Phyllis riding Aristotle

I swear this is a real story that real people have told each other.

According to legend, Alexander the Great’s tutor, Aristotle, counseled him to resist the seductions of Phyllis, the mistress of his father the king. But Aristotle ignored his own advice and succumbed to her charms. Alexander was horrified to secretly observe Phyllis riding Aristotle like a horse.

This became a popular cautionary tale in medieval art and literature, part of a larger body of lore warning that great men could be brought low by women:

Judith beheading Holofernes
Phyllis riding Aristotle
Samson and Delilah
Salome and her mother Herodias
Jael killing Sisera
Bathsheba bathing in sight of David

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