Plutarch was born to a prominent family in the small town ofChaeronea,[5] about 30 kilometres (19 mi) east ofDelphi, in the Greek region ofBoeotia. His family was long established in the town; his father was named Autobulus and his grandfather was namedLamprias.[3] His brothers, Timon and Lamprias, are frequently mentioned in his essays and dialogues, which speak of Timon in particular in the most affectionate terms.
In addition to his duties as a priest of theDelphic temple, Plutarch was also amagistrate at Chaeronea and he represented his home town on various missions to foreign countries during his early adult years. Plutarch held the office ofarchon in his native municipality, probably only an annual one which he likely served more than once.[15] Plutarch wasepimeletes (manager) of theAmphictyonic League for at least five terms, from 107 to 127, in which role he was responsible for organising thePythian Games. He mentions this service in his work,Whether an Old Man Should Engage in Public Affairs (17 =Moralia 792f).[16] TheSuda, amedieval Greek encyclopedia, states thatTrajan made Plutarchprocurator ofIllyria;[17] most historians consider this unlikely, since Illyria was not a procuratorial province.[18][page needed] According to the 8th/9th-century historianGeorge Syncellus, late in Plutarch's life, EmperorHadrian appointed him nominalprocurator ofAchaea – which entitled him to wear the vestments and ornaments of a consul.[19]
Plutarch and his wife, Timoxena,[20] had at least four sons and one daughter, although two died in childhood. A letter is still extant, addressed by Plutarch to his wife, bidding her not to grieve too much at the death of their two-year-old daughter, who was named Timoxena after her mother, which also mentions the loss of a young son, Chaeron.[21] Two sons, named Autoboulos and Plutarch, appear in a number of Plutarch's works; Plutarch's treatise on Plato'sTimaeus is dedicated to them.[22] It is likely that a third son, named Soklaros after Plutarch's confidant Soklaros of Tithora, survived to adulthood as well, although he is not mentioned in Plutarch's later works; a Lucius Mestrius Soclarus, who shares Plutarch's Latin family name, appears in an inscription in Boeotia from the time ofTrajan.[23] Traditionally, the surviving catalog of Plutarch's works is ascribed to another son, named Lamprias after Plutarch's grandfather;[24] most modern scholars believe this tradition is a later interpolation.[25] His family remained in Greece down to at least the fourth century, producing a number of philosophers and authors.[22]Apuleius, author ofThe Golden Ass, made his fictional protagonist a descendant of Plutarch.[26]
It is not known in which year Plutarch died. Gregory Crane estimates that he diedc. 125,[27] while the 1911 edition ofEncyclopædia Britannica estimates that he diedc. 120.[6] As of the 21st century, Encyclopædia Britannica gives Plutarch's death year as "after 119".[28]
Plutarch's best-known work is theParallel Lives, a series ofbiographies of illustrious Greeks and Romans, arranged in pairs to illuminate their commonmoral virtues and vices, thus it being more of an insight into human nature than ahistorical account. As is explained in the opening paragraph of hisLife of Alexander,[29] Plutarch was not concerned with history so much as the influence of character, good or bad, on the lives and destinies of men. Whereas sometimes he barely touched on epoch-making events, he devoted much space to charming anecdote and incidental triviality, reasoning that this often said far more for his subjects than even their most famous accomplishments. He sought to provide rounded portraits, likening his craft to that of a painter; indeed, he went to tremendous lengths (often leading to tenuous comparisons) to drawparallels between physical appearance andmoral character.[citation needed]
"It is nothistories I am writing, butlives; and in the most glorious deeds there is not always an indication of virtue or vice, indeed a small thing like a phrase or a jest often makes a greater revelation of a character than battles where thousands die."
