Aristotle and the "Philosophies of the East"

Author(s): Anton-Hermann Chroust

Source: The Review of Metaphysics, Vol. 18, No. 3 (Mar., 1965), pp. 572-580
Published by: Philosophy Education Society Inc.
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 EXPLORATION

ARISTOTLE AND THE "PHILOSOPHIES OF THE EAST7

ANTON-HERMANNCHROUST

According to Diogenes
Laertius, Book I (Prologue), Section 8,
"in the first book of his [dialogue] On Philosophy1 Aristotle
declares that the Magi are more ancient than the Egyptians. Fur
thermore, he asserts that the Magi believe in two principles,
a demon and an evil the one called Zeus or
namely, good demon,
Oromasdes [Ormudz or Mazda or Ahura-Mazda], the other Hades or
Arimanius [Ahriman]. This is confirmed by Hermippus in the first
book of his On the Magi, by Eudoxus in his Voyage Around the
World, and by Theopompus in the eighth book of his Philippica."2
et Osiride
In his De hide (Moralia 370C ff.), Plutarch writes:
"The Chaldaeans call two of the planets, which they consider
the authors or sources of everything that is good,
benign gods,
on the other the authors or sources of that
two, hand, everything
is evil, and the three remaining planets they regard as being 'in
between,' in the two opposite qualities. ... It is
participating
worthwhile also to observe that the [Greek] philosophers are in
accord with the Chaldaeans. For this reason Heraclitus [of
declared 'war the father, king and ruler of every
Ephesus]
. . .' After him designates the benign prin
thing. Empedocles
as Tove and friendship,' and at times as 'the harmony of the
ciple
serene eye,' while at the same time he defines the evil principle as

1
This is not
the place to discuss the many problems connected with
Aristotle's lost On Philosophy. That Aristotle wrote a dialogue
dialogue
On Philosophy is attested by Diogenes Laertius, V, 22 (No. 3), the Vita

Hesychii, 10 (No. 3), and Ptolemy-el-Garib (Nos. 1 and 2), who apparently
confounds and combines the On Philosophy and the Protrepticus. Scholars
still widely as to the proper of the On Philosophy: some date
disagree dating
it shortly before Plato's death, which occurred in 348/47, some shortly
thereafter. See, in general, M. Untersteiner, Aristotele: Delia Filosof?a
(Rome, 1963), passim; for the dating especially pp. xvii-xix. Untersteiner 's
discussion of the proper date, however, is somewhat inadequate. He relies

heavily on Jaeger's developmental thesis.

2
See also frag. 6 in Rose; frag. 6 in Walzer; frag. 6 in Untersteiner.

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ARISTOTLE AND THE "PHILOSOPHIES OF THE EAST" 573

'the cursed discord' and 'the bloody struggle. . . .' Aristotle

[by
following this tradition] proclaims the [principle of] form and [the
principle of] privation. ..."

Pliny, Historia Naturalis, XXX. 3, maintains: "Undoubtedly

this [science of the Magi] originated in Persia due to the efforts of
Zoroaster . . . Eudoxus, who claimed that of all the schools of

philosophy the most important and most influential was that of

the Magi, also reports that this man Zoroaster lived six thousand
years prior to the death of Plato. So says also Aristotle [in his
On . . ."3
Philosophy].
These three passages explicitly credit Aristotle with having
been acquainted with Zoroastrian (or Chaldaean) teachings. It is
also safe to assume that they refer to statements made by Aristotle
in his lost dialogue On Philosophy. But there are probably a
number of statements in the ("acroatic," "acroamatic,"
preserved
didactic,or "esoteric') compositions of Aristotle which, according
to some scholars, likewise reflect, though in a very modified and
garbled form, certain aspects of the Zoroastrian teachings. Hence,
a brief analysis and discussion of these three passages seem to be
appropriate, especially since they appear to indicate that in his
On Philosophy Aristotle probably quoted some of these "Oriental"
teachings, presumably in order to demonstrate the dependence of
certain aspects of Greek philosophy on the "philosophy" of the
Magi. More than that: they might actually suggest a substantial
connection between Greek philosophy in general and old Iranian
religious or quasi-religious traditions, something which in the past
has either been ignored or, in some instances, violently disputed by
scholars.

