What to visit in Thessaloniki. Thessaloniki - the northern capital of Greece Alexander and Aristotle were great friends

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Aristotle Square is one of the central places in . Celebrations are regularly held here, concerts are organized, political rallies are held. It is located between the Thermaikos Gulf and the hill where it is located, not far from the city port and the promenade of Levkos Pyrgos. Located almost in the center of the city, the square enjoys great attention among locals and tourists, and got its name in honor of the legendary ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, the teacher and mentor of Alexander the Great, the founder of formal logic and the creator of the philosophical school of peripatetics.

The Aristotelous Square project was developed in 1917 by the French architect Ernest Ebrard shortly after a large-scale fire that destroyed a significant part of the city. He faced the rather difficult task of planning the affected areas of Thessaloniki, with the restoration of historical architectural structures, which was later changed with the exception of the central square, erected according to the original plan of the architect, implemented in the early 50s. Today, among the most significant buildings here stand out the comfortable five-star hotel Electra Palace and the Olympion cinema, where the International Film Festival takes place every year.

On the left side of the cinema, attention is drawn to the monument to Aristotle, sitting with a bundle in his hand, made of bronze. It is believed that if you hold on to his left big toe, you can acquire a powerful intellect, so this part of the philosopher's body is polished to a shine by those who want to become smarter. At the intersection of the square with Tsimiski Street, a flower clock flaunts, and nearby is a marble statue of Eleftherios Venizelos. At some distance is the second most important educational institution in Greece - the Aristotle University, where students from different countries. On the adjacent streets and along the square itself, there are numerous cafes, boutiques and shops where you can have fun, getting acquainted with the peculiarities of national cuisine or doing shopping.

Aristotle's Square is constantly in the spotlight and you can often see people on it different ages and social position. Students periodically come here to take a break from classes, and tourists take pictures and admire architectural features buildings. In any case, this place is worth visiting, especially since its geographical location is conducive to this.

One is associated with the statue of Aristotle interesting myth. It is believed that if you rub his toe, you will become smarter.

Monument to Aristotle stands in the center of the city on the square bearing his name. Thumb the left foot of the dark statue looks well rubbed due to the existing belief that if you hold on to this toe, you will become wiser.

The ancient Greek philosopher and educator of Alexander the Great, Aristotle, is a native of these places, more precisely, he was born in Halkidiki. He was not in Thessaloniki for the reason that this city was founded much later.

The monument to Aristotle is a figure of a philosopher who sat down to rest and, as if at the same time, moves his toes, which were already tired by this time. Particularly noteworthy is the toe of the left foot. This is due to an interesting assumption that the philosopher wrote most of his numerous works with his left foot. Therefore, many people try to touch this finger. Especially, according to witnesses, figures of science and education are drawn to him.

Perhaps everyone knows about the famous ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, whose phrases today have become immortal quotes. Along with Socrates and Plato, Aristotle is considered throughout the world to be one of the greatest philosophers and thinkers who ever lived, and his influence on science and philosophical thought there is no doubt even today, almost 2,400 years after his death.

1. Homeland of Aristotle

Aristotle was born in 384 BC in Stagira. It was a small Greek colony in ancient Macedonia on the northern periphery of Greece.

2. Aristotle's father was a doctor

He came from a respected and wealthy family. Aristotle's father was a physician at the court of Amyntas III, king of Macedon.

3. Union of philosophy and biology

Aristotle was married to Pythiades, adopted daughter of Hermias, tyrant of Assos in Troas. She was one of the few female biologists and embryologists of her time. The couple had a daughter, whom they also named Pythiades.

4. Aristotle and Herpillis

When Pythiades died, Aristotle began to live with his slave Herpillis. They soon had a son.

5. Nicomachus died in battle

The philosopher named his son Nicomachus in honor of his father. Unfortunately, Nicomachus died in battle while still a youth. In his honor, Aristotle named one of his works "Nicomachean Ethics".

6. Athens is the richest city

When Aristotle was young, Athens was the richest city in Greece and the most famous cultural center of the era. He went to Athens when he was seventeen years old, after which he lived there for most of his life.

7. Plato's Academy

It was in Athens that he entered the famous Academy of Plato, and soon became his favorite student. 20 years later (after the death of Plato), Aristotle opened his own Lyceum school.

