Site of Stagira, Chalkidiki, northern Greece, where Aristotle's tomb is said to have been discovered . "PRESUMPTIONS". After several decades of research in Macedonia, in northern Greece, a Greek archaeologist has just announced that he "thought" having found the probable tomb of the philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC). Aristotelian ethics being precisely marked by the notions of phronesis (caution), it is therefore with certain precautions that the archaeologist Konstantinos Sismanidis, an internationally renowned Greek specialist, made this announcement on Thursday, May 26, 2016, during an international congress commemorating the 2400 e anniversary of the philosopher's birth which was held at the University of Thessaloniki (Greece), saying "he had no proof, but strong presumptions" . The tomb would be located in Stagira, in Chalkidiki, the birthplace of Aristotle, about forty kilometers east of Thessaloniki. The apse-shaped structure (horseshoe), excavated in 1996, would correspond to a funerary monument erected in honor of the famous thinker, one of the most influential that the world has known. With its marble-paved floor and tiled roof made in a royal workshop, this building would also have had a public function, said Konstantinos Sismanidis. It would have been a heroon , a place of worship given to the heroes and prestigious men of the city, located in a dominant position, about ten meters from the ancient agora , the main square of Stagira. Inside the remains of the Hellenistic building, around fifty coins and pottery dating from the time of Alexander the Great (4th century BC) have been unearthed. Let us recall that Aristotle had been the tutor of the young Macedonian conqueror, whom he had trained in Mieza, (the old Lefkadia).
3D reconstruction of the possible tomb of the philosopher Aristotle, in Stagira, Macedonia. Credit:Kostas Simanidis
This hypothesis is also based on Arabic medieval literary sources from the second half of the 11th century - copies of texts from Greek antiquity devoted to Aristotle - found in the Marciana Library in Venice (Italy):it is indeed indicated that the population of Stagira would have recovered the ashes of the Greek philosopher who died in Chalcis, on the island of Euboea, to then deposit them in a hydria (urn) of bronze, at Stagira in a building called the "Aristotelion ". The Ministry of Culture has taken note of this announcement, indicating that it awaits further information.