The Greek philosopher and polymath Aristotle (384-322 BC) was born in Stagira, an ancient city on the Euboean peninsula. Alongside Plato (427-347 BC), whose co-worker he was, he is considered the greatest thinker and natural scientist of antiquity and the founder of scientific philosophy. He also influenced Christian philosophy in the Middle Ages. In 342 BC, he spent six years at the Macedonian court as tutor to the 13-year-old crown prince Alexander (356-323 BC), who later became "Alexander the Great". On his return to Athens, he established a museum of natural history and a library. Many of his written works have been preserved.
Preoccupation with viticulture and wine enjoyment
He cultivated an experimental vineyard with many grape varieties and practised a kind of scientific cultivation of the vine. He mentions the varieties Kapnias (Hatzimichalis) and Lemnia (a possible descendant of Limnio). He also worked (unsuccessfully) on the production of wine spirit by distillation. Aristotle believed that although wine made people more addicted to love, he criticised the alcohol-fuelled blindness in choosing a partner and posed the question of the consequences of excess: "Why is the seed of drunkards usually not fertile? He described the bitter awakening after an extensive binge as "a kind of boiling and inflammation in its final stage".
He wrote about the positive and, so to speak, indispensable inspiration of artists through the consumption of wine: "He who is without wine knocks in vain at the gate of the Muses". However, his two assertions prove that even such great minds are not immune to error: "The female partridge can be fertilised by the voice of the male" and "A drop of wine in a large barrel of water becomes water". Parts of his works are included in the agricultural anthology Geoponika. See also under Ancient wines, Ancient grape varieties and Drinking culture.
Picture: From Raphael (The School of Athens), Public domain, Link
