Plutarch was born in the city of Chaeronea, in the ancient Greek district of Boeotia, where his family had long been established. He studied in Athens under Ammonius, traveled to Rome, and became equally at home in both cultures. He was extraordinarily erudite and particularly knowledgeable in the areas of literature, contemporary history, and PLATO’s philosophy. Plutarch married, fathered five children, and spent much of his life in Chaeronea, where he involved himself in community activities and served in public office. Plutarch’s range of experience and scholarship allowed him to pursue a variety of careers: as Delphic priest, lecturer, archon, and influential leader in the literary and intellectual circles of the court of the Roman emperor Trajan. During Trajan’s reign (98–117), Plutarch produced his masterpiece, Parallel Lives. This set of biographies of famous Greeks and Romans reflects the sensibilities of his age, putting Roman traditions and achievements on a level with Greece’s glory-filled history. It was the belief at the time that studying the individual accomplishments and mistakes of historical persons was a character-building pursuit. Plutarch, a moralist and ethicist after the fashion of ARISTOTLE, wrote to improve the moral fiber of his audience. Parallel Lives reveals Plutarch’s pride in the heritage of Greek thought and classic ideals, his profound admiration for Roman civilization, and his attempt to reconcile the two. The treatise offers 23 pairs of biographies. The portrait of a Greek statesman or military leader is presented first, and the life story of his Roman counterpart follows for purposes of comparison. Plutarch creates both inner and spoken dialogue, stages dramatic scenes, and narrates anecdotes to depict his subjects as men of honor, principle, and integrity.His protagonists are at turns dutiful and self-important, outraged and triumphant, generous and petty, autocratic and heroic, and censured and rewarded. One of the finest and most appropriate pairings within Parallel Lives is that of DEMOSTHENES, the Greek orator, and CICERO, the Roman orator.Demosthenes’oration shows “thoughtfulness, austerity, and grave earnestness” displayed by his morose countenance and anxious aspect. On the other hand,Cicero is “disposed to mirth and pleasantry,” and his “love of mockery often [runs] him into scurrility; and in his love of laughing away serious arguments in judicial cases by jests and facetious remarks . . . he [pays] too little regard to what [is] decent.” Another of Plutarch’s important works is the series of essays on moral philosophy called the Moralia. The topics of these more-than-70 essays range from education, religion, and literary criticism to psychology, politics, and matters of etiquette. Jacques Amyot’s French translations of the Lives (1559) and Moral Essays (1572) made Plutarch available to such thinkers and artists as Rabelais,Montaigne, Racine, and Molière. Translated into English by Philemon Holland in 1603, the Lives provided fertile ground for English playwrights, including Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare. Shakespeare, in particular, borrowed from Plutarch’s writings and used the Greeks’ analysis of human behavior to embellish the action and characters of his history plays, including Julius CAESAR. Later, John Dryden was inspired to write Life of Plutarch (1683), in which he analyzes the structure and style of Parallel Lives. The Moral Essays influenced English poets and thinkers like John Lyly, George Chapman, Jeremy Taylor, and John Milton. Plutarch’s reputation has varied over the ages, since his historical approach was somewhat unreliable and his facts often inaccurate. However, his purpose was edification and instruction, and his works reflect a vigorous mind. His Lives in particular provided models for biographers to follow.As a moralist, he addresses questions of enduring concern, and as literature his works provide an enduring fascination. English Versions of Works by Plutarch Essays. Edited by Ian Kidd. New York: Penguin Classics, 1993. The Life of Alexander the Great. Translated by John Dryden. Introduction by Victor Davis Hanson. New York: Random House, 2004. Plutarch: The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans. Translated by John Dryden. Edited by Arthur Hugh Clough. New York: Random House, 1992.
Works about Plutarch
Barrow, R. H. Plutarch and His Times. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1967.
Mossman, Judith, ed. Plutarch and His Intellectual
World. London: Duckworth, 1997.
Pelling, Christopher B. Plutarch and History. Cardiff:
The Classical Press of Wales, 2002.