In 342 BC, in the wilds of northern Greece, the greatest scientific mind to grace the ancient world collides with the most formidable conqueror history will ever know.

Aristotle is forty-three-years-old when he accepts an invitation from King Phillip II of Macedon to tutor his precocious son, Alexander. The fifteen-year-old heir apparent is to be groomed with the elite intellectual patina his father never had.

Queen Olympias, Alexander’s fiercely protective mother, attends to the prince’s daily affairs.But the palace houses five of Phillip’s wives, and their accompanying retinues, all with competing end games. Treachery, often lethal, is an ongoing threat.

Accordingly, Olympias’ trust is never easily won, even for those with sterling reputations. An educator from Athens, the once-great-empire now in decline, could easily harbor devious intentions. Her paranoia escalates when Isocrates, Aristotle’s former mentor turned relentless nemesis, arrives with his razor sharp skepticism. What good will studying embryology or the motion of the stars do for a future monarch? Aristotle’s new science will merely confuse young Alexander, or more nefariously, brainwash him.

Though Alexander enters the relationship with heightened suspicion, he’s soon spellbound by the breadth of knowledge surrounding him. But frustration ensues through Aristotle’s continual challenges, offering none of the pampering favoritism to which the young royal is accustomed.

A battle of wits and wills unfolds between these two dynamic personalities. As Aristotle endeavors to impart his radical philosophy, Alexander, Olympias, and Isocrates counter with pragmatic doses of Hellenistic realpolitik, raising the question of who exactly is teaching whom?

The rivalry builds between master pedagogue and audacious king-in-the making to a bold climax where alarming new truths with life and death consequences are revealed on both sides.

Based on historical events, the play incorporates verbatim text from multiple extant sources.