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In 343 BC King Philip II of Macedon hired the philosopher Aristotle to teach his 13-year-old son, the future Alexander the Great. For two or three years Aristotle taught him at Mieza, in what is now northern Greece.

Philosophy history

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The story behind the card

Aristotle (384–322 BC) had close ties to the Macedonian court: his father, Nicomachus, had been physician to Philip's father, King Amyntas III. At Mieza he taught Alexander ethics, politics and literature, and young nobles such as Ptolemy, later king of Egypt, sometimes joined the lessons. According to the Greek biographer Plutarch, Alexander kept a copy of Homer's Iliad annotated by Aristotle under his pillow on campaign, next to his dagger. The lessons ended when Alexander, at 16, was left to govern Macedon in his father's absence. He became king in 336 BC and in thirteen years built an empire stretching from Greece to India. Aristotle returned to Athens and in 335 BC founded his own school, the Lyceum. In later years the two men grew apart.

Türkçe oku
MÖ 343'te Makedonya Kralı II. Filip, 13 yaşındaki oğluna, yani ileride Büyük İskender olacak prense öğretmen olarak filozof Aristoteles'i getirdi. Aristoteles iki üç yıl boyunca prense, bugün Yunanistan'ın kuzeyinde kalan Mieza'da ders verdi.

Aristoteles'in (MÖ 384–322) Makedon sarayıyla yakın bağları vardı: Babası Nikomakhos, Filip'in babası Kral III. Amyntas'ın hekimiydi. Aristoteles Mieza'da İskender'e ahlak, siyaset ve edebiyat öğretti; ileride Mısır'a kral olacak Ptolemaios gibi genç soylular da zaman zaman derslere katıldı. Yunan biyografi yazarı Plutarkhos'a göre İskender, Homeros'un İlyada'sının Aristoteles'in notlar düştüğü bir nüshasını seferlerde hançeriyle birlikte yastığının altında tutardı. Dersler, İskender 16 yaşında, babası seferdeyken Makedonya'nın yönetimini üstlenince sona erdi. İskender MÖ 336'da kral oldu ve on üç yılda Yunanistan'dan Hindistan'a uzanan bir imparatorluk kurdu. Aristoteles ise Atina'ya döndü ve MÖ 335'te kendi okulu Lykeion'u açtı. Sonraki yıllarda ikisinin arası soğudu.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Aristotle
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