8. Teacher of Alexander the Great

Eventually Aristotle returned to Macedonia. He lived there for ten years from 345 to 335. BC. and was at that time the mentor of Alexander the Great.

9. Mentor of rulers

In fact, Aristotle was not only a great philosopher and educator of Alexander the Great, one of the greatest generals and conquerors in history. Very few know that the Greek was also the teacher of Cassander and Ptolemy, who both eventually became kings of the Kingdom of Macedonia and Egypt, respectively.

10. Alexander and Aristotle were great friends

Alexander and Aristotle were even great friends at one time. Alexander valued Aristotle as a friend and teacher, so he collected art from the conquered lands and sent them to Aristotle as trophies.

11. Alexander generously gave gifts to Aristotle

Many historians believe that Aristotle loved Alexander like his own son, and this is not far from the truth. Shortly after Alexander's death, Aristotle closed his school in Athens and died a year later (322 BC).

12. Popularization of science

Aristotle wrote two kinds of works. Some of them were intended for the general public, and thus were much more understandable to ordinary people. Others were intended for students and teachers of philosophy.

13. Most of the works are lost

The philosopher wrote many books and notes to teach his students. Unfortunately, most of them have been lost and only a third of his works have survived.

14. New School of Philosophy

Unlike his great predecessors Socrates and Plato, Aristotle founded a new school of philosophy. He was also the founder of many sciences - logic, psychology, aesthetics, etc.

15. Four types of universal causes

Aristotle came up with a new field of science called "causality". According to her, there are four types of universal causes that have a determining effect on all things.

16. The first polymath

He is considered to be the first known polymath in history. In addition to philosophy, Aristotle also worked in such scientific fields as biology, zoology, astronomy and botany. He even traveled regularly with his friend Theophrastus to the island of Lesvos and studied the life of plants and animals there.

17. Contribution to botany

In order to understand how important his contribution to botany was, it is worth remembering that it was Aristotle who was the first to explain that a plant blooms best in "places favorable to it." Modern ecologists call it "carrying its own niche."

18. Music, poetry, politics, theater...

In addition to science, Aristotle also made significant contributions to the fields of ethics, logic, metaphysics, music, poetry, politics, and theatre. For example, in the surviving part of his book called "Poetics" ancient Greek philosopher reflects on tragic and epic poetry.

19. The universe is eternal

Ahead of his time, Aristotle firmly believed that the universe was eternal and also that it had neither beginning nor end. Despite the fact that he understood that everything could change, fundamentally the philosopher believed that the general conditions always remain the same.

20. The result of underground winds

Aristotle is also considered a pioneer in the field of meteorology. He loved to study and observe natural phenomena. Thanks to his meteorological work, he was one of the few people of antiquity who talked about comets and meteors and about different types of weather, and also described rainbows, thunder, lightning and wind. He also mentioned earthquakes in his writings, which he believed were the result of underground winds.

21. "River of Gold"

Another great philosopher antiquity, the Roman politician, lawyer, orator, political scientist and constitutionalist Cicero repeatedly mentioned Aristotle in his writings. Cicero called his literary style "the river of gold".

22. East is a delicate matter

Today, they prefer to keep silent about it delicately. Much of the information that people know about Aristotle today was passed down primarily through the Muslim scholars and philosophers who treasured his writings when ancient Greek civilization went downhill in places like Persia, Egypt, and India.

Their admiration for the teachings of Aristotle was so great that many scientists throughout Asia and Europe have studied from the works of the ancient Greek thinker up to the present time.

23. Philosophy of Aristotle

It is for this reason that Aristotle's philosophy has had such a strong influence on both Christianity and Islam.

24. Classification of animals

Aristotle was the first Greek philosopher who showed great interest in animals. Long-term study of animals allowed Aristotle to classify them into various groups and views. He was able to divide all animals into two main groups: those with red blood and those without red blood. His findings are consistent with much later classifications into vertebrates and invertebrates.

25. The smartest person in history

Aristotle, according to many historians and scientists, was the smartest man in history. His theories have influenced the history of mankind more than the work of any other person.

Anyone interested in history ancient world, it will be interesting to know about .

