[Footnote 20: We may infer this fact from the insulting reply made by
Alexander, not long before his death, to Kassander, who had just then
joined him for the first time at Babylon, having been sent by
Antipater at the head of a reinforcement. Some recent comers from
Greece complained to Alexander of having been ill-used by Antipater.
Kassander being present at the complaint, endeavoured to justify his
father and to invalidate their testimony, upon which Alexander
silenced him by the remark that he was giving a specimen of
sophistical duplicity learnt from Aristotle. [Greek: Tau=ta e)kei=na
sophi/smata tô=n A)ristote/lous ei)s e(ka/teron tô=n lo/gôn,
oi)môxome/nôn, a)\n kai\ mikro\n a)dikou=ntes tou\s a)nthrô/pous
phanê=te] (Plutarch, Alex. 74).]
I have recounted elsewhere how the character of Alexander became
gradually corrupted by unexampled success and Asiatic influences;[21]
how he thus came to feel less affection and esteem for Aristotle, to
whom he well knew that his newly acquired imperial and semi-divine
pretensions were not likely to be acceptable; how, on occasion of the
cruel sentence passed on Kallisthenes, he threatened even to punish
Aristotle himself, as having recommended Kallisthenes, and as
sympathizing with the same free spirit; lastly, how Alexander became
more or less alienated, not only from the society of Hellenic
citizens, but even from his faithful viceroy, the Macedonian
Antipater. But these changed relations between Aristotle and
Alexander did not come before the notice of the Athenians, nor alter
the point of view in which they regarded the philosopher; the rather,
since the relations of Aristotle with Antipater continued as intimate
as ever.
[Footnote 21: Histor. of Greece, ch. xciv. pp. 291, 301, 341;
Plutarch, Alexand. c. lv.; Dion Chrysostom. Orat. 64, p. 338,
Reiske.]
It will thus appear, that though all the preserved writings of
Aristotle are imbued with a thoroughly independent spirit of
theorizing contemplation and lettered industry, uncorrupted by any
servility or political bias--yet his position during the twelve years
between 335-323 B.C. inevitably presented him to the Athenians as the
macedonizing philosopher, parallel with Phokion as the macedonizing
politician, and in pointed antithesis to Xenokrates at the Academy,
who was attached to the democratical constitution, and refused kingly
presents. Besides that enmity which he was sure to incur, as an acute
and self-thinking philosopher, from theology and the other
anti-philosophical veins in the minds of ordinary men, Aristotle thus
became the object of unfriendly sentiment from many Athenian
patriots,[22] who considered the school of Plato generally as hostile
to popular liberty, and who had before their eyes examples of
individual Platonists, ruling their respective cities with a sceptre
forcibly usurped.[23]
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