Description
Book SynopsisOffers a survey of the famous historian and biographer Plutarch. This title presents a comprehensive discussion of major aspects of Plutarch's oeuvre. It provides essential background information on Plutarch's world, including his own circle of influential friends (Greek and Roman), his travels, his political activity, and more.
Trade Review“In sum, this handsomely produced companion provides a snapshot of current research on Plutarch, while also lighting the way for new directions of inquiry about one of our most important sources on the ancient Mediterranean.” (Religious Studies Review, 1 September 2015)
“As a collection of essays on Plutarch the philosopher, moralist, biographer, and human being, Beck’s companion offers a well-rounded, enjoyable, and state-of-the-art introduction.” (New England Classical Journal, 1 May 2015)
“This book studies him in his broader contemporary and later contexts and will be invaluable to anyone, student or specialist, investigating the culture of Plutarch’s times as well, of course, as the subject himself.” (Reference Reviews, 1 December 2014
“All in all, Beck’s Companion to Plutarch has now become the major reference work for scholars and students of Plutarch, as well as for a wider class of readers (specialists and non-specialists alike) who want to enter the charming world of the Chaeronean philosopher.” (Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 1 September 2014)
Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors x
Acknowledgments xvii
Note on the Translations and Abbreviations xviii
Introduction: Plutarch in Greece 1
Mark Beck
Part I Plutarch in Context 11
1 Plutarch and Rome 13
Philip A. Stadter
2 Plutarch and the Second Sophistic 32
Thomas A. Schmitz
3 The Role of Philosophy and Philosophers in the Imperial Period 43
Michael Trapp
Part II Plutarch’s Moralia 59
4 Plutarch and Platonism 61
John Dillon
5 Plutarch, Aristotle, and the Peripatetics 73
Francesco Becchi (translated by Pia Bertucci)
6 Plutarch and the Stoics 88
Jan Opsomer
7 Plutarch and Epicureanism 104
Eleni Kechagia-Ovseiko
8 Plutarch and the Skeptics 121
Mauro Bonazzi (translated by Pia Bertucci)
9 Practical Ethics 135
Lieve Van Hoof
10 Political Philosophy 149
Christopher Pelling
11 Religion and Myth 163
Rainer Hirsch-Luipold (translated by Mark Beck)
12 Poetry and Education 177
Ewen Bowie
13 Love and Marriage 191
Georgia Tsouvala
14 The Sympotic Works 207
Frieda Klotz
15 Animals in Plutarch 223
Stephen T. Newmyer
16 Plutarch the Antiquarian 235
Pascal Payen (translated by Cara Welch)
Part III Plutarch’s Biographical Projects 249
17 The Lives of the Caesars 251
Aristoula Georgiadou
18 Plutarch’s Galba and Otho 267
Lukas de Blois
19 The Aratus and the Artaxerxes 278
Eran Almagor
20 The Project of the Parallel Lives: Plutarch’s Conception of Biography 292
Joseph Geiger
21 Kratein onomatôn: Language and Value in Plutarch 304
Alexei V. Zadorojnyi
22 Compositional Methods in the Lives 321
Luc Van der Stockt
23 The Prologues 333
Timothy E. Duff
24 Morality, Characterization, and Individuality 350
Anastasios G. Nikolaidis
25 Childhood and Youth 373
Carmen Soares (translated by Camila Alvahydo)
26 Death and Other Kinds of Closure 391
Craig Cooper
27 The Synkrisis 405
David H.J. Larmour
28 The Use of Historical Sources 417
Maria Teresa Schettino (translated by Pia Bertucci)
29 Tragedy and the Hero 437
Judith Mossman
30 The Philosopher-King 449
Bernard Boulet
31 The Socratic Paradigm 463
Mark Beck
32 Fate and Fortune 479
Frances B. Titchener
33 The Perils of Ambition 488
Françoise Frazier (translated by Cara Welch)
34 Sex, Eroticism, and Politics 503
Jeffrey Beneker
35 Philanthropy, Dignity, and Euergetism 516
Geert Roskam
Part IV The Reception of Plutarch 529
36 The Reception of Plutarch from Antiquity to the Italian Renaissance 531
Marianne Pade
37 The Renaissance in France: Amyot and Montaigne 544
Olivier Guerrier (translated by Cara Welch)
38 The Reception of Plutarch in France after the Renaissance 549
Françoise Frazier (translated by Cara Welch)
39 The Reception of Plutarch in Spain 556
Aurelio Pérez Jiménez
40 Shakespeare 577
Gordon Braden
41 The Post-Renaissance Reception of Plutarch in England 592
Judith Mossman
42 Plutarch and the Early American Republic 598
Carl J. Richard
Index 611