Life of Alexander
Plutarch'sLife of Alexander, written as a parallel to that of Julius Caesar, is one of five extant tertiary sources on the Macedonian conquerorAlexander the Great. It includesanecdotes and descriptions of events that appear in no other source, just as Plutarch's portrait ofNuma Pompilius, the putative second king of Rome, holds much that is unique on the earlyRoman calendar. Plutarch devotes a great deal of space to Alexander's drive and desire, and strives to determine how much of it was presaged in his youth. He also draws extensively on the work ofLysippos, Alexander's favouritesculptor, to provide what is probably the fullest and most accurate description of the conqueror's physical appearance. When it comes to his character, Plutarch emphasizes his unusual degree of self-control and scorn for luxury: "He desired not pleasure or wealth, but only excellence and glory." As the narrative progresses, the subject incurs less admiration from his biographer and the deeds that it recounts become less savoury. The murder ofCleitus the Black, which Alexander instantly and deeply regretted, is commonly cited to this end.[citation needed]
Together withSuetonius'sThe Twelve Caesars, andCaesar's own worksde Bello Gallico andde Bello Civili, theLife of Caesar is the main account ofJulius Caesar's feats by ancient historians. Plutarch starts by telling of the audacity of Caesar and his refusal to dismissCinna's daughter,Cornelia. Other important parts are those containing his military deeds, accounts of battles and Caesar's capacity of inspiring the soldiers.
Plutarch's life shows few differences from Suetonius' work and Caesar's own works (seeDe Bello Gallico andDe Bello Civili). Sometimes, Plutarch quotes directly from theDe Bello Gallico and even tells us of the moments when Caesar was dictating his works. In the final part of this life, Plutarch recounts details ofCaesar's assassination. It ends by telling the destiny of his murderers, just after a detailed account of the scene when aphantom appeared toBrutus at night.[30]
Plutarch'sLife of Pyrrhus is a key text because it is the main historical account on Roman history for the period from 293 to 264 BCE, for which bothDionysius' andLivy's texts are lost.[31]
The remainder of Plutarch's surviving work is collected under the title of theMoralia (loosely translated asCustoms and Mores). It is an eclectic collection of seventy-eight essays and transcribed speeches, including "Concerning the Face Which Appears in the Orb of the Moon" (a dialogue on the possible causes for such an appearance and a source for Galileo's own work),[32] "On Fraternal Affection" (a discourse on honour and affection of siblings toward each other), "On the Fortune or the Virtue ofAlexander the Great" (an important adjunct to his Life of the great king), and "On the Worship ofIsis andOsiris" (a crucial source of information onancient Egyptian religion);[33] more philosophical treatises, such as "On the Decline of the Oracles", "On the Delays of the Divine Vengeance", and "On Peace of Mind"; and lighter fare, such as "Odysseus and Gryllus", a humorousdialogue betweenHomer's Odysseus and one ofCirce's enchanted pigs.
Some editions of theMoralia include several works now known to have been falsely attributed to Plutarch. Among these are theLives of the Ten Orators, a series of biographies of theAttic orators based onCaecilius of Calacte;On the Opinions of the Philosophers,On Fate, andOn Music.[34] These works are all attributed to a single, unknown author, referred to as "Pseudo-Plutarch".[34] Pseudo-Plutarch lived sometime between the third and fourth centuries AD. Despite being falsely attributed, the works are still considered to possess historical value.[35]
Plutarch's first biographical works were the Lives of the Roman Emperors fromAugustus toVitellius. These early emperors' biographies were probably published under theFlavian dynasty or during the reign of Nerva (AD 96–98). Of these, only the Lives ofGalba andOtho survive. The Lives ofTiberius andNero are extant only as fragments, provided by Damascius[36] as well as Plutarch himself,[37] respectively. There is reason to believe that the two Lives still extant, those of Galba and Otho, "ought to be considered as a single work." Therefore, they do not form a part of the Plutarchian canon of single biographies – as represented by the Life ofAratus of Sicyon and the Life ofArtaxerxes II (the biographies ofHesiod,Pindar,Crates and Daiphantus were lost).Galba-Otho can be found in the appendix to Plutarch'sParallel Lives as well as in various Moralia manuscripts, most prominently inMaximus Planudes' edition where Galba and Otho appear asOpera XXV and XXVI. Thus it seems reasonable to maintain thatGalba-Otho was from early on considered as an illustration of a moral-ethical approach.[citation needed]
