iwbe.ru → Russian politicians

Plutarch biography. Plutarch - short biography What happened to Plutarch's people

PLUTARCH(c. 46 - c. 120), ancient Greek writer and historian. The main work is “Comparative Lives” of outstanding Greeks and Romans (50 biographies). The rest of the numerous works that have come down to us are united under the code name “Moralia”.

PLUTARCH(c. 46 - c. 120), ancient Greek writer, author of moral, philosophical and historical-biographical works. From Plutarch's vast literary heritage, which amounted to ca. 250 works, no more than a third of the works have survived, most of which are united under the general title “Morals”. Another group - "Comparative Lives" - includes 23 pairs of biographies of outstanding statesmen of Ancient Greece and Rome, selected according to the similarity of their historical mission and the similarity of characters.

Biography

The ancient tradition has not preserved the biography of Plutarch, but it can be reconstructed with sufficient completeness from his own writings. Plutarch was born in the 40s of the 1st century in Boeotia, in the small town of Chaeronea, where in 338 BC. e. A battle took place between the troops of Philip of Macedon and the Greek troops. In the time of Plutarch, his homeland was part of the Roman province of Achaia, and only carefully preserved ancient traditions could testify to its former greatness. Plutarch came from an old, wealthy family and received a traditional grammatical and rhetorical education, which he continued in Athens, becoming a student at the school of the philosopher Ammonius. Returning to his hometown, from his youth he took part in its administration, holding various magistrates, including the prominent position of archon-eponym. Plutarch repeatedly went on political errands to Rome, where he established friendly relations with many statesmen, among whom was a friend of Emperor Trajan, consul Quintus Sosius Senekion; Plutarch dedicated “Comparative Lives” and “Table Talks” to him. Proximity to influential circles of the empire and growing literary fame brought Plutarch new honorary positions: under Trajan (98-117) he became proconsul, under Hadrian (117-138) - procurator of the province of Achaia. A surviving inscription from the era of Hadrian indicates that the emperor granted Plutarch Roman citizenship, classifying him as a member of the Mestrian family.

Plutarch's public activities earned him great respect in Greece. Around 95, his fellow citizens elected him a member of the college of priests of the sanctuary of Apollo of Delphi. A statue was erected in his honor in Delphi, from which, during excavations in 1877, a pedestal with a poetic dedication was found.

Plutarch's life dates back to the era of the "Hellenic Renaissance" of the early 2nd century. During this period, the educated circles of the Empire were overwhelmed by the desire to imitate the ancient Hellenes both in the customs of everyday life and in literary creativity. The policy of Emperor Hadrian, who provided assistance to Greek cities that had fallen into decay, could not but arouse among Plutarch's compatriots hope for a possible revival of the traditions of the independent policies of Hellas.

Plutarch's literary activity was primarily educational and educational in nature. His works are addressed to a wide range of readers and have a pronounced moral and ethical orientation associated with the traditions of the teaching genre - diatribes. Plutarch's worldview is harmonious and clear: he believes in a higher mind that governs the universe, and is like a wise teacher who never tires of reminding his listeners of eternal human values.

Small works

The wide range of topics covered in Plutarch's works reflects the encyclopedic nature of his knowledge. He creates “Political Instructions”, essays on practical morality (“On envy and hatred”, “How to distinguish a flatterer from a friend”, “On love for children”, etc.), he is interested in the influence of literature on a person (“How young men get acquainted with poetry") and questions of cosmogony ("On the generation of the world soul according to Timaeus").

Plutarch's works are permeated with the spirit of Platonic philosophy; his works are full of quotations and reminiscences from the works of the great philosopher, and the treatise “Plato's Questions” is a real commentary on his texts. Plutarch is concerned with problems of religious and philosophical content, which are the subject of the so-called. Pythian dialogues (“On the sign “E” at Delphi”, “On the decline of oracles”), the essay “On the daimony of Socrates” and the treatise “On Isis and Osiris”.

A group of dialogues, presented in the traditional form of conversations between table mates at a feast, is a collection of entertaining information from mythology, deep philosophical remarks and sometimes curious natural science concepts. The titles of the dialogues can give an idea of the variety of questions that interest Plutarch: “Why do we not believe autumn dreams”, “Which hand of Aphrodite was wounded by Diomedes”, “Various legends about the number of the Muses”, “What is the meaning of Plato’s belief that God always remains a geometer” etc.

The “Greek Questions” and “Roman Questions” belong to the same circle of works by Plutarch, containing different points of view on the origin of state institutions, traditions and customs of antiquity.

"Comparative Lives"

Plutarch's main work, which became one of the most famous works of ancient literature, was his biographical works.

“Comparative biographies” have absorbed enormous historical material, including information from works of ancient historians that have not survived to this day, the author’s personal impressions of ancient monuments, quotes from Homer, epigrams and epitaphs. It is customary to reproach Plutarch for his uncritical attitude towards the sources he uses, but it must be taken into account that the main thing for him was not the historical event itself, but the trace it left in history.

This can be confirmed by the treatise “On the Malice of Herodotus,” in which Plutarch reproaches Herodotus for partiality and distortion of the history of the Greco-Persian Wars. Plutarch, who lived 400 years later, in an era when, as he put it, a Roman boot was raised over the head of every Greek, wanted to see great commanders and politicians not as they really were, but as the ideal embodiment of valor and courage. He did not seek to recreate history in all its real completeness, but found in it outstanding examples of wisdom, heroism, and self-sacrifice in the name of the homeland, designed to capture the imagination of his contemporaries.

In the introduction to the biography of Alexander the Great, Plutarch formulates the principle that he used as the basis for the selection of facts: “We write not history, but biographies, and virtue or depravity is not always visible in the most glorious deeds, but often some insignificant act, word or joke better reveal the character of a person than battles in which tens of thousands die, the leadership of huge armies and sieges of cities."

Plutarch's artistic mastery made Comparative Lives a favorite reading for youth, who learned from his writings about the events of the history of Greece and Rome. Plutarch's heroes became the personification of historical eras: ancient times were associated with the activities of the wise legislators Solon, Lycurgus and Numa, and the end of the Roman Republic seemed to be a majestic drama, driven by the clashes of the characters of Caesar, Pompey, Crassus, Antony, Brutus.

The very name of the Greek writer became a household word, since numerous editions of biographies of great people were called “Plutarchs” in the 19th century.

Ancient Greek historian, writer, biographer and moralist, author of more than 250 works, most of which are lost, the main work is “Comparative Lives”

Ancient Greek philosopher Plutarch, biography of Plutarch, writings of Plutarch, quotes and aphorisms of Plutarch, Plutarch’s family, education of Plutarch, travels of Plutarch, social activities of Plutarch, writing activities of Plutarch, Plutarch and ancient literature, the most famous works of Plutarch, comparative biographies of Plutarch, morals of Plutarch, works Plutarch, books of Plutarch, Aristotle and Plutarch

Expand contents

Collapse content

Plutarch - this is the definition

Plutarch is ancient Greek writer, moralist, philosopher. No more than a third of the works have survived to this day, most of which are united under the general title “Morals”. Another group includes “Comparative Lives,” which includes 23 biographies of famous Ancient and Roman figures, selected according to the similarity of their historical mission and similarity of character.

Plutarch is one of the most famous ancient philosophers of Greece, an outstanding biographer - the author of biographies of the most famous people of his time and the ancient world, historian, public figure, moralist, politician, essayist, famous writer, author of more than 200 works, including “Comparative Lives”, treatises “Instructions on State Affairs”, “On the Love of Money”, “On Curiosity”, author of wise sayings. Plutarch's works have not survived for the most part.

Plutarch is author of Comparative Lives - these are biographies of great figures of the Greco-Roman world, combined into. They are of great importance for the knowledge of the ancient history of Greece and Rome, since many of the works of writers from which he drew information have not reached us.

Plutarch is an outstanding ancient Greek thinker, whose treatises cover moral and ethical issues - “Instructions on State Affairs”, “On the Suppression of Anger”, “On the Love of Money”, “On Curiosity” and others, as well as some of the “Comparative Lives”: “Agesilaus and Pompey ", "Alexander and Caesar", "Demosthenes and Cicero".

Plutarch is the famous ancient philosopher, historian and politician from Chaeronea, whose writings comprise treatises in which the tradition of Platonism and polemical works are developed, aimed at refuting the tenets of Stoic philosophy.

Plutarch is public figure, writer, historian and one of the most famous and popular figures of the ancient world.

