Phyllis and Aristotle
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Lai d' Aristote is part of a series known as the Power of Women, found in literature as well as other visual arts, this image recounts the late medieval legend that Aristotle tried to teach his protege Alexander the Great about the dangers of love, only to fall prey to this humiliation himself.
According to medieval legend Aristotle had urgently warned Alexander the Great to abstain from worldly pleasures, but this provoked Alexander's mistress Phyllis, who was determined to humiliate Aristotle and demonstrate the power of the flesh over the intellect. She accomplished this by seducing the great philosopher and then asking him to let her ride on his back. He consented, not realizing that Alexander had been invited to secretly witness this victory.
The story was committed to paper by Henry d'Andeli in the 13th century but more probably originates with Henri de Valenciennes.
