The Struggle
They sat in a tight circle in Aristotle's private study, the scroll spread out before them like a dangerous riddle. Vinci leaned so close that his hair nearly brushed the parchment. Einstein tapped his foot nonstop, the sound sharp and frantic. Hawkings kept flipping through his small notebook, scribbling and crossing out words in a panic.
Maria kept muttering under her breath, "Maybe it's symbolic... or metaphorical... or both." Eliza just stared at the ceiling, one hand over her mouth, lost deep in thought.
They argued for hours. Vinci insisted it had to do with creation, design, and beauty. Einstein shouted about relativity and cosmic harmony. Hawkings rambled about chaos theory and random events shaping destiny. Maria suggested it might be about love and connection. Eliza said maybe it was all a trick question, meant to test their humility instead of their genius.
At one point, Einstein threw up his hands and nearly knocked over a jar of ink. "If only we had Wi-Fi! I could pull up every philosophy text in seconds!"
Vinci sighed dramatically, sliding down onto the floor. "Forget Wi-Fi. If we just had an AI assistant... you know, like... ChatGPT, Copilot or something!"
Hawkings' eyes lit up. "Oh! We could just ask it: 'What is the purpose of existence according to Aristotle?' and bam! Answer in seconds."
Eliza laughed so hard she nearly fell off the bench. "Yes! 'Hey ChatGPT, solve all of history for us please!'"
Maria groaned, dropping her head into her hands. "We sound like desperate students on the night before finals."
They kept going, comparing arguments, twisting words, writing draft after draft. At one point, Vinci dramatically pretended to lecture the group, pacing like Aristotle himself and saying, "You fools! The answer is hidden in the symmetry of the golden ratio, obviously!"
After hours of heated debates, messy scrolls, spilled ink, and wild theories, they realized the sun had already set outside. Exhausted and desperate, they finally decided to present what they had.
They crept back to the great hall, each step echoing in the dark corridors. Inside, Aristotle stood by a long wooden table, surrounded by young students who listened with wide, eager eyes.
Seeing them enter, Aristotle raised an eyebrow but didn't stop his teaching. He gestured for them to wait, and they awkwardly shuffled to the side, clutching their scribbled notes and devices.
Finally, when he finished, Aristotle turned to them and asked calmly, "Have you come with your answer?"
Einstein stepped forward bravely. "Yes… great Aristotle… we believe existence is about creating harmony and moving toward a perfect end goal."
Aristotle simply nodded, his face unreadable.
Vinci jumped in next, waving a half-finished diagram. "Or… maybe it's about beauty and design in all living things, a divine structure behind every moment!"
Aristotle tilted his head, still saying nothing.
Maria stepped up next, her voice strong. "Perhaps it is the connections we make, the love we give, that give life its meaning."
Eliza and Hawkings followed, each offering their own carefully crafted theories — one about experience, another about random chance and freedom.
Aristotle listened patiently, looking at each of them in turn. When they finally finished, silence filled the hall.
He walked toward them slowly, taking the scroll from Vinci's shaking hands.
"You have all spoken with passion," Aristotle said, his voice low and warm. "But you are wrong."
Their jaws dropped. Even Einstein looked like he had forgotten how to breathe.
Aristotle held the scroll high for all his students to see.
"The true purpose of existence is eudaimonia," he explained, his voice echoing in the hall. "Flourishing. A life lived in full virtue, guided by reason, striving toward excellence. Not a final destination, but a continual becoming. You become what you do repeatedly; excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
They stared at him, stunned. Vinci's shoulders sagged in defeat. Einstein pressed a hand to his forehead, muttering to himself. Maria and Eliza exchanged embarrassed, almost guilty looks. Hawkings sank onto a bench, shaking his head.
Aristotle set the scroll back on the table. He looked at them, eyes softening just a little.
"Legends are not born from instant knowledge," he said gently. "They are shaped by practice, by discipline, by humility to learn and grow. You brought me wonders from the future, but even your great tools cannot replace understanding that comes from within."A deep, heavy silence fell again. Slowly, Maria stood and bowed deeply.
"You have humbled us, great teacher," she said, her voice quiet but steady.
Eliza followed, wiping tears from her eyes. Vinci closed his notebook and joined them, finally letting go of his pride.
Einstein stepped forward last, lifting his head with a faint, almost pained smile. "Perhaps… next time, we'll bring ChatGPT with us ;Deepseek , Claude or Copilot "
The whole group chuckled weakly, the laughter mixed with relief and embarrassment. Even Aristotle's lips twitched upward in a rare smile.
That night, they returned to their rooms [They had prepared for them to stay for a while before getting back to Macedonia] heavy-hearted but wiser. They lay in silence for a long time, each lost in their own thoughts.
Vinci finally whispered into the dark, "Legends are legends for a reason."
From across the room, Hawkings answered softly, "And maybe… that's the most important lesson we came here to learn."
Outside, the stars glittered cold and bright above Athens, each one a quiet witness to their small but honest moment of defeat ; and growth.
Eliza sat up suddenly, her hair a bit messy from sleep. "Guys… tomorrow we have a contest with Aristotle's students," she said, her voice still heavy with worry.
Hawkings let out a long sigh, flopping back onto his pillow. "They'll probably beat us," he mumbled. "He's had time to teach them everything… all the answers to his tricky philosophy questions."
They all fell silent for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts. The room felt heavy, like the weight of the whole ancient world was pressing on them.Then, after a long pause, Einstein sat forward. His eyes were tired but burning with determination. "I'm in," he said firmly.
Slowly, one by one, the others nodded. Vinci, Maria, Eliza, and finally Hawkings all agreed.
And just like that, they had decided. They would face the challenge together, no matter how hard it was
But the truth remained:
No matter what, legends are legends for a reason.
Tomorrow we face the students of Aristotle
...