3
See frag 34 in Rose.
also V. Rose assigns this fragment to Aristotle's
Magicus, which is mentioned in Diogenes Laertius, I, 1 and I, 8, but not in
Diogenes Laertius' "list" of Aristotle's compositions (DL V. 22 ff.). The
Vita Hesychii mentions a (No. 192) among the spurious works of
Maytx?v
Aristotle. M. Untersteiner advanced the theory that Aristotle refers to the
Magi in his On Philosophy, a theory which well be
might accepted.
According to Diogenes Laertius, I, 8, Aristotle also points out (in his
apocryphal work Magicus) that the Magi "were wholly unacquainted with the
art of magic." And Dinon in his History, as well as Hermodorus, the
disciple of Plato, claim that the name Zoroaster means "star-worshipper"
totally erroneous etymology.
(?<jTpo5?TT|c)?a

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574 ANTON-HERMANN CHROUST

V. Rose,4 it will be noted, is of the opinion that the account of

Diogenes Laertius (DL I, 8) goes back to Sotion5 or, perhaps, to
Eudemus of Rhodes. He bases his view on the fact that in
Diogenes Laertius (I, 9) we are told that Eudemus confirmed
Theopompus' report that according to the Magi "men will live in
a future life and be immortal." W. Jaeger, on the other hand,
suggests that in all likelihood Eudoxus of Cnidus, the friend of
Plato, introduced these "orientalizing tendencies" into the Acad
emy during the latter years of Plato's scholarchate.6 This Eu
doxus, according to the testimony of Strabo (I, 1 and IX, 390 ff.)
and Polybius (in Strabo, X, 465), was an astronomer as well as the
author of a work on geography, entitled Voyage Around (or
Description of) the World. He is said to have been profoundly
interested in Egyptian and Oriental learning while he stayed in
these parts of the world. It is not impossible that he carried to
Greece the learning of the East, which, until about the middle of

4
V. Rose, Aristoteles Pseudepigraphus (Leipzig, 1863), pp. 37 ff. On
p. 50, Rose also assigns the passage from Pliny to the spurious Magicus (see
note 3 above), and claims that Pliny derives his information from Apion's
On the Magi. It is held, however, that Pliny consulted Hermippus, as might
be gathered from Pliny, XXX, 3, where we are told that "Hermippus . . .
wrote copiously about all that art [the art of the Magi], and commented on
two million lines written by Zoroaster. ..." Hermippus, it may be sur
mised, consulted Eudoxus and Theopompus (and, perhaps, Aristotle's On
Philosophy). This seems to become obvious from Diogenes Laertius, I, 8:
"This is confirmed by Hermippus in the first book of his On the Magi, by
Eudoxus in his Voyage Around the World, and by Theopompus in the eighth
"
book of his Philippica.
5
In he probably
this relies on Diogenes Laertius, I, 1, where we are
told that are some who maintain
"there that the study of philosophy had its
. . . the ...
beginnings with Magi for which they cite as authorities the
Magicus of Aristotle and Sotion in the twenty-third book of his Succession of
Philosophers." In his Succession (Diadoche), Sotion probably uses Hermo
dorus' On Mathematics, which was also concerned with "astralism." See
Diogenes Laertius, I, 1 and I, 8. That the beginnings of philosophy should
be credited to the Magi and other "barbarian philosophers" is also stated by
Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, I, 71. But Clement's source is not
known, unless it be Sotion.
6
W. Jaeger, Aristotle: Fundamentals of the History of His Develop
ment (Oxford, 1962), pp. 132 ff. See here also J. Kerschensteiner, Platon
und der Orient (Stuttgart, 1945), pp. 192 ff.; and S. P?trement, Le Dua
lisme chez Platon, les Gnostiques et les Manich?ens (Paris, 1947), pp. 21 ff.

