Eudoxos
Sea farer from
Kyzikos, who lived in the 2nd century BC. While in Alexandria, he one day
met an Indian sailor whose ship had sunk. The Indian old him how to sail to
India, and Eudoxos got so excited about this that he convinced the king of
Egypt, Ptolemaios VIII, to sponsor the expedition. When Eudoxos returned his
ship was loaded with spices and precious stones, which the king greedily confiscated.
Eudoxos set out later again for yet another trip to India, but this time his
ship sunk just outside Ethiopia. This gave Eudoxos the idea to sail around
Africa in order to reach India. Just south of Morocco the ship ran ashore,
but Eudoxos made it back to Alexandria. On his third trial he supposedly was
successful though.
