Aristocles of Messene

Aristocles of Messene was a Peripatetic philosopher who probably lived around the turn of the millennium. He belongs to the tradition of Aristotle and is remembered above all for his history of philosophy, now lost apart from fragments.

He came from Messana in Sicily, not from the Peloponnesian city of Messene, and little is known of his life. There are hints that he spent time in Alexandria. For a long time he was wrongly taken to be the teacher of Alexander of Aphrodisias, a mistake that pushed his dates later. His known works include a treatise on ethics in nine books, a ten-book work on philosophy, and a comparison of Homer and Plato.

He proposed a five-stage history of human culture, moving from inventions needed for survival to arts, politics, the study of nature, and finally knowledge of the divine, which he called wisdom in the highest sense. He argued sharply against scepticism, claiming that suspending judgement would erode moral concepts and respect for the law.

His work survives in fragments and is a valuable source on Pyrrho, Timon and Aenesidemus, though his polemical style often distorts them. His influence lies mainly in preserving doxographical material.