ARISTOTLE AND THE EARLIER PERIPATETICS vol.I by Eduard Zeller, B.F.C.Costelloe 1897

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THE LIFE OF ARISTOTLE 33
sthenes as a kinsman and had afterwards recommended
him to the King, 1
though, no doubt, he also warned the
reckless young man against imprudence. 2 The suspicion
however led to
nothing worse than a notable coolness
in his relations with Alexander. 3 / A story to the effect,
that Aristotle was concerned with Antipater in the
alleged poisoning of Alexander was connected with the
death of Callisthenes, 4 but the completely groundless
nature of the charge has long ago been proved. 5 /
indeed was Aristotle
So far
from having any cause to desire
his princely pupil's death that that event in reality
brought serious dangers upon himself.
ence. The statement of Dio.
Chiys. (Or. 64, p. 338) that Alexander
meant to kill Aristotle and
Antipater is merely a rhetorical
exaggeration.
1
1
Pltjt. ibid.; Akhian, iv. 10,
; DlOG. i ; SuiD. KaAAnrfl.
2
Diog. ibid.; Valbe. Max.
vii. 2 ; Plttt. Alex. 54.
3
Plutarch says this expressly
(cf. p. 23, n. 1, xwpra), and the
story in Diog. 10, that Alexander,
to mortify his teacher, took
Anaximenes of Lampsacus and
Xenocrates into favour, would
not prove the contrary even if it
were more credible ; but it is
unworthy of both Alexander and
Aristotle. Plutarch, ibid., on the
contrary, sees in the king's kindness
to Xenocrates, a consequence
of Aristotle's teaching. Philoponus
(apv,d Aeist. Meteorol. ed.
Ideler, i. 142) cites a reputed
letter of Alexander to Aristotle
from India, which proves nothing.
4
The earliest witness to this
story is a certain Hagnothemis
(apud Pi.UT.AUa;. 77) who is said
to have heard it from King Anti-
VOL. I.
'
gonus I. Arrian (vii. 27) and
Pliny (H. Nat. xxx. 16) mention
it, but, like Plutarch, treat it
as an invention. Xiphilinus
(lxxvii. 7, p. 1293) says the Emperor
Caracalla deprived the
Peripatetics in Alexandria of
their privileges on account of
the alleged guilt of Aristotle.
5
The disproof of the charge (cf.
Stahe, Ar. i. 136 sq. and Dboysbn,
Geteh. d. Betten. i. 705 sq,)
rests, apart from its moral impossibility,
on these grounds
(a) Plut. ibid, shows expressly
that the suspicion of poisoning
first arose six years after Alexander's
death, whenit afforded the
passionate Olympias a welcome
pretext to slake her hatred
against Antipater's family, and
to excite public opinion against
Cassander who was said to have
administered the poison; (&)
equal suspicion attaches to the
testimony of Antigonus, which
must belong to the time when he
was at enmity with Cassander,
though we do not know whether
he made any charge against
34 ARISTOTLE
For the unexpected news of the sudden death of
the dreaded conqueror called out in Athens a wild
excitement against the Macedonian rule, which, as
soon as the news was fully confirmed, broke into
open war. Athens put herself at the head of all who
were willing to fight for the freedom of Greece, and
before the Macedonian regent Antipater was fully prepared,
he found himself beset by superior forces, which
he only succeeded in mastering after
a long and risky
struggle in the Lamian War. 1 From the first this
movement threatened, as was to be expected, the prominent
members of the Macedonian party. Aristotle
Aristotle; (c) it is significant
that the bitterest opponents of
Aristotle, to whom no calumny
is amiss, such as Epicurus, Timseus,
Demochares, Lyco, etc.,
know nothing of the charge;
(d~) almost all who speak of
Alexander's poisoningpreserve the
story (which was clearly connected
with the first publication of the
rumour and was well fitted to catch
the popular fancy) that it was accomplished
by water from the
Nonacrian spring—i.e. the Styx
a proof that we are not dealing
with history ;
(c) the accounts
Arrian and Plutarch give us
from the court chronicles as to
the course of Alexander's illness
do not in any way suggest poison
(/) if Aristotle's motive was the
fate of Callisthenes, that could
hardly have caused in him a
hatred that would lead six years
later to murder, nor could he,
after so long a time, have had
any fear as to his own safety;
(g)
it is probable that Aristotle's
own adopted son was in Alexander's
service, and intrusted
with important missions (cf. p. 5,
ii. 7, supra) ;
(A) finally, the
rumour of Alexander's poisoning
is refuted by the movement of
events afterwards. Alexander's
death was the signal for an outbreak
in Greece, which in the
Lamian war brought Antipater
himself to great straits. Anyone
acquainted with the politics
of the day would clearly foresee
such a result. If Antipater were
not as much taken by surprise as
everyone else was by the king's
death, he would have made preparations
either to stem or to
head the rising. If he had been
known as the author of that
which the Greeks acclaimed as
the beginning of freedom, they
would not have begun their revolt
by attacking him; and if any part
in it had been attributed to
Aristotle, he would not have had
to fly from Athens.
1
For details, see Dboysbn,
Qesoh. d. Hellen. i. 69 sq.