Plutarch is ancient philosopher who was born in the 40s of the 1st century in Boeotia, in the small town of Chaeronea, where in 338 BC. e. A battle took place between the troops of Philip of Macedon and the Greek troops.

Plutarch is Ancient Greek writer and historian. The main work is “Comparative Lives” of outstanding Greeks and Romans (50 biographies). The rest of the numerous works that have come down to us are united under the code name “Moralia”.

Plutarch is Ancient Greek historian, writer, author of historical-biographical and moral-philosophical works.

Plutarch is author of 250 works, but less than half of his works have survived, about a third of his works. Most of the preserved works are divided into 2 groups: “Morals” and the second group of works that Plutarch created - “Comparative Lives”.

Biography of Plutarch

OK. 46-approx. 127 AD Date of birth of Plutarch

The exact dates are unknown. Approximately approx. 46 - approx. 127 AD Born in the 40s of the 1st century in Boeotia, in the small town of Chaeronea, where in 338 BC. e. A battle took place between the troops of Philip of Macedon and the Greek troops. During the time of Plutarch, his homeland was part of the Roman province of Achaia.

What is known about Plutarch

Education of Plutarch

Plutarch studied in Athens, was a priest of Apollo Pythian in Delphi, traveled to Egypt, and lived in Rome. He received a traditional grammatical and rhetorical education, which he continued in Athens, becoming a student at the school of the philosopher Ammonius.

Besides Ammonius, Plutarch had other teachers. He supplemented his education by reading books. Thanks to his unusually good memory, he acquired enormous learning in this way. Plutarch carefully read the works of Greek poets, orators, historians and philosophers and thus studied history and Russian literature. He also knew fine arts and music theory, natural sciences and medicine.

Travels of Plutarch

Many of Plutarch's travels are known. He visited Alexandria, the center of education at that time, received an education in Athens, visited Sparta, where he studied documentary sources on the history of this country, visited Plataea and Thermopylae, where the victory of the Greeks over the Persians was celebrated for several centuries, and Sardis, famous for its rich architecture temples.

I was in Eleusis, the famous Athenian suburb, where mysteries popular throughout the Greek world were performed. Visited Corinth near Thermopylae, Rome and other historical places in Italy. When visiting Alexandria, he became acquainted with the geography, customs and mythology of Egypt. Traveling along Malaya, he talked with old-timers, got acquainted with the way of life, traditions of peoples, and their legends about the distant past.

These travels were of particular importance for Plutarch’s work as a historian. He saw with his own eyes famous places associated with major historical events and people, whose biographies he left for posterity. High education and breadth of knowledge helped him gain respect and find fans and patrons.

Sayings and sayings of Plutarch

About values

Noble origin is a blessing, but it is the blessing of one's ancestors.

Wealth is honorable, but it is a matter of happiness.

Fame is desirable, but fickle.

Beauty is beautiful, but transitory.

Health is valuable, but easily destroyed.

Strength is enviable, but it is destroyed by old age and disease.

Education is the only thing that is divine and immortal in us; and the two best things in human nature: reason and speech.

The wildest foals make the best horses, as long as they are properly raised and ridden.

When you scold others, so that you yourself are far from what you reprimand others for.

About self-education

God is the hope of the brave, not the excuse of the coward.

Any delusion is harmful, but where passion is mixed with it, it is doubly harmful.

Schadenfreude is enjoying someone else's grief.

Desire prevents us from using what we have.

Animals do not differ from animals as much as humans differ from humans.

When Solon was asked which state was the most comfortable, he replied: “The one in which those who are not offended are prosecuted and punish offenders no less than those who are offended.”

About people

Drinking poison from a golden cup and accepting advice from a treacherous friend are one and the same thing.

The truth of the matter, once it is correctly stated, is indestructible.

Just as ravens swoop down to peck out the eyes of the dead, so the flatterer steals the wealth of the foolish.

One must beware of slander and slander, like a poisonous worm on a rose - they are hidden in thin and polished phrases.

There are differences in comments regarding physical defects.

A hook-nosed or snub-nosed person will only grin if you make fun of his nose...

But the hint of a bad odor from the nose or mouth is extremely painful.

Bald people are condescending when making fun of their disability, and those with eye injuries are hostile...

And in general, people have different attitudes towards their external shortcomings: one is burdened by one thing, another by another...

Therefore, anyone who wants his behavior in society to be pleasant to those around him must take into account their character and morals in his jokes.

It is also necessary to take into account the composition of those present: what will cause laughter in the company of friends and peers will be unpleasant to hear in the presence of a wife, or father, or teacher...

Flattery is like a thin shield, painted with paint: it is pleasant to look at, but there is no need for it.

Fishing with poison makes it easy and quick to catch fish, but spoils it, making it inedible; Likewise, wives who try to keep their husbands with them through witchcraft or love potions, captivate them with sensual pleasures, but then live with the insane and insane.

Honors change morals, but rarely for the better.

Traitors betray themselves first of all.

The speech of a politician should not be either youthfully ardent or theatrical, like the speeches of ceremonial orators, weaving garlands of elegant and weighty words...

Courage is the beginning of victory.

To do bad things is low, to do good when it is not associated with danger is a common thing. A good person is one who does great and noble things, even if he risks everything.

Those who are greedy for praise are poor in merit.

The person being punished has no reason to persist against correction if he realizes that he was punished not in a fit of anger, but on the basis of impartial exposure.

Character is nothing more than a long-term skill.

A sane person should beware of hostility and bitterness.

A few vices are enough to darken many virtues.

Constantly learning, I come to old age.

Not a single spoken word brought as much benefit as many unspoken ones.

No body can be so strong that wine cannot damage it.

I don’t need a friend who, agreeing with me on everything, changes views with me, nodding his head, because a shadow does the same thing better.

People need courage and fortitude not only against the weapons of enemies, but also against any blows.

The winners sleep sweeter than the losers.

About life

Anyone who expects to ensure his health by being lazy is acting just as stupidly as a person who thinks to improve his voice through silence.

Small errors seem large if they are found in the behavior of those entrusted with power.

Medicine makes us die longer and more painfully.

There is hope for those who have nothing else.

What makes us happy is what is superfluous, not what everyone needs.

Learn to listen and you can benefit even from those who speak poorly.

One should never destroy anything without being sure of the possibility of replacing what is being destroyed with just as much profit.

The need to love creates fictitious attachments.

Why is it a custom at Knossos for a debtor to steal his money? Maybe they did this so that they could be accused of robbery and punish the non-paying debtor even more severely?

Compassion is grief over someone else's misfortune, envy is grief over someone else's happiness.

Learning is the only thing that is divine and immortal in us; the greatest advantages with which human nature is endowed are reason and speech.

Among the Hellenes, smart people talk, but fools do things.

The disciple is not a vessel that needs to be filled, but a torch that needs to be lit.

Students - will build "tomorrow"

A person can only be who he is.

Although boys stone frogs for fun, frogs die for real.

I am amazed at the one who allowed the distorted forms of dead bodies on his table and demanded for his daily nutrition what so recently were creatures gifted with movement, understanding and voice.

Noble origin is a blessing, but it is the blessing of one's ancestors. Wealth is honorable, but it is a matter of happiness. ... Strength is enviable, but it is destroyed by old age and disease. Education is the only thing that is divine and immortal in us.

Conversation should be as common property of the feasters as wine.

A chatterbox wants to force himself to be loved - and causes hatred, wants to provide a service - and becomes intrusive, wants to cause surprise - and becomes funny; he insults his friends, serves his enemies.

The highest wisdom is when philosophizing, not to be philosophizing and to achieve a serious goal with a joke.

They say that nature gave everyone two ears and one tongue so that they could speak less than listen.

The two main assets of human nature are intelligence and reasoning.

A slanderous tongue betrays a foolish person.

When the sun leaves the world, everything becomes dark; Likewise, a conversation devoid of insolence is all to no avail.

If it is commendable to do good to friends, then there is no shame in accepting help from friends.

There are three ways to answer questions: say what is necessary, answer with friendliness, and say too much.

We often ask a question not in need of an answer, but in an effort to hear the voice and gain the favor of another person, wanting to draw him into a conversation...

Getting ahead of others with answers, trying to capture someone else's ears and occupy other people's thoughts is the same as going to kiss a person who is thirsty for another's kiss, or trying to attract someone's gaze fixed on another to oneself.

The power of speech lies in the ability to express a lot in a few words.

Sometimes it is not without benefit to shut the offender’s mouth with a witty rebuke: such a rebuke should be short and not reveal either irritation or rage, but let it know how to bite a little with a calm smile, returning the blow; just as arrows fly from a solid object back to the one who sent them, so an insult seems to fly back from an intelligent and self-controlled speaker and hit the insulter.

