num_pages: 304
description: On the orders of his boyhood friend now King Philip of Macedon Aristotle postpones his dreams of succeeding Plato as leader of the Academy in Athens and reluctantly arrives in the Macedonian capital of Pella to tutor the kings adolescent sons. An early illness has left one son with the intellect of a child; the other is destined for greatness but struggles between a keen mind that craves instruction and the pressures of a society that demands his prowess as a soldier. Initially Aristotle hopes for a short stay in what he considers the brutal backwater of his childhood. But as a man of relentless curiosity and reason Aristotle warms to the challenge of instructing his young charges particularly Alexander in whom he recognizes a kindred spirit an engaged questioning mind coupled with a unique sense of position and destiny. Aristotle struggles to match his ideas against the warrior culture that is Alexanders birthright. He feels that teaching this startling charming sometimes horrifying boy is a desperate necessity. And that what the boy  thrown before his time onto his fathers battlefields  needs most is to learn the golden mean that elusive balance between extremes that Aristotle hopes will mitigate the boys will to conquer. Aristotle struggles to inspire balance in Alexander and he finds he must also play a cat-and-mouse game of power and influence with Philip in order to manage his own ambitions. As Alexanders position as Philips heir strengthens and his victories on the battlefield mount Aristotles attempts to instruct him are honoured but increasingly unheeded. And despite several troubling incidents on the field of battle Alexander remains steadfast in his desire to further the reach of his empire to all known and unknown corners of the world rendering the intellectual pursuits Aristotle offers increasingly irrelevant. Exploring this fabled time and place Annabel Lyon tells her story in the earthy frank and perceptive voice of Aristotle himself. With sensual and muscular prose she explores how Aristotles genius touched the boy who would conquer the known world. And she reveals how we still live with the ghosts of both men.
language: English
title: The Golden Mean
publisher: Random House Canada