The Misunderstanding about the Granddaughter (Plut. Cons. ux. 608B)

Abstract

At the very beginning of the Cons. ux., we gather that the messenger sent by Plutarch’s wife, to tell him about their child’s death, went first to Tanagra and then left for Athens, expecting to meet Plutarch on the way. The meeting, however, did not occur, so that Plutarch only heard of the news παρὰ τῆς θυγατριδῆς, when he arrived at Tanagra. Several scholars maintain that this girl can hardly be a granddaughter of Plutarch (who was about forty at that moment) and assume she might be his niece (i.e. a daughter of one of his brothers); Babut, instead, believes that by this Greek term Plutarch refers to one of his daughters-in-law. This paper discusses the whole problem and suggests a new explication for the misunderstanding concerning the granddaughter who lived in Tanagra.