Title: Aristotle, Alexander and Seleucus : virtue and legitimacy of Hellenistic kings
Source document: Graeco-Latina Brunensia. 2024, vol. 29, iss. 2, pp. 45-57
Extent
45-57
-
ISSN1803-7402 (print)2336-4424 (online)
Persistent identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.5817/GLB2024-2-5
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/digilib.80764
Type: Article
Language
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 International
Rights access
open access
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
This article aims to show an ideological link between the ideas on rulership of the Philosopher Aristotle, king Alexander III. of Macedon and king Seleucus I. of the Seleucid empire. These ideas concern the ideal form of monarchical government, the unique virtue of a ruler, the implications of a ruler's superior qualities and their consequences. The article will seek to provide evidence for such a link by presenting several passages from various relevant sources, such as the philosophical, historical, and biographical works of Aristotle, Arrian, Plutarch and Appian. First, the ideas and thoughts expressed in Aristotle's Politics on virtue and an ideal kingdom shall be analysed; then, their connection with Alexander the Great shall be explored; and finally, their influence extending to Seleucus shall be examined. A focus shall be concentrated on various speeches claimed to be spoken by Alexander and Seleucus, and the similarity between them and their contexts. Some examples of theories possibly contradicting the claim of the article shall be briefly discussed and commented on. Hopefully, this article will shed some light on the notably Ancient Greek origins of Hellenistic absolute monarchy conducive to their proper understanding.
References
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[2] Aristotle, Rackham, H. (Transl.). (1959). Politics. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[3] Arrian, Hammond, M. (Transl.). (2013). Alexander the Great: The Anabasis and the Indica. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
[4] Burtt, J. O. et al. (Transl.). (1962). Minor Attic Orators (Vol. II). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[5] Arrian, Roos, A. G. (Transl.). (1907). Flavii Arriani Anabasis Alexandri. Leipzig: in aedibus B. G. Teubneri.
[6] Dittenberger, W. (Ed.). (1903). Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae: Supplementum Sylloges Inscriptionum Graecarum. Leipzig: S. Hirzel.
[7] Herodotus; Godley, A. D. (Transl.). (1920). Herodotus, with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[8] Ma, J. (1999). Antiochos III and the cities of Western Asia Minor. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[9] Plutarch, Perrin, B. (Transl.). (1958). Plutarch's Lives (Vol. 7.); with an English Translation by Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann.
[10] Plutarch, Perrin, B. (Transl.). (1920). Plutarch's Lives (Vol. 9.); with an English Translation by Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann.
[11] Plutarch, Babbitt, F. C. (Transl.). (1961). Plutarch's Moralia (Vol. 3). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[12] Almagor, E. (2016). Seleukid Love and Power: Stratonike I. In A. Coşkun, & A. McAuley (Eds.), Seleukid Royal Women Creation, Representation and Distortion of Hellenistic Queenship in the Seleukid Empire (pp. 67–86). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.
[13] Badian, E., Günther, L., Ameling, W., Mehl, A., Schmitz, W., Bringmann, K., Tinnefeld, F., Pressler, F., Selzer, C., Montanari, F., Hidber, T., Walde, C., Sharples, R., Sigel, D., Bowie, E., Nutton, V., Neudecker, R., & Gerber, J. (2006). Alexander. In Brill's New Pauly Online. Brill [retrieved 17.9.2024 from https://doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e114170].
[14] Bevan, R. (1902). The House Of Seleucus (Vol. 1). London: Edward Arnold.
[15] Brodersen, K. (1985). Der Liebskranke Königssohn und die Seleukidische Herrschaftsauffassung. Athenaeum, 63, 459–469.
[16] Coşkun, A., & McAuley, A. (2016). Seleukid Royal Women Creation, Representation and Distortion of Hellenistic Queenship in the Seleukid Empire. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.
[17] Finkelberg, M. (2002). Virtue and Circumstances: On the City-State Concept of Arete. American Journal of Philology, 123(1), 35–49.
[18] Engels, D., & Erickson, K. (2016). Apama and Stratonike – Marriage and Legitimacy. In A. Coşkun, & A. McAuley (Eds.), Seleukid Royal Women Creation, Representation and Distortion of Hellenistic Queenship in the Seleukid Empire (pp. 39–65). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.
[19] Chaniotis, A. (2005). The Divinity of Hellenistic Rulers. In A. Erskine (Ed.), A Companion to the Hellenistic World (pp. 443–445). Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[20] Kiernan, T. P. (Ed.). (1962). Aristotle Dictionary. New York: Philosophical Library.
[21] Kvapil, O. (2023). Sacral and divine kingship in Seleucid Empire and Western Han. Graeco-Latina Brunensia, 28(2), 123–138.
[22] Macurdy, G. H. (1932). Hellenistic Queens: A Study of Woman-Power in Macedonia, Seleucid Syria, and Ptolemaic Egypt. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
[23] Meier, M., Günther, L., Ameling, W., Frede, D., Rhodes, P. J., Döring, K., & Gottschalk, H. (2006). Aristoteles. In Brill's New Pauly Online. Brill [retrieved 17.9.2024 from https://doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e136530].
[24] Meyer, E. (1925). Blüte und Niedergang des Hellenismus in Asien. Berlin: Karl Curtius.
[25] Nagle, D. B. (2000). Alexander and Aristotle's Pambasileus. L'Antiquité Classique, 69, 117–132.
[26] Newman, W. L. (1902). Politics of Aristotle (Vol. 1). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
[27] Ogden, D. (2017). The Legend of Seleucus: Kingship, Narrative and Mythmaking in the Ancient World. Cambridge: University Press.
[28] Powell, J. E. (1939). The Sources of Plutarch's Alexander. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 59(2), 229–240.
[29] Renaud, F. (2006). Virtue. In Brill's New Pauly Online. Brill [retrieved 17.9.2024 from https://doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e1222190].
[30] Sherwin-White, S., & Kuhrt, A. (1991). Aspects of Seleucid Royal Ideology: The Cylinder of Antiochus I from Borsippa. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 111, 71–86.
[31] Sherwin-White, S., & Kuhrt, A. (1993). From Samarkhand to Sardis: A New Approach to Seleucid Empire. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
[32] von Bredow, I., Mehl, A., Ameling, W., Hünemörder, C., Hübner, W., Baumbach, M., Matthaios, S. (2006). Seleucus. In Brill's New Pauly Online. Brill [retrieved 17.9.2024 from https://doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e1107300].
[33] Wilgaux, J. (2011). Consubstantiality, Incest, and Kinship in Ancient Greece. In R. Beryl (Ed.), A Companion to Families in the Greek and Roman Worlds (pp. 217–230). Malden, Mass.: Wiley-Blackwell.