Notes Toward Gods Among Men

Last Updated: 2021-01-10

"According to early tradition, the awakening left the Buddha in a stunned silence." (Batchelor, Secular Buddhism, p. 221.) This is exactly what was claimed of Pyrrho.
"In some places, the Macedonians worshipped Zeus in combination with the supreme god of Egypt, Amon. The oracle of Zeus at Dodona, in the mountains of Epirus west of Greece, instructed them to. All things Egyptian were prestigious, and so the Macedonians obeyed the oracle and worshipped Zeus and Amon together. Later, when Alexander came to the throne, this local idiosyncrasy would provide him an introduction to Egyptian religion." From Soldier, Priest, and God: A Life of Alexander the Great by F.S. Naiden.
Xenocrates went with Aristotle to Atarneus at or before the death of Plato in 348 (even though he was opposed to Macedonian influence) and in 340 was called by Speusippus to return so as to become scholiarch of the Academy; yet there was an election anyway in 339/338. Note also that Xenocrates was three times a member of Athenian legations to Macedonian leaders, once to Philip and twice to Antipater.