Thelost works of Plutarch are determined by references in his own texts to them and from other authors' references over time. Parts of theLives and what would be considered parts of theMoralia have been lost. The 'Catalogue of Lamprias', an ancient list of works attributed to Plutarch, lists 227 works, of which 78 have come down to us.[3] The Romans loved theLives. Enough copies were written out over the centuries so that a copy of most of the lives has survived to the present day, but there are traces of twelve more Lives that are now lost.[38] Plutarch's general procedure for theLives was to write the life of a prominent Greek, then cast about for a suitable Roman parallel, and end with a brief comparison of the Greek and Roman lives. Currently, only 19 of the parallel lives end with a comparison, while possibly they all did at one time. Also missing are many of hisLives which appear in a list of his writings: those of Hercules, the first pair ofParallel Lives,Scipio Africanus andEpaminondas, and the companions to the four solo biographies, as well as biographies of important figures such asAugustus,Claudius andNero.[39][40] Lost works that would have been part of theMoralia include "Whether One WhoSuspends Judgment on Everything Is Condemned to Inaction", "OnPyrrho's Ten Modes", and "On the Difference between thePyrrhonians and theAcademics".[41]
"Thesoul, being eternal, afterdeath is like a caged bird that has been released. If it has been a long time in the body, and has become tame by many affairs and long habit, the soul will immediately take another body and once again become involved in the troubles of the world. The worst thing about old age is that the soul's memory of the other world grows dim, while at the same time its attachment to things of this world becomes so strong that the soul tends to retain the form that it had in the body. But that soul which remains only a short time within a body, until liberated by the higher powers, quickly recovers its fire and goes on to higher things."
Plutarch ("The Consolation",Moralia)
Plutarch was aPlatonist, but was open to the influence of thePeripatetics, and in some details even toStoicism despite his criticism of their principles.[42] He rejected onlyEpicureanism absolutely.[42] He attached little importance to theoretical questions and doubted the possibility of ever solving them.[42] He was more interested in moral and religious questions.[42]
In opposition to Stoic materialism and Epicurean atheism he cherished a pure idea ofGod that was more in accordance withPlato.[42] He adopted a second principle (Dyad) in order to explain the phenomenal world.[42] This principle he sought, however, not in any indeterminate matter but in the evilworld-soul which has from the beginning been bound up with matter, but in the creation was filled with reason and arranged by it.[42] Thus it was transformed into the divine soul of the world, but continued to operate as the source of all evil.[42] He elevated God above the finite world, and thusdaemons became for him agents of God's influence on the world. He strongly defends freedom of the will, and the immortality of the soul.[42]
Platonic-Peripateticethics were upheld by Plutarch against the opposing theories of the Stoics and Epicureans.[42] The most characteristic feature of Plutarch's ethics is its close connection with religion.[42] However pure Plutarch's idea of God is, and however vivid his description of the vice and corruption which superstition causes, his warm religious feelings and his distrust of human powers of knowledge led him to believe that God comes to our aid by direct revelations, which we perceive the more clearly the more completely that we refrain in "enthusiasm" from all action; this made it possible for him to justify popular belief indivination in the way which had long been usual among the Stoics.[42]
His attitude to popular religion was similar. The gods of different peoples are merely different names for one and the same divine Being and the powers that serve it.[42] Themyths contain philosophical truths which can be interpreted allegorically.[42] Thus, Plutarch sought to combine the philosophical and religious conception of things and to remain as close as possible to tradition.[42] Plutarch was the teacher ofFavorinus.[43]
Plutarch was avegetarian, although how long and how strictly he adhered to this diet is unclear.[44] He wrote about theethics of meat-eating in two discourses inMoralia.[45]
There are multiple translations ofParallel Lives into Latin, most notably the one titled "Pour le Dauphin" (French for "for theCrown Prince") written by a scribe in the court ofLouis XV of France, and a 1470Ulrich Han translation. In 1519, Hieronymus Emser translatedDe capienda ex inimicis utilitate (wie ym eyner seinen veyndt nutz machen kan, Leipzig). The biographies were translated by Gottlob Benedict von Schirach (1743–1804) and printed in Vienna by Franz Haas (1776–1780). Plutarch'sLives andMoralia were translated into German byJohann Friedrich Salomon Kaltwasser.
