« Και τώρα μη με αρχίζεις ευφυολογίες, τα «Πού οι Έλληνες;» και «Πού τα Ελληνικά πίσω απ’ τον Ζάγρο εδώ, από τα Φράατα πέρα». Τόσοι και τόσοι βαρβαρότεροί μας άλλοι αφού το γράφουν, θα το γράψουμε κι εμείς. Και τέλος μη ξεχνάς που ενίοτε μας έρχοντ’ από την Συρία σοφισταί, και στιχοπλόκοι, κι άλλοι ματαιόσπουδοι. Ώστε ανελλήνιστοι δεν είμεθα, θαρρώ. » When he wrote his Philhellene, Constantin Cafavy could not know that his scenario was appropriate not only for Parthian minters, but also for “Bactrian” silversmiths who created a large price ware of Hellenic inspiration. From the 3rd to the 6th or 7th centuries CE, between Northwest India (Gandhara) and Sogdiana, throughout Bactria-Tokharistan, they produced silver bowls with a “Greek” decoration in relief, reminiscent of the Hellenistic “Megarian bowls” known from ceramic specimens. While the technique of crimped pieces betrays Roman and Sasanian influences (they are not copies of Macedonian-Seleucid prototypes), the meaning of the scenes has remained largely misunderstood until now. Some of these vessels were even suspected to be fakes, so much that this hybridization of Greco-Roman and Indo-Iranian art appeared unlikely under the domination of Kidarite and Hephtalite Huns – a “dark age” of Central Asian history which followed the withdrawal of the Sasanians. At that time, the coinage indicated rather a rejection of all Classical canons. In this paper, we shall present a general survey of the “Bactrian bowls”, focusing on Greek literary themes: Homer and the Trojan cycle, Attic tragic poets (Sophocles and Euripides), the Alexander Romance. We shall explain how the myths were shaped and spaced, how they were “translated” for an Indo-Iranian and Hunnish milieu. The challenge is to grasp the enduring strength of Hellenism, of its logoi and eikones, in pre-Islamic Central Asia and on the Silk Road.