Intrigued by this, I have taken a look at the original Greek. Here is my translation:
'if we made a line-drawing of one of these Indians in white, he would nonetheless seem swarthy, for the uptilted nose and the straight hair and the large/unusual cheekbones/jaw and a notably startled look about the eyes darken the appearance and sketch the outline of an Indian to those who see it and are not lacking in intelligence'
Philostratus, Life of Apollonius, II.22
Commentary
1. The unusual word translated 'flat' by Gombrich (and others), 'huposimos', seems to mean 'curving upwards'; it is sometimes translated 'snub-nosed'; it can also mean 'concave'; I have translated it as 'uptilted'. Herodotus uses the related word 'simos', which has much the same meaning, to describe the Scythians, who originated in Iran, and who at one point conquered the city that Apollonius is visiting (Taxila in modern Pakistan).
2. The phrase Gombrich renders as 'stiff curly locks', 'orthoi bostruchoi', makes more sense as 'straight hair'. 'Orthos' most naturally means 'straight' and while 'bostruchos' can mean a curl, my big Greek lexicon says that it can also just mean 'hair'.
It is pretty clear at this point that Gombrich is quite closely following the Loeb translation, which has 'stiff curling locks'. The Loeb translator, in 1912, made up his mind from the start that Philostratus is describing a black African: he translates 'melas' (adj), black, which I have translated 'swarthy' (which is one of its meanings) as 'a negro'. His whole translation of this passage seems to me to be systematically slanted to support this interpretation.
3. 'Prominent jaw' in Gombrich is a direct lift from the Loeb edition. But the word translated prominent, 'perittos', may mean 'large', but can also mean 'unusual'; and 'genus' may mean 'cheekbone' rather than jaw, as someone has noted above.
I don't think Philostratus is describing a sub-Saharan African. Frankly, I cannot imagine that any educated Greek would confuse Indians with Africans. The Greeks were not an isolated nor a stay-at-home people. I think Philostratus is describing a particular physical type from Southern Asia: dark-skinned, straight-haired, with (I suggest) distinctively high or broad cheekbones, an uptilted nose and a somewhat wide-eyed look.
no subject
'if we made a line-drawing of one of these Indians in white, he would nonetheless seem swarthy, for the uptilted nose and the straight hair and the large/unusual cheekbones/jaw and a notably startled look about the eyes darken the appearance and sketch the outline of an Indian to those who see it and are not lacking in intelligence'
Philostratus, Life of Apollonius, II.22
Commentary
1. The unusual word translated 'flat' by Gombrich (and others), 'huposimos', seems to mean 'curving upwards'; it is sometimes translated 'snub-nosed'; it can also mean 'concave'; I have translated it as 'uptilted'. Herodotus uses the related word 'simos', which has much the same meaning, to describe the Scythians, who originated in Iran, and who at one point conquered the city that Apollonius is visiting (Taxila in modern Pakistan).
2. The phrase Gombrich renders as 'stiff curly locks', 'orthoi bostruchoi', makes more sense as 'straight hair'. 'Orthos' most naturally means 'straight' and while 'bostruchos' can mean a curl, my big Greek lexicon says that it can also just mean 'hair'.
It is pretty clear at this point that Gombrich is quite closely following the Loeb translation, which has 'stiff curling locks'. The Loeb translator, in 1912, made up his mind from the start that Philostratus is describing a black African: he translates 'melas' (adj), black, which I have translated 'swarthy' (which is one of its meanings) as 'a negro'. His whole translation of this passage seems to me to be systematically slanted to support this interpretation.
3. 'Prominent jaw' in Gombrich is a direct lift from the Loeb edition. But the word translated prominent, 'perittos', may mean 'large', but can also mean 'unusual'; and 'genus' may mean 'cheekbone' rather than jaw, as someone has noted above.
I don't think Philostratus is describing a sub-Saharan African. Frankly, I cannot imagine that any educated Greek would confuse Indians with Africans. The Greeks were not an isolated nor a stay-at-home people. I think Philostratus is describing a particular physical type from Southern Asia: dark-skinned, straight-haired, with (I suggest) distinctively high or broad cheekbones, an uptilted nose and a somewhat wide-eyed look.