Aristocles of Messene

Aristocles of Messene (/əˈrɪstəˌkliːz/; Greek: Ἀριστοκλῆς ὁ Μεσσήνιος), in Sicily,[1] was a Peripatetic philosopher, who probably lived in the 1st century AD.[2] He may have been the teacher of Alexander of Aphrodisias.[3]

Aristocles of Messene
Born	Messene
Notable work	A history of philosophy, in 10 books
Era	Hellenistic philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Peripatetic
Main interests	History
Influences Aristotle
Influenced Eusebius

According to the Suda[1] and Eudokia, he wrote several works:

• Πότερον σπουδαιότερος Ὅμηρος ἢ Πλάτων – Whether Homer or Plato is more Worthy.
• Τέχναι ῥητορικαί – Arts of Rhetoric.
• A work on the god Serapis.
• A work on Ethics, in nine books.
• A work on Philosophy, in ten books.

The last of these works appears to have been a history of philosophy in which he wrote about the philosophers, their schools, and doctrines. Several fragments of it are preserved in Eusebius' work Praeparatio Evangelica.[4] One particularly important fragment is known as the Aristocles Passage in which Pyrrho summarizes his philosophy of Pyrrhonism. This summary includes a translation of the Buddhist three marks of existence into Greek.[5]

Notes

1. Suda, Aristokles
2. Karamanolis, G., (2006), Plato and Aristotle in Agreement?: Platonists on Aristotle from Antiochus to Porphyry, page 37. Oxford University Press.
3. Cyrill. c. Jul. ii. The correct reading of this passage is in doubt and may refer instead to Aristotle of Mytilene.
4. Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica, xiv, xv.
5. Beckwith, Christopher I. (2015). Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia (PDF). Princeton University Press. pp. 22–23. ISBN 9781400866328.

References

• Maria Lorenza Chiesara (ed.), Aristocles of Messene. Testimonia and Fragments, New York, Oxford University Press, 2001.
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Aristocles". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.