About family

At first, newlyweds should especially beware of disagreements and clashes, looking at how recently glued pots easily crumble at the slightest push; but over time, when the places of fastening become strong, neither fire nor them are damaged.

A decent woman should not even show off her conversations, and she should be as ashamed to raise her voice in front of strangers as to undress in front of them, for the voice reveals the character of the speaker, the qualities of her soul, and her mood.

A just husband commands his wife not as the owner of property, but as the soul of the body: taking into account her feelings and invariably benevolently.

The marital union, if it is based on mutual love, forms a single fused whole; if it is concluded for the sake of a dowry or procreation, then it consists of conjugate parts; if only to sleep together, then it consists of separate parts, and such a marriage is correctly considered not as living together, but as living under one roof.

Any matter between reasonable spouses is decided by mutual consent, but in such a way that the primacy of the husband is obvious and the last word remains with him.

The wife is unbearable, such that she frowns when her husband is not averse to playing with her and being nice to her, and when he is busy with serious business, she frolics and laughs: the first means that her husband is disgusting to her, the second - that she is indifferent to him.

You should marry not with your eyes and not with your fingers, as some do, calculating how much the bride’s dowry will be, instead of finding out what she will be like in life together.

Wives who prefer to push around a stupid husband rather than obey a smart one are reminiscent of those who on the road prefer to lead a blind man rather than follow a man who can see and knows the way.

A wife should not make her own friends; She's had enough of her husband's friends.

A chaste wife should appear in public only with her husband, and when he is away, remain invisible while sitting at home.

A woman is adorned by what makes her more beautiful, but what makes her so is not gold, emeralds and purple, but modesty, decency and bashfulness.

A smart wife, while her angry husband screams and scolds, remains silent, and only when he falls silent does she start a conversation with him in order to soften him and calm him down.

Herodotus was wrong when he said that a woman takes away shame along with her clothes; on the contrary, a chaste woman, taking off her clothes, puts on shame, and the more modesty between spouses, the greater love this means.

Severity makes a wife's chastity repulsive, just as untidiness makes her simplicity repulsive.

A wife should talk only with her husband, and with other people - through her husband, and should not be upset by this.

A voluptuous husband makes his wife wanton and lustful; the wife of a decent and virtuous person becomes modest and chaste.

A husband and wife and a wife and her husband should avoid conflicts everywhere and always, but most of all on the marital bed...

Quarrels, quarrels and mutual insults, if they began on the bed, are not easily put to an end at another time and in another place.

Anger and hot temper have no place in married life.

Severity suits a married woman, but let this harshness be healthy and sweet, like wine, and not bitter, like aloe, and unpleasant, like medicine.

A wife should not rely on a dowry, not on nobility, not on her beauty, but on what can truly bind her husband to her: courtesy, kindness and compliance - and these qualities should be demonstrated every day, not through force, as if reluctantly , but readily, joyfully and willingly.

Whoever behaves too harshly with his wife, without deigning jokes and laughter, forces her to seek pleasure on the side...

Love is always diverse, both in many respects and in the fact that the jokes affecting it are painful for some and cause indignation in them, while others are pleasant. Here we must comply with the circumstances of the moment. Just as a breath can extinguish an emerging fire due to its weakness, and when it flares up, it gives it nourishment and strength, so love, while it is still secretly growing, is indignant and indignant against the revelation, and when it flares up with a bright flame, it finds food in banter and responds to them with a smile.

Like a fire that easily flares up in reeds, straw or hare's hair, but quickly goes out if it does not find other food, love blazes brightly with blooming youth and physical attractiveness, but will soon fade away if it is not nourished by the spiritual virtues and good character of young spouses .

Plutarch family

The biography of Plutarch is very meager and can be studied mainly on the basis of the writings of Plutarch himself, in which he often shares with the reader memories from his life.

Plutarch was the son of Aristobulus, who was himself a biographer and philosopher. Plutarch's father was undoubtedly a wealthy man, but he was not an aristocrat. Not being an aristocrat, Plutarch did not trace his family back to too great an antiquity and did not bring any famous heroes from his ancestors.

It is only known that his great-grandfather witnessed the cruelties of Anthony’s soldiers in the fight of this leader with Octavian. But what position this great-grandfather held is unknown. Apparently, the entire family of Plutarch always belonged to the class of educated people, lovers of literature, mythology and various kinds of traditions and legends, both in general from the history of Greece and Rome, and, in particular, from the history of Plutarch’s hometown - Chaeronea.

This town, Chaeronea, has always been a rather provincial and unpopular place. But there was one historical date thanks to which this town became famous forever. The fact is that in 338 BC. At Chaeronea, that famous battle between the Greeks and the Macedonians took place, as a result of which the Greeks suffered a final defeat, and Greece forever remained subordinate to the Macedonian and subsequent rulers. In honor of the fallen soldiers, the Greeks erected a five-meter statue of a marble lion at the battle site.

The Greek region of Boeotia, where Chaeronea was located, was never famous for its culture or high morals. The Aeolians who inhabited it were always distinguished by great freedom in moral terms, a penchant for unrestrained and sensual life, as well as rudeness and cruelty. It must be assumed that the cultural environment of Plutarch’s childhood and the strict morals in his family were the reason that Plutarch turned out to be a man quite far from these negative aspects of the public around him and even a direct moralist who actively struggled with such traits.

The wealth and education of the family gave Plutarch the opportunity to start school early and become a highly educated person at a young age. He received a traditional grammatical and rhetorical education, which he continued in Athens, becoming a student at the school of the philosopher Ammonius.

Plutarch thoroughly studied mathematics, philosophy, fine arts, rhetoric, music theory, natural sciences and medicine. He was Ammonius' favorite student, whose influence influenced Plutarch's choice of philosophical direction. Returning to his hometown, Plutarch took part in it from his youth, holding various master's degrees, including the prominent position of archon-eponym.

Plutarch was repeatedly sent on political assignments to Rome, where he established friendly relations with many political figures. Proximity to influential circles of the empire and growing literary fame brought Plutarch new honorary positions: under Trajan he became proconsul, under Hadrian - procurator of the province of Achaia. Plutarch's hometown is Chaeronea, in the Greek region of Boeotia.

All representatives of Plutarch’s family are necessarily educated and cultured, necessarily high in spirit and distinguished by impeccable behavior. His grandfather Lamprius was an enlightened man, a cheerful and witty interlocutor. Father Aristobulus knew history well and was familiar with philosophy, and the two brothers, Lamprius and Timon, were known as educated people, organizers of feasts and discussions on various historical, philosophical and political topics. The environment in which Plutarch grew up had a great influence on the formation of his worldview, and family legends about famous events and personalities aroused interest in history.

Plutarch's wife, Timoxena, was first mentioned in the writings of Ruald in 1624. entitled "Life of Plutarch". We know about her only from letters addressed to her by Plutarch. Plutarch often speaks about his wife in his writings, and always speaks in the highest tone. She was not only a loving wife, but she was disgusted by various women's weaknesses, such as dresses. She was loved for the simplicity of her character, for the naturalness of her behavior, for her moderation and attentiveness.

Plutarch had four sons and one daughter, who, like one of his sons, died in infancy. Plutarch loved his family so much that he even dedicated his writings to its members, and on the occasion of his daughter’s death, a tender and sublime consoling message to his own wife. At least two of Plutarch's sons reached adulthood and subsequently, together with their father, organized a small academy, where other students of Plutarch studied.

Plutarch's social activities

Returning to his hometown, from his youth he took part in its administration, holding various magistrates, including the prominent position of archon-eponym. Plutarch was repeatedly sent on political assignments to Rome, where he established friendly relations with many political figures. Proximity to influential circles of the empire and growing literary fame brought Plutarch new honorary positions: under Emperor Trajan he became proconsul, under Hadrian - procurator of the province of Achaia.

In his native Chaeronea, P. founded a philosophical school, devoting himself to teaching; was elected archon, and was included in his declining years in the college of Delphic priests.

Plutarch's public activities earned him great respect in Greece. Around 95, his fellow citizens elected him a member of the college of priests of the sanctuary of Apollo of Delphi. A statue was erected in his honor in Delphi, from which a pedestal with a poetic dedication was found during excavations in 1877.

Plutarch's life dates back to the era of the "Hellenic Renaissance" of the early 2nd century. At this time, the educated circles of the Empire were seized by the desire to imitate the ancient Hellenes both in the customs of everyday life and in literary creativity. The policy of Emperor Hadrian, who provided assistance to Greek cities that had fallen into decay, could not but arouse among Plutarch's compatriots hope for a possible revival of the traditions of the independent policies of Hellas.

