Difference between revisions of "Plutarch"
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| − | '''Plutarch''' (46 - c.122) was a [[Greek]] [[historian]], [[philosopher]], [[biographer]], and [[priest]] who lived from 46 to 127 AD. | + | [[File:Plutarch of Chaeronea-03.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|Plutarch's bust at Chaeronea (his home town).]] |
| + | '''Plutarch''' (46 - c.122) was a [[Greeks|Greek]] [[historian]], [[philosopher]], [[Biography|biographer]], and [[priest]] who lived from 46 to 127 AD. | ||
| − | He wrote ''Parallel Lives'' (''Vitae Parallae''), comparing great [[Roman]] and | + | He wrote ''Parallel Lives'' (''Vitae Parallae''), comparing great [[Roman]] and Greek men, to illustrate the similarities between the peoples in an attempt to bring their societies into greater [[harmony]]. This goal, arguably realized, was an extension of the [[Hellenization]] of the [[Roman Republic]] that occurred in the centuries prior to Plutarch's life and could be seen in the re-merging of their pantheon of gods, ''re''-merging because according to historical knowledge Rome was founded by Phrygian Greeks. |
Some of his works: | Some of his works: | ||
| − | *[[Theseus]], The Athenian Adventurer (c. 1300 B.C.) - [[Romulus and Remus|Romulus]] (c. 771 | + | *[[Theseus]], The Athenian Adventurer (c. 1300 B.C.) - [[Romulus and Remus|Romulus]] (c. 771 B.C. – c. 717 B.C.). |
| − | *[[Lycurgus]], The Father of [[Sparta]] (c. 800 B.C.) - [[Numa Pompilius]] (? - 673 | + | *[[Lycurgus]], The Father of [[Sparta]] (c. 800 B.C.) - [[Numa Pompilius]] (? - 673 B.C.). |
| − | *[[Solon]], The Lawmaker of [[Athens]] (c. 600 B.C.) - [[Publius Valerius Poplicola]], (? - 504 | + | *[[Solon]], The Lawmaker of [[Athens]] (c. 600 B.C.) - [[Publius Valerius Poplicola]], (? - 504 B.C.). |
*[[Aristides]], "The Just" (530 - 468 B.C.). | *[[Aristides]], "The Just" (530 - 468 B.C.). | ||
| − | *[[Pericles]], "The Olympian" (495 - 429 B.C.) - [[Fabius Maximus]], "The Delayer" (ca. 280 | + | *[[Pericles]], "The Olympian" (495 - 429 B.C.) - [[Fabius Maximus]], "The Delayer" (ca. 280 B.C. - 203 B.C.). |
| − | *[[Alexander]], "The Great" (356 - 323 B.C.) - [[Julius Caesar]] (100 | + | *[[Alexander]], "The Great" (356 - 323 B.C.) - [[Julius Caesar]] (100 B.C. – 44 B.C.).<ref>http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/caesar.html</ref> |
*[[Pyrrhus|Pyrrhus of Epirus]], The Fool of Hope (319 - 272 B.C.). | *[[Pyrrhus|Pyrrhus of Epirus]], The Fool of Hope (319 - 272 B.C.). | ||
| Line 22: | Line 23: | ||
Poplicola means "friend of the people". | Poplicola means "friend of the people". | ||
| − | == | + | == Writing sample == |
| − | From | + | From ''The Parallel Lives'' |
<blockquote> | <blockquote> | ||
| − | There is | + | There is likewise a vigorous dispute about the time at which King Numa lived, although from the beginning down to him the genealogies seems to be made out accurately. But a certain Clodius, in a book entitled "An Examination of Chronology," insists that the ancient records were lost when the city was sacked by the Gauls, and that those which are now exhibited as such were forged, their compilers wishing to gratify the pride of certain persons by inserting their names among the first families and the most illustrious houses, where they had no cause to appear. Accordingly, when it is said that Numa was an intimate friend of Pythagoras, some deny utterly that Numa had any Greek culture, holding either that he was naturally capable of attaining excellence by his own efforts, or that the culture of the king was due to some Barbarian superior to Pythagoras. Others say that Pythagoras the philosopher lived as many as five generations after Numa, but that there was another Pythagoras, the Spartan, who was Olympic victor in the foot-race for the sixteenth Olympiad (in the third year of which Numa was made king), and that in his wanderings about Italy he made the acquaintance of Numa, and helped him arrange the government of the city, whence it came about that many Spartan customs were mingled with the Roman, as Pythagoras taught them to Numa. And at all events, Numa was of Sabine descent, and the Sabines will have it that they were colonists from Lacedaemon. Chronology, however, is hard to fix, and especially that which is based upon the names of victors in the Olympic games, the list of which is said to have been published at a late period by Hippias of Elis, who had no fully authoritative basis for his work. I shall therefore begin at a convenient point, and relate the noteworthy facts which I have found in the life of Numa.<ref>http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Numa*.html</ref> |
</blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
| Line 37: | Line 38: | ||
*[[Greek Philosophy]] | *[[Greek Philosophy]] | ||
*[[Greeks]] | *[[Greeks]] | ||
| + | *[[Roman painting]] | ||
== External links == | == External links == | ||
| Line 44: | Line 46: | ||
*[http://www.e-classics.com/index.html 15 Ancient Greek Heroes] | *[http://www.e-classics.com/index.html 15 Ancient Greek Heroes] | ||
*[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/home.html Plutarch's Lives] | *[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/home.html Plutarch's Lives] | ||
| + | *[http://www.livius.org/pi-pm/plutarch/plutarch.htm Plutarch of Chaeronea] | ||
| − | + | [[Category:Ancient Rome]] | |
| − | [[ | + | [[Category:Historians]] |
| − | [[ | + | [[Category:Ancient Greece]] |
Latest revision as of 03:50, March 15, 2025
Plutarch (46 - c.122) was a Greek historian, philosopher, biographer, and priest who lived from 46 to 127 AD.
He wrote Parallel Lives (Vitae Parallae), comparing great Roman and Greek men, to illustrate the similarities between the peoples in an attempt to bring their societies into greater harmony. This goal, arguably realized, was an extension of the Hellenization of the Roman Republic that occurred in the centuries prior to Plutarch's life and could be seen in the re-merging of their pantheon of gods, re-merging because according to historical knowledge Rome was founded by Phrygian Greeks.
Some of his works:
- Theseus, The Athenian Adventurer (c. 1300 B.C.) - Romulus (c. 771 B.C. – c. 717 B.C.).
- Lycurgus, The Father of Sparta (c. 800 B.C.) - Numa Pompilius (? - 673 B.C.).
- Solon, The Lawmaker of Athens (c. 600 B.C.) - Publius Valerius Poplicola, (? - 504 B.C.).
- Aristides, "The Just" (530 - 468 B.C.).
- Pericles, "The Olympian" (495 - 429 B.C.) - Fabius Maximus, "The Delayer" (ca. 280 B.C. - 203 B.C.).
- Alexander, "The Great" (356 - 323 B.C.) - Julius Caesar (100 B.C. – 44 B.C.).[1]
- Pyrrhus of Epirus, The Fool of Hope (319 - 272 B.C.).
Mourned let me die; and may I, when life ends,
Occasion sighs and sorrows to my friends, Poplicola.
Poplicola means "friend of the people".
Writing sample
From The Parallel Lives
There is likewise a vigorous dispute about the time at which King Numa lived, although from the beginning down to him the genealogies seems to be made out accurately. But a certain Clodius, in a book entitled "An Examination of Chronology," insists that the ancient records were lost when the city was sacked by the Gauls, and that those which are now exhibited as such were forged, their compilers wishing to gratify the pride of certain persons by inserting their names among the first families and the most illustrious houses, where they had no cause to appear. Accordingly, when it is said that Numa was an intimate friend of Pythagoras, some deny utterly that Numa had any Greek culture, holding either that he was naturally capable of attaining excellence by his own efforts, or that the culture of the king was due to some Barbarian superior to Pythagoras. Others say that Pythagoras the philosopher lived as many as five generations after Numa, but that there was another Pythagoras, the Spartan, who was Olympic victor in the foot-race for the sixteenth Olympiad (in the third year of which Numa was made king), and that in his wanderings about Italy he made the acquaintance of Numa, and helped him arrange the government of the city, whence it came about that many Spartan customs were mingled with the Roman, as Pythagoras taught them to Numa. And at all events, Numa was of Sabine descent, and the Sabines will have it that they were colonists from Lacedaemon. Chronology, however, is hard to fix, and especially that which is based upon the names of victors in the Olympic games, the list of which is said to have been published at a late period by Hippias of Elis, who had no fully authoritative basis for his work. I shall therefore begin at a convenient point, and relate the noteworthy facts which I have found in the life of Numa.[2]