Georgios E Manousakis

With Aristotle Online Georgios E Manousakis

Three o'clock in the morning. The young student, Alexander Megas, had enough of the endless internet surfing that was getting him nowhere. He'd been searching for hours, trying to find what Aristotle had taught his most famous pupil, Alexander the Great. But as he reached out his hand to log off, the head of Aristotle appeared on the screen, a living, speaking image that spoke to him in a soft, sweet voice: "What are you looking for, Alexander? I've been watching you search for hours. Is there something I can help you with?" Those are the first words in a long conversation about the personality and achievements of Alexander the Great and the life and work of Aristotle, with a brief look at other Ancient Greek philosophers for good measure. Democracy, slavery, drinking parties and homosexuality are just some of the subjects they talk about. Alexander also hears the whole dialogue between Socrates and Crito, which took place after Socrates had been sentenced to death. The discussion also touches on the mathematical structure of Ancient Greece, and challenges the common notion that the Greeks thought scientific experimentation was unworthy of a philosopher. All these subjects are presented and discussed in a simple, pleasant way, so that with no particular effort the reader ends up with a good overall picture of Ancient Greek literature and hopefully an incentive to read more.