Note: As of August 2024, I've started composing Book I.
This epic poem will tell the story of the Greek philosopher Pyrrho's journey to India with the army of Alexander the Great, perhaps combined with a murder mystery about Alexander's death in Babylon.
Although Pyrrho is often considered the founder of the skeptical tradition in Western philosophy, his was a gentle form of questioning focused on achieving serenity (ἀταραξία). According to Pyrrho, one finds such peace by being without opinions (ἀδόξαστος), being uninclined (ἀκλινής) to one side or the other in disputes about the fates and fortunes (πράγματα) of human beings, and being unwavering (ἀκράδαντος) in this neutral stance. The underlying insight is that with regard to human purposes both nature and the gods are indifferent (ἀδιάφορα), unpredictable (ἀστάθμητα), and inscrutable (ἀνεπίκριτα).
As a result, human beings need to forge their own path to happiness and fulfillment (εὐδαιμονία). Yet this leads to a wide variety of opinions about how to live: some people advocate a life of pleasure, some are in favor of amassing extraordinary wealth and power, some believe that strict virtue is the only good, and so on. Pyrrho's strategy is decidedly different: discard all such opinions and their associated emotions and activities, including pleasure-seeking, possessiveness, greed, ambition, and pride.
The contrast with Alexander the Great is stark: a man of unbridled passions, boundless attachments, and overweening ambitions who was considered a god among men. Yet Pyrrho, too, was considered a god among men for his extraordinary serenity. Pyrrho's authenticity, spontaneity, and naturalness came from immersing himself in the flowing stream of reality — not from grasping through attachment, reaching through desire, or pushing through self-assertion.
If this sounds similar to Buddhism and Taoism, it might be no accident. The ancient biographer Diogenes Laërtius claims that Pyrrho adopted his philosophy of ἀταραξία by interacting with "naked sages" (γυμνοσόφοι), probably near Gandhara in modern-day Pakistan. The parallels are explored in depth by Christopher Beckwith in his book Greek Buddha. Beckwith might go too far in his extrapolations from the meagre evidence that remains — in true Pyrrhonian fashion, the matter might be precarious, indefinable, and irresolvable — but that's why fiction is the appropriate literary form in which to search for the answers.
Because I'm actively writing an epitome of Aristotle's ethics, for now I'm mostly performing background research for this epic by slowly working my way through a long reading list (taking notes as I go), and working on a rough outline; I also plan to newly translate the short biography of Pyrrho by Diogenes Laërtius and the relevant passage from the Praeparatio Evangelica of Eusebius, which together form the primary evidence for the philosophy expounded and lived by Pyrrho over 2,300 years ago.
Throughout the process of research and composition, I'll be updating this page with relevant blog posts:
Peter Saint-Andre > Writings > Pyrrho