Plutarch's literary activity was primarily educational and educational in nature. His works are addressed to a wide range of readers and have a pronounced moral and ethical orientation associated with the traditions of the teaching genre - diatribes. Plutarch's worldview is harmonious and clear: he believed in a higher mind that governs the universe, and is like a wise teacher who never tires of reminding his listeners of eternal human values.

Famous people Plutarch

Plutarch's writing activity

The works of Plutarch reflected the best aspects of the harmonious Hellenic worldview: good-natured sincerity, moral warmth, calm moderation in judgment, and an optimistic view of events and the shortcomings of people that is so lacking in our contemporaries.

Even if we exclude the forged and dubious works of Plutarch, the list of completely reliable and, moreover, works that have reached us is, in comparison with other writers, huge. Works of a historical and philosophical nature have reached us: 2 works about Plato, 6 against the Stoics and Epicureans.

In addition, there are works devoted to problems of cosmology and astronomy, psychology, ethics, politics, family life, pedagogy, and ancient history. Plutarch wrote several treatises of religious and religious-mythical content. It is especially necessary to highlight his works of moralistic content, where he analyzes, for example, human passions such as love of money, anger, and curiosity.

Table and feast conversations, which, one might say, constitute a special literary genre, as well as collections of sayings can be classified as very complex in their themes. All these works represent one general section, usually bearing the obscure title Moralia. In this section, moral works, however, are presented very widely, and Plutarch does not write almost a single treatise without this morality.

A special section of Plutarch’s works, and also a huge one, also very popular in all centuries, and perhaps even more popular than Moralia, is “Comparative Lives”. Here you can find strictly historical data, moralism, a passion for the art of portraiture, philosophy, and fiction.

Plutarch and ancient literature

The ancient worldview and ancient artistic practice are based on the intuition of a living, animate and intelligent cosmos, always visible and audible, always sensually perceived, a completely material cosmos with a motionless earth in the middle and with the sky as an area of eternal and correct movement of the firmament. All this, of course, is predetermined by the very nature of the socio-historical ancient world.

While subsequent cultures first proceeded from the individual, absolute or relative, as well as from society, and only then came to nature and the cosmos, ancient thought, on the contrary, proceeded from the visual reality of the sensory-material cosmos and only then drew conclusions from this for the theory of personality and society.

This forever determined the emphatically material, that is, architectural and sculptural imagery of ancient artistic structures, which we certainly find in Plutarch. So, sensory-material cosmology is the starting point of Plutarch’s worldview and creativity.

Plutarch and the classical period of ancient literature

Since ancient literature existed for more than a millennium, it went through many different periods of development. The cosmology of the classical period, namely the high classics, is the doctrine of the universe in Plato’s Timaeus. Here is a clear and distinct picture of the living and material-sensory cosmos with all the details of the material sphere of the cosmos. Therefore, Plutarch is primarily a Platonist.

Plutarch found in classical Platonism, first of all, the doctrine of divinity, but not in the form of a naive doctrine, but in the form of a thoughtful demand for being, and, moreover, a single being, which is the limit and possibility for all partial being and for all multiplicity. Plutarch is deeply convinced that if there is a partial, changeable and incomplete being, then this means that there is a single and whole being, unchanging and all-perfect.

“After all, the divine is not a plurality, like each of us, representing a diverse aggregate of a thousand different particles that are in change and artificially mixed. But it is necessary that the essence be one, since only one exists. Diversity, due to its difference from existence, turns into non-existence” (“On “E” in Delphi”, 20). “It is inherent in the eternally unchangeable and pure to be one and unmixed” (ibid.).

“To the extent that it is possible to find a correspondence between a changeable sensation and an intelligible and unchangeable idea, this reflection somehow gives some kind of illusory idea of divine mercy and happiness” (ibid., 21). Such a reflection of divine perfection is, first of all, the cosmos. This is already stated in the treatise quoted here (21): “Everything that is inherent in one way or another in the cosmos, the deity unites in its essence and keeps the weak bodily substance from destruction.”

On the cosmological problem, Plutarch devotes two whole treatises in connection with the work with his comments on Plato’s “Timaeus”. In the treatise “On the Origin of the Soul in Plato’s Timaeus,” Plutarch develops in a purely Platonic spirit the doctrine of idea and matter, the eternal but disordered existence of matter, the transformation of this matter by the divine Demiurge into the beauty, structure and order of the now existing cosmos, the creation the eternal and unchanging movement of the firmament with the help of the ordering activity of the world soul and the eternal beauty of the living, animate and intelligent cosmos.

Indeed, Plato himself, in his construction of an ideally beautiful cosmos, as we find in his dialogue “Timaeus,” was at the height of precisely the classical idea of \u200b\u200bthe cosmos. And the same classical idea is the dream of Plutarch, who praises in every way the beauty of a perfect, albeit completely sensual-material, cosmos.

But even here, at the height of his theoretical worldview, Plutarch begins to show a certain kind of instability and even duality in his general philosophical position. When Plato built his cosmos, it never occurred to him to contrast good and evil. For him, it was enough that the eternal divine Mind with its eternal ideas formed once and for all formless and disordered matter, from where the also eternal and also forever beautiful cosmos appeared. Plutarch brings a completely new shade to this classical optimism.

In the aforementioned treatise on the origin of the soul according to Timaeus, he suddenly begins to argue that not all disordered matter was brought into order by the Demiurge, that significant areas of it remain disordered to this day, and that this disordered matter (being, obviously, also eternal) and now and always will be the beginning of all disorder, all catastrophes both in nature and in society, that is, simply put, the evil soul of the world. In this sense, Plutarch interprets all the most important old philosophers - Heraclitus, Parmenides, Democritus, even Plato and even Aristotle.

Plutarch and Hellenism

Behind the classics of the VI-IV centuries. BC followed by that reworking of the classics, which is usually called not the Hellenistic period, but the Hellenistic period. The essence of Hellenism lies in the subjective reconstruction of the classical ideal, in its logical construction and emotional and intimate experience and embrace.

Since Plutarch acted in the Hellenistic era, his worldview and artistic practice were built not on pure Platonism, but on its subjectivist and immanent-subjective interpretation. Plutarch is a subjectivist-minded interpreter of Platonism in the context of the preservation of cosmological objectivism as a whole.

Plutarch and the early period of Hellenism

Plutarch lived not in the age of initial Hellenism (III-I centuries BC), but immediately after it. And yet, the stamp of this initial Hellenism turned out to be decisively characteristic of the whole of Plutarch. This initial period of Hellenism did not influence Plutarch with its three schools of philosophy - Stoicism, Epicureanism and Skepticism. These schools arose as a protective measure for the then emerging individualism and subjectivism.

It was necessary to educate a strict and stern subject and protect his inner peace in front of the then growing enormity of the Hellenistic-Roman empires. Plutarch turned out to be alien to the stern rigorism of the Stoics, and the carefree pleasure of the Epicureans, and the complete rejection of any logical construction by the skeptics. Of all the aspects of the then growing subjectivism, Plutarch found himself closest to the small, modest and simple human personality with its everyday affections, with its love for family and native places and with its soft, heartfelt patriotism.

The initial period of Hellenism, with its three philosophical schools - Stoicism, Epicureanism and Skepticism - turned out to be too harsh a philosophical position for Plutarch. As a Hellenistic philosopher, Plutarch, of course, also emphasized the human personality and also wanted to give a personally thoughtful and intimately experienced picture of objective cosmology. But the indicated three main schools of elementary Hellenism were clearly too harsh and demanding for him, too abstract and uncompromising.

It has already been said above that the intimate human subject that emerged in those days was not as severe as among the Stoics, not as principled as among the Epicureans, and not as hopelessly anarchic as among the skeptics. The human subject showed himself here in a very unique way, starting from his everyday attitudes and ending with various forms of sentimentalism, romanticism and any psychological whims. There were two such tendencies of early Hellenism, which not only had a positive influence on Plutarch, but often even exceeded other forms of subjective orientation of a person in Plutarch.

The first such tendency in Plutarch is everydayism and a completely philistine personal orientation. This everydayism filled Plutarch’s absolutely every mood and reached the point of complete ease, everyday limitations, meaningless verbosity and, one might say, chatter. But several centuries passed from Menander to Plutarch, and purely everyday analyzes in the time of Plutarch were already outdated.

