Leonidas (pedagogue)

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Leonidas ( ancient Greek: Λεωνίδας ; also called Leukonides ;; † after 332 BC) was an ancient pedagogue in the 4th century BC and one of the teachers of Alexander the Great . He came from Epirus and was a relative of Olympias , the mother of Alexander.

Leonidas was next to Lysimachus of Akarnania the main teacher and overseer of the little Alexander, probably before he was further trained by Aristotle . Allegedly Leonidas educated his pupil very strictly to toughen them up and to live a simple life. One day he reprimanded the prince when he used too much incense on a victim , which was difficult and expensive to obtain in Macedonia. Only when he is the ruler of the spice country, so Leonidas, can Alexander use as much incense as he likes. After Alexander in 332 BC When he had conquered Gaza on his Asian campaign , he sent a whole shipload of Arabian frankincense and myrrh to Leonidas in Macedonia so that Leonidas would never have to save on making sacrifices for the gods. When Alexander was offered the most delicious dishes by Princess Ada von Karien , he referred to his teacher Leonidas, according to which the better cook was a night march before breakfast. The Macedonian king also told the princess that Leonidas had once searched his clothes and bedding to look for possibly hidden expensive gifts from his mother Olympias. At least that's what two anecdotes told by Alexander's biographer Plutarch are .

On the basis of such stories, some critics of Alexander, mainly from the stoic direction , had accused Leonidas of having awakened the pride and ambition of the Macedonian king instead of moderating him.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pseudo- Callisthenes 1.13.4; Iulius Valerius 1.7
  2. ↑ Plutarch , Alexander 5.7; among others
  3. ↑ Pliny , Naturalis historia 12.62; Plutarch, Alexander 25.6-8; Moralia 179 ef
  4. ↑ Plutarch, Alexander 22.8-10
  5. ^ Diogenes of Babylon in Quintilian , Institutio oratoria 1.1.9
personal data
SURNAME Leonidas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Λεωνίδας (Greek); Leuconides
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Teacher of Alexander the great
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH after 332 BC Chr.