Theocritus of Chios Epigram Against Aristotle in Greek

The "Epigram Against Aristotle" is a fragmentary piece of invective attributed to the sophist Theocritus of Chios. It survives as a single, scornful passage preserved through quotation by later authors, primarily the gastronomic writer Athenaeus. The text constitutes a direct political attack, mocking Aristotle for his service to the Macedonian court and his departure from Athens. It employs common tropes of character assassination, accusing him of gluttony and intellectual betrayal, suggesting he abandoned philosophy for political sycophancy. The epigram reflects the pronounced anti-Macedonian sentiment among many Greek intellectuals during the period of Philip II's expansion. Its transmission depends entirely on its inclusion in Athenaeus's Deipnosophistae from the late second or early third century CE, with a further reference in the biographical compilation of Diogenes Laertius. The fragment contributed to the ancient biographical tradition that painted Aristotle as an opportunist, and it is cited in modern scholarship as evidence of the fierce political and personal controversies that divided intellectual circles in the age of Macedonian ascendancy.