PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT “NARRATIVE HISTORY” AMOUNTS TO FABULATION, THE REAL STUFF BEING MERE CHRONOLOGY “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project The People of Walden HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN WALDEN: No wonder that Alexander carried the Iliad with him on PEOPLE OF his expeditions in a precious casket. A written word is the WALDEN choicest of relics. It is something at once more intimate with us and more universal than any other work of art. It is the work of art nearest to life itself. It may be translated into every language, and not only be read but actually breathed from all human lips; –not be represented on canvas or in marble only, but be carved out of the breath of life itself. The symbol of an ancient man’s thought becomes a modern man’s speech. Two thousand summers have imparted to the monuments of Grecian literature, as to her marbles, only a maturer golden and autumnal tint, for they have carried their own serene and celestial atmosphere into all lands to protect them against the corrosion of time. Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations. Books, the oldest and the best, stand naturally and rightfully on the shelves of every cottage. They have no cause of their own to plead, but while they enlighten and sustain the reader his common sense will not refuse them. Their authors are a natural and irresistible aristocracy in every society, and, more than kings or emperors, exert an influence on mankind. When the illiterate and perhaps scornful trader has earned by enterprise and industry his coveted leisure and independence, and is admitted to the circles of wealth and fashion, he turns inevitably at last to those still higher but yet inaccessible circles of intellect and genius, and is sensible only of the imperfection of his culture and the vanity and insufficiency of all his riches, and further proves his good sense by the pains which he takes to secure for his children that intellectual culture whose want he so keenly feels; and thus it is that he becomes the founder of a family. ALEXANDER HOMER HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN 384 BCE Aristotle (Aristoteles) was born in the city of Stageiros (Stagira) in Macedonia, son of Nichomacus, the personal physician to the King Amyntas of Macedon who would become the grandfather of Alexander the Great. HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN NOBODY COULD GUESS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT The People of Walden “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN 367 BCE Aristoteles left Stageiros at the age of 17 to attend the Academy founded by Aristokles of Athens, a rich man known under his wrestling nickname “Platon” who was at this point pursuing an opportunity to combine philosophy and practical politics in Syracuse, a city-state on the island of Sicily, as the tutor the new ruler Dionysius the Younger. Plato returned to Syracuse with Xenocrates. Dionysius would eventually expel Plato’s local friend Dion on suspicions that he was plotting against him, and Plato out of loyalty would petition that his friend be recalled. Dionysius would never, however, permit Dion to return to Sicily, and so Dion would wind up enrolled as a more or less permanent pupil at the Academy. Aristotle would continue some two decades at the Academy, until at the death of the founder, in 347, Plato’s nephew and heir Speusippus would be selected to head the Academy. HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN In THE REPUBLIC, in dialogs by Cratylus and by Charmides, in allegories on temperance and on the cave, and in quoting Socrates, Plato made frequent use of the expression “By the dog of Egypt!” This was a reference the Egyptian jackal-headed deity Anubis that sniffed the dead to ensure that they were fit for the afterlife. In THE BOOK OF THE DEAD, this deity was a figure of judgment and discernment. To swear by the dog of Egypt was thus a dramatic way to affirm that one’s declaration would withstand the most discerning scrutiny. LIFE IS LIVED FORWARD BUT UNDERSTOOD BACKWARD? — NO, THAT’S GIVING TOO MUCH TO THE HISTORIAN’S STORIES. LIFE ISN’T TO BE UNDERSTOOD EITHER FORWARD OR BACKWARD. “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project The People of Walden HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN 356 BCE June 28:Alexander was born. During this year Philomelus of Phocis was seizing Delphi and the Sacred War was breaking out. DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION? GOOD. The People of Walden “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN 363 BCE Aristotle studied under Plato. HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN A WEEK: The eye which can appreciate the naked and absolute beauty PEOPLE OF of a scientific truth is far more rare than that which is A WEEK attracted by a moral one. Few detect the morality in the former, or the science in the latter. Aristotle defined art to be , The principle of the work without the wood; but most men prefer to have some of the wood along with the principle; they demand that the truth be clothed in flesh and blood and the warm colors of life. They prefer the partial statement because it fits and measures them and their commodities best. But science still exists everywhere as the sealer of weights and measures at least. ARISTOTLE CHANGE IS ETERNITY, STASIS A FIGMENT The People of Walden “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN 347 BCE Aristotle travelled in the Greek islands and in Asia Minor to avoid Athenian accusations that he was pro- Macedonian. For several years his home-away-from-home would be Assos, which was under the rule of the pro-Macedonian leader Hermias. It was during this period on Assos that Aristotle met Pythias, whom he would marry after Hermias (apparently her relative) was killed by the Persians in about 341 BCE. It was during this period that Aristotle would make many of the observations of fauna and flora which figure in his biological writings. (Eventually, Alexander the Great’s entire army would be forwarding him specimens. When Henry Thoreau would consult these biological writings and marvel at how much Aristotle already knew about fishes, this would lead in Concord to a wild derogation, by Ellery Channing: that his friend was supposed that he “had discovered Aristotle.”) WHAT I’M WRITING IS TRUE BUT NEVER MIND YOU CAN ALWAYS LIE TO YOURSELF The People of Walden “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN 343 BCE Aristotle accepted the invitation of King Phillip of Macedon to tutor his son Alexander, who had newly turned teenager. HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN THE FUTURE IS MOST READILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project The People of Walden HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN 342 BCE Aristotle, pupil of Plato, arrived in Macedon, where his father was physician to King Philip, to take a position as tutor to Philip’s son Alexander. HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN THE FUTURE CAN BE EASILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project The People of Walden HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN 340 BCE Resumption of war between Athens and Philip. At this point Aristotle most probably returned to his home town of Stagira in Macedonia, his services as tutor of Alexander son of King Philip no longer much required. Fresh attempts were made by the Carthaginians upon Syracuse. Timoleon defeated them with great slaughter. HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN 336 BCE Upon the assassination of King Philip of Macedon, his son Alexander succeeded to the throne. He gained several victories over the northern barbarians who had attacked Macedonia, and destroyed Thebes, which, in conjunction with Athens. had taken up arms against the Macedonians. Zeno of Citium (Ζήνων ὁ Κιτιεύς), who would found Greek Stoic philosophy, was born. HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN 334 BCE Alexander of Macedon intruded into Asia. HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN 333 BCE At Issus, Alexander defeated the army of Persia and took control of the western half of the Persian empire. HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN 332 BCE Alexander was victorious over Egypt. HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN 331 BCE At the Battle of Gaugamela (Arbela), Alexander defeated King Darius of Persia and took control of the whole Persian Empire as well as all of Greece. From this point onward Alexander would be destroying the power of Persia and establishing an empire which would temporarily stretch from Macedonia to Egypt, and to the Indus River: HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE OF WALDEN: ALEXANDER THE GREAT PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN HDT WHAT? INDEX THE PEOPLE