Aristotle (384-322 BC)

The great ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was born in 384 BC in Stagira, a Greek colony on the northern coast of the Aegean, near Macedonia. Aristotle's family by origin did not belong to the local "barbarian" tribes, but to the natural Hellenes. His father Nicomachus was personal doctor Macedonian king Amyntas II, father of the famous Philip II. Aristotle's close ties with the Macedonian court date back to his childhood.

Aristotle. Sculpture by Lysippus

As a child, Aristotle lost his parents and lived in the house of his guardian Proxenus, who gave him a good upbringing. In 367, the 17-year-old Aristotle traveled to Athens in order to study philosophy there. In this most glorious of Greek cities he lived for twenty years. Aristotle entered the Academy as a student, a school opened by the great thinker. Noticing the brilliant talents of Aristotle, Plato began to distinguish him among his other pupils. But the young philosopher soon began to deviate from many of his teacher's ideas and develop his own worldview. Noticing this, he bitterly said that "Aristotle pushed us away from him, like a foal - his mother." However, the personal relationship of the two geniuses of Greek thought remained friendly for a long time.

Aristotle and Plato. Sculptor Lucca della Robbia

Most of all, Aristotle challenged the Platonic doctrine of ideas. Plato believed that ideas form a special higher incorporeal world, while Aristotle saw in them only the essence of material phenomena contained in these latter themselves. It was about this dispute that Aristotle once uttered a rather long phrase, better known in an abbreviated translation: "Plato is my friend, but the truth is dearer."

Aristotle's teacher, Plato

Aware of Aristotle's close ties with the Macedonian court, the Athenians sent him as an ambassador to King Philip II during a conflict with him over Olynthus. When the philosopher returned from this trip, Plato had already died (348), and his nephew Speusippus became the head of the Academy. Either for this reason, or because of popular dissatisfaction with the results of the embassy to Philip (which could not save the cities taken by the Macedonians from destruction), Aristotle and another outstanding "academician", Xenocrates, left Athens. They went to Asia Minor to their mutual friend Hermias, the tyrant of the cities of Atarney and Assa. Aristotle and Xenocrates lived with Hermias for three years, until the Persian king Artaxerxes Ox ordered him to be crucified for attempting to revolt. In memory of Hermia, who died a cruel death, Aristotle wrote a poetic hymn.

After leaving Asia Minor, Aristotle lived for some time in Mytilene, on the island of Lesbos, the birthplace of the great poets Alcaeus and Sappho. In 343, King Philip II invited him to become a teacher and educator to his son, Alexander the Great, the future great conqueror. Aristotle studied with Alexander for eight years, until his accession, and enjoyed the great respect of an ardent young man. The philosopher skillfully tempered the passion of Alexander's soul, aroused in him serious thoughts and noble aspirations for glory and deeds. Aristotle instilled in his pupil a love for The Iliad by Homer, a book that Alexander then did not part with all his life. In gratitude to Aristotle, Philip II even restored from the ruins the native city of the philosopher Stagira, destroyed by the Macedonians along with Olynthus.

Shortly before Alexander's speech on the eastern campaign, Aristotle returned (335) from Macedonia to Athens. He lived in Athens for the next 13 years. head Platonic Academy was then Xenocrates, and Aristotle founded his own philosophical school in Lyceum - a gymnasium in the east of the city, near the temple of Apollo Lycian. The word "Likey" (Lyceum) has since become a household word - just like the word "Academy". Aristotle had a habit of teaching by walking up and down the alley. From this he and his students received the nickname " peripatetics"("walkers"). Aristotle gave two types of lectures at the Lyceum: for the general public ( exoteric- "external") and for the best, well-prepared pupils ( acroamatic or esoteric- “internal”, “deep”). During this second sojourn in Athens, Aristotle probably wrote most of his major works. During these years, his wife, Pythiades, died, and the philosopher took her former slave, Herpyllida, as his new wife.

Aristotle and his students. On the left - Alexander the Great and Demetrius of Phaler, on the right - Theophrastus and Strato. Fresco by E. Lebeditsky and K. Rahl

Alexander the Great kept in touch with Aristotle from Asia as well. Some historians claim that the king gave his former mentor a huge amount of 800 talents for scientific research. In the eastern campaign, Alexander was accompanied by Aristotle's nephew, Callisthenes, who sent his uncle from Babylon astronomical observations made by the Chaldeans 1900 years before. An educated man, but very ambitious, Callisthenes soon became involved in opposition to the eastern despotic manners, which Alexander showed more and more as he moved to Asia. The Macedonian nobility, dissatisfied with the fact that the king, to the detriment of her, was bringing the defeated Persians closer to him, made a conspiracy against Alexander (327). Most likely, Callisthenes was also involved in this conspiracy, and he was executed for this.

