the court of that monarch that he composed his historical work, though, on the other hand, a passage of Lucian might suggest that this was begun during the lifetime of Alexander himself. Writings We learn from Diogenes Laërtius that Onesicritus wrote a work about Alexander called How Alexander was Educated (), imitating the style of Xenophon, though he fell short of him as a copy does of the original. It is most frequently cited in regard to the campaigns of Alexander in Asia, and for descriptions of the countries that he visited. Though an eye-witness of much that he described, it appears that he intermixed many fables and falsehoods with his narrative, so that he early fell into discredit as an authority. Strabo is especially severe upon him. Plutarch cites him as one of those who related the fable of the visit of the Amazons to Alexander, for which he was justly ridiculed by Lysimachus, and Arrian accuses him of falsely representing himself as the commander of the fleet, when he was in truth only the pilot. Aulus Gellius even associates him with Aristeas of Proconnesus, and other purely fabulous writers. But it is clear that these censures are overcharged; and though some of the statements cited from him are certainly gross exaggerations, his work appears to have contained much valuable information concerning the remote countries for the first time laid open by the expedition of Alexander. In particular he was the first author that mentioned the island of Taprobane, which is known today as Sri Lanka. Notes References Attribution People from Astypalaia 4th-century BC Greek people 4th-century BC historians 4th-century BC philosophers Geographers of Alexander the Great Admirals of Alexander the Great Historians who accompanied Alexander the Great Cynic philosophers 360s BC births 290s BC deaths Indo-Greek religions and philosophy Explorers of India Writers about India Historians of India