What, then, was the point of devoting tens and hundreds of pages to idle chatter on everyday topics and random anecdotes? And for Plutarch there was a very big meaning here. On the basis of such continuous everydayism, the psychology of a small person emerged, and there was a tendency to protect oneself from grandiose and too severe problems. Or, more correctly, the severe problems were not removed here, but a psychological opportunity was created to experience them not very painfully and not very tragically.

Menander is not a Platonist, but a painter of everyday life. But Plutarch is a Platonist, and along with Platonism loomed for him a long series of deep, often tragic and often intolerable problems. He managed to endure and endure these great problems, often significant and even solemn for him, but always demanding and responsible.

The everyday life of a small person was precisely what helped Plutarch to maintain peace of mind and not to fall on his face before the insoluble and impossible. That is why even in his “Comparative Lives” Plutarch, depicting great people, not only does not avoid any everyday details, but often even attaches deep meaning to them.

Everydayism of the initial period of Hellenism was of great importance both for the worldview and for the writing style of Plutarch. But in this initial Hellenism there was another, also new and remarkable and also enormous in its strength, tendency, which Plutarch deeply perceived, once and for all. This tendency, or rather this spiritual element, was what we must now call moralism.

This was unconditional news for Greek philosophy and literature because all classical, and especially all pre-classical, never knew any special moralism. The fact is that all classics live by heroism, but heroism could not be learned, heroism was given only by nature itself, that is, only by the gods. All ancient heroes were either direct or indirect descendants of the gods themselves. It was, of course, possible to perform heroic deeds only after undergoing preliminary heroic training.

But it was impossible to become a hero. One could be born a hero and perfect oneself in heroism. But ancient Greek classical heroism is not a pedagogical, not educational, and therefore not moralistic area. Heroism in those days was a natural human phenomenon or, what is the same, divine. But then the classics ended, and then during the Hellenistic period, the most ordinary person appeared, not a descendant of the gods, not a hero by nature, but just a man.

For his daily affairs, such a person had to be specially brought up, specially trained and trained, always consulting with the elders and the most experienced. And it was here that the moralism that was unknown to the classical hero arose. To become a decent and worthy person, you had to know thousands of personal, social and, generally speaking, moral rules.

Plutarch is a moralist. And not just a moralist. Moralism is his true element, the selfless tendency of all his work, never fading love and some kind of pedagogical pleasure. Just to teach, just to instruct, just to clarify difficult issues, just to put your reader on the path of eternal self-analysis, eternal self-correction and relentless self-improvement.

In short, from this initial period of Hellenism, everydayism and good-natured moralism passed to Plutarch. In other words, Plutarch was a complacent Platonist, for whom everyday-writing and moralistic forms turned out to be much closer instead of the grandiose and majestic forms of classical Platonism and with its interpretation in the spirit of a kind-hearted and sincerely minded writer of everyday life and moralist.

Finally, in addition to direct criticism of the three philosophical schools of initial Hellenism and in addition to the everyday-descriptive moralism of the small man, Plutarch inherited from early Hellenism also the courage of progressive subjectivism, which required serious consideration of evil in nature, personality and society, despite undivided cosmological optimism.

It was the modest and philistine-minded Plutarch who demanded recognition of not only the good, but also the evil soul of the world. In this sense, he dared to criticize even Plato himself. Plutarch demanded recognition for evil, as well as for good, of enormous power

Plutarch and the Hellenic Renaissance of the 2nd century. ad

Plutarch, who lived in the 1st-2nd centuries. AD involuntarily found himself not only under the influence of early Hellenism, but also under the influence of that later Hellenism, which in ancient science was called the century of the Hellenic Renaissance. It is necessary to be strictly aware of what this Hellenic revival is, in what Plutarch is similar to it and in what it sharply differs.

If we take the Hellenic revival as a principle, then this could not be a literal restoration of an outdated classic several centuries ago. This was the transformation of classics not into literal, that is, not into literally life, but only into aesthetic objectivity, into a self-sufficient and completely isolated contemplation of long-past beauty. Plutarch was never such a pure aesthetician, and such isolated, self-sufficient aesthetic objectivity was always deeply alien to him.

He was not capable of the delicately sensual impressionism of the Philostratas, of the Athenaeus's choking on interesting philological trifles, the dry and methodical description of the mythographers, or the shameless humor of Lucian's mythological sketches.

Perhaps some distant result of the Hellenic revival, typically referred to as the second sophistry, was Plutarch’s very frequent verbosity, which sometimes amounted to some kind of idle chatter. This was not just talkativeness, but again a protective measure to protect the rights of an ordinary person to his existence, to his own, albeit small, but purely human needs and moods.

The True Significance of the Hellenic Revival for Plutarch

This true significance must be stated in the method used by Plutarch in his revivalist leanings. It is precisely this visually given, contemplatively self-sufficient and aesthetically isolated objectivity that Plutarch never used literally, was never “pure” art for him, was never art for art’s sake. In this aesthetically isolated self-sufficiency, seemingly completely disinterested and not interested in anything vitally, Plutarch always drew strength precisely for life.

Such aesthetic self-sufficiency always revived him, strengthened him, freed him from vanity and trifles, always had a transformative effect on the psyche, on society, easing the struggle, enlightening the vanity and comprehending everyday hardships and tragic hopelessness. That is why Plutarch’s everydayism and moralism are always sprinkled with mythological and literary examples, legends, fables and arbitrarily invented situations, anecdotes and sharp words, which at first glance seem to violate the smooth flow of the presentation and seem to pointlessly lead to the side.

All this mythology and literature, all these anecdotes and witty situations never and nowhere had independent meaning for Plutarch, and in this sense they were not attracted at all for the purposes of isolated narcissism. All this was introduced into the life practice of a really active person, all this exposed the low and mediocre nature of vicious human passions, and all this facilitated, refreshed, elevated and made wise the most ordinary little person.

Thus, the Renaissance-Hellenic theory of art for art’s sake, without depriving a person of his rights to everyday life, immediately and simultaneously turned out to be aesthetically self-oppressive and morally elevating, spiritually strengthening. Platonism in this sense underwent another new transformation in Plutarch, and classical cosmology, without losing its sublime beauty, it became an excuse for the everyday person.

Antinomic-synthetic nature of Plutarch’s worldview and creativity

As a result of our examination of Plutarch’s extensive literary heritage, it must be said that at present it is a true fall for a philologist to reduce Plutarch’s work to any one abstract principle. True, its socio-historical basis, chronologically very precise, imperatively requires us to consider it as a transition from initial Hellenism, namely, to the Hellenic revival of the 2nd century. ad.

But this is already too general a principle. A closer examination of his worldview and creative results indicates that Plutarch is an extremely complicated Platonist who was unable to rise to Platonic monism, but instead used its numerous ideological shades, often contradictory, and making this Platonism unrecognizable.

In an approximate enumeration, in this form one could imagine all these contradictory and, in the full sense of the word, antinomian features of Plutarch with his synthetism, if not always philosophical, then always clear and simple, complacent and good-natured, naive and wise. Namely, Plutarch combined universalism and individualism, cosmologism and everyday life, monumentality and everyday life, necessity and freedom, heroism and moralism, solemnity and everyday prose, ideological unity and incredible diversity of images, self-sufficient contemplation and practical factography, monism and dualism, the desire of matter to perfection.

The whole art of a historian of ancient literature and philosophy in relation to Plutarch lies in revealing and socio-historically substantiating precisely this antinomic-synthetic character of his worldview and creativity. Such art requires the use of enormous materials, and now this can only be remotely approached.

Plutarch was strongly influenced by the Hellenic revival, although he used it to argue for the rights of everyday people. But what Plutarch was certainly far from was the grandiose completion of all Hellenism in the last four centuries of antiquity, when the philosophical school of Neoplatonists arose, flourished and declined. These Neoplatonists also could not accept the theory of self-sufficient contemplation as final.

They brought this purely poetic self-pressure to the end, thinking it through to that logical end when a poetic and purely mental image, instead of a metaphor, became a living reality, a living thing and an independently acting substance. But a poetic image, given as an independent material substance, is already a myth; and Neoplatonism of the 3rd-4th centuries. AD became precisely the dialectics of myth. Plutarch had a positive attitude towards myths, but not in the sense of recognizing in them the primary substances of existence itself. For him, myths, in the end, also remained at the stage of metaphorical moralism, although, of course, they still went into cosmological depths.

The most famous works of Plutarch

In total, about 200 works have reached us.

