The tale of Phyllis and Aristotle is a medieval

cautionary tale A cautionary tale or moral tale is a tale told in folklore to warn its listener of a Risk, danger. There are three essential parts to a cautionary tale, though they can be introduced in a large variety of ways. First, a taboo or prohibition is ...

about the triumph of a seductive woman, Phyllis, over the greatest male intellect, the ancient Greek philosopher

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

. It is one of several

Power of Women The "Power of Women" () is a medieval and Renaissance artistic and literary topos, showing "heroic or wise men dominated by women", presenting "an admonitory and often humorous inversion of the male-dominated sexual hierarchy". It was defin ...

stories from that time. Among early versions is the French ''Lai d'Aristote'' from 1220. The story of the

dominatrix A dominatrix ( ; or dominatrices ), or domme, is a woman who takes the dominant role in BDSM activities. The BDSM practice is called female dominance, or femdom. A dominatrix can be of any sexual orientation, but this does not necessarily l ...

and the famous intellectual was taken up by artists from the 12th century onwards, in media from stone sculpture in churches to panels of wood or ivory, textiles such as carpets and tapestries, engravings, oil paintings, brass jugs (

aquamanile In modern usage, an aquamanile (plural aquamanilia or simply aquamaniles) is a ewer or jug-type vessel in the form of one or more animal or human figures. It usually contained water for the washing of hands (''aqua'' + ''manos'') over a basin, w ...

), and stained glass. Artists attracted to the theme include

Hans Baldung Hans Baldung (1484 or 1485 – September 1545), called Hans Baldung Grien, (being an early nickname, because of his predilection for the colour green), was a painter, printer, engraver, draftsman, and stained glass artist, who was considered th ...

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucas Cranach the Elder ( ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German ...

, and

Alessandro Turchi Alessandro Turchi (1578 – 22 January 1649) was an Italian painter of the early Baroque, born and active mainly in Verona, and moving late in life to Rome. He also went by the name Alessandro Veronese or the nickname ''L'Orbetto''. His style ...

Story

The tale varies in the telling, but the core of it is as follows:

advises his pupil

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

to avoid Phyllis, the seductive mistress of his father, the

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

, but is himself captivated by her. She agrees to ride him, on condition that she play the role of

. Phyllis has secretly told Alexander what to expect, and he witnesses Phyllis proving that a woman's charms can overcome even the greatest

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

's male intellect. Phyllis is also described as Alexander's mistress or possibly wife, rather than his father's.

Origins

The entirely invented story is said by the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

to derive from the German work by

Jacques de Vitry Jacques de Vitry (''Jacobus de Vitriaco'', 1160/70 – 1 May 1240) was a medieval France, French canon regular who was a noted theology, theologian and chronicler of his era. He was elected Latin Catholic Diocese of Acre, bishop of Acre in 1 ...

in the 13th century. The French work ''Le '' (The Lay of Aristotle) is known from manuscripts dating from as early as 1220, attributed by scholars to either

Henri d'Andeli Henry d'Andeli was a 13th-century Norman poet notable for his work ''La Bataille des Vins'' (English Battle of the Wines), and for the satirical poem ''Battle of the Seven Arts''. He also wrote ''Dit du Chancelier Philippe'' on the subject of his c ...

or . In 1386, the English poet

John Gower John Gower (; c. 1330 – October 1408) was an English poet, a contemporary of William Langland and the Pearl Poet, and a personal friend of Geoffrey Chaucer. He is remembered primarily for three major works—the ''Mirour de l'Omme'', ''Vox ...

included a summary of the tale in his ''

Confessio Amantis ''Confessio Amantis'' ("The Lover's Confession") is a 33,000-line Middle English poem by John Gower, which uses the confession made by an ageing lover to the chaplain of Venus as a frame story for a collection of shorter narrative poems. Accor ...

'' (in English, unlike his other major works), a collection of stories of immoral love told in verse. It appears in the poem on

Apollonius of Tyre Apollonius of Tyre is the hero of a short ancient novel, popular in the Middle Ages. Existing in numerous forms in many languages, all are thought to derive from an ancient Greek version now lost. Plot summary In most versions, the eponymous ...

