AKISTOOLES
713
ARISTOTLE
friiemeiit of the "Apolo^" and an Armenian homily,
under the title: "S. Aristidis philosophi Atheniensis
sermones duo." In 18S9, Professor J. K. Harris of
Cambridge discovered a Syriac version of the wliole
"Apology" in the Convent of St. Catherine on Mt.
Sinai, and translated it into English (Te.\t.s and
Studies, Cambridge, 1.S91, I, i.). Professor J. A. Rob-
inson found that llie ".\pology" is contained in the
" Life of Uarlaam and Josaphat ", ascribed to St. John
Damascene. Attempts have also been made to re-
store the actual words of Aristides (Henneeke,
"Texte u. Untersuch.", Leipzig, 189-1, IV, iii). Aa
to the date and occasion of the "Apology" there are
differences of opinion. While some critics hold, with
Eu.sebius, that it was presented to Hadrian, others
maintain that it wiis written during the reign of An-
toninus Pius (i:iS-l()I). The aim of the" .\pology
is to show tliat Christians only have the true con-
ception of (Jod. Having aflirmed that (jod is "the
selfsame being who first established and now con-
trols the universe", Aristides points out the errors
of the Chaldeans, Creeks, Egyptians, and Jews con-
cerning the Deity, gives a brief summary of Christian
belief, and emphasizes the righteo\isiiess of Christian
life in contnust with the corrupt practices of paganism.
The tone througfiout is elevated and calm, and the
reasonableness of Christianity is shown rather by an
appeal to facts llian by subtle arguMieiitation. It
is interesting to note that during the .Middle .\ges the
"Life of Barlaam and Jo.sai)liat" had been translated
into some twenty languages, Englisli included, so
that what was in reality the storj' of Buddha became
the vehicle of Christian truth in many nations.
.\n lOriKlish trurishiliDii of the Avology from the Greek and the tivrmc te.vis liv K.iv, Ank'-Nicene FaUiers (adilitional vol.. New York, l,S97i; Doui.ckt, Revue de» ouctliona hUtoriquet (18.S0), X-WIII; lOKM, Annates de nhil. chr/limne (1881); Idkm, Bullrlin crilique (.\S»2); H a i,i„ //pfcruirn (1891 ); DUCHK.S.VK. Bulletin critique (1891); Lccah, Munlh (1891); jAcql'lER, Univers Calh. (1891); Stokk.s, Cuntemp. Review (July, 1891); HiMPF.L in Kirc/i«fi/€X. s. v.; Bareille inDict. de thiol, calh. 8. V. Edward A. P.\ce.
Aristocles of Messene. See Eclecticism.
Aristoteleanism. See .\iiisroTLE.
Aristotle, the t;rcatestof heathen philo.sophers, b. at Sta^ira, a (irecian colony in the Tnraeian peninsula Chalcidicc, ^84 n. c; d. at Chalcis, in Eut)Oca, 322 B. c. His father, Niconiachus, was court-phy.sician t<i King .\myntas of Macedonia. This position, we have reason to believe, was held untler various pred- ecessors of .\myntas by .Vristotle's ancestors, so that the profession of medicine w:is in a sense hereditary in the family. Whatever early training .-Aristotle re- ceived was probably influenced by this circunist,ance; when, therefore, at the age of eighteen he went to .Vthens his mind was idready deterniined in the di- rection which it aftcrwartis took, the investig.ation of natural phenomena. Prom his eighteenth to his thirty-seventh year he remained at .\thens as pupil of Plato and was, we are told, distinguished among those who gathered for instruction in the Grove of .•\cademus, adjoining Plato's house. The relations between the renowned teacher and his illustrious pupil have formed the subject of various legends many of which represent Aristotle in an unfavour- able light. No d<iubt there were divergencies of opinion between the master, who took his stand on sublime, idealistic principles, and the scholar, who, even at that time, showed a preference for the in- vestigation of the facts and laws of the physical world. It is probable that Plato did, indeed, declare that .\rist^)tle needed the curb rather than the spur; but we have no reason to believe that there was an open breach of friendship. In fact, .Aristotle's con- duct after the death of Plato, his continued associa- tion with Xenocrates and other Platonisfs, and his allusions in his writings to Plato's doctrines, prove that while there were difTerences of opinion between
teacher and pupil, there was no lack of cordial ap^
preciation, or of that mutual forbearance which one
W(i\ild expect from men of lofty character. Besides
this, the legends, so far as they reflect unfavour-
ably on .\ristotle, are traceable to the Epicureans
who were known to antiiiuity as calummators by
profession; ami if such legends were given wide cir-
culation by patristic writers, such as Justin Martyr
and (iregory Nazianzen, the reason is to be .sought
not in any well-grounded historical tradition, but in
the exaggerated esteem in which Aristotle was held
by the heretics of the early Christian period.
