Buddhism and Ancient greek

Recently, I read Plato's Republic. What surprised me wasn't Plato's theory itself—I was already somewhat familiar with it. What truly caught my attention was the story Plato tells near the end about a warrior named Er who died in battle but came back to life after twelve days.

As someone who grew up in a Buddhist family, I found this story strikingly similar to Buddhist teachings.

1. Souls exist forever. After death, they are judged and either rewarded or punished based on their behavior in this life.
2. After a thousand years, souls return for their next life. They are offered a choice of what they will become. This choice includes not only different types of human lives (rulers, craftsmen, athletes, etc.) but also animal lives.
3. They must drink water that causes them to forget everything from their previous existence.

After doing some research, I realized there IS a historical connection. Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia:

"Greek was one of the first languages in which parts of the Buddha's teachings were recorded—long before the Pali Canon—in the columns and inscriptions of the Indian Emperor Ashoka. Greeks were the first Europeans to embrace Buddhism, centuries before Christianity arrived, and there is strong evidence that the first sculptors to create Buddha statues were of Greek descent."

Also, I had never noticed this until now that Plato's dialogical form in most of his work is actually very similar to many Buddhist texts. This suggests Buddhism may have had more influence on early Western thought than I realized.