Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database

9474

Plutarch, Alexander The Great, 7.4

ἤδη γὰρ εἰς Ἀσίαν διαβεβηκώς, καὶ πυθόμενος λόγους τινὰς ἐν βιβλίοις περὶ τούτων ὑπὸ Ἀριστοτέλους ἐκδεδόσθαι, γράφει πρὸς αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ φιλοσοφίας παρρησιαζόμενος ἐπιστολήν, ἧς ἀντίγραφόν ἐστιν· Ἀλέξανδρος Ἀριστοτέλει εὖ πράττειν. οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἐποίησας ἐκδοὺς τοὺς ἀκροαματικοὺς τῶν λόγων τίνι γὰρδὴ διοίσομεν ἡμεῖς τῶν ἄλλων, εἰ καθʼ οὓς ἐπαιδεύθημεν λόγους, οὗτοι πάντων ἔσονται κοινοί; ἐγὼ δὲ βουλοίμην ἂν ταῖς περὶ τὰ ἄριστα ἐμπειρίαις ἢ ταῖς δυνάμεσι διαφέρειν. ἔρρωσο. For after he had already crossed into Asia, and when he learned that certain treatises on these recondite matters had been published in books by Aristotle, he wrote him a letter on behalf of philosophy, and put it in plain language. And this is a copy of the letter. Alexander, to Aristotle, greeting. Thou hast not done well to publish thy acroamatic doctrines; for in what shall I surpass other men if those doctrines wherein I have been trained are to be all men’s common property? But I had rather excel in my acquaintance with the best things than in my power. Farewell.

Intertexts (texts cited often on the same page as the searched text):

8 results
1. Aristophanes, The Rich Man, 287 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
2. Herodotus, Histories, 7.73, 8.138.2-8.138.3 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) 7.73. The Phrygian equipment was very similar to the Paphlagonian, with only a small difference. As the Macedonians say, these Phrygians were called Briges as long as they dwelt in Europe, where they were neighbors of the Macedonians; but when they changed their home to Asia, they changed their name also and were called Phrygians. The Armenians, who are settlers from Phrygia, were armed like the Phrygians. Both these together had as their commander Artochmes, who had married a daughter of Darius. 8.138.2. This river, when the sons of Temenus had crossed it, rose in such flood that the riders could not cross. So the brothers came to another part of Macedonia and settled near the place called the garden of Midas son of Gordias, where roses grow of themselves, each bearing sixty blossoms and of surpassing fragrance. 8.138.3. In this garden, according to the Macedonian story, Silenus was taken captive. Above it rises the mountain called Bermius, which none can ascend for the wintry cold. From there they issued forth when they had won that country and presently subdued also the rest of Macedonia.
3. Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library, 5.64.4, 17.16.3 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) 5.64.4.  But some historians, and Ephorus is one of them, record that the Idaean Dactyli were in fact born on the Mt. Idê which is in Phrygia and passed over to Europe together with Mygdon; and since they were wizards, they practised charms and initiatory rites and mysteries and in the course of a sojourn in Samothrace they amazed the natives of that island not a little by their skill in such matters. And it was at this time, we are further told, that Orpheus, who was endowed with an exceptional gift of poesy and song, also became a pupil of theirs, and he was subsequently the first to introduce initiatory rites and mysteries to the Greeks. 17.16.3.  He then proceeded to show them where their advantage lay and by appeals aroused their enthusiasm for the contests which lay ahead. He made lavish sacrifices to the gods at Dium in Macedonia and held the dramatic contests in honour of Zeus and the Muses which Archelaüs, one of his predecessors, had instituted.
4. Plutarch, Aemilius Paulus, 5 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
5. Plutarch, Alexander The Great, 7.2-7.3, 7.5 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) 7.2. he sent for the most famous and learned of philosophers, Aristotle, and paid him a noble and appropriate tuition-fee. The city of Stageira, that is, of which Aristotle was a native, and which he had himself destroyed, he peopled again, and restored to it those of its citizens who were in exile or slavery. 7.3. Well, then, as a place where master and pupil could labour and study, he assigned them the precinct of the nymphs near Mieza, where to this day the visitor is shown the stone seats and shady walks of Aristotle. It would appear, moreover, that Alexander not only received from his master his ethical and political doctrines, but also participated in those secret and more profound teachings which philosophers designate by the special terms acroamatic and epoptic, i.e., fit for oral teaching only, and for the initiated; esoteric, as opposed to exoteric doctrines. and do not impart to many. 7.5. Accordingly, in defending himself, Aristotle encourages this ambition of Alexander by saying that the doctrines of which he spoke were both published and not published; for in truth his treatise on metaphysics is of no use for those who would either teach or learn the science, but is written as a memorandum for those already trained therein.
6. Plutarch, Pyrrhus, 12.6-12.7 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
7. Athenaeus, The Learned Banquet, None (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
8. Strabo, Geography, 12.5.3 12.5.3. Pessinus is the greatest of the emporiums in that part of the world, containing a sanctuary of the Mother of the Gods, which is an object of great veneration. They call her Agdistis. The priests were in ancient times potentates, I might call them, who reaped the fruits of a great priesthood, but at present the prerogatives of these have been much reduced, although the emporium still endures. The sacred precinct has been built up by the Attalic kings in a manner befitting a holy place, with a sanctuary and also with porticos of white marble. The Romans made the sanctuary famous when, in accordance with oracles of the Sibyl, they sent for the statue of the goddess there, just as they did in the case of that of Asclepius at Epidaurus. There is also a mountain situated above the city, Dindymum, after which the country Dindymene was named, just as Cybele was named after Cybela. Near by, also, flows the Sangarius River; and on this river are the ancient habitations of the Phrygians, of Midas, and of Gordius, who lived even before his time, and of certain others, — habitations which preserve not even traces of cities, but are only villages slightly larger than the others, for instance, Gordium and Gorbeus, the royal residence of Castor the son of Saocondarius, where Deiotarus, Castor's father-in-law, slew him and his own daughter. And he pulled down the fortress and ruined most of the settlement.

