που Σταμάτησε την Εισβολή του…

[hejscandinavia]

Thursday was boat day! Probably one of the funnest days let me tell yah. The waters were SUPER choppy so we were FLYING! The boat was like a jet ski. We were tossing all over the boat having the BEST time!!! Yanik was with us again and he suggested we hold onto the ceiling railing and jump into the air when the boat goes down. You start floating for a few seconds!!! It was SO FUN! All I could think about was pirates of the Caribbean. And guess what? The captain was too! He played the pirates theme. Man I was I SINGING. It was EPIC!

To pause on the fun, we saw a cliff literally falling off the edge due to permafrost. Basically, Svalbard is built on permafrost. So the island is slowly crashing into the ocean…

We then saw more bird colonies! It was mostly Burniks Gilamont. They look like penguins on the cliffs. We even saw Puffins! But these birds are so fricken small it was hard to get a good photo. The cliff was covered in vegetation. The white rock? Nope. That’s poop. Really seeing the circle of life over here. Which yes, the captain also played that but the Elton John version. Kinda sad.

Then we started to see ice bergs in the water. Wow. These things are so COLORFUL! They are the most brilliant electric blue to a pure white. Apparently, deep blue means less oxygen. You know what I was thinking of. And yes, he played “My Heart Will Go On”! I was 100% belting my heart out.

Then came the GLACIER! It was HUGE! It spread from coast to coast with so many shades of blue. It has plenty of dirt and mud on the top cascading down into the ocean. There was a perfect line at the bottom to the ocean, slicing it. Also from the sediment, the ocean turned an orange tan! It was from the mixing of sediment with freshwater and ocean sea water. It created this crisp line.

We had reindeer soup outside next to glacier, admiring its beauty.

When then took the boat ride back, having just as much fun as before. We arrived back at Longyearbyen to look at water samples. We saw some up close views of algae and calanus!

Also, we had time for shopping So I got some last minute gifts, including a reindeer fur! I’m so happy about it! Furs are less expensive here and plenty soft.

Afterward, we met at a restaurant that was quite the hoot. It had themed roams with plenty of floral and taxidermy of polar animals. We sat in the sun room. We had another AMAZING dinner. It was a tiny duck based appetizer. Then we had bread and butter (just ALWAYS the best). And for dinner was the lovely salmon with the best cooked tomatoes. For desert, we had a Norwegian based cheese cake. It was good as usual.

After dinner, a few of us went to go SWIMMING! We did a real polar plunge. I can confidently say I have been in the Arctic Ocean 😎It was really cold but once you put warm clothes on, it’s really not bad.

Then most of us stayed up at the bar until 2 am because we had our journal due in the morning. Nothing like drinking elderflower spritz while doing homework in 24 hour daylight.

[444names]