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ARISTOTLE AND THE "PHILOSOPHIES OF THE EAST" 575

the fourth was unknown, or super

century B.C., largely only

ficially among
known, the Greeks.
Presumably in his On Philosophy, Aristotle, perhaps in the
a
form of general "introduction," started out with an outline of the
"history of philosophy." But unlike in his Metaphysics, in the
On Philosophy he did not limit himself to Greek philosophers
beginning with Tha?es.7 Here he reaches far beyond the Greek
orbit, mentioning among others the "philosophers of the East."
In brief, in his On Philosophy he presumably groped beyond the
Egyptians, going back to the Magi, whom he considered to be
older than even the Egyptians.8 To what extent the "philosophy
of the Magi" captivated Aristotle's interest and imagination may be
gathered from the fact that in Metaphysics 1091 b 8 ff., inci
dentally one of the earliest parts of the Metaphysics, he still main
tains that some of the earliest thinkers combined good and evil
and made the "Best" the original generating agent (or principle),
"as did the Magi and some of the later sages, such as Empe
"9
docles . . . and . . .
Anaxagoras.
The question may be raised here, how did the "philosophy of
the Magi" or Zoroastrianism come to the attention of Aristotle?10
7 In
Book A of the Metaphysics (981 b 23) Aristotle briefly remarks that
"mathematics was founded in Egypt" by the priestly caste.
8
In Meteorol?gica (352 b 19 ff.) and in Politics (1329 b 31 ff.) Aristotle
states, however, that the "Egyptians appear to be of all people the most
ancient." See here also W. Jaeger, op. cit., pp. 129 ff. Plato, Timaeus 23E,
points out that Athens was founded one thousand years before Egypt, and
Egypt eight thousand years before the time of Solon.
9
This particular passage, which sounds much like Plutarch, De I side
et Osiride, 370C ff. (see above), could very well be a "restatement" of what
Aristotle previously had said in his On Philosophy. Hence, it might be
included among the "fragments" of this lost dialogue. What is also of
interest to us here is the fact that Book N of the Metaphysics, as Jaeger has
pointed out, and the On Philosophy must be dated in close proximity.
10
See here in general J. Croissant, Aristote et les Myst?res (Paris,
1927); F. Dirlmeier, "Peripatos und Orient," in Die Antike, XXVIII (1928);
P. Boyanc?, Le Culte des Muses chez les Philosophes Grecs (Paris,
1937); J. Bidez and F. Cumont, Les Mages Hell?nis?s (Paris, 1938);
J. Kerschensteiner, Platon und der Orient (Stuttgart, 1945); F. Cumont,
Lux Perpetua (Paris, 1949), pp. 148 ff.; W. Brandenstein, "Iranische Ein
fl?sse bei Platon," in (Miscellanea Giovanni Galbiati III), Fontes Ambro
siani, XXVII (Milan, 1951), pp. 83-88; W. J. W. Koster, Le Mythe de Pia
ton, de Zarathoustra et des Chald?ens: Etude Critique sur les Relations Intel
lectuelles entre Platon et VOrient (Leiden, 1951); G. P. Carratelli, "Europa