(Book 8, 271–2018), where Gower quips that the philosopher's

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

and

syllogism A syllogism (, ''syllogismos'', 'conclusion, inference') is a kind of logical argument that applies deductive reasoning to arrive at a conclusion based on two propositions that are asserted or assumed to be true. In its earliest form (defin ...

s do not save him: :''I syh there Aristotle also'', :''Whom that the queene of Grece so'' :''Hath

bridle A bridle is a piece of equipment used to direct a horse. As defined in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', the "bridle" includes both the that holds a bit that goes in the mouth of a horse, and the reins that are attached to the bit. It prov ...

d, that in thilke time'' :''Sche made him such a Silogime,'' :''That he foryat al his logique;'' :''Ther was non art of his Practique,'' :''Thurgh which it mihte ben excluded'' :''That he ne was fully concluded'' :''To love, and dede his obeissance'' Also in the 14th century, the Dominican John Herold wrote a Latin version of the story. In the 15th century, it was featured in the German comedy ''Ain Spil van Maister Aristotiles'' (A play of Master Aristotle).

Analysis

Illustrations

Medieval

The

of the dominatrix who made a fool of the famous philosopher became popular across medieval Europe. Medieval sculptors in Maasland created

, jugs in the forms of scenes with human or other figures, depicting Phyllis and Aristotle. The story was depicted in a variety of media including stone, ivory, brass, carpet,

tapestry Tapestry is a form of Textile arts, textile art which was traditionally Weaving, woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical piece ...

, and engravings. File:Cadouin Aristoteles.jpg, Stone sculpture,

Cadouin Abbey Cadouin Abbey ( or ''Abbaye Notre-Dame de la Nativité de Cadouin'') was a Cistercian monastery founded as a hermitage in 1115 by Gerald of Salles, in the name of Robert of Arbrissel, in what is now the commune of Le Buisson-de-Cadouin in the D ...

, France, 12th century File:Phyllis and Aristotle panel of Walters Casket.jpg, Panel of casket with scenes of romances, France, ivory, 1330–1350 File:Maltererteppich 4,5.jpg, Carpet, Freiburg, Germany, 14th century File:MRAH Aquamanile Aristote et Phyllis 261211 fond noir.jpg,

Aquamanile In modern usage, an aquamanile (plural aquamanilia or simply aquamaniles) is a ewer or jug-type vessel in the form of one or more animal or human figures. It usually contained water for the washing of hands (''aqua'' + ''manos'') over a basin, w ...

in the form of Phyllis and Aristotle, prob. Maasland, 1400–1450, brass File:Area mosana, acquamanile con aristotele e phyllis, xv sec..JPG, Phyllis riding and slapping Aristotle, Aquamanile, Maasland, c. 1400, brass File:Aristoteles and Phyllis.jpg, Detail of

, Basel, 1470s File:Giovanni Buonconsiglio - Arystoteles i Filis.jpg, Tempera painting by

Giovanni Buonconsiglio file:San Giacomo dall'Orio (Venice) - Interior - St Sebastian with St Lawrence and St Roch by Giovanni Buonconsiglio.jpg, St Sebastian with St Lawrence and St Roch San Giacomo dall'Orio (Venice) Giovanni Buonconsiglio (born Montecchio Maggiore c. ...

, early 1500s

Early Modern to Enlightenment

Artists such as

Bartholomeus Spranger Bartholomeus Spranger or Bartholomaeus SprangerBartholomeus Spranger
at the Netherlands Institute for Art H ...

and

Jan Sadeler The Sadeler family were the largest, and probably the most successful of the dynasties of Flemish people, Flemish engravers that were dominant in Northern European printmaking in the later 16th and 17th centuries, as both artists and publishers. ...

continued to exploit the theme, eventually with Phyllis entirely naked.

called the woman

Campaspe Campaspe (; Greek: Καμπάσπη, ''Kampaspē''), or Pancaste (; Greek: Πανκάστη, ''Pankastē''; also ''Pakate''), was a supposed mistress of Alexander the Great and a prominent citizen of Larissa in Thessaly. No Campaspe appears in ...

