Biography of Aristotle

Birth

• Place: Stagira, Chalcidice

• Time: During the 1st year of the 99th Olympiad (384 BC)

Family

• Father: Nicomachus, from Stagira, Chalcidice

• Mother: Phaestis, from Chalcis, Euboea

• Spouse: Pythias (deceased early), Herpyllis

• Children: Pythias (daughter, by Pythias) and Nicomachus (son, by Herpyllis)

Financial Status

• Wealthy

Family Background

Aristotle’s father served as a physician at the court of King Amyntas III of Macedon (the father of Philip and grandfather of Alexander). Aristotle was orphaned of both mother and father at a very early age. His guardianship was taken over by Proxenus, a close friend of his father, who lived in Atarneus of Ionic Aeolis (across from Lesbos).

Meeting Plato

Proxenus treated Aristotle as if he were his own child. During the 2nd year of the 103rd Olympiad (367 BC), at the age of seventeen, he sent Aristotle to Plato’s Academy. He studied at the school for twenty consecutive years, until Plato’s death in the 2nd year of the 108th Olympiad (347 BC). Aristotle distinguished himself at the Academy to such an extent that Plato himself called him the "Mind of the School." After Plato's death, a question of succession arose. The top candidates were Speusippus, Xenocrates, and Aristotle. Ultimately, the directorship was taken over by Speusippus, who was the son of Potone (Plato’s sister).

The Post-Plato Era

After Speusippus took over the Academy, Aristotle and Xenocrates left Athens and settled in Assos (a city in Ionia). Assos was governed by the brothers Erastus and Coriscus, who were Platonic philosophers. Leadership of Assos had been granted to them by Hermias, the Tyrant of Atarneus, who was also a former student of the Academy. These two governors had established a philosophical school in Assos as a branch of the Academy, where Aristotle taught for three years. The harmony between the philosophers and Hermias was so great that they influenced his rule, making it milder and more just. Aristotle married Hermias’s niece and adopted daughter, Pythias.

Hermias foresaw the Macedonian campaign and allied with Philip; consequently, in 341 BC, the Persians invaded and executed him by crucifixion.

In 344 BC, Aristotle moved to Mytilene on the island of Lesbos, where he taught until 343 BC. It was then that King Philip invited him to Macedonia to take charge of the education of Alexander. This education took place in Mieza for three years, until 340 BC. While at the Macedonian court, Aristotle successfully requested that Alexander rebuild his hometown of Stagira, which Philip had previously destroyed. He even drafted laws for his fellow citizens.

His Teachings

While Socrates and Plato crystallized philosophy, Aristotle used that foundation to branch into science. This was the first (and last) time in history that science was purely based on philosophy. This is why many today misinterpret his words—such as the famous "Golden Mean" (the middle between extremes).

When asked what liars gain, he replied: "That they are not believed even when they tell the truth." He used to say that just as eyes are illuminated by external light, the soul is illuminated by education. Once, when told someone was speaking ill of him in his absence, he replied: "He may even whip me, as long as I am not there."

On Education: He believed three things were necessary for learning:

1. Natural Talent

2. Study

3. Practice

He called education the "best provision for old age" and beauty the "best letter of recommendation."

On Happiness (Eudaimonia): He argued that happiness consists of three types of goods:

• Mental/Soulful Goods: Virtue (the most important).

• Physical Goods: Health, strength, and beauty.

• External Goods: Wealth, noble birth, and fame.

Virtue alone cannot bring complete happiness without some physical and external goods; however, vice alone can bring misery even if one possesses physical and external goods in abundance.

Notable Quotes:

• To those who asked how the educated differ from the uneducated: "As much as the living from the dead."

• On parents: "Those who educate children are more to be honored than those who merely gave them birth; for the latter gave them life (Zēn), but the former gave them the good life (Eu Zēn)."

• On wealth: He noted some are so stingy they live as if they will live forever, while others are so wasteful they live as if they will die tomorrow.

• On philosophy: When asked what he gained from it, he said: "To do by choice what others do only by fear of the law."

The Lyceum

In 335 BC, Aristotle returned to Athens and founded his own school, the Lyceum, named after the sanctuary of Lycean Apollo. The school was organized following the model of Plato’s Academy. Using funds provided by Alexander, he built magnificent buildings and colonnades called "Peripatοi" (walkways), because lessons were conducted while walking.

The Lyceum housed the first organized library in history, which served as the blueprint for the great libraries of Alexandria and Pergamum. Aristotle taught there for thirteen years. However, in 323 BC, following news of Alexander’s death, the Athenians targeted Aristotle. Despite his contributions to the city, he was charged with "impiety." Understanding their intentions, he left the city before the trial, famously stating: "I will not allow the Athenians to sin twice against philosophy" (referring to the execution of Socrates). He retired to Chalcis in 322 BC to a house inherited from his mother.

The End

In 321 BC, at the age of sixty-three, Aristotle passed away. He left behind a monumental body of work consisting of four hundred books—works that influenced countless scientists for millennia, including Isaac Newton (as evidenced by the official library records of Cambridge University).

Nikolaos Ch. Koundourakis | IDAION
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