The death of Callisthenes, apparently, destroyed the friendship between Aristotle and Alexander. There were rumors that at the end of the eastern campaign, Alexander died (323) not of natural causes, but was poisoned, and that poison for the king was sent from Greece by Aristotle in a donkey's hoof. These stories are unlikely, but they cannot be completely neglected.

After Alexander's death, the Greeks rebelled against Macedonian hegemony, starting the Lamian War. Aristotle had a reputation for being a supporter of the Macedonians. Perhaps for this reason he was accused of atheism and considered it best to flee from Athens (late 323 or early 322). The philosopher went to the island of Euboea, to the city of Chalkis, where a few months later he died of gastritis (322). The inhabitants of their native Stageira later honored Aristotle as a hero and established a special holiday in his honor. Honors were paid to the philosopher even in sacred Delphi.

Aristotle's successor as head of the Lyceum was his most talented student. Aristotle's son Nicomachus was, as they say, killed in the war in his youth, but the philosopher's line was continued by his daughter, Pythiades.

Theophrastus (Theophrastus). antique bust

He was a physically weak, undersized and sickly man. He spoke quickly and had a speech impediment - he mixed the sounds "r" and "l". In ancient times, accusations of the great philosopher of effeminacy, pettiness and envy were widespread, but they, most likely, were only slander of personal enemies.

Aristotle, statue head by Lysippus

Some writings that have come down to us with the name of Aristotle are considered forged. Others were apparently not intended for publication - they are simply collections of notes, sketches, or notebooks of his students. Unlike Plato, the style of Aristotle acquires loftiness and strength only where some lofty thought is expressed; usually he is dry and unartistic. However, it was Aristotle who first developed a strictly scientific language.

THE CONCEPT OF GOVERNING THE LEGAL STATE

Relying on real facts and scientific results of philosophy, sociology, law, political economy, management theorists and physiocratic economists began to propagate the doctrine of "natural law" And "natural order" formulate and defend the so-called natural rights of man.

NATURAL LAW - the concept of political and legal thought, meaning a set of principles and rights arising from human nature and independent of social conditions. Idea natural law has been developed in ancient world(Aristotle, Cicero).

Aristotle(384 BC - 322 BC) - Ancient Greek philosopher. Plato's student. From 343 BC e. - teacher of Alexander the Great. Aristotle was the first thinker who created a comprehensive system of philosophy, covering all areas of human development: sociology, philosophy, politics, logic, physics.

At Aristotle fair and lawful coincide. Law is political justice and the norm of political relations between people. "The concept of justice is connected with the idea of ​​the state, since the law, which serves as a criterion of justice, is the regulatory norm of political communication," he believed. Aristotle. Law in general Aristotle called "political right" because non-political right is impossible. Law in general Aristotle, is absent in non-political forms of government, such as despotisms. Political law is of two types - natural and conditional (will-established). In teaching Aristotle the two are distinct, but both are political phenomena.

NATURAL LAW Aristotle defines it as one that "has the same meaning everywhere and does not depend on recognition or non-recognition of it." TO conditional law Aristotle relates universal agreements and the establishment of the law, the latter being divided into written and unwritten. Unwritten laws also include legal customs (customary law). Under conditional right Aristotle everything that later came to be denoted by the term "positive (positive) law" is understood. In concept Aristotle the essential quality of the law is its conformity with law and political justice. “Every law basically presupposes a kind of law.” The retreat of law from law leads to the degeneration of law into a means of despotism. Political government is based on law and does not depend on the people. Aristotle believed that rulers are subject to feelings, while the law is “a balanced mind”. Historical merit Aristotle consists in an attempt to encyclopedic coverage of reality and its systematization in the doctrine of the state and law.

Mark Tullius Cicero(January 3, 106 BC - December 7, 43 BC) - an ancient Roman politician and philosopher, a brilliant orator.