Subjects of this text:

subject	book bibliographic info
acropolis	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 211
aemilius paullus,l.	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
agriculture	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
alexander iii (the great) of macedon	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
alexander iii of macedon	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 211
altar	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
amphipolis	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
architecture,pella	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 211
aristotle	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207, 211
asia,and oikoumene	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
axios,river	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
beroia	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207, 211
cassander	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
cassandreia	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
demetrius poliorcetes	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207, 211
dion,city	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
edessa	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207, 211
foreigner	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 211
gordian knot	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
gordium	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
gordius	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
haliacmon,river	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
hegemony,theban	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
heracles	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 211
herodotus,sources used by	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
kingship,macedonian	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
kingship,of midas	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
körte,gustav,and alfred körte	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
lityerses	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
lysimachus	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 211
macedon,macedonian	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207, 211
macedon and macedonians	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
methone	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
midas,and the gordian knot	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
midas,garden of	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
midas,golden touch of	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
midas	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
mieza	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207, 211
nymphaion	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 211
oikoumene	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
omen	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
pactolus river	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
pella	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207, 211
perseus,king of macedon	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207, 211
philip ii	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
phrygia and phrygians,as home of kingship	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
phrygia and phrygians,balkan origins of	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
phrygia and phrygians,dominion of	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
pieria	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
potidaea	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
prophecy and prophets	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
pydna	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207, 211
pyrrhus	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 211
religion	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
sacrifice'	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
sacrifice	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
samothrace	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
sardis,under lydians	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
stageira	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
stoa	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 211
strymon,river	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
tarn,william woodthorpe	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
theatre	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 211
thrace	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
thrace and thracians	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
torone	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 207
walls,city	Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 211
zeus,and kingship	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
zeus,cults and shrines of	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72
zeus	Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 72