Page 63 - Reading Success B6

Considered as one of the most brilliant people who ever lived, Aristotle was a
Greek philosopher who was a student of Plato. Later on he became a teacher of

Alexander the Great, one of the most famous and victorious military commanders
of all time. Aristotle did not write only on philosophy, but on other subjects as

well, such as ethics, physics, politics and government, logic, biology, and zoology.
He also wrote on poetry, saying that poetry could be divided into three types --

Tragedy, Comedy, and Epic. Aristotle, together with Socrates and Plato, are
considered the fathers of philosophy , laying the foundation for Western

philosophy as we know it today.
Aristotle’s father was a physician to King Amyntas of Macedon, so he was lucky

to have an ‘aristocratic education’. When he turned eighteen, he left his birthplace
of Thrace and went to Athens to study under Plato. He never left Plato’s academy

until the latter’s death twenty years later. Aristotle had a wife, Pythias, and a
daughter, whom he named after his wife. Soon, he became Alexander the Great’s

tutor. He established his own school in Athens after several years of teaching
Alexander. When his wife died, he remarried to Herypllis of Stagira, who gave him

a son whom he named Nicomachus, after his father.

Main Idea

What is the main idea of this story?

a. some of the contributions Aristotle has made to modern society

b. the life and work of Aristotle
c. how Alexander the Great was influenced by his education

d. who Plato was

66_Reading Success B 6