Comparative Lives of Plutarch

Plutarch's main work, which became one of the most famous works of ancient literature, was his biographical works. “Comparative biographies” have absorbed enormous historical material, including information from works of ancient historians that have not survived to this day, the author’s personal impressions of ancient monuments, quotes from Homer, epigrams and epitaphs. It is customary to reproach Plutarch for his uncritical attitude towards the sources he uses, but it must be taken into account that the main thing for him was not the historical event itself, but the trace it left in history.

This can be confirmed by the treatise “On the Malice of Herodotus,” in which Plutarch reproaches Herodotus for partiality and distortion of the history of the Greco-Persians. Plutarch, who lived 400 years later, in an era when, as he put it, a Roman boot was raised over the head of every Greek, wanted to see great commanders and politicians not as they really were, but as the ideal embodiment of valor and courage. He did not seek to recreate history in all its real completeness, but found in it outstanding examples of wisdom, heroism, and self-sacrifice in the name of the homeland, designed to capture the imagination of his contemporaries.

Without exaggeration, we can say that thanks to Plutarch, European culture developed an idea of ancient history as a semi-legendary era of freedom and civic valor. That is why his works were highly valued by thinkers of the Enlightenment, leaders of the Great French Revolution and the generation of Decembrists. The very name of the Greek writer became a household word, since numerous editions of biographies of great people were called “Plutarchs” in the 19th century.

Plutarch. Selected biographies: In 2 volumes

Morals of Plutarch

The descriptions of the strange customs of the Romans and Greeks, borrowed by Plutarch from Varro, Aristotle and others, as well as several rhetorical experiments about the Athenians, Alexander the Great, and the Romans, also have some relation to history. Plutarch's philosophical works are usually called “moral” (Moralia); Among them, however, there are also treatises on religious, political, literary and natural history. Dialogues predominate in form between these treatises. We have here, first of all, a number of essays in which pedagogical instructions and advice are given to young people embarking on the study of philosophical sciences.

Further, several essays are devoted to explaining difficult passages in Plato's dialogues and polemics with the Stoics and Epicureans. The dialogue "Against Kolot" with its numerous excerpts from Heraclitus, Democritus, Parmenides, Empedocles and the Epicureans is very important for the history of Greek philosophy. Plutarch devoted about 20 works specifically to ethics, which in most cases are like sermons, in which the author tries to “teach virtue” with many examples from life and quotes from poets. They are similar to some of Seneca's writings.

For certain cases, Plutarch wrote three “consoling speeches” (παραμυθικοί): one to his own wife on the occasion of the death of his daughter, another to a friend expelled from his homeland, the third to a father who had lost his son. Plutarch's morality is always closely associated with religion; he strives to purify faith and cult and to harmonize them with philosophy. Plutarch rebelled against superstition, as well as against the atheism of the Epicureans and the pragmatic rationalism of the Euhemerists.

His own religious system is composed of demonology, mantika and allegorical explanation of myths. The dialogue “On the Late Punishment of the Atheist” is very deep in thought and rich in content, like Plato’s “Polity”, ending with a fantastic image of the afterlife. The theosophical writings of Plutarch also include the dialogue “On the Demonion of Socrates.” Of Plutarch’s natural history works, the most significant is the dialogue “On the Face Visible on the Disc of the Moon,” which contains interesting information about Copernicus’ predecessor, the astronomer Aristarchus of Samos.

Characteristic of Plutarch are his writings about animals, into whose spiritual life he tries to penetrate; he strongly rebels against people's torture of animals. Plutarch was an enemy of the Epicurean principle “Λάθε βιώσας” (“live in silence”) and insisted on the need for socio-political activity. He wrote several discussions on this topic, many of which were caused by random reasons.

Plutarch considered the family to be the basis of the state, to the praise of which he dedicated special writings; Of these, “Γαμικά παραγγέματα” are especially prominent. Plutarch also owns commentaries on Hesiod, Aratus and Nicander, which have come down to us in fragments, a critical article on Herodotus, and a comparison of Aristophanes with Menander. Pseudo-Plutarch's dialogue “On Music” (Περὶ μουσικής), written in line with the Aristoxenic tradition, is a valuable monument of ancient musical historiography.

Most of all, Plutarch’s personality was reflected in his “Table Talks” (Συμποσίακα), which in 9 books give relaxed discussions on a wide variety of subjects: about the digestibility of food, about the abstinence of Jews from pork, about wreaths, about the number of muses, about types of dances, etc. etc., and all these arguments are intertwined with abundant and successful quotations from poets and prose writers. Adjacent to “Συμποσίακα” in Plutarch’s manuscripts is “The Feast of the Seven Wise Men,” as well as “Biographies of 10 Orators,” “Biographies of Homer,” “On the Dogmas of the Philosophers,” “On Rivers,” and many other works that were previously attributed to Plutarch, which clearly do not belong to Plutarch. .

Plutarch was a characteristic representative of many of the best aspects of the Hellenic worldview; his distinctive properties are good-natured sincerity, moral warmth, calm moderation in judgment, and an optimistic outlook on things. The pitiful situation of the contemporary Land of Hellas was reflected, however, on him: he is far from freedom-loving dreams and ardent striving forward, conservative in all his views, judges everything from a one-sided ethical point of view and does not even try to pave new paths in anything.

Minor works of Plutarch

The wide range of topics covered in Plutarch's works reflects the encyclopedic nature of his knowledge. He created “Political Instructions”, works on practical morality (“On envy and hatred”, “How to distinguish a flatterer from a friend”, “On love for children”, etc.), he was interested in the influence of literature on a person (“How can young men get acquainted with poetry") and questions of cosmogony ("On the generation of the world soul according to Timaeus").

Plutarch's works are permeated with the spirit of Platonic philosophy; his works are full of quotes and reminiscences from the works of the great philosopher, and the treatise “Plato's Questions” is a real commentary on his texts. Plutarch was concerned about problems of religious and philosophical content, which are the subject of the so-called. Pythian dialogues (“On the sign “E” at Delphi”, “On the decline of the oracles”), the essay “On the daimony of Socrates” and the treatise “On Isis and Osiris”.

Authors, sources and links

Article creator

Com/profile.php?id=100010569226592 - profile of the author of the article on Facebook

plus.google.com/u/1/110311124575383455266 - profile of the author of the material on Google+

my.mail.ru/mail/fandorina.lina - profile of the author of this material in My World

, Biographer, Moralist

Plutarch(c. 46 - c. 120) - ancient Greek writer, historian, author of moral, philosophical and historical-biographical works. Of Plutarch’s enormous literary heritage, which amounted to about 250 works, no more than a third of the works have survived, most of which are united under the general title “Morals”. Another group - “Comparative Lives” - includes 23 pairs of biographies of outstanding statesmen of Ancient Greece and Rome, selected according to the similarity of their historical mission and the similarity of characters.

Plutarch came from an old, wealthy family and received a traditional grammatical and rhetorical education, which he continued in Athens, becoming a student at the school of the philosopher Ammonius. Returning to his hometown, from his youth he took part in its administration, holding various magistrates, including the prominent position of archon-eponym.

They say that nature gave everyone two ears and one tongue so that they could speak less than listen.

Plutarch repeatedly went on political errands to Rome, where he established friendly relations with many statesmen, among whom was a friend of Emperor Trajan, consul Quintus Sosius Senekion; Plutarch dedicated “Comparative Lives” and “Table Talks” to him. Proximity to influential circles of the empire and growing literary fame brought Plutarch new honorary positions: under Trajan (98-117) he became proconsul, under Hadrian (117-138) - procurator of the province of Achaia. A surviving inscription from the era of Hadrian indicates that the emperor granted Plutarch Roman citizenship, classifying him as a member of the Mestrian family.

Despite his brilliant political career, Plutarch chose a quiet life in his hometown, surrounded by his children and students, who formed a small academy in Chaeronea. “As for me,” Plutarch points out, “I live in a small town and, so that it does not become even smaller, I willingly remain in it.” Plutarch's public activities earned him great respect in Greece. Around 95, his fellow citizens elected him a member of the college of priests of the sanctuary of Apollo of Delphi. A statue was erected in his honor in Delphi, from which a pedestal with a poetic dedication was found during excavations in 1877.

Those who are greedy for praise are poor in merit.

Plutarch's literary activity was primarily educational and educational in nature. His works are addressed to a wide range of readers and have a pronounced moral and ethical orientation associated with the traditions of the teaching genre - diatribes. Plutarch's worldview is harmonious and clear: he believed in a higher mind that governs the universe, and is like a wise teacher who never tires of reminding his listeners of eternal human values.

Minor works of Plutarch

They mourned the one who was born, who goes towards so many sorrows; and if someone found an end to his suffering in death, his friends carried him out with greetings and joy.

