Talk:Ostanes

several people with this name
According to Iranica it is not known which (if any) historical "Ostanes" the legends are based on.
 * 1) "Ostanes"; "Hermodorus, a disciple of Plato, mentions Ostanes as one of the names common in a supposed line of magi that ran from Zoroaster down to Alexander’s conquest. He dates Zoroaster 5,000 years before the fall of Troy and puts Ostanes first among the names of members of the line; there is no indication that he knew anything about the actual date or career of any particular Ostanes."(cut and pasted from "Iranica")
 * 2) "Ostanes"; son of Darius II and grand father of Darius III
 * 3) "Ostanes"; a part of Alexander's expedition to India
 * 4) "Ostanes"; Pliny's (fictional) "Ostanes" who had accompanied Xerxes to Greece From the end of the 1st century on, he is often referred to as an authority on necromancy and other forms of divination, astrology, the manufacture of amulets, and secret names and magical properties of plants and stones. These references, like Pliny’s, are commonly supposed to reflect works fathered on him in the Hellensitic period. No doubt they often do so, but forgery did not stop with the Roman annexation of Alexandria. Both Ostanes’s legend and his literary output increased throughout imperial times; by the Byzantine period he had become one of the great authorities in alchemy; much medieval alchemical material circulated under his name.

The article needs a lot of work J8079s (talk) 19:15, 7 August 2010 (UTC)

When?
Achaemenian era (700-300 BCE)?

William 2607:FEA8:4A2:4100:7456:8AC0:769F:982 (talk) 09:18, 27 March 2023 (UTC)


 * As the article says, this is one of a number of legendary Persian alchemists/mages featuring in the literature of the Hellenistic period. The most important work in which Ostanes features is probably the so-called Four Books of pseudo-Democritus, which date to the first century CE (most likely c. 54–68 CE). Whoever came up with the 'Achaemenian era' dating, they are taking Hellenistic orientalizing legends for historical fact.
 * What I just wrote above should be clear from the article itself. If it's not clear, then someone should rewrite the relevant sections to make it clearer. Thanks, ☿  Apaugasma  ( talk  ☉) 14:46, 27 March 2023 (UTC)