School’s out!

Searching for Mr Aristotle

The above image of Aristotle is the wallpaper on my hand held computer-telephone such is my allegiance to The Philosopher, as Thomas Hobbes called him.

One of my prime targets was the site of Aristotle’s Lyceum. It is not a site that has been continuously marked and so identifying it is a matter of archeology, luck, and research. Luck to dig up something might indicate that X marks the spot, and research to establish that identity.
There is a lot about Aristotle elsewhere on the blog, and all of that explains why this was a pilgrimage site.
Web research on Aristotle’s Lyceum is difficult because of there are millions of references to it, only a very few of which concerning its location. The best I could come up with initially was an entry on friend Wikipedia. There I found that in 1996 the site was thought to be at the Museum of Contemporary (Modern) Art. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyceum. Accordingly the Greek Ministry of Culture issued a press release. Dutifully I found the location of the Museum of Contemporary Art and scheduled it on the tour. Though I could find nothing on its web site about Aristotle: http://www.emst.gr/HOME_ENG.asp?lang_id=ENG
I was inspired by a web entry (now lost) that another posted about finding the Lyceum at a construction site, with this photograph.

Now that I have seen the place for myself, the above photograph does look like the back of the Byzantine Museum. So I am pretty sure I was at the same place from the other side. Close but no cigar.
Then as I plunged into guidebooks and maps I found this passage in the entry on the Byzantine and Christian Art Museum: ‘Building plans for the neighbouring site were shelved when excavators discovered ancient ruins identified as the Lyceum of Aristotle. The site has been taken over by the Byzantine Museum with plans to open it to the public in 2007.’ This from Top 10 Athens (London: DK, 2006). This is the link to the museum http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/1/eh151.jsp?obj_id=3349

I decided to work with the latter reference than the former.
Off we went on the Metro to Evangelismos Station on the Blue Line, using the Hilton Hotel as a landmark we soon found the museum. It was open and there was much evidence of construction work underway, although I sometimes confuse the percussion of rock music for pile drivers. We approached, not a sign about Aristotle. That there was no sign was after all the norm so we boldly went, paid our money and entered. I asked at the desk about Aristotle, clutching my guidebook in hand. Much activity followed, first to find someone who could understand my question, then someone else to answer it. Both were done with good grace and dispatch. But the answer was “no.” not available, not open, under construction.
So I snapped some holes in the ground and breathed deeply in the Aristotle scented air. Close but no cigar.


Result? I have will keep a web-eye on this Museum and see if Aristotle re-surfaces. If he does, I just might pay another visit to Athens.