, the mistress of Alexander. The media used include engraving, stained glass, wood, and oil painting. File:Master Of The Housebook - Aristotle and Phyllis - WGA14556.jpg,

Drypoint Drypoint is a printmaking technique of the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio family, in which an image is incised into a plate (or "matrix") with a hard-pointed "needle" of sharp metal or diamond point. In principle, the method is practically iden ...

of Aristotle ridden by Phyllis by the

Housebook Master Master of the Housebook and Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet are two names used for an engraver and painter working in South Germany in the last quarter of the 15th century. He is apparently the first artist to use drypoint, a form of engravin ...

. c. 1490 File:Maestro MZ, fillide a cavalcioni di aristotele, 1500 ca, incisione.jpg,

Engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...

Master MZ Master MZ was an engraving, engraver active in south Germany around 1500. He signed his 22 engravings with his monogram "MZ", and six are dated, all 1500, 1501 or 1503. He worked in Munich in Bavaria, and in 1500 seems to have been connected to t ...

, c. 1500 File:Lucas van Leyden Arisztotelész és Phyllis.jpg, Engraving,

Lucas van Leyden Lucas van Leyden (1494 – 8 August 1533), also named either Lucas Hugensz or Lucas Jacobsz, was a Dutch painter and printmaker in engraving and woodcut. Lucas van Leyden was among the first Dutch exponents of genre painting and was a very ac ...

, c. 1520 File:Augusta, aristotele cavalcato da filide, 1520 ca.JPG,

Stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

, Germany, c. 1520 File:Albrecht Dürer - Phyllis and Aristotle, detail of Nuremberg Town Hall design.jpg, Detail of a

decoration meant for Nuremberg Town Hall,

, 1521 File:Meister von Ottobeuren Aristoteles und Phyllis BNM.jpg, ''Aristotle and Phyllis'', the Master of Ottobeuren, wood, 1523 File:Lucas Cranach d.Ä. - Phyllis und Aristotle (1530).jpg, ''Phyllis and Aristotle'',

, oil on panel, 1530 File:Phyllis and Aristotle MET DP836560.jpg, ''Phyllis and Aristotle'',

after

Bartholomeus Spranger Bartholomeus Spranger or Bartholomaeus SprangerBartholomeus Spranger
at the Netherlands Institute for Art H ...

, engraving, 16th century File:Turchi-AristoteIMG 1713.JPG, ''Aristotle and

'',

(attrib.) Oil on canvas, 1713

Nineteenth and twentieth centuries

Artists such as

Julio Ruelas Julio Ruelas (June 21, 1870 – September 16, 1907) was a Mexican graphic artist, painter, draughtsman and printmaker. Ruelas was the principal illustrator of the '' Revista Moderna'' magazine and is most associated with Mexican symbolism. A num ...

continued to adapt the Phyllis and Aristotle theme.

Oscar Kokoschka Oskar Kokoschka (1 March 1886 – 22 February 1980) was an Austrian artist, poet, playwright and teacher, best known for his intense Expressionism, expressionistic portraits and landscapes, as well as his theories on vision that influenced the ...

produced a version in 1913. File:Emile Pessard, Le Char, 002.jpg, ''Le Char'' (The Chariot), poster by for opera by

Émile Pessard Émile Louis Fortuné Pessard (29 May 1843 – 10 February 1917) was a French composer. Pessard was born and died in Paris. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he won 1st prize in Harmony. In 1866 he won the Grand Prix de Rome with ...

, 1878 File:Sokrates, (1902).jpg, ''Sokrates'',

(1870–1907), 1902. The woman wears modern stockings and shoes

Notes

References

{{reflist, 30em Cultural depictions of Aristotle Folklore Fictional dominatrices Iconography Medieval legends