manx names + french forenames

Addyt Adrismuel Agabiece Agnèseen Aidilenne Ailain Ainel Ainie Alaulick Altra Alyvette Aléran Amice Aminelle Andaine Aneille Anelle Anpie Anpierie Anuella Arane Arick Artrid Audent Audoleste Audonck Audorairie Aurenée Aurien Aurra Baphincian Barle Baroug Basconde Belyn Berich Berichlowe Berme Berrish Botte Brette Brielles Bruirie Brund Brundrarry Byrickilie Byrnaddyr Caillett Caingle Calanue Calarlett Calbers Calen Calenne Calien Caliley Calinrin Calle Calte Calybrion Calycretne Calycrole Calyn Camee Canièvel Cannoémer Canue Cargaël Caria Carin Carne Cascasca Cascolle Casdanney Casmic Casmurre Castin Castorgilm Cathureeno Catoine Catorn Chalsabin Chalybrine Channe Chaël Chell Chennin Chlic Chrie Chrietters Chrish Clachann Claid Clanon Clasmunoît Claure Claurégo Clucianish Coariotte Coate Comichera Condre Cooarc Cootte Cootter Corelych Corettes Corrie Coryon Cothin Cottia Cottine Cowel Cowelle Cowen Creerge Creill Crelley Cridsot Crinel Crouis Cubbonic Curickale Curphayle Céatel Céatrarce Cécianman Cécie Cédérôme Dacely Daillie Dandre Danlore Danmadeece Davier Delle Denia Dennic Dette Dianmarine Dilley Doninle Dorrie Dovicomie Dovine Eanckild Emainie Emardgh Emarna Emeenzo Emmarle Emmart Emmaurphan Faberne Fabie Fabine Fabinvuguy Fande Fanic Faragne Fardain Fareennel Farie Fayer Fiondie Frahamick Francla Frand Fraptie Fraric Frayle Frays Frélielle Gaine Ganetter Gaylan Gaylexan Gelley Gellistaig Genne Georeen Germoot Gerry Gibboonn Gibon Gibrine Gilcold Gileent Giley Gilicham Gille Gillence Gillent Ginnealey Ginvug Ginvugue Gissimon Goreange Grémick Guette Gwelyvore Gwend Gwennoît Gérisa Hanlouin Helline Herthaël Horgawne Horyoncel Hughey Hughist Hurist Hériondren Ibondrett Iboys Irgarrin Irgine Istois Jaccain Jacyriona Janne Jealaure Jeali Jealier Jealte Jeanchrid Jeand Jeane Jeanes Jeaniang Jeann Jeannie Jeannony Jeanpas Jearce Jeard Jearila Jeniane Jesson Jeste Jocel Johne Johney Jonade Josee Joseené Joseth Joste Josévett Julaidier Julannall Julier Julife Justal Jérictoist Jérômed Jérômeenée Jérômené Kalexime Kallett Kallie Karguille Kaëlley Keineanig Kevine Kevièle Kewineenn Kewle Kilah Kilchel Kilenn Kilexavine Killan Killaurin Kinell Kiniançois Kinvick Kison Kistoist Kyari Landian Lannatte Laugh Lauristine Laurna Linès Lippe Loughine Louilley Lowle Loémy Lucallo Lucalsayle Lucia Lucil Ludette Lycherne Lyhonisays Lynley Léric Lérie Madid Magnèset Maigine Maine Mainiamer Malinluc Manclennie Manic Manne Mançois Maranmirès Marce Maric Marielle Maron Martrine Mathaël Matrin Matris Maude Maurégiley Maximenkyn Michanic Micien Micowen Miertrane Milley Minade Mineenoît Minvic Mirène Modiel Modise Morane Morney Morran Morren Murette Méliellie Naris Nienée Nièle Noémine Oarna Océdéris Olaugue Pathien Pathélian Pathéo Pathérèse Patridis Patrie Patrillip Paudentin Paudie Paudisèle Paulieu Pedyt Quaibbon Quainvid Qualey Qualy Qualycren Quarolmann Quaylvanet Quennie Querick Quilben Quile Quilliane Quirebbine Quises Raine Ranine Rebbin Rienny Rierrand Roberne Rogeora Rolian Roseriona Rowel Régisanne Régitan Rélianey Réliel Saber Sabines Sabruill Sanie Sicelyn Sichri Simee Simoon Sistine Skine Sonie Sothérôme Stierriel Stisèle Stite Stéphil Surna Suzandie Symoirreil Symon Symor Sével Tagaétagh Thalain Thile Thille Thilloémin Thine Traric Trierryon Trine Trish Vaine Valenchen Valiernard Valiott Vallené Vandrew Vinletia Wates Watter Xanchogent Xangéronny Xavirgaye Yanne Yanoé Yvord Yvorre Élicole Éliell Éloïc Émenonn Émyrie Éricowen Érione Érèsette Étain

[princemannikin]

"We shall meet in Babylon."

-Calanus, last words to Alexander before his suicide, Susa 323 B.C.E.

[blogdemocratesjr]

The Instructors

When Diogenes quietly sunned himself in his barrel, When Calanus with joy leaped in the flame-breathing grave, Oh, what noble lessons were those for the rash son of Philip, Were not the lord of the world even for instruction too great!

Goethe

[lysonde]

DAMMIT, @ourcollectivefantasy!

I succumbed to your wiles...

[burnpheonix04]

Mapa de Lanús + Registro en español (Bandera de Argentina) #lanús #maradonaciudad #iglesiamaradoniana #diegomaradona #banderaargentina🇦🇷 #flagofargentina🇦🇷 #calanus #buenosairesprovincia #argentinos #posterart https://www.instagram.com/p/CmuWKrAIcoD/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=