After the death of Plato (347 B. c), .Vristotle went, in company with Xenocrates. to the court of Hermias, ruler of Atarneus in Asia Minor, whose niece and adopted daughter, Pythisus, he married. In 341, Hermias having been murdered in a rebellion of his subject.s, .\ristotle went with his family to Mytilene and thence, one or two years later, he was summoned to his native Stagira by King Philip of Macedon, to become the tutor of .Mcxander, who was then in his thirteenth year. Whether or not we believe Plutarch when he tells us that .\ristotle not only imparted to the future worlil-conqueror a knowledge of ethics and politics, but also initiatcti him into the most profound secrets of philosophy, we have positive
Croof, on the one hand, that the royal pupil profited y contact with the philosopher, and, on the other hand, that the te.acher made prudent and beneficial use of his influence over the mind of the young prince. It was due to this influence that Alexander ])laced at the dispos;il of his teacher ample means for the ac- quisition of books and the pursuit of his scientific investigation; and history is not wrong in tracing to the intercourse with Aristotle those singular gifts of mind and heart which almost up to the very last distinguished Alexander among the few who have known how to make moderate and intelligent use of victory. .About the year 335 .Alexander departed for his .Asiatic campaign; thereupon Aristotle, who, .since his pupil's accession to the throne of Macedonia, had occupied the [wsition of a more or less informal advi-scr, returned to Athens and there opened a school of philosophy. He may. as Gellius says, have conducted a school of rhetoric during his former residence in the city; but now, following the example of Plato, he gave regular instruction in philo.sophy; choosing for that purpose a gj-mn.Tsium dedicated to -AfKillo Lyceios, from which his .school has come to be known as the Lyceum. It was also called the Peripatetic School becau.se it was the master's cu.s- tom to discuss i)roblenis of philo.sophy with his pu- pils while walking up an<t down (VepuroWu) the shaded walks (irep(iroToi) around the gj-mna-sium.
During the thirteen years (33.')-322) which he spent as teacher at the Lyceum, .Aristotle com|x)sed tne greater number of his writings. Imitating the example of his master, he placed in the hands of his pupils "Dialogues" in which his doctrines were ex- pounded in somewhat jxipular language. Besides, he compo.scd the several treatises (of which mention will be made below) on physics, metaphysics, and so forth, in which the exposition is more tlidactic and the language more technical than in the "Dia- logues". These writings .show to what good u.se he put the means placed at his dis]K)sal by .Alexander; they show in particular how he succeeded in bring- ing together the works of his predecessors in Circek philosophy, and how he spared neither pains nor ex- pense in [lursuing, cither [x-rsonally or through others. Ins investigations in the realm of natural phenomena. When we read the works treating of zoologj' we are quite prepared to believe Pliny's statement that .Alexander placed under .Aristotle's orders all the hunters, fishermen, and fowlers of the rov.al kingdom, and all the overseers of the royal forests, lakes, jxjnds, and cattle-ranges, and when we observe how fully
