Aristotle: a biography of one of the most influential Greek philosophers.

A summary of the life of Aristotle, one of the most influential Greek philosophers in history.

It is impossible to understand philosophy without talking about Aristotle, one of the most important and pioneering figures in this field.

The postulates of this classical Greek thinker continue to be a fundamental pillar in current philosophy studies, even though more than two thousand years have passed since his death. In this article we will briefly review the life of this Greek philosopher by means of a biography of Aristotle in summarized format.

Brief biography of Aristotle.

Aristotle is and has been one of the most important philosophers and researchers in the History of mankind, at least as far as Western culture and the Islamic world are concerned. In fact, Aristotle is considered one of the main precedents of modern science, and for decades the study of nature was, in part, linked to the reading and interpretation of his written work. Here we will look at a summary of his life.

Aristotle's birth, youth and time at the Academy

In 384 B.C., in the city of Stagira (located in the north of Ancient Greece, where Stavros is situated today) Aristotle was born.Aristotle was born, a man who was destined to change not only philosophy, but all branches of knowledge of the time. He was the son of Nicomachus, an important physician of the time, who even treated King Amintas III of Macedonia, which helped him to establish relations with the court. As for his mother, Festis, she was also a member of the Asclepiades, the physicians of the time.

As Aristotle's father was the monarch's physician, he spent the first years of his life in the city of Pella. However, Aristotle lost his parents when he was still a child, so his guardianship passed to Proxenus of Atarnaeus, the city where he moved until he was 17.. It was at that age when they decided the next step, which would mark the rest of his life, but also that of the knowledge of the entire Western civilization that would follow: Aristotle entered the Academy of Athens.

Of course, it was at the Academy that Aristotle joined the Academy of Athens, it is at the Academy that Aristotle meets his teacher, PlatoPlato, another of the key figures of Greek philosophy. He would spend the next two decades of his life acquiring new knowledge, learning from the teachings of Plato and other teachers, or debating with other students. But, undoubtedly, what he loved most was reading. Not for nothing did his teacher affectionately refer to him as "the Reader", for he always found himself with writings in his hands in an inexhaustible eagerness to learn more and more.

One of the teachers who at first influenced Aristotle's thoughts was Eudoxus. However, he preferred Plato's approaches, as he observed contradictions in those of Eudoxus. Other scholars who shared knowledge with Aristotle were Philip of Opuntia or Espeusippus. Already at this time Aristotle wrote some of his important works, such as the Exhortations or Protrepticus. Unfortunately, only parts of them are preserved and not the complete creation.

In 347 BC, Plato died. This triggers Aristotle, after 20 years of study at the Academy, to leave this place and move to Atarnaeus and Aso, a city ruled by Hermias, with whom Aristotle had shared studies years before as he was also a student at the Academy of Athens. At this time he also married Pythias of Aso.He met her because she was the niece of Hermias, who would later become the mother of his first daughter.

Subsequently, Hermias died murdered, so, again, Aristotle set out for a new place, this time to the island of Lesbos, and more specifically to the city of Mytilene. It was in this place that he he developed his work on zoology and also marine biology, with the collaboration of Theophrastus, another philosopher and also a philosopher.another philosopher and botanist.

Master of Alexander the Great

The popularity that Aristotle had already achieved at this time was such that King Philip II of Macedon himself King Philip II of Macedon himself asked him to settle again in Pella, no less than to be the mentor of his son, Alexander the Great, who was then 13 years old.who was then 13 years old. So for the next two years, Aristotle instilled knowledge of all branches of knowledge in the future conqueror, being key to the formation of his thinking.

Fortunately, the correspondence between Alexander the Great and Aristotle was immortalized for posterity, and it was through the work Life and Exploits of Alexander of Macedon, written by Pseudo Callisthenes, who although not documented, could be Callisthenes of Olinto, Alexander the Great's own nephew. After two years of teaching, and the future monarch having to begin his military training, Aristotle ended the tutelage of Alexander the Great.

