384 BCE: Aristotle was born in Stagirus,

Macedonia

343 BCE: Aristotle, invited by King Phillip II, went to

Macedonia to tutor his son, Alexander the Great.

335 BCE: Aristotle founded his own school, called Lyceum.

347 BCE: Aristotle marries Pythias.

367 BCE: Aristotle enrolls in the Academy and becomes a student

of Plato.

347 BCE: Plato dies and Aristotle is passed over as head of the Academy.

345 BCE: Aristotle begins writing his book, “Politics”. He never finished the book until about 335 BCE.

322 BCE: Aristotle

passes away.

Legend

Political

Academic

Personal

323 BCE: Aristotle is forced to flee Athens.

Aristotle lived during the 4th century BCE which was the height of Classical Greek society; art, architecture, literature and philosophy flourished. Aristotle fit right into this period in time with his fascination of education.

The most notable rulers during this time are King Phillip II and his successor and son, Alexander the Great; both of these kings ruled over the Macedonian Empire. King Phillip II took over much of the Athenian Empire during his rule. Alexander took over his fathers’ empire at the young age of twenty when his father passed away. For a young leader, Alexander surprised many with his strong attributes and his ability to lead his military.

Alexander’s Empire

Alexander was engaged in a war against the Persian empire and his victory proved why he would become known as Alexander the Great. One of the most influential events during the fourth century BCE to effect Aristotle was the death of Alexander. Following Alexander’s death in 323 BCE a series of civil wars broke out and the leading forces strongly opposed the Macedonians. This period is regarded as a decline in Greek society. Literature was not preserved as well as previously in time and the height of the arts fell.

Aristotle was born in Stagirus, Macedonia in Greece in 384 BCE. His father was the court physician to the Macedonian royal family; the son of the ruling king at the time was Phillip II. This forced Aristotle and Phillip have interactions at a young age . For the first portion of his life, Aristotle shadowed his fathers career and studied medicine. Nichomachus, Aristotle’s father, pasted away when Aristotle was only ten years old. After the death he was placed under the guidance

of Proxenus.

Macedonia; the place of Aristotle’s birth.

At the age of seventeen Aristotle enrolled at the Academy in Athens and became a student of Plato. At the academy students learned about mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, medicine and political theory. Although he started out as a student at the academy, he eventually became a teacher there himself and aspired to lead the school after Plato. Plato passed away in 347 BCE. Despite his aspirations Aristotle was not chosen as the successor of Plato and left the school shortly after the death.

The period in Aristotle’s life directly after leaving the Academy is unclear, there are a few favored possibilities. Some say that he traveled Asia minor (now Turkey) studying biology and philosophy. Another theory is that he moved to Mysia and stayed in the court of his friend and ruler, Hermeas. In 347 Aristotle married the niece of king Hermeas, Pythias.

Although the past area in his life is uncertain, most historians can agree on the fact that in 338 BCE, Aristotle returned to Macedonia. This was under an invitation from his child hood acquaintance, Phillip II; Phillip was now the ruling king and had a young son named Alexander. Phillip asked Aristotle to come and tutor his son. The tutoring ended in 336 BCE when Phillip passed away and Alexander took over the thrown.

Aristotle returned to Athens shortly after it had been conquered by Alexander. In 335 BCE Aristotle built his own school in Athens named Lyceum. He was the head of the school for twelve years and in his time he wrote extensively on the topics of ethics, politics, metaphysics and science and logic. Around 335 BCE or maybe a bit later in time, Aristotle finished one of his most famous works, “Politics”.

Aristotle was forced to flee Athens after the sudden death of Alexander in 323 BCE. This was because Aristotle was associated with the Macedonian kings because of his friendship and tutoring with the royal family; and after Alexander’s death Athens was overtaken by forces strongly opposing the Macedonians. To avoid prosecution Aristotle fled to his house in Euboea. After about a year of residing in his country home, Aristotle passed away due to an alleged stomach illness, which has yet to be completely confirmed.

Theophrastus became the successor of Aristotle’s school and tried his best to preserve the works of Aristotle but because of the numerous amounts of writings composed, many were lost in the process. It is said that only thirty of the original one hundred and fifty philosophical treaties remain to date. Although many of the treaties are claimed to be incomplete lecture notes. Aristotle’s works ranged from the topic of physics to political morals.

Aristotle’s achievements continue to effect society to this day with his works in politics, ethics, philosophy and other fields still being studied in universities and colleges.

Aristotle’s achievements in biology were not passed for centuries after his death. His studies in this region held vast effects on the medical field, surgeries on the brain were now more accurate and safe than previous to his time.

His biological advancements also lead to a system for classifying animals and plants based on certain characters. This effected the theory of evolution.

One of Aristotle’s achievements was his work in politics. His thesis was “that human beings are by nature political animals, who naturally want to live together.” This was his theory behind the reason why city-states and political governments come into being. His thesis gave a physiological reasoning for one distinct ruler. So no longer could leaders claim religious status but natural instinct status as well. This theory evolved into the six-fold classification as shown below:

  Correct Deviant

One Ruler Kingship Tyranny

Few Rulers Aristocracy Oligarchy

Many Rulers Polity Democracy

This classification effected political divisions through out Aristotle’s time.

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