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Plutarch

Author of Plutarch's Lives

1,618+ Works 25,893 Members 209 Reviews 23 Favorited

About the Author

PLUTARCH. c.46--c.125 Considered by many to be the most important Greek writer of the early Roman period, Plutarch was a member of a well-to-do Greek family, a chief magistrate, a priest at Delphi, and an exceptionally well-read individual. His philosophical views were based on those of Plato and, show more although a Greek, he esteemed the achievements and attributes of the Romans. By the time Plutarch's works were published for the first time in the eleventh century, some had already been lost. He wrote innumerable essays on philosophical, historical, political, religious, and literary subjects, 78 of which survive today and are known collectively as the "Moralia." He is known primarily, however, for his Parallel Lives of Greeks and Romans, which consists of 50 biographies---23 of prominent Greeks, 23 of Roman leaders, and 4 separate lives---accompanied at intervals by short comparative essays. Although historical information is included in the work, Plutarch wrote it originally to inspire emulation in youth, so the emphasis is on character, moral choice, and anecdote. Sir Thomas North's 1579 translation into English of Parallel Lives became an important source for William Shakespeare which he used for three plays, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Plutarch at Chaeronia, Greece

Series

Works by Plutarch

Plutarch's Lives (0100) 2,990 copies, 32 reviews
The Fall of the Roman Republic: Six Lives (0120) 1,864 copies, 8 reviews
Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 of 2 (1992) 1,679 copies, 7 reviews
The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives (0002) 1,440 copies, 2 reviews
Plutarch's Lives, Volume 2 of 2 (1992) 1,078 copies, 1 review
The Age of Alexander (0120) 948 copies, 3 reviews
Greek Lives (1998) 759 copies, 3 reviews
On Sparta (Penguin Classics) (1988) 590 copies, 1 review
Moralia (2005) 415 copies
Essays (1992) 314 copies, 1 review
Selected Lives (1982) — Author — 306 copies
Plutarch: Selected Lives and Essays (2012) 289 copies, 2 reviews
Plutarch’s Lives 273 copies
Lives of the Noble Romans (0100) 243 copies, 3 reviews
Plutarch’s Morals. (2009) 179 copies
Plutarch: Moralia, Volume II (1928) 117 copies
Plutarch: Moralia, Volume I (1927) 116 copies, 1 review
Plutarch: Moralia, Volume III (1931) 109 copies, 2 reviews
Plutarch: Moralia, Volume VI (1939) 101 copies
The Age of Caesar: Five Roman Lives (2017) 98 copies, 1 review
Twelve Lives (2013) 88 copies, 1 review
Plutarch: Moralia, Volume XII (1957) 85 copies, 1 review
Rome in Crisis (2010) 84 copies
The Rise of Rome (2013) 77 copies
Plutarch: Moralia, Volume XIII, Part I (1976) 73 copies, 1 review
In Consolation to His Wife (2008) 70 copies, 1 review
Plutarch: Moralia, Volume X (1936) 68 copies
North's Plutarch (2014) 62 copies
Il fato e la superstizione (1993) 59 copies
Sull'amore (1986) 58 copies
De Iside et Osiride (English) (1995) — Author — 45 copies
Isis and Osiris (1986) 43 copies, 1 review
Moral essays (1971) 38 copies
Vides Paralleles. (1926) 36 copies, 1 review
De superstitione (English) (1980) — Author — 31 copies
Aquane an ignis sit utilior (English) (2008) — Author — 30 copies
Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 of 4 (2010) 30 copies, 1 review
De curiositate (English) (2016) — Author — 29 copies
De exilio (English) (2009) — Author — 27 copies
Vita di Cesare (1994) 26 copies
Comment écouter (1995) 25 copies, 2 reviews
Consigli ai politici (2007) 24 copies
