Why was Aristotle almost like the only Greek philosopher studied during the Middle Ages?

Question

Reading about scholasticism, medieval natural philosophy, liberal arts, it appears to me that, of all the Ancient Greece philosophers, only Aristotle was studied.

For instance, this passage (Blair 2006):

Rather than singling out the Renaissance as a time of decadent or eclectic Aristotelianism, recent scholarship has emphasized the vitality and variety of Aristotelian philosophy throughout the nearly 500 years of its dominance (c. 1200- 1690).

Why was Aristotle almost like the only Greek philosopher studied during the Middle Ages?

References:

Blair, Ann. "Natural Philosophy." In The Cambridge History of Science: Volume 3, Early Modern Science, edited by Katherine Park and Lorraine Daston, 365-405. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Answer 1

IMO the main reason was in the 13th century the translation into Latin - the scholary language in Western Europe - of nearly the full corpus of Aristotle’s writings. Aristotle presented a singular, systematic approach to nearly all domains of knowledge.

It was Thomas Aquinas who discovered the metaphysics of Aristotle as a suitable frame with useful concepts to express the fundamental theological statements of the Christian doctrine in a rational manner. In addition, the frame was flexible enough to cover revelation and rationality without mixing up the two, see his "textbook for beginners" Summa theologiae.

Answer 2

I see this as: Aristotle was the only one who explained everything scientifically. Since, the idealism of Greek philosophy is well known; Aristotle inclined his thoughts to realism. Meanwhile, these scientific explanations served the religious philosophies better in Middle ages. His philosophy influenced Islamic and other Abrahamic religions. For reference, you can read this: https://www.gu.se/en/news/the-reception-of-aristotles-work-in-the-middle-ages#:~:text=Aristotle's%20comprehensive%20body%20of%20work,Christian%20theology%20to%20this%20day.

Answer 3

Most of the Greco-Roman philosophical tradition was initially lost to Europe during the Middle Ages--it certainly wasn't in wide circulation. It was kept alive, however, in the Islamic world by great philosophers including Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes) who were largely within the Aristotelian tradition (although, in the case of Avicenna, with a pronounced neo-Platonic influence).

When Greco-Roman philosophy was reintroduced to Europe, it was initially secondhand, through the work of these figures (many of the first Medieval European translations of the Greek philosophers were actually secondary translations, from Arabic). In particular, Ibn Rushd was a huge influence on Thomas Aquinas, who went on to play the major role in repopularizing Aristotelian thought in Europe.

Answer 4

The question contains a false assumption. Aristotle was not the only Greek philosopher studied during the Middle Ages. They studied whatever works they had available after Muslim invasions resulted in cutting off the supply of papyrus to Europe, which made most works unobtainable for most scholars. However, they did have Plato, Euclid, Archimedes, and fragments of various other writers, and they did study and discuss those writers. Aristotle took a special place due to the work of Thomas Aquinas, which tried to meld Christianity with Aristotelian science. After that, Aristotle came to have a position as almost-scripture, which is why he got so much attention from scholars since most scholars of the Middle Ages were churchmen. However, the other Greek writers were always there and were widely discussed, along with Islamic authors who were in turn inspired by Greek authors.