Montaigne'sEssays draw extensively on Plutarch'sMoralia and are consciously modelled on the Greek's easygoing and discursive inquiries into science, manners, customs and beliefs.Essays contains more than 400 references to Plutarch and his works.[39]
Jacques Amyot's translations brought Plutarch's works to French readers. He went to Italy and studied the Vatican text of Plutarch, from which he published a French translation of theLives in 1559 andMoralia in 1572, which were widely read by educated Europe.[46] Amyot's translations had as deep an impression in England as France, becauseSir Thomas North later published his English translation of theLives in 1579 based on Amyot's French translation instead of the original Greek.[47]Shakespeare paraphrased parts ofThomas North's translation of selectedLives inhis plays, and occasionally quoted from them verbatim.[48]
The completeMoralia was first translated into English from the original Greek byPhilemon Holland in 1603. In 1683,John Dryden began a life of Plutarch and oversaw a translation of theLives by several hands and based on the original Greek. This translation has been reworked and revised several times, most recently in the 19th century by the English poet and classicistArthur Hugh Clough (first published in 1859). One contemporary publisher of this version isModern Library. Another isEncyclopædia Britannica in association with the University of Chicago,ISBN0-85229-163-9, 1952,LCCN55-10323. In 1770, English brothersJohn andWilliam Langhorne published "Plutarch'sLives from the original Greek, with notes critical and historical, and a new life of Plutarch" in 6 volumes and dedicated to Lord Folkestone. Their translation was re-edited by Archdeacon Wrangham in the year 1813.[citation needed]
Jean-Jacques Rousseau quotes from Plutarch in the 1762Emile, or On Education, a treatise on the education of the whole person for citizenship. Rousseau introduces a passage from Plutarch in support of his position against eating meat:"'You ask me', said Plutarch, 'whyPythagoras abstained from eating the flesh of beasts...'"[49]
Plutarch is the most frequently named of the ancient historians in theFederalist Papers.Ralph Waldo Emerson and thetranscendentalists were greatly influenced by theMoralia and in his glowing introduction to the five-volume, 19th-century edition, he called theLives "a bible for heroes".[50]
^The inscription is inInscriptiones Graecae, 9.1.61, see the note inJones 1971, p. 22 Older scholarship tended assume Soklaros was not a son or died young because he did not appear in any dedications.
^"Lamprias".Suda. Translated by Whitehead, David. 8 September 2001. Retrieved7 May 2024 – via Department of Computer Science at the University of Kentucky.
^Ziegler, Konrat (1964).Plutarchos von Chaironeia (in German). Stuttgart: Alfred Druckenmuller. p. 60.
^(but which according to Erasmus referred to the Thessalonians)Plutarch."Isis and Osiris". Frank Cole Babbitt (trans.). Archived fromthe original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved10 December 2006.
^abBlank, D. (2011). "'Plutarch' and the Sophistry of 'Noble Lineage'". In Martínez, J. (ed.).Fakes and Forgers of Classical Literature. Madrid: Ediciones Clásicas. pp. 33–60.
^Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911)."Amyot, Jacques" .Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 01 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 901.He was thus enabled to go to Italy to study the Vatican text of Plutarch, on the translation on whose Lives (1559; 1565) he had been some time engaged.
^Denton, John. “Renaissance Translation Strategies and the Manipulation of a Classical Text. Plutarch from Jacques Amyot to Thomas North”. Europe Et Traduction, edited by Michel Ballard, Artois Presses Université, 1998,https://doi.org/10.4000/books.apu.6433.
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