Politics, book 1 (1991) 22 copies
Vitae decem oratorum (English) — Author — 21 copies
Pericles (2005) 20 copies, 4 reviews
Vidas paralelas. Tomo II (1996) 19 copies, 2 reviews
Vite parallele. Pericle e Fabio Massimo (2007) — Author — 18 copies
Plutarch (2012) 18 copies
Huwelijk moraal en praktijk (1993) 17 copies
Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 of 2 (1937) 17 copies, 1 review
Theseus (English) (2013) — Author — 16 copies, 1 review
De fortuna Romanorum (English) — Author — 16 copies
De garrulitate (English) — Author — 16 copies
De fraterno amore (English) — Author — 16 copies
De gloria Atheniensium (English) (1985) — Author — 16 copies
Consolatio ad Apollonium (English) — Author — 15 copies
De amicorum multitudine (English) — Author — 15 copies
De E apud Delphos (English) — Author — 15 copies
De primo frigido (Greek) — Author — 15 copies
Parallela minora (English) (2008) — Author — 15 copies
Lacaenarum Apophthegmata (Greek) — Author — 15 copies
De recta ratione audiendi (English) — Author — 15 copies
Instituta Laconica (Greek) — Author — 15 copies
De Pythiae oraculis (English) — Author — 15 copies
De defectu oraculorum (English) — Author — 15 copies
La vita di Solone (1986) 15 copies
De esu carnium II (English) — Author — 15 copies
De esu carnium I (English) — Author — 15 copies
Vidas paralelas III (2007) 15 copies, 1 review
De cupiditate divitiarum (English) — Author — 14 copies
De virtute morali (English) — Author — 14 copies
Apophthegmata Laconica (Greek) — Author — 14 copies
Mulierum virtutes (Greek) — Author — 14 copies
Parallela minora (Greek) — Author — 14 copies
De virtute morali (Greek) — Author — 14 copies
De cohibenda ira (Greek) — Author — 14 copies
De tranquilitate animi (Greek) — Author — 14 copies
De amore prolis (Greek) — Author — 14 copies
De cohibenda ira (English) — Author — 14 copies
De tranquilitate animi (English) — Author — 14 copies
De amore prolis (English) — Author — 14 copies
Apophthegmata Laconica (English) — Author — 14 copies
De genio Socratis (English) — Author — 14 copies
Bruta animalia ratione uti (English) — Author — 14 copies
Mulierum virtutes (English) — Author — 14 copies
De vitando aere alieno (English) — Author — 14 copies
De fato (English) — Author — 14 copies
De fortuna (English) — Author — 14 copies
De virtute et vitio (English) — Author — 14 copies
Ad principem ineruditum (English) (2012) — Author — 14 copies
De tuenda sanitate praecepta (English) — Author — 14 copies
Amatoriae narrationes (English) — Author — 14 copies
Conjugalia Praecepta (English) — Author — 14 copies
Consolatio ad uxorem (English) — Author — 14 copies
De Stoicorum repugnantiis (Greek) — Author — 13 copies
De vitioso pudore (Greek) — Author — 13 copies
De sera numinis vindicta (Greek) — Author — 13 copies
Amatorius (Greek) — Author — 13 copies
Amatoriae narrationes (Greek) — Author — 13 copies
De vitando aere alieno (Greek) — Author — 13 copies
Bruta animalia ratione uti (Greek) — Author — 13 copies
Sertorio (1986) 13 copies, 1 review
Quaestiones Romanae (English) — Author — 13 copies
Quaestiones Graecae (English) — Author — 13 copies
De vitioso pudore (English) — Author — 13 copies
De sera numinis vindicta (English) — Author — 13 copies
Amatorius (English) — Author — 13 copies
De Stoicorum repugnantiis (English) — Author — 13 copies
Life of Themistocles (1998) 13 copies
Theseus-Romulus - Paralel Hayatlar (2015) 13 copies, 1 review
De cupiditate divitiarum (Greek) — Editor — 12 copies
De fato (Greek) — Author — 12 copies
De genio Socratis (Greek) — Author — 12 copies
La serenità interiore (1995) 12 copies
Consolatio ad uxorem (Greek) — Author — 12 copies
