La vie érotique d’une chatte Parisienne

I came across this wonderful post (see below). It reminded me of a dinner the Ninja and I had with two married friends this week. We smoked cigars and 25 year old blended Scotch whiskey as my Ninja and our friends discussed the dangerous role of intellectuals being too close to power. Some on his thoughts and some based on personal experience. There is much vanity and folly in such ventures.

In this case we argued over Plato and his ill-fated attempt to educate Dionysus of Sicily and then later Aristotle and Alexander and then to this day in France and special role they have (or did have) from Debray to BHL. 

Anaïs x

femdomstyle:

Master of the Housebook - Aristotle and Phyllis (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)

This image illustrates the medieval story of Phyllis and Aristotle. The philosopher Aristotle warns the young king Alexander (who would become the Great) that he should not spent so much time with his wife (or lover, in other versions) Phyllis. He should rather concentrate on the affairs of state. The beautiful Phyllis of course dislikes this interference. She decides to seduce the old man, in which she quickly succeeds. When he is completely besotted, she promises the philosopher her favours on one condition. He should, as a proof of his true love, come crawling to her apartments and carry her like a pony.

 And so it happens. But Alexander, informed by Phyllis, secretly observes the scene. In his anger he threatens to kill the old man. Aristotle however points out that the fact that he, as an experienced man, was so easily seduced and deceived by a woman only proves how right he was to warn for her influence. Thus the meaning of the story is clear. It wants to show us what happens when passion reigns over reason - and that woman is the source of that fateful passion.

But it also shows that we are all fools. Besides that, the legend and its visual representation was for a long time the archetype of female erotic dominance. And it may be my imagination, but some old illustrations seem not so much driven by the intention to denounce female perfidy, as well as by a certain delight in the scene. That may be the case in this etching by the anonymous Dutch-German Master of the Housebook, who worked in the late 15th century (the time of Columbus).

I found it in this collection of Aristotle & Phyllis images. And check this link for a funny reinterpretation of the story.