Aristotle and the Elephant Again

Abstract

Aristotle's zoological writings preserve an astonishing amount of information about the elephant, and much, though not all of it, is remarkably accurate. From where does it come? Does Aristotle describe an animal which he has seen, or, as is sometimes thought,2 one which he has dissected? To what extent does he make use of written sources? Is he discussing, according to the usual assumption, the Indian elephant? One recent scholar treats Aristotle's knowledge of the animal as if it is uninfluenced by what he has read, and suggests, moreover, that he writes about the African elephant.3 Can this be correct? There is also the additional question of whether his information comes, as many have believed, from the period of Alexander the Great's Indian campaign.4 Before we look at any of these issues, however, a few words should be said about his knowledge of India in general. In none of his works does Aristotle in fact have much to say about the Indian subcontinent or about its inhabitants. Moreover, apart from the question of elephants, the little that he does relate clearly reflects