It was at the Lyceum that Aristotle probably composed most of his approximately 200 works, of which only 31 survive.
In accordance with Aristotle’s principle of surveying the writings of others as part of the philosophical process, the Lyceum assembled a collection of manuscripts that comprised one of the world’s first great libraries. Like Plato’s Academy, the Lyceum attracted students from throughout the Greek world and developed a curriculum centered on its founder’s teachings. As an alien, he couldn’t own property, so he rented space in the Lyceum, a former wrestling school outside the city. In 342 Aristotle was summoned to Macedonia by King Philip II to tutor his son, the future Alexander the Great-a meeting of great historical figures that, in the words of one modern commentator, “made remarkably little impact on either of them.” Aristotle and the LyceumĪristotle returned to Athens in 335 B.C. It was here that he undertook his pioneering research into marine biology and married his wife Pythias, with whom he had his only daughter, also named Pythias. He spent five years on the coast of Asia Minor as a guest of former students at Assos and Lesbos. Aristotle left Athens soon after, though it is not clear whether frustrations at the Academy or political difficulties due to his family’s Macedonian connections hastened his exit. When Plato died in 347, control of the Academy passed to his nephew Speusippus. The Roman philosopher Cicero said that "If Plato's prose was silver, Aristotle's was a flowing river of gold." Plato’s own later writings, in which he softened some earlier positions, likely bear the mark of repeated discussions with his most gifted student.ĭid you know? Aristotle's surviving works were likely meant as lecture notes rather than literature, and his now-lost writings were apparently of much better quality. He spent 20 years as a student and teacher at the school, emerging with both a great respect and a good deal of criticism for his teacher’s theories. At age 17 he was sent to Athens to enroll in Plato's Academy.
His parents died while he was young, and he was likely raised at his family’s home in Stagira.
Both of his parents were members of traditional medical families, and his father, Nicomachus, served as court physician to King Amyntus III of Macedonia.
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