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Aristotle Left Athens When Plato Died, and Moved On Again When His Host Died

Aristotle remained associated with Plato's Academy in Athens until Plato died in 347, and then left for Assos, in Asia Minor on the northwest coast of present-day Turkey. There he carried on the philosophical work he had begun at the Academy but, in all likelihood, also began to expand his researches into marine biology.

He stayed about three years, then — evidently after the death of his host Hermeias, a friend, a former Academic and the ruler of Assos — moved to the nearby island of Lesbos. While there he married Pythias, Hermeias's niece, and they had a daughter who was also named Pythias.

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Take

His first great relocation is timestamped by Plato's death in 347, and the work does not pause for the move. If anything, the research gets more empirical: the marine biology, in all likelihood, starts in the Assos years rather than in the Academy.

Pushback

Then the pattern repeats at a smaller scale. Roughly three years at Assos, and when Hermeias evidently dies he is off to Lesbos — where he marries Hermeias's niece. The host's household supplied the refuge and the wife, which makes 'visiting research post' sound awfully bloodless.

Based on publisher excerpts

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ↗AristotlePublication date unavailable