William Weathersbee

Global History

Madigan Fichter

3/30/2016

The Golden Mean

This book The Golden Mean, written by Annabel Lyon is about Aristotle, a genius

philosopher who touched the mind of a boy, Alexander The Great, who would eventually

conquer the known world. A man of knowledge and wisdom must try to connect with one

that only knows of violence and warfare, a challenge he took out of optimism.

Aristotle, was ordered by his childhood friend, King Philip of Macedon, to tutor the his

teenage sons. One son suffered from a illness and had the intellect of a child; the other

son was destined to change the world but is overwhelmed with the attainment of

knowledge and the demand of his skill as a warrior. Also, Aristotle had to delay his

dream of succeeding Plato as leader of the Academy in Athens in order to teach the

King Philips sons. Aristotle didnt plan on staying in Athens for long, but as a man of

curiosity Aristotle takes on the challenge of teaching his pupils. Aristotle took a liking to

Alexander in particular because he had a questioning mind and he knows Alexander

was destined for something great.

I thought this novel sounded interesting at first because I thought a story told about

powerful historical figures would be exciting to read about. However, after reading this

book I felt it wasnt really focused on the history of the characters. The novel put a great

deal of emphasis on the relationships between the main characters. For example, it
focused on the relationships of Alexander and Aristotle, as well as Alexander and his

Father Philip or his mother Olympias. I would have preferred the book to focus more on

the historical context than the relationships between characters.

The main characters of the novel is Aristotle and Alexander. Aristotle a great philosopher

from Athens who postponed succeeding Plato as leader of the academy in Athens in

order to tutor the Kings sons. Alexander is the son of KIng Philip of Macedonian. The

role that two play in book is that they both represent two different worlds. Alexander he

was raised on warfare and possess great skills as a warrior, while Aristotle was one who

thought the intellect was more important than brawn. Since the characters are from two

completely backgrounds they change each others views. They are in a way similar to

though because they both are looking for answers for their questions.

One of the more important major themes at work in this book is the idea of extremes.

You see this idea over and over in the book. For example, Alexander he was ambitious

and intelligent. Then there's his half-brother Arrhidaeus,Brain damaged and hamper.

This is obviously a example because theyre characters is vastly different for a reason.

Also Alexander seeks power and will someday have the power to expand the

macedonian empire.Then at one point he asks Aristotle at one point in the novel,to

make the unknown known, isnt that the greatest virtue, the greatest happiness?. He

has all the power to take over other kingdoms but it didnt bring him peace at mind,so he

wanted knowledge to solve his problem. Another example is Aristotle,he is searching for

the means between extremes. He finds a state of divinity in the natural world and

science.In a passage Aristotle talks about how he struggles with swings from black

melancholy to golden joy. This shows he that he he could be in a state of madness

then he could enter a state of joy,which is another example of extremes being

portrayed.

Another theme in the book is balance.There are many instances in the book that one

will see this theme being portrayed. For example Aristotle and Alexander are from like

two different worlds one is warrior and the other is a scholar.They symbolize brain and

brawn. Also Aristotle felt like Alexander needed knowledge in order to balance to

balance the out the power and strength he had. For example on page 188,Aristotle says

to Alexander you must look for the mean between extremes,the point of balance. The

point will differ from man to man. There is not a universal standard of virtue to cover all

situations at times.Context must be taken into account,specificity, what is best at a

particular place and time. This quote clearly shows that Aristotle is trying to tell

Alexander that he needs to find balance in his life.

I didnt really like the book after I read it. I didnt really like it because I had high

expectations and it didnt really deliver. I was expecting it to focus more on the history

of that era and events that were happening. Also like to give us a first person point of

view of the action but the book was told by Aristotle point of view instead of Alexander.I

felt if the book was told from Alexander point of view when he was conquering other

nations that this book would be way more entertaining.

I just dont find it fascinated with the relationships between characters when theres so

much bigger events going on in the history that changed the world. Even though I didnt

really like the book I think it did definitely help me think differently about that era of

history. It did because it gave us insight about historical figures and theyre personal life.

For example many didnt know Alexander had a brain-damaged brother or that
Aristotle tutored Alexander for a brief time. I would definitely recommend this book to

someone who is interested in Alexander and Aristotle. This book definitely teaches

readers some background info about them that most people wouldnt know.

Clearly after reading my essay you can surely see that The Golden Mean main

themes were extremes and finding a state of balance. Aristotle told Alexander about this

and it is also shown when you look at the character personalities in this novel. This book

wasnt as interesting as I thought it would be but it definitely had some info I didnt know

about the historic figure that Im glad I learned. Even though it wasnt what I wanted to

read it was still worth reading!