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576 ANTON-HERMANN CHROUST

Tradition has it that during the last years of Plato's scholarchate

a Chaldaean (or follower of Zoroaster) was a member of, or had
been associated with, the Academy.11 As a matter of fact, the so
called Prolegomena to the Philosophy of Plato informs us that "for
the sake of Plato the Magi came to Athens eager to participate in
"12
the philosophy which he was expounding. To what extent
Chaldaeans or followers of Zoroaster?in Greek sources Chaldaeans
and Magi are frequently identified?influenced or molded the
teachings of the Academy during the last decade of Plato's scholar
chate is difficult to assess. In any event, according to (Plato?)
Alcihiades I (121E-122A), the four cardinal virtues in a way are
related to Persian (Iranian) or Zoroastrian "ethical maxims"; and
Iranian astral theology is called in the Epinomis (986E; 987B;
987D-988A) the highest form of wisdom, obviously a Zoroastrian
position.13
W. Jaeger believes that these Zoroastrian influences go back
to the time when Eudemus of Rhodes was active in the Academy,
where apparently his "Chaldaean astronomy" found a receptive
audience.14 But more than that: The Zoroastrian dualism of good
and evil ultimately might be back of Plato's dualistic metaphysics,
especially its later formulation.15 It is quite likely that Aristotle,

ed Asia nella Storia del Mondo Antico" in La Parola del Passato, fase. XL
(1955). This is not the place to discuss the many problems that have been
raised as regards the relationship which might exist between Zoroastrianism
and other religions, including Christianity. Such a discussion would have
to be carried on within the framework of a history of comparative religion
which is wholly outside the limited scope of this paper.
11
See Index Philosophorum Academicorum Herculanensis, ed. by
S. Mekler (Berlin, 1902), col. Ill, p. 13.
12
Ed. by Westerink, p. 15. It is not impossible that the Magi men
tioned here are identical with the Chaldaean referred to in the Index Hercu
lanensis.
13
See here W. Jaeger, op. cit., p. 132.
14
Ibid. In Plato's Laws (896D are told that
ff.) we "we must not
suppose that there are less than two souls, one
being the author or principle
of the good, the other the author or principle of the evil."
15
See Plutarch, De hide et Osiride, 370F ff., "Plato, in many passages,
as though hiding and veiling his opinion, names the one of the two opposing
principles 'Identity' and the other 'Difference.' But in his Laws, after he
had grown considerably older, he asserts, but not by the use of circum
locution or symbolic but in specific words, that the movement of
speech,
the Universe is actuated not just by one soul, but perhaps by several souls,

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ARISTOTLE AND THE "PHILOSOPHIES OF THE EAST" 577

who twenty years was closely associated with

for about the Pla
tonic Academy, should have gathered right there whatever infor
mation he had about the Magi and Chaldaeans. It should also be
noted that in the eighth book of his Philippica (which contained
a collection of unusual events), Theopompus compiled a survey
of Zoroastrian teachings. This compilation, it is claimed, was
quite accurate: it is based on bits of information which Theo
pompus had collected in Persia proper. Theopompus probably
wrote his report as a sort of excursus into the realm of the mira
culous in order to entertain his readers. At the same time he must
have believed that there existed among the educated Greeks of his
16
day a real interest in the "philosophies of the East."
It might be contended, however, that Zoroastrian influences
on Greek philosophy may possibly be detected long before Plato.
Perhaps Heraclitus' contention that "strife is the father of every

and certainly by not less than two souls; and that of these two souls the one
is benign, and the other is antagonistic to it and the originator of things
opposed [to the good]. Between these two souls he concedes that there
might be a certain third nature, not inanimate or without reason or without
the power to move of itself, as some have suggested, but dependent on both
of these two other souls, and desiring the better always and yearning after it
and pursuing it. ..." Plutarch refers here probably to Plato, Timaeus,
35A and Laws, 896D ff. In Theaetetus, 176A, for instance, Plato states:
"Evils . . . can never For there must remain
pass away. always something
which is antagonistic to the good." W. Jaeger, loc. cit., maintains that the
Zoroastrian dualism of good and evil did lend support to Plato's dualistic
metaphysics and, hence, did find ready acceptance by the late Plato and the
Platonists. There exists a remote possibility, however, that this Zoroastrian
dualism is actually from the very beginning at the basis of the Platonic
dualism the "evil"
of corporeal world and the "perfect" incorporeal world.
the implacable enemy of Plato, in his
Theopompus, KaTaopojATj tt?c ?l^aTwvo?
SiaTot-?vic, maintains that Plato derived from the Magi the "myth of Er"
(Republic, 614B ff.) as well as the doctrine of the immortality of the soul.
K. M?ller, Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, I, (Paris, 1841), p. 325;
F. Jacoby, Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker (Berlin, 1923) 2B,
p. 591; Proclus, Commentarii in Piatonis Rempublicam, ed. by W. Kroll,
(Leipzig, 1899-1901), II, p. 109, lines 7 ff., and p. 116, lines 19 ff. Proclus
quotes here
Colotes, who simply substituted Zoroaster for Er and called the
latter son of Arimenius
the (Ahriman). See also A.-H. Chroust, "Plato's
Detractors in Antiquity," this Review, XVI (1962), pp. 106 and 111.
16
See J. Bidez and F. Cumont, Les Mages Hell?nis?s (Paris, 1938), I,
p. 20.