It should be noted that during this period Aristotle did not limit himself to sharing his knowledge with such a distinguished pupil, but was also the teacher of Cassander and Alexander the Great. was also the teacher of Cassander and Ptolemy, who would also become kings, the former of Macedonia and the latter of Egypt.Aristotle was the mentor of a whole generation of young men who would eventually become the rulers of some of the most important nations of the time.

Creation of the Lyceum in Athens

Once that stage was over, Aristotle returned to the Greek capital, Athens, to establish the Lyceum, his own school.his own school. This name comes from the god Apollo Lycius, and the school of the Lyceum was built in an area that served to honor this deity. In contrast to the Academy, Aristotle decided to impart all his teachings in a public way, and without receiving an economic retribution in return, because the Academy was a private center, reserved to the sons of the most important families of Greece.

It is in the Lyceum where Aristotle generates the bulk of his work that, as in the other cases, has not come complete to our time, preserving therefore only some fragmentary parts of various volumes, including his famous dialogues. Aristotle Aristotle gathered in the Lyceum a huge amount of volumes with which he would form a majestic library, with which his students would have a great number of books.with which his students would have the opportunity to obtain invaluable knowledge.

The followers of Aristotle were known by the curious name of peripatetics, or peripatetic school, which meant itinerant or itinerant in ancient Greek, a name that came from the action of debating while walking through the gardens of the Lyceum. Some of Aristotle's most brilliant students, such as Aristoxenus, Eudemus of Rhodes, Dicearchus of Messina, Phanias of Eresus, or Clearchus of Solos, would emerge from the school of the Peripatetics.

Second wife and last years

During the period of Aristotle's teaching at the Lyceum, Pythias of Aso, his wife, died. After the loss, Aristotle rebuilt his life with another woman, Herpilis of Stagira. There is some debate as to whether she was really his wife or whether she was a slave (it should be remembered that slavery was common at that time). With Herpilis he had at least one other son, named Nicomachus, to whom Aristotle would dedicate one of his best known works: the Nicomachean Ethics o Nicomachean Ethicsone of the most important works on ethics.

In 323 B.C., Alexander the Great died, which had other repercussions, such as the fact that citizens coming from Macedonia were not well regarded in Athens, especially someone like Aristotlewho had even been the monarch's mentor. Therefore, he made the decision to leave the city and move to Chalcis, a city located on the island of Euboea. It would be the last place where Aristotle would live, since he died here only a year later, when he was 61 years old.

Although the causes of death are not entirely clear, it seems that Aristotle suffered from an ailment that affected his digestive system and that could be what triggered his death. As for the location of his tomb, it is believed that it would be in Stagira itself, the place where he was born, after the studies of excavations carried out in 1996. Apparently the remains of a mausoleum and some manuscripts were found, indicating that the ashes of the master were moved to this place.

The influence of his intellectual legacy

To speak of Aristotle's legacy is a practically unmanageable task, since most of the sciences so developed in our time would not have been able to grow to this point, or at least in such a rapid manner, if they had not been based on the methods of data collection and systematic observation that Aristotle proposed. Undoubtedly, it was He certainly gave an enormous boost to physics, biology, astronomy, but also to other disciplines, such as politics and economics..

Likewise, his treatises on ethics and morals formed the bulk of one of the pillars of Western civilization's thinking. In other words, it is very likely that if Aristotle had not been born, today we would not behave or think as we do today, nor would we have a series of values that come from Aristotelian thought. Undoubtedly, a legacy at the height of a genius like Aristotle.

Bibliographical references:

• Calvo, T. (1996). Aristóteles y el aristotelismo. Madrid. Akal.
• Candel, M. (2011). Aristotle. ed. Obra completa. Biblioteca de Grandes Pensadores. Madrid. Editorial Gredos.
• Jaeger, W., Gaos, J. (1946). Aristotle: bases for the history of his intellectual development. Fondo de Cultura Económica.