Nicomachus ( el, Νικόμαχος; fl. c. 325 BC) was the son of
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...
.
Biographical details
The ''
Suda
The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souida ...
''—a massive 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world—states that Nicomachus was from
Stageira, was a philosopher, a pupil of
Theophrastus
Theophrastus (; grc-gre, Θεόφραστος ; c. 371c. 287 BC), a Greek philosopher and the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He was a native of Eresos in Lesbos.Gavin Hardy and Laurence Totelin, ''Ancient Botany'', Routle ...
, and, according to
Aristippus
Aristippus of Cyrene (; grc, Ἀρίστιππος ὁ Κυρηναῖος; c. 435 – c. 356 BCE) was a hedonistic Greek philosopher and the founder of the Cyrenaic school of philosophy. He was a pupil of Socrates, but adopted a very diffe ...
, his lover. He may have written a commentary on his father's lectures in physics. Nicomachus was born to the slave
Herpyllis Herpyllis of Stagira ( el, Ἑρπυλλίς) was Aristotle's concubine after his wife, Pythias, died.
Together Aristotle and Herpyllis had a son, named Nicomachus after Aristotle's father. Nicomachus was quite young when Aristotle wrote his wil ...
, and his father's will commended his care as a boy to several tutors, then to his adopted son, Nicanor. Historians think the ''
Nicomachean Ethics
The ''Nicomachean Ethics'' (; ; grc, Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, ) is Aristotle's best-known work on ethics, the science of the good for human life, which is the goal or end at which all our actions aim. (I§2) The aim of the inquiry is ...
'', a compilation of Aristotle's lecture notes, was probably named after or dedicated to Aristotle's son. However, Nicomachus is also believed to be the name of Aristotle's
father. Several ancient authorities may have conflated Aristotle's ethical works with the commentaries that Nicomachus wrote on them. Ancient sources indicate that Nicomachus died in battle while still a "lad".
Jonathan Barnes
Jonathan Barnes, FBA (born 26 December 1942 in Wenlock, Shropshire) is an English scholar of Aristotelian and ancient philosophy.
Education and career
He was educated at the City of London School and Balliol College, Oxford University.
He t ...
, "Roman Aristotle", in Gregory Nagy, ''Greek Literature'', Routledge 2001, vol. 8, p. 176 n. 249.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicomachus
4th-century BC births
4th-century BC Greek people
4th-century BC philosophers
Classical Greek philosophers
Ancient Stagirites
Peripatetic philosophers
Philosophers of ancient Chalcidice
Year of death unknown