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 578 ANTON-HERMANN CHROUST
17
thing" is but a formalization of the Zoroastrian struggle between
the forces of good and evil?a struggle which in a way is existential
reality. As amatter of fact, Plutarch (see above) directly connects
some
thisiz?lzpoc, TiaxYip 7t?vT<ov with the "Chaldaeans." But also of

the more famous utterances of Empedocles, the Pythagoreans,

Anaxagoras, Plato and even Aristotle are related to "Chaldaean
18
philosophy." That Heraclitus of Ephesus, the "Obscure," might
have been influenced by Zoroastrian teachings, has long been
suspected.19 And when Empedocles defines the Divine as "Mind,
holy and ineffable and only Mind, which darts through the uni
verse with Its swift thought [seil., is omnipresent]";20 or when he
calls "Love" and "Hate" the two prime agents throughout the
universe,21 he seems to restate the Zoroastrian "definition" of God
as well as the Zoroastrian dualism of good and evil.
It was probably these developments within Greek philosophy
itself that are behind Aristotle's concern with the Magi?a concern
which he seems
to have expressed in greater detail in his On
Philosophy. But also in some of his other works we can detect
traces of Zoroastrian teachings. The doctrine of the "eternal
return"?that truth returns at certain intervals22?which is
cyclic

definitely an essential aspect of Zoroastrian tradition, seems to be

17
Diels-Kranz, Frag. 53. One could cite here several fragments from
Heraclitus which would bring out, often in a metaphoric manner,
purely
this "struggle of opposites."
18
See here, for instance, Plutarch, De hide et Osiride, 370D ff., quoted
in the text above, at the beginning.
19
The story told by Diogenes Laertius, IX, 4, namely, that Heraclitus
had his body covered with cow dung, might reflect Zoroastrian-Parsee burial
rites. Also, Heraclitus' insistence that he was no man's (mortal man's?)
disciple (DL IX, 5) might point in the same direction. See here also
A.-H. Chroust, "A Prolegomena to Heraclitus of Ephesus," The Thomist, XX
(1957), pp. 470-487. In any event, King Darius I (521-486 B.C.), during the
last decade of the sixth century, made Zoroastrian religion the official creed
throughout the Persian empire, including the Greek settlements in Asia
Minor. Under the circumstances it would have been nothing short of a
miracle if Heraclitus, as well as some of the other early Greek philosophers
who hailed from Asia Minor, had not come into contact with Zoroastrian
teachings.
20
Diels-Kranz, Frag. 134.
21
Diels-Kranz, Frag. 17.
22
This doctrine, which proclaims that mankind is incapable of main
taining permanently the same high level of truth or civilization it has once

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ARISTOTLE AND THE "PHILOSOPHIES OF THE EAST" 579

reflected, for instance, in Aristotle's Metaphysics 1074 b 1-13:

"Our forefathers in the most remote ages have handed down to
posterity a tradition, in the form of a myth, that these [celestial]
bodies are gods, and that the divine encloses the whole of nature.
The rest of the tradition had been added later in mythical
form .... But if one were to separate the first position from
these and take it alone, namely,
later additions that they believed
the first substances to be gods, one must regard this as an inspired
utterance, and reflect that, while probably each art and each
science has often been developed as far as possible and has again
perished, these opinions, together with others, have been pre
served until the present day like relics of an ancient treasure."
This passage might suggest that Aristotle was acquainted with
and perhaps at one time even accepted the Zoroastrian doctrine of
the "great cycle" or "eternal return" as well as the cosmic drama
of the perennial struggle between Ormudz and Ahriman. Ac
cording to old Iranian tradition, Ormudz and Ahriman rule in
turn, each for 3,000 years. For another 3,000 years they battle
with one another, each attempting to overthrow the other and
destroy what the other had accomplished.23 It is certainly no
accident that, according to Eudoxus and Aristotle, 6,000 years
Zoroaster and Plato:24 are both in some
separate they ushering

attained, is based on the assumption that at certain intervals truth and

civilization are destroyed or are "pushed back" by the forces of evil. These
events assume the form of regular cycles. Traces of this theory (which,
incidentally, is also accepted by some of the modern philosophers of his
tory) can also be seen in Plato's Republic (546A ff.), Timaeus, (22A-22C),
Critias (109D ff.), Statesman (269A ff.), Laws (677A), and, perhaps,
Sophist23 (254D-E).
In Timaeus, 23E (the founding of Athens) and in Critias, 108E (the
repulsion of the Atlantic invaders?see also Timaeus, 25C), Plato seems to
imply a nine thousand year cycle, without doubt a Zoroastrian twist.
Thus, nine thousand years before Plato the gods divided the universe
among themselves, making the earth inhabitable. After that a
began
period of perfect bliss both at Athens and on Atlantis. But gradually a
process of degeneration started to make itself felt until in one single day and
night of calamity Atlantis sank beneath the ocean (Timaeus, 25D), and
cloudbursts, earthquakes and laid waste
floods to Attica (Critias, 112A).
24
Pliny, op. cit., XXX, 3. We are also told (ibid.) by Hermippus
that Agonazes (or Azonazes: Azanak, which means the Great Sage or the
Great Teacher), the teacher of Zoroaster, lived five thousand years before the

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580 ANTON-HERMANN CHROUST

decisive stage in this great cosmic drama.25 Thus it might be con

tended that at least in his early works?in the On Philosophy and
in the earliest parts of the Metaphysics?Aristotle refers to, and
perhaps is influenced by, certain old Iranian cosmological or
cosmogonie teachings. One might even speculate a litte further:
according to Aristotle,26 Zoroaster apparently stands at the end
of a distinct cosmic cycle, Plato at the end of a later (by
6,000 years) and apparently superior cosmic cycle, and he himself,
"overcome" certain aspects of Plato's stands at
having teachings,
the beginning of a new cosmic cycle, presumably superior to the
Platonic cycle.27 This, however, is essentially conjecture based
upon rather evidence.
scanty

University of Notre Dame.

Trojan War (which is usually dated around 1194-1184, at least according to

Eratosthenes). In (Plato?) Alcibiades, I, 122A, it is stated that Zoroaster
was the son (actually the "spiritual son") of Oromazus. Oromazus is but
the Greek form of Ahura-Mazda.
20
In passing it might be noted that, by assigning to Plato such an

important place in the cycle of the great cosmic events, Aristotle pays the
highest tribute to his teacher. It would go too far, however, to surmise that
he saw in his relationship with Plato a parallel (or, perhaps, the Greek re
enactment) of the Oromazus-Zoroaster relationship.
26
See Pliny, Historia Naturalis, XXX, 3: "... this Zoroaster lived
"
6,000 years before the death of Plato. So says also Aristotle.
27
See here also R. Mondolfo, La Comprensione del Soggetto Humano
neu'Antichit? Classica (Florence, 1958), pp. 686 ff.

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