Aristotle's Tomb
May 26, 2016 4:09 PM   Subscribe

Is this Greek hilltop the 2,400-year-old burial place of Aristotle? "Greek archaeologists at Ancient Stagira, Central Macedonia, say they have found Aristotle’s tomb. Addressing the Aristotle 2400 Years World Congress, they point to the 2,400-year-old tomb as the most important finding from the 20-year excavation."
posted by homunculus (22 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 


On first glance it seems like there is no reason to find this credible. So there's a structure of Hellenistic (perhaps) date with an altar in Aristotle's birthplace -- but beyond that, no reason to believe that this is even a tomb, let alone Aristotle's tomb.

Plus, provincial Greek archaeologists have every incentive in the world to try to boost their sites and make them seem as impressive as possible. This especially seems a Macedonian thing, in light of 'Alexander's' tomb last year and 'Philip II's' tomb at Vergina.
posted by dd42 at 4:21 PM on May 26, 2016 [4 favorites]


No, but it's a good marketing tie in for a round number arbitrary length of time since his death.
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:30 PM on May 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


They could go to Chipotle to discuss Aristotle.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:32 PM on May 26, 2016 [3 favorites]


Yes, I'd love to see any sort of reason why they're tying Aristotle's name to this site. I mean, I like the idea that his tomb been discovered, I always like reading about new archaeological discoveries, but...anyway, I'd trade a million Aristotle tombs for a single lost work.
posted by uosuaq at 4:37 PM on May 26, 2016 [10 favorites]


The claim was welcomed by Greece’s culture ministry; a senior aide to the minister, Aristides Baltas, said the academic community was awaiting further details.

“A team of independent archaeologists with no connection to a particular school or department have been working at the site,” the official told the Guardian. “What we know is that their excavation has been meticulous and we await further details with great anticipation.”
I think that's your clue right there. It has something of the 'self-taught Bible scholar discovers Noah's Ark' about it...
posted by prismatic7 at 4:49 PM on May 26, 2016


On first glance it seems like there is no reason to find this credible.

"I want to believe!"
-Aristotle
posted by homunculus at 4:52 PM on May 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


I think you mean: All people, by nature, desire to believe.
posted by uosuaq at 4:55 PM on May 26, 2016 [10 favorites]


prismatic7: "It has something of the 'self-taught Bible scholar discovers Noah's Ark' about it..."

In fairness, times are tough for Greek academics (and have been for years). I'm sure everyone involved here is completely competent, but sadly and unfortunately a little desperate.
posted by dd42 at 5:23 PM on May 26, 2016


Count the teeth.
posted by ocschwar at 6:44 PM on May 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


I'd trade a million Aristotle tombs for a single lost work.

That's the dream.
posted by homunculus at 7:18 PM on May 26, 2016


I'd trade a million Aristotle tombs for a single lost work.
You're in luck
posted by thelonius at 7:23 PM on May 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


Next year, they'll find Socrates' tomb, with the immortal inscription: "I drank what?"
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:53 PM on May 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


I'd trade a million Aristotle tombs for a single lost work.


I'd trade all of Aristotle's works for new poem by Sappho.

Seriously, the guy was wrong about everything, and dd incalculable harm to science, to women, to civil rights....seriously, the guy was the Donald Trump of natural philosophy.

Seriously, erase Aristotle from history and give us Sappho, and the world would be better off for it.
posted by happyroach at 10:08 PM on May 26, 2016 [3 favorites]


.
posted by Flippervault at 10:56 PM on May 26, 2016


Seriously, the guy was wrong about everything

That might be worst piece of intellectual history I've ever read. It reads like somebody who has never actually read Aristotle, which makes sense when half the links seem to be Wikipedia articles and random lecture notes from survey courses. Aristotle's writings are arguably the underpinnings of the modern scientific method, and he was the first philosopher to show his work on a lot of stuff. The reason that we're able to disagree with him today is because he showed his work and clarified his methodologies.

Instead the author hilariously claims that people who were "less wrong" than Aristotle include Pythagoras (we don't know much about the guy, but he supposedly ran a cult predicated on reincarnation and vegetarianism!), and Democritus (a figure who luckily reached a semi-correct conclusion without having any evidence to back it up).

Aristotle also firmly believed in the Principle of Non-Contradiction, which is a pretty damn important rule when you're going to claim that somebody was "wrong about everything."
posted by kingoftonga86 at 4:57 PM on May 27, 2016 [4 favorites]


Democritus (a figure who luckily reached a semi-correct conclusion without having any evidence to back it up).

Democritus actually had a good argument.

Parmenides argued that there could be no true movement, because when you (appear to) impart motion at the rear of an object, that impetus pushes the rearmost substance into the place occupied by the next-rearmost substance. But the next-rearmost hasn't had time to move out of the way, and two things cannot occupy the same space. Also, a "void" (an empty space which would allow this motion) within the substance cannot exist, because the existence of an entity without existence is incoherent. Democritus argued in response that there is a void, and that it lies between particles of what appears to be solid matter. The movement of these particles - atoms - is what we perceive as motion.

You might say that this is merely a thought experiment, but so was Einstein's reasoning about time viewed from the perspective of a photon. And a few centuries later, Lucretius used real observational science to argue that the decay and purification of things like metals shows that there are inherent qualities within the substances composing them, and he ascribes that to their atoms.

Pretty decent, considering that they didn't even have microscopes to show them Brownian motion.
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:07 AM on May 28, 2016


Pythagoras (we don't know much about the guy, but he supposedly ran a cult predicated on reincarnation and vegetarianism!)

"Pythagoras is one of the most interesting and puzzling men in history. Not only are the traditions concerning him an almost inextricable mixture of truth and falsehood, but even in their barest and least disputable form they present us with a very curious psychology. He may be described, briefly, as a combination of Einstein and Mrs. Eddy. He founded a religion, of which the main tenets were the transmigration of souls and the sinfulness of eating beans. His religion was embodied in a religious order, which, here and there, acquired control of the State and established a rule of the saints. But the unregenerate hankered after beans, and sooner or later rebelled."

-Bertrand Russell
posted by homunculus at 1:19 PM on May 28, 2016 [2 favorites]






Aristotle Rediscovered: "Bonhams will sell one of the most beautiful and rare books in the world – a first edition of Aristotle's De animalibus (On Animals) printed on vellum in Venice in 1476. Only one other copy on vellum of this masterwork of Renaissance printing is known to survive. The whereabouts of this copy were unknown for almost 100 years until it was rediscovered in eastern Tennessee in late 2015. Estimated at U.S. $300,000-500,000 it will be offered in the Fine Books and Manuscripts auction at Bonhams New York on June 8."

Aristotle's De Animalibus
posted by homunculus at 1:39 PM on June 1, 2016




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