Comparative Lives of Plutarch

We crave and strive for immortality, which is alien to our nature, and power, which depends mostly on luck, and we put moral perfection - the only divine blessing available to us - in last place.

In the introduction to the biography of Alexander the Great, Plutarch formulated the principle that he used as the basis for the selection of facts: “We write not history, but biographies, and virtue or depravity is not always visible in the most glorious deeds, but often some insignificant act, word or joke better reveal the character of a person than battles in which tens of thousands die, the leadership of huge armies and sieges of cities.” Plutarch's artistic mastery made Comparative Lives a favorite reading for youth, who learned from his writings about the events of the history of Greece and Rome. Plutarch's heroes became the personification of historical eras: ancient times were associated with the activities of the wise legislators Solon, Lycurgus and Numa, and the end of the Roman Republic seemed to be a majestic drama, driven by the clashes of the characters of Caesar, Pompey, Crassus, Antony, Brutus.

Plutarch Plutarch

(about 45 - about 127), ancient Greek writer and historian. The main work is “Comparative Lives” of outstanding Greeks and Romans (50 biographies). The rest of the numerous works that have come down to us are united under the code name “Moralia”.

PLUTARCH

PLUTARCH (c. 46 - c. 120), ancient Greek writer, historian, author of moral, philosophical and historical-biographical works. From Plutarch's vast literary heritage, which amounted to ca. 250 works, no more than a third of the works have survived, most of which are united under the general title “Morals”. Another group - “Comparative Lives” - includes 23 pairs of biographies of outstanding statesmen of Ancient Greece and Rome, selected according to the similarity of their historical mission and the similarity of characters.
Biography
The ancient tradition has not preserved the biography of Plutarch, but it can be reconstructed with sufficient completeness from his own writings. Plutarch was born in the 40s of the 1st century in Boeotia, in the small town of Chaeronea, where in 338 BC. e. A battle took place between the troops of Philip of Macedon and the Greek troops. In the time of Plutarch, his homeland was part of the Roman province of Achaia, and only carefully preserved ancient traditions could testify to its former greatness. Plutarch came from an old, wealthy family and received a traditional grammatical and rhetorical education, which he continued in Athens, becoming a student at the school of the philosopher Ammonius. Returning to his hometown, from his youth he took part in its management, holding various master's degrees, including the prominent position of archon-eponym (cm. EPONYMS).
Plutarch repeatedly went on political errands to Rome, where he established friendly relations with many statesmen, among whom was a friend of Emperor Trajan, consul Quintus Sosius Senekion; Plutarch dedicated “Comparative Lives” and “Table Talks” to him. Proximity to influential circles of the empire and growing literary fame brought Plutarch new honorary positions: under Trajan (98-117) he became proconsul, under Hadrian (117-138) - procurator of the province of Achaia. A surviving inscription from the era of Hadrian indicates that the emperor granted Plutarch Roman citizenship, classifying him as a member of the Mestrian family.
Despite his brilliant political career, Plutarch chose a quiet life in his hometown, surrounded by his children and students, who formed a small academy in Chaeronea. “As for me,” Plutarch points out, “I live in a small town and, so that it does not become even smaller, I willingly remain in it.” Plutarch's public activities earned him great respect in Greece. Around 95, his fellow citizens elected him a member of the college of priests of the sanctuary of Apollo of Delphi. A statue was erected in his honor in Delphi, from which, during excavations in 1877, a pedestal with a poetic dedication was found.
Plutarch's life dates back to the era of the "Hellenic Renaissance" of the early 2nd century. During this period, the educated circles of the Empire were overwhelmed by the desire to imitate the ancient Hellenes both in the customs of everyday life and in literary creativity. The policy of Emperor Hadrian, who provided assistance to Greek cities that had fallen into decay, could not but arouse among Plutarch's compatriots hope for a possible revival of the traditions of the independent policies of Hellas.
Plutarch's literary activity was primarily educational and educational in nature. His works are addressed to a wide range of readers and have a pronounced moral and ethical orientation associated with the traditions of the genre of teaching - diatribes (cm. DIATRIBE). Plutarch's worldview is harmonious and clear: he believes in a higher mind that governs the universe, and is like a wise teacher who never tires of reminding his listeners of eternal human values.
Small works
The wide range of topics covered in Plutarch's works reflects the encyclopedic nature of his knowledge. He creates “Political Instructions”, essays on practical morality (“On envy and hatred”, “How to distinguish a flatterer from a friend”, “On love for children”, etc.), he is interested in the influence of literature on a person (“How can young men get acquainted with poetry") and questions of cosmogony ("On the generation of the world soul according to Timaeus").
Plutarch's works are permeated with the spirit of Platonic philosophy; his works are full of quotes and reminiscences from the works of the great philosopher, and the treatise “Plato's Questions” is a real commentary on his texts. Plutarch is concerned with problems of religious and philosophical content, which are the subject of the so-called. Pythian dialogues (“On the sign “E” at Delphi”, “On the decline of the oracles”), the essay “On the daimony of Socrates” and the treatise “On Isis and Osiris”.
A group of dialogues, presented in the traditional form of conversations between table mates at a feast, is a collection of entertaining information from mythology, deep philosophical remarks and sometimes curious natural science concepts. The titles of the dialogues can give an idea of the variety of questions that interest Plutarch: “Why do we not believe autumn dreams”, “Which hand of Aphrodite was wounded by Diomedes”, “Various legends about the number of the Muses”, “What is the meaning of Plato’s belief that God always remains a geometer” . The “Greek Questions” and “Roman Questions” belong to the same circle of works by Plutarch, containing different points of view on the origin of state institutions, traditions and customs of antiquity.
Comparative biographies
Plutarch's main work, which became one of the most famous works of ancient literature, was his biographical works. “Comparative biographies” have absorbed enormous historical material, including information from works of ancient historians that have not survived to this day, the author’s personal impressions of ancient monuments, quotes from Homer, epigrams and epitaphs. It is customary to reproach Plutarch for his uncritical attitude towards the sources he uses, but it must be taken into account that the main thing for him was not the historical event itself, but the trace it left in history.
This can be confirmed by the treatise “On the Malice of Herodotus”, in which Plutarch reproaches Herodotus for partiality and distortion of the history of the Greco-Persian Wars (cm. GREECO-PERSIAN WARS). Plutarch, who lived 400 years later, in an era when, as he put it, a Roman boot was raised over the head of every Greek, wanted to see great commanders and politicians not as they really were, but as the ideal embodiment of valor and courage. He did not seek to recreate history in all its real completeness, but found in it outstanding examples of wisdom, heroism, and self-sacrifice in the name of the homeland, designed to capture the imagination of his contemporaries.
In the introduction to the biography of Alexander the Great, Plutarch formulates the principle that he used as the basis for the selection of facts: “We write not history, but biographies, and virtue or depravity is not always visible in the most glorious deeds, but often some insignificant act, word or joke better reveal the character of a person than battles in which tens of thousands die, the leadership of huge armies and sieges of cities.” Plutarch's artistic mastery made Comparative Lives a favorite reading for youth, who learned from his writings about the events of the history of Greece and Rome. Plutarch's heroes became personifications of historical eras: ancient times were associated with the activities of the wise legislators of Solon (cm. SOLON), Lycurgus (cm. LYCURG) and Numa (cm. NUMA POMPILIUS), and the end of the Roman Republic seemed a magnificent drama driven by the clashes of characters of Caesar (cm. CAESAR Gaius Julius), Pompeii (cm. POMPEI Gnaeus), Crassa (cm. KRASS), Antony, Brutus (cm. BRUTUS Decimus Junius Albinus).
Without exaggeration, we can say that thanks to Plutarch, European culture developed an idea of ancient history as a semi-legendary era of freedom and civic valor. That is why his works were highly valued by thinkers of the Enlightenment, figures of the Great French Revolution and the generation of Decembrists. The very name of the Greek writer became a household word, since numerous editions of biographies of great people were called “Plutarchs” in the 19th century.

encyclopedic Dictionary. 2009 .

