Complete Works of Plutarch (Delphi Ancient Classics) (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 13)

6168 Pages·2013·43.34 MB·English

by  Plutarch

The Complete Works of
PLUTARCH
(46–120AD)
Contents
The Translations
PARALLEL LIVES
MORALIA
The Greek Texts
LIST OF GREEK TEXTS
The Biographies
INTRODUCTION TO PLUTARCH by Bernadotte Perrin
LIFE OF PLUTARCH by Aubrey Stewart
The Delphi Classics Catalogue
© Delphi Classics 2013
Version 1

The Complete Works of
PLUTARCH
By Delphi Classics, 2013

COPYRIGHT
Complete Works of Plutarch First published in the United Kingdom in 2013 by Delphi
Classics.
© Delphi Classics, 2013.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be
otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.
Delphi Classics
is an imprint of
Delphi Publishing Ltd
Hastings, East Sussex
United Kingdom
Contact: [email protected] www.delphiclassics.com
The Translations
Ruins of Ancient Chaeronea — Plutarch’s birthplace. The author was born to a prominent family in
Chaeronea, Boeotia, twenty miles east of Delphi.
Chaeronea was the site of a famous battle in 338 BC, between Philip II of Macedon and a coalition of
various South Greek states, mainly Thebes and Athens. During the battle, the elite unit of Theban soldiers
known as the Sacred Band of Thebes was wiped out completely This fragmentary monument of a lion
commemorates the battle and was referred to by Plutarch in his writings.
PARALLEL LIVES
Translated by Bernadotte Perrin
This famous collection of ‘lives’ contains twenty-three pairs of biographies, each
consisting of a Greek and a Roman biography on a leading historical figure,
usually followed by a comparison, drawing conclusions to the grand
achievements, moral virtues or failings of the persons discussed. One of the
most popular texts of antiquity, sharing a privileged ‘best-selling’ reputation as
early as the Roman times, Plutarch’s Parallel Lives is a work of considerable
importance, not only as a source of information about the subjects of the
biographies, but also about the life and times of the Classical world.
Parallel Lives was published by Plutarch late in life after his return to
Chaeronea and they appear to be the result of many years of compilation and
study. Plutarch explains in the first paragraph of the Life of Alexander that he is
not concerned with writing histories, but in exploring the influence of characters
on the lives and destinies of famous men. The author strives to prove that the
more remote past of Greece boasts men of action and achievement that can vie
with the more recent heroes of Rome’s past.
The chief surviving manuscripts date from the 10th and 11th centuries, with
the true first edition appearing in Florence in 1517. The first pair of lives, the
Epaminondas–Scipio Africanus, no longer exists, and many of the remaining
lives are truncated, with obvious lacunae or sections that have been altered by
later writers. Of principal importance is the Life of Alexander , one of the five
surviving secondary or tertiary sources about Alexander the Great, which
includes anecdotes and descriptions of incidents that appear in no other source.
Likewise, the biography of Numa Pompilius, an early Roman king, also contains
unique information found nowhere else in ancient texts.
Plutarch has been criticised for his lack of judicious discrimination in the use
of authorities and the consequent errors and inaccuracies in his text, but he
salvages many quotations from lost works, whilst incidentally providing a large
amount of valuable contextual information, filling up numerous gaps in
historical knowledge found elsewhere. Since antiquity, Plutarch has been
celebrated for the concise and lively style of his writing, conveying a sense of
warmth in his portrayals and the moral earnestness and enthusiasm with which
he analyses some the most important events and personages of the ancient world.