Ploutarchos

T. Tsiampokalos, Plutarch and Rhetoric. The Relationship of Rhetoric to Ethics, Politics and Education in the First and Second Centuries AD (Plutarchea Hypomnemata), Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2024, pp. 248. ISBN: 9789462704190

2025-01-02T11:42:36+00:00

Plutarco, Q.C. 9.15 (747A-748D)

2025-01-02T11:34:22+00:00

In Quaestio convivalis 9.15 Plutarch deals with a subject toward which he shows great interest, namely the introduction of a new theatrical genre, the pantomime; regarding this genre Plutarch indicates and clarifies what are the three phases, the three times (φορά, σχῆμα, δεῖξις). The text, a translation of which is provided, is accompanied by commentary notes.

The Proem of Plutarch’s Mulierum Virtutes in the Context of the Rhetorical Tradition

2023-11-08T11:29:36+00:00

This article analyzes the structure of the prologue of Plutarch’s Mulierum Virtutes and assesses the imprint of the rhetorical tradition, establishing relationships with the rhetorical exercise of the thesis as defined and described by Aelius Theon. Both implicit and explicit allusions to different authors and passages are analyzed, while the terms used by Plutarch to refer to this work are examined in the light of the rhetorical tradition.

‘Bad Fathers’ in Plutarch’s Parallel Lives. An Approximation

2025-01-02T10:42:29+00:00

This paper aims to analyse the bad relations between parents and sons in Plutarch’s Parallel Lives. Their study will allow us to highlight, once again, the marked separation between the ideal state of things, reflected in the Moralia, and the conflict-ridden realities that we read in the Lives. Rather than being satisfied with merely listing the passages that confirm the (evident) existence of bad fathers in Graeco-Roman antiquity, we will try to explain not only the traits that make a father ‘bad’, but also what motivations and causes were usually behind the inadequate relations between fathers and children. Plutarch, in his biographies, was particularly interested in the repercussions of these disputes on both the individual (private) and the collective (state) levels, although it is certainly true that he usually favoured the latter view, as he tended to be much more interested in fulfilling one of his major ambitions in writing his Lives: to contribute to the proper ethical and moral education of new generations of Greek’s and Roman’s elites.

Plutarch and the Antiantonian Propaganda

2024-11-07T18:35:51+00:00

The article examines the sections from "Life of Antony" in which Plutarch had omitted or adapted to his philosophical-moralistic thought and to the cultural sensitivity of all his readers some hostile traditions to the triumvir, which were understandable only to an audience familiar with the principles of "mos maiorum". By means of this analysis, Chaeronean's ability to compose works that can provide moral teachings to any type of reader will be highlighted.

Reflections on Plutarch’s Lives of Aemilius Paullus and Timoleon

2024-10-25T09:36:31+01:00

Plutarch opens the Lives of Aemilius Paullus and Timoleon with a metaphor comparing his writing of biographies to a mirror in which he contemplates his own life. This is the only time in the Lives he uses this metaphor. The paper seeks to relate this image to the fact that, apparently for the first time, Plutarch has placed the Life of his Greek hero after that of the Roman. It is suggested that this reversal of his usual practice, combined with several subtle indications throughout the pair of Lives, indicates Plutarch’s greater sympathy for, and even identification with, Timoleon, despite his frequent efforts to appear to be even-handed in his treatment of the two men.

A Note on Plu. Cim. 18.2-5: Cimon’s Dream and Astyphilus of Poseidonia

2024-09-30T18:35:18+01:00

The paper examinates Plutarch’s Life of Cimon 18.2-5, passage in which Astyphilus from Poseidonia interprets a dream made by Cimon and predicts the death of the Athenian statesman. A literary analysis of Plutarch’s anecdote, compared with other similar dreams from the Parallel Lives and considered with some deductions on Astyphilus and the activity of the ancient dream interpreters, if related with some evidences from the history and archaeology of Poseidonia and with the testimony of Hdt. 1.165-167, suggests to postulate the existence of a notable tradition of oneiromancy and oracular exegesis from the ancient city of Poseidonia.

Ostracism According to Plutarch

2024-01-26T12:25:59+00:00

This paper aims to explore Plutarch’s theoretical interpretation of ostracism as depicted in the biographies of Themistocles and Aristides (Them. 22.4-5; Arist. 7.2). It seeks to demonstrate that the concept of envy (φθόνος) should not be considered an ‘alternative’ motivation to political factors, but rather integrated into a broader analytical framework. To support this argument, the study will assess Plutarch’s general evaluation of envy, with a particular focus on his treatise De invidia et odio. This comparative analysis will ultimately provide a more nuanced understanding of the role of φθόνος in the two theoretical passages under examination.

Preliminary Stages or Final Destinations? Plutarch’s Remarks on the Subjects of Most Interest to Beginners in Philosophy

2025-01-02T11:23:58+00:00

In his influential doctoral dissertation Fritz Krauss adopted Rudolf Hirzel’s view that as a young man Plutarch had turned from the study of rhetoric to the study of philosophy. His aim was to establish that any of Plutarch’s surviving texts that display explicit traces of rhetorical conventions date to his early years. However, Krauss provided only one piece of positive evidence to support Hirzel’s conjecture: a passage from On Progress in Virtue. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that, upon closer examination, this passage does not depict engagement with rhetoric as a preliminary stage in the education of young men, but rather, it describes the opposite process.