When it comes to well known Greek philosophers, Aristotle is a leader in the memory banks, as his memory continues to linger on throughout time. In history, he is best known as a student of Plato and the teacher who shaped the mind of Alexander the Great.
Aristotle
Aristotle was rather prolific in his writing and tackled various subjects that spanned poetry, theater, politics, government, zoology, and metaphysics. Joining Socrates and Plato, Aristotle has become one of the most significant figures attached to Western thought.
His thoughts on philosophy and science are rather known and he led the way in molding medieval thought in regards to his views on science and physics. His works would carve a niche for the earliest formal study of logic. Today, it is impossible to take a philosophy class without bumping into Aristotle, who rightly earned the title of “father of logic.” A few quotes to remember him by include:
1) “One swallow does not make a summer.”
2) “Art completes what nature leaves unfinished.”
3) “By an uneducated man, we mean someone who completely lacks chorus training; the educated
man is fully chorus trained.”
4) “All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.”
5) “Education is the best provision for the journey to old age.”
6) “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”
7) “It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.”
Hesiod
This early Greek poet is believed to have lived around 700BC. Usually, you will hear Hesiod paired with Homer, as they are both seen as the earliest of poets in the Greek culture. Their work was able to survive for many years and many researchers often enter a debate as to who lived first out of the two.
However, Hesiod produced a lot of writings that dealt with information on Greek mythology, as well as farming techniques. He was also knowledgeable in the oldest ways of Greek astronomy and the ancient methods of keeping time. One of Hesiod’s achievements was penning a poem that consisted of about 800 verses. It was called “Works and Days,” and was centered on two general truths. He believed that “labor is the universal lot of Man, but he who is willing to work will get by. Numerous scholars have created interpretations off of these words.
Other topics of Hesiod’s writing is seen in the peaceful poems he wrote, and everyday tales influenced by the gods. If you read “Theogony (Birth of the Gods),” you will learn how the world began and discover the ins and outs of the gods , including the way they lived and their loves. Words of Hesiod include:
“One day the Muses taught me glorious song”¦
They plucked and gave to me a laurel rod,
A sturdy shoot, a truly wondrous thing,
And into me they breathed a voice divine
To celebrate the future and the past.
My orders were to celebrate the gods who live
Eternally, but most of all to sing
Of them themselves, the Muses, first and last.”