Aristotle, Alexander, and Achilles

• Aristotle stated liking compromises and will discuss science by talking about Alexander's hero, Achilles.
• Achilles had a teacher, the centaur Chiron, who instructed and trained him from childhood.
• Chiron was an expert in medicine and knew the properties of plants.
• Chiron cured Achilles' heel when his mother Thetis burned it trying to make him immortal, using poultices of healing herbs.
• Alexander knew the story well, having read the Iliad many times and memorized it.
• Alexander reconstructed the battles and duels of the Trojan War with Hephaestion, often arguing over who would be Achilles.
• Alexander jokingly asked if Aristotle was Chiron and he was his famous pupil.
• Aristotle said he was not half man and half horse, but he knew medicine because his father was a doctor in Pella at the court of Alexander's grandfather Amyntas.
• Aristotle mixed herbs with water from the oinochoe, while Alexander read aloud from the Iliad.
• Alexander chose his favorite episode, the final duel where Achilles avenged the death of his friend Patroclus.

Aristotle discusses science by referencing Achilles, Alexander's hero. Achilles was taught by Chiron, a centaur skilled in medicine. Aristotle shares his knowledge of medicine, inherited from his father, while Alexander reads from the Iliad.