See what “Plutarch” is in other dictionaries:

From Chaeronea (c. 45 c. 127), Greek. writer and moral philosopher. He belonged to the Platonic Academy and professed the cult of Plato, paying tribute to numerous people. stoic, peri-pathetic and Pythagorean influences in the spirit characteristic of that time... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

- (c. 40 120 AD) Greek writer, historian and philosopher; lived during the era of stabilization of the Roman Empire, when the economy, political life and ideology of ancient society entered a period of prolonged stagnation and decay. Ideological... ... Literary encyclopedia

- (c. 46 c. 127) philosopher, writer and historian, from Chaeronea (Boeotia) The highest wisdom when philosophizing is not to seem philosophizing and to achieve a serious goal with a joke. Conversation should be as common property of the feasters as wine. The boss... ... Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms

Plutarch- Plutarch. PLUTARCH (about 45 about 127), Greek writer. The main work “Comparative biographies” of outstanding Greeks and Romans (50 biographies). The rest of the numerous works that have come down to us are united under the code name “Moralia”... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

And husband. Star. ed. Report: Plutarkhovich, Plutarkhovna. Derivatives: Tarya; Arya.Origin: (Greek personal name Plutarchos. From plutos wealth and arche power.) Dictionary of personal names. Plutarch a, m. Star. rare Report: Plutarkhovich, Plutarkhovna. Derivatives... Dictionary of personal names

Plutarch, Plutarchos, from Chaeronea, before 50 after 120. n. e., Greek philosopher and biographer. He came from a wealthy family living in a small town in Boeotia. In Athens he studied mathematics, rhetoric and philosophy, the latter mainly from... ... Ancient writers

PLUTARCH Dictionary-reference book on Ancient Greece and Rome, on mythology

PLUTARCH- (c. 46 – c. 126) Greek essayist and biographer, born in Chaeronea (Boeotia), studied in Athens, was a priest of Pythian Apollo in Delphi, traveled to Egypt, Italy, lived in Rome. Most of Plutarch’s works devoted to scientific,... ... List of Ancient Greek names

- (c. 45 c. 127) ancient Greek writer and historian. The main work: Comparative biographies of outstanding Greeks and Romans (50 biographies). The rest of the numerous works that have come down to us are united under the code name Moralia... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Plutarchus, Πλούταρχος). A Greek writer who lived in Boeotia in the 1st century A.D., traveled a lot and spent some time in Rome. He died about 120 AD. Of his works of historical and philosophical content, the most remarkable are... ... Encyclopedia of Mythology

It is impossible to overestimate the importance of the works written by the ancient sages, their discoveries and other heritage inherited by humanity since those times. Unfortunately, many works have not survived to this day, and this is a serious loss. However, there is no point in regretting something that cannot be changed; you should act based on the current situation. At least, this is what the ancient Greek and Roman sages themselves claimed, including Plutarch of Chaeronea.

Childhood and youth

Little is known about the childhood of the ancient Greek writer and philosopher. He was born in 46 AD. The boy’s parents, although they were wealthy people, did not belong to aristocrats or other privileged classes. However, this fact did not prevent Plutarch and his brother Lamprey from reading books and receiving a good education in Athens.

While studying philosophy, rhetoric and mathematics, Plutarch became friends with the teacher Ammonius, an adherent of the doctrine. This friendship led to the fact that, after completing his studies, Plutarch went to Delphi with his brother and teacher.

The purpose of this trip was personal acquaintance with the cult of Apollo, as well as the activities of the oracles and Pythia. This event seriously influenced the young Plutarch; in subsequent years, he recalled this more than once (including in his works).

Returning back to his hometown of Chaeronea, Plutarch entered public service, becoming an eponymous archon. The young archon's first task was to report to the proconsul of the province of Achaia about the demands of the city's inhabitants. Having successfully completed the assignment, Plutarch continued to work as a public figure.

Philosophy and literature

Plutarch always considered himself a follower of the teachings of Plato. However, it would be more correct to classify him as an eclectic - adherents of a movement that was fully formed after the death of Plutarch by the Alexandrian philosopher Potamon.

The formation of Plutarch's views was influenced by many factors, among which the Platonist Ammonius played a major role. However, it is worth noting that even during his studies, the future philosopher managed to make acquaintances with the Peripatetics (disciples) and the Stoics. And if the followers of Aristotle seemed to him more or less convincing, then Plutarch later seriously criticized the Stoics, like the Epicureans.

Also, during one of his travels around the world, Plutarch managed to meet the Roman Neo-Pythagoreans. The philosopher's literary heritage is truly extensive. According to the catalog compiled by the philosopher's brother Lamprius, Plutarch wrote about 210 works, the bulk of which have survived to this day. From this mass, researchers single out the “Comparative Lives” and the “Moralia” cycle, consisting of 78 works (plus 5 more with disputed authorship).

“Comparative Lives” are 22 paired biographies of the ancient Greeks and Romans, including the Spartan king Leonidas, as well as orators and. The pairs were selected based on similarity of characters and activities.

When describing life, the philosopher freely operated with facts, claiming that he was writing a biography, not history. The main task of this essay was to get acquainted with the great figures of the past and was purely educational in nature. By the way, in the original there were more pairs for comparison, but some were not preserved.

The Moralia cycle also had an educational function, since the bulk of the works included in it were written when Plutarch was a lecturer and mentor. The most striking examples include the following works: “On Excessive Timidity”, “On Talkativeness”, “On How to Use Lectures”, “On Wisdom”, “On Raising Children”.

There were also works of a political nature - “Instructions on State Affairs” and “On Monarchy, Democracy and Oligarchy.” Plutarch wrote them after receiving citizenship and a government position in Rome (this happened thanks to his acquaintance with Quintus Sosius Senecion). When the persecution of scientists and philosophers by the emperor Titus Flavius Domitian began, he returned back to Chaeronea, risking being executed for his statements.

Plutarch visited all major cities of Greece (including Corinth), visited Sardis, Alexandria and a number of other cities. Based on his travels around the world, the philosopher wrote such works as “On Isis and Osiris,” in which he outlined his point of view on understanding ancient Egyptian mythology, and the two-volume book “Greek Questions” and “Roman Questions.”

These works examined the history of two influential states, two biographies of Alexander the Great (in addition to the one included in the “Comparative Lives”) - “On the Glory of Alexander” and “On the Fortune and Valor of Alexander the Great,” as well as a number of other works.

Plutarch outlined his philosophical views in the interpretation of the works of Plato (“Plato’s Questions”), in critical works (“On the contradictions of the Stoics”, “On the fact that even a pleasant life is impossible if you follow Epicurus”), in the collection “Table Talks”, consisting of 9 books, as well as in Pythian dialogues (“That the Pythians no longer prophesy in verse”, “On the decline of the oracles”, “Let the deity delay in retribution”).

Personal life

Plutarch loved his family, which he repeatedly mentioned in his works. He had 4 sons and a daughter, but the daughter and one of the sons died in infancy. In order to somehow reassure his wife Timoxena, the philosopher wrote the essay “Consolation to his wife,” which has survived to this day.

When his sons grew up, Plutarch decided to educate them himself. Later, his students included the children of other townspeople. This gave the philosopher the idea of teaching people all over the country, which is what he did.

Death

The exact date of the philosopher's death is unknown, however, presumably, it happened between 125 and 127. Plutarch died of natural causes - from old age. This happened in his hometown of Chaeronea, but Plutarch was buried in Delphi - according to his will.

A monument was erected at the philosopher’s burial site, which archaeologists discovered in 1877 during excavations. Plutarch left behind a good memory - numerous biographies of great people are named after the philosopher, as well as a crater on the visible side of the Moon.

Bibliography

"Comparative Lives"
"Morals"
"Table Talk"
"Greek Questions"
"Roman Questions"
"On monarchy, democracy and oligarchy"
"On Contradiction among the Stoics"
"On Isis and Osiris"
“That the Pythia no longer prophesies in verse”
"On the Fortune and Valor of Alexander the Great"
"Plato's Questions"

Quotes

“Traitors betray, first of all, themselves.”
“A chatterbox wants to force himself to be loved - and causes hatred, wants to provide a service - and becomes intrusive, wants to cause surprise - and becomes funny; he insults his friends, serves his enemies, and all this to his own destruction.”
“Whoever expects to ensure his health by being lazy acts as stupidly as a person who thinks to improve his voice by silence.”
“We often ask a question, not needing an answer, but trying to hear the voice and ingratiate ourselves with the other person, wanting to draw him into the conversation. Getting ahead of others with answers, trying to capture someone else’s ears and occupy other people’s thoughts is the same as going to kiss a person who is thirsty for another’s kiss, or trying to attract someone’s gaze fixed on another to oneself.”
“Sometimes it is not without benefit to shut the offender’s mouth with a witty rebuke; such a rebuke should be brief and show neither irritation nor rage, but let her know how to bite a little with a calm smile, returning the blow; just as arrows fly from a solid object back to the one who sent them, so an insult seems to fly back from an intelligent and self-controlled speaker and hit the insulter.”