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Plutarch

Page history last edited by Kateland 10 years, 11 months ago

Plutarch, who lived from c. 47 to 120 A.D., is most famous for writing about the lives of famous Greeks and Romans.  

 

           

Life:

Plutarch, son of Autobulus, was born in Chaeronea to a family of high status.  His family name is Mestrius, an Italian name, and he acquired a Roman citizenship, but he was very proud of his Greek heritage as well.  Growing up, Plutarch's father threw cultural gatherings at their residence, which are likely the sources of Table Talk and are the only source of information on Plutarch's early life.  Plutarch was educated by Ammonius of Lamptrae at the Academy of Athens, where he took a strong liking to mathematics and Platonic philosophy.  After his father's death, Plutarch and his wife, Timoxena,  inherited the house and continued to throw parties described as "schole" and "diatribe," words indicating events that are voluntary and spontaneous, but likely contained lectures and discussions of Greek Literature.  It is also thought that the birthdays' of Plato and Socrates were celebrated by Plutarch and his friends.  Plutarch and Timoxena had five children; Plutarchus and Autobulus lived to carry on the family name.  Soclarus, another unnamed son, and their daughter, Timoxena (when she was four), died in childhood.  Much of what is known of young Timoxena's death comes from a letter written from Plutarch comforting the elder Timoxena that the body is only a vessel and their sweet daughter is lucky to have spent less time in it.  This letter depicts both as very caring and invested parents.  Plutarch also wrote scientific treatises, was interested in psychology, and was a priest at Delphi.  Plutarch was considered a generous man who devoted a lot of his time and money to the education of others, even women.  When he was eighteen, Plutarch traveled to Athens and in 77AD settled in Rome for 15 years.  He returned to Chaeroneia in 95 AD.  Plutarch gave many lectures in Rome and acquired Roman citizenship while there.

Major Works:

Table Talk:

A collection of nine books, explained to have been written down to preserve the manner of the friendship.  These biographies are assumed to have been shared in Plutarch's time and thus are likely meant to be accurate.  Also, because the names of the people are recognized, it is assumed that these biographies are of real people.  The biographies, however are vague and without context, likely because they were conversations with close friends.  

Lives of The Emperors (69 AD)

Parallel Lives :

Parallel Lives is several volumes placing famous Greeks beside comparable Romans; however, his book is not strictly biography because he pairs  a Greek with a Roman, with the rhetorical goal of proving that the Greek culture and heroes were superior.  Since his writing involves praise (encomium) it falls within the branch of epideictic discourse. Here’s an example of Plutarch’s comments on life and fate found  in Book LXIII: “But it appears that destiny is not so much a thing that gives no warning as a thing that cannot be avoided.”  In Parallel Lives, Plutarch focuses on the mundane daily habits of figures to describe their moral contributions.  He relies heavily on parables in order to express particular insights about the figures.  

 

Moralia or "Ethical Essays" (Late first century-early second century AD):

The title Moralia is thought to be unfortunate because not many of the essays are about morality.  This collection includes eighty essays, dialogues, compilations, and philospophic polemics. 

 

Philosophy:

Plutarch's philosophical views are derived mostly from the collection of works collectively called Moralia and from the way he constructs Parallel Lives.  His philosophical views are considered genuine, but not collective; that is, insights can be gained from reading his works, but no blanket philosophy can be attributed to him. The privileging of mundane details and comparison of attributes in Parallel Lives indicates that moral purity was of importance to Plutarch.  His writings in Moralia are very pedagogical and sermonic in nature.  

Plutarch was influenced by Aristotle and Plato as seen by numerous direct credits to these names in his writing and through his appreciation for many (not all) Platonian ideals in his writing.  Either incidentally or because of Aristitolean influence, his works contain great examples of Aristotle's 28 common topics.  

Praise/Criticism:

  • Plutarch, and many other ancient historians, is criticized for his furthering of his philosophical views in his "histories."  It is important to note that histories in the classical periods in Greece were not source reliant, and the sources that were used were not necessarily good and useful.  Plutarch is criticized for reproducing secondary sources and not tracing his sources all the way back to their origins, having extreme digressions in his works showcasing his various knowledge, and privileging the quality of the story over the accuracy.  
  • The first comes from a web site hosted by Tuffs University as the Perseus Project to provide online access to ancient and classical literature. The project describes itself as “an evolving digital library of resources for the study of the humanities.”[2] (You may want to book mark it if you are doing any research in ancient literature.) Plutarch's interest in history had a definite character. In the opening paragraph to his life of the RomanAemiliusPaulus, he describes his purpose at some length:

“I began the writing of my ‘Lives’ for the sake of others, but I find that I am continuing the work and delighting in it now for my own sake also, using history as a mirror and endeavoring in a manner to fashion and adorn my life in conformity with the virtues therein depicted. For the result is like nothing else than daily living and associating together, when I receive and welcome each subject of my history in turn as my guest, so to speak, and observe carefully ‘how large he was and of what mien,’ and select from his career what is most important and most beautiful to know. ‘And oh! what greater joy than this can you obtain,’ and more efficacious for moral improvement.”[3]

Thus, Plutarch was writing for a purpose (moral enlightenment) and may have left out details that we might consider important.

 

  • Ralph Waldo Emerson made this assessment of Plutarch:  

Go with mean people and you think life is mean. Then read Plutarch, and the world is a proud place, peopled with men of positive quality, with heroes and demigods standing around us, who will not let us sleep. [4]    

 

For Further Reading/ Works Consulted:

More links to Plutarchian sources http://www.utexas.edu/depts/classics/chaironeia/

Plutarch’s Lives is available free online at Project Gutenberg; see also that translators comments about Plutarch’s influence on Shakespeare, particularly in the writing of Julius Caesar.   

Research also turned up this web site maintained by four homeschooling moms (some with advanced degrees) who have written a grade school and high school curriculum based on rhetoric and other ancient writing: http://www.classicalwriting.com/index.htm

Barrow, R.H. Plutarch and His Times.  Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1967. Print

Grant, Michael.  Greek and Roman Historians: Information and Misinformation.  London: Routledge, 1995.  Print.

Films Media Group.  Plutarch: Parallel Lives.  2004.  http://digitalfilms.com.proxygsu-gsu/

Lamberton, Robert.  Plutarch.  New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012.  Print.

Plutarch. Essays.  Trans by Robin Waterfield.  London: Penguin Books, 1992.  Print.

 


 

Image Source:

Plutarch's Bust at Chaeronea.  n.d. Wikimedia. Web. 17 November 2013.

[2] Perseus Project Web Site, “Information about Perseus,” http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/PerseusInfo.html (accessed February 10, 2008).

[3] Plut., Aemilius Paulus 1-2, transl. Bernadotte Perrin, in the Loeb Classical Library edition, Quoted at Perseus Project Web Site http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0004%3Ahead%3D%237166  (accessed February, 10, 2008).

[4]Ralph Waldo Emerson, quoted on p. 1 of Edmund Grindlay Berry 1961 Emerson's Plutarch. (Cambridge) and found on web site of University of Texas, http://www.utexas.edu/depts/classics/chaironeia/nachleben.html  (accessed February 10, 2008).

[5] Wilmot McCutchen, http://www.e-classics.com/plutarch.htm  (accessed February 10, 2008). 

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