De Recta Ratione Audiendi (Greek) — Author — 12 copies
Ad principem ineruditum (Greek) — Author — 12 copies
Escrits d'ètica pràctica. (2013) 12 copies, 3 reviews
De liberis educandis (Greek) — Author — 12 copies
De Herodoti malignitate (Greek) — Author — 12 copies
Adversus Colotem (Greek) — Author — 12 copies
Adversus Colotem (English) — Author — 12 copies
De esu carnium I (Greek) — Author — 12 copies
De esu carnium II (Greek) — Author — 12 copies
Septem sapientium convivium (English) — Author — 12 copies
De garrulitate (Greek) — Author — 12 copies
Vidas paralelas IV (2007) 12 copies, 1 review
De E apud Delphos (Greek) — Author — 12 copies
De primo frigido (English) — Author — 12 copies
Alcibiades (1996) 12 copies, 3 reviews
De Herodoti malignitate (English) — Author — 12 copies
De fortuna Romanorum (Greek) — Author — 12 copies
De gloria Atheniensium (Greek) — Author — 12 copies
De Pythiae oraculis (Greek) — Author — 12 copies
De defectu oraculorum (Greek) — Author — 12 copies
Mielen tyyneydestä (2020) 12 copies
Agesilao: Pompeo (2000) 12 copies
De fraterno amore (Greek) — Author — 12 copies
Hellien tunteiden kirja (2005) 11 copies
Quaestiones Convivales (English) — Author — 11 copies
Quaestiones Naturales (English) — Author — 11 copies
Cato the Younger (Another Leaf Press) (1984) 11 copies, 2 reviews
Le virtù di Sparta (1996) 11 copies
De virtute et vitio (Greek) — Author — 11 copies
De fortuna (Greek) — Author — 11 copies
De tuenda sanitate praecepta (Greek) — Author — 11 copies
Conjugalia Praecepta (Greek) — Author — 11 copies
An virtus doceri possit (Greek) — Author — 11 copies
Vidas paralelas II (1991) 10 copies, 2 reviews
Vidas paralelas: Tomo I 10 copies, 1 review
Theseus (Greek) — Author — 10 copies
Vidas Paralelas V (2007) 10 copies, 1 review
Vidas Paralelas VI (2007) 10 copies, 2 reviews
De amicorum multitudine (Greek) — Author — 10 copies
Kärlek och vänskap: Moralia I (2014) 10 copies, 1 review
Platonicae quaestiones (English) — Author — 10 copies
Platonicae quaestiones (Greek) — Author — 10 copies
VIDES PARAL.LELES XII (1932) 10 copies, 3 reviews
An seni respublica gerenda sit (Greek) — Author — 10 copies
Consolatio ad Apollonium (Greek) — Author — 10 copies
Praecepta gerendae reipublicae (Greek) — Author — 10 copies
La musica (2001) 9 copies
Quaestiones Graecae (Greek) — Author — 9 copies
Quaestiones Romanae (Greek) — Author — 9 copies
Quaestiones Convivales (Greek) — Author — 9 copies
Quaestiones Naturales (Greek) — Author — 9 copies
Erotikos (1991) 9 copies
Vidas paralelas : Agesilao - Pompeyo (2015) 9 copies, 1 review
Vite parallele. Demetrio e Antonio (1989) 9 copies, 1 review
VIDES PARAL.LELES XI (1930) 9 copies, 2 reviews
Lykurgos'un Hayatı (2002) 9 copies, 1 review
Vidas Paralelas VII (2008) 8 copies, 1 review
Da Educacao das Criancas (2015) 8 copies
Il volto della luna (1991) 8 copies
VIDES PARAL.LELES VI 8 copies, 1 review
L'arte di ascoltare (2004) 8 copies, 1 review
VIDES PARAL.LELES XV 7 copies, 2 reviews
Levnadsråd: Moralia II (2015) 7 copies, 1 review
Il ‰fato e La superstizione 7 copies, 1 review
Lihansyönnistä (2004) 7 copies
Vies parallèles II (1993) 7 copies
Septem sapientium convivium (Greek) — Author — 7 copies
VIDES PARAL.LELES VII 7 copies, 2 reviews
A M Comp 7 copies
Vidas Paralelas VIII (2008) 7 copies, 1 review
Vides paral·leles, T XIII 7 copies, 2 reviews
Los misterios de Isis y Osiris (1976) 7 copies, 3 reviews
Do Amor aos Filhos (2015) 7 copies
Els mèrits de les dones (2011) 6 copies
Vita Aristidis 6 copies
Obras morales : seleccion (1996) 6 copies
Opera Graece 6 copies
Lycurgus 6 copies, 2 reviews
