Contrasy Between Leonardo Da Vinci

& Aristotle Essay, Research Paper

LEONARDO DA VINCI AND ARISTOTLE

I believe that Aristotle and Leonardo da Vinci led similar lives. They both sought for knowledge and studied similar topics. I think that both were .renaissance men., as it would be described in Leonardo.s day. This refers to the fact that both men studied a variety of subjects. I believe both men were ahead of their time, and I think both men made differences in our time. Both mean were very similar, but came from two different time periods. In my attempt to summarize these to fascinating lives, I hope you can depict some links both professionally and personally between them.

Aristotle was born in 384 BC in Stagira, the modern Starro on the northern cost of Aegean. (work cited book 1, pg.13)The new generation wanted to forget the past and strive for a better future. His father Nicomchus, was a doctor. Aristotle learned early first aid techniques. This training could have contributed to Aristotle.s special interest in biology. When Aristotle was ten his father died. His guardian then became Proxenus, his uncle. (w.c.b. 1, pg.14)

In 367, when Aristotle was 17, Proxenus sent him to the Academy of Plato in Athens to study. (w.c.b. 2, pg. 18&19) Plato became almost a father figure to Aristotle. Plato was an aristocrat with literary, political, and intellectual learning. Socartes influenced him. When Aristotle arrived at the Academy he was not the best looking man. He was bald, with small eyes and skinny legs. (w.c.b. 2, pg. 1) he made up for his looks with good dress. He wore a cloak, sandals, and rings on his fingers. The Academy was a training group for political politics. (w.c.b. 1, pg. 16) Aristotle was a brilliant student. At the Academy Plato nicknamed him .The Brain. and .The Reader.. (w.c.b.1, pg.20) Aristotle once during his time at the Academy, won recognition for one of Plato.s smartest students. Aristotle began to shift his ideas away from Plato.s. He became more interested in nature and it.s functions, rather than puzzling over the idea of how and why things and people existed.

In 347 Plato dies. Aristotle left the Academy after not being appointed the new head. Aristotle went to a Greek city called Atarneus (now Turkey). Hermias, the city.s ruler was a supporter of Plato.s Academy. He invited some of the Academy members (including Aristotle) to a school like the Academy. Hermias provided them with everything they needed for their studies. In that same year Aristotle married Hermias. niece, Pythios. (w.c.b. 4, pg.75) Aristotle and Pythios later had a son and daughter. At this point in Aristotle.s life he was beginning to become more interested in animals. He observed animals and carefully recorded his observations. Today this collection of notes is called .Historia Animalium. which mean, .Researchers into Animals..

In 344 BC, Hermias was overthrown. Aristotle moved to the near by island Lesbos, and he settled at Mytilene. (w.c.b. 4, pg.76) He continued his work on animals with the help of his student Theophrastus. Aristotle also worked on other writings including .Politics., about the different systems of government. In 343 BC, Aristotle was asked to return to Macedonia to tutor Alexander the Great, who was thirteen. Aristotle was about forty-two years old. Aristotle produced a version of the .Iliad. for teaching purposes. (w.c.b 1, pg. 21) Aristotle did not seem to impact Alexander all that much. Alexander seemed to contradict some of Aristotle.s beliefs in government when he governed. Bye 339 BC Aristotle.s friends had become a group of followers. He left Macedonia and returned to Stagira. Theophrastus and others followed him.

In 335 BC Aristotle opened his own school. It was located at the temple of Apollo. The school was called .the Lyceum.. Most of his biology was done during his years of travel between 347 and 335 BC. (w.c.b. 2, pg.18) In 323 BC after Alexander.s death, Aristotle left the university. He left Theophrostus to carry it on. Aristotle believed that happiness could not be pursued of everything was determined for us. (w.c.b. 3, pg.92)

In the spring of 322 BC Aristotle moved to Chalkis, on the island of Euboea, where his mother.s family was from. Aristotle died in the autumn of 322 BC. He was sixty-two years old. His scientific and government ideas were amazing, and these are only two of the many, many subjects he studied. He was teacher who inspired, is inspiring, and will continue to inspire for generations. (w.c.b. 2, pg.1)

Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452. One year before the Byzantine Empire was shattered, and forty years before Columbus discovered America. His grandfather Ser Antonio da Vinci recorded his birth. (work cited car 2, pg. 29) Leonardo.s father was Ser Piero da Vinci. He took Leonardo from his mother, and they lived in his grandparent.s house. Leonardo.s mother was considered an embarrassment to Leonardo.s father.s family. Little is known about her, but legend says she was a poor peasant girl named Caterina. In the same year of Leonardo.s birth, his father married a sixteen-year-old girl named Albera di Giovanni Amadori. (w.c.b. 1, pg.5&6)

In 1456 when Leonardo was four years old, it was .the Year of the Great Comet.. In this year kings, courts, and common people all sought out for international intelligence. (w.c.b. 2, pg.14) Leonardo spent the early years of his l