Ten famous lives (1963) 6 copies
Gevezeler ve Meraklilar (2017) 5 copies
Vite (1992) 5 copies
Om religion. Moralia IV (2017) 5 copies, 1 review
Il simposio dei sette sapienti (1989) 5 copies, 1 review
Sur le bavardage (2006) 5 copies
Plutarch's Lives - Vol I (2010) 5 copies
Everybodys Plutarch (1931) 5 copies
Moralia III. Politik och pedagogik (2016) 5 copies, 1 review
De Homero [Ancient Greek] (1990) — Author — 5 copies
Da Abund‰ncia de Amigos (2016) 5 copies
LIVES OF THE NOBLE GREEKS-LAUREL CLASSIC (1968) 4 copies, 1 review
VIDES PARAL.LELES XIV 4 copies, 2 reviews
Bordssamtal : Moralia V (2019) 4 copies, 1 review
Do Amor Fraterno (2019) 4 copies
Cimon 4 copies
Crassus (Greek) 4 copies
Filosofia del matrimonio (1995) 4 copies
Moralia (1911) 4 copies
Caius Gracchus (Greek) (2015) 4 copies
Artaxerxes (Greek) (2013) 4 copies
Dialogue sur les oracles de la Pythie (1999) 4 copies, 1 review
Párhuzamos életrajzok (1978) 4 copies
Lives from Plutarch (1973) 4 copies
Per un parlare efficace (2008) 4 copies
Djurens rätt och vegetarism (2007) 3 copies, 1 review
Vite parallele Vol 3 (2010) 3 copies
Zastolnye besedy. (1990) 3 copies
Vies 3 copies
Arte de la biografía — Contributor — 3 copies
Emilio Paolo: Timoleonte (2000) 3 copies
Dion (Greek) 3 copies
Plutarchi Vitae parallelae (1993) 3 copies, 1 review
Brutus (Greek) 3 copies
Aratus (Greek) 3 copies
Kinderzucht [griech.-dt.] (2014) 3 copies
Aemilius Paulus (Greek) (2015) 3 copies
Parallel Lives Vol. 1 (2012) 3 copies
Antony (Greek) (2005) 3 copies
Szókratész daimónja (1985) 3 copies
Romulus (Greek) 3 copies
Nicias (Greek) 3 copies
Pompey (Greek) 3 copies
Griechische Heldenleben (1933) 3 copies
Otho (Greek) 3 copies
Sayings of the Spartans (2018) 2 copies
Kinderzucht 2 copies
La loquacità (1994) 2 copies
Il demone di Socrate (2017) 2 copies
Consolation à Apollonios (2008) 2 copies
Galba (Greek) 2 copies
Sulla fortuna (1993) 2 copies
Pyrrhus (Greek) 2 copies
Dión y Bruto 2 copies
Preceitos Conjugais (2019) 2 copies
Phocion (Greek) 2 copies
Numa (Greek) 2 copies
Eumenes (Greek) 2 copies
Lives, vol. II 2 copies
Plutarch (1957) 2 copies
Agis (Greek) 2 copies
Vidas paralelas 2 copies
Pisma przeciwko stoikom (2024) 2 copies
Het leven van Antonius en Octavianus Augustus (1963) — Contributor — 2 copies
Vidas Paralelas I (2008) 2 copies, 1 review
Marcus Antonius (2017) 2 copies
Solon 2 copies
Lives 2 2 copies
Plutarch 2 copies
Sull'utilità dei nemici (2011) 2 copies
La vita felice (2014) 2 copies
Traités sur l'éducation (1995) 2 copies
Pisma egzegetyczne (2012) 2 copies
Biógrafos griegos (1973) 2 copies
Moralia : consigli politici (1994) 2 copies, 1 review
Slavni likovi antike (2002) 2 copies
Como ouvir 2 copies
Plutarch's Lives, Vol 2 (2009) 2 copies, 1 review
Consigli agli sposi (1998) 2 copies
L' ‰intelligenza degli animali (2011) 2 copies, 1 review
Parallel Lives Vol. 2 (2012) 2 copies
La meditazione (2006) 2 copies
Select Lives by Plutarch 2 copies, 1 review
Parallel Lives Vol. 4 (2012) 2 copies
Vidas Paralelas (2013) 2 copies
Lycurgus 2 copies
Acerca del destino (2010) 2 copies
Párhuzamos életrajzok (2001) 2 copies
Lives volume 3 2 copies
Le virtù degli animali (1995) 2 copies
Consejos políticos (1991) 1 copy
Vida de César (2016) 1 copy
O lásce 1 copy
Lives, Vol 3 1 copy
Anziani e Politica (1991) 1 copy
The Morals (Book 1) (2013) 1 copy
Galba-Otón 1 copy
Ηθικά 1 copy
Escrits d'ètica pràctica 1 copy, 1 review
Gracchus Kardeşler (2015) 1 copy
Antonius Ve Kleopatra (2020) 1 copy
YAŞAMLAR XXŞ 1 copy, 1 review
Rinktinės biografijos (1996) 1 copy
Izreke (2020) 1 copy
Despre Isis si Osiris 1 copy, 1 review
Dion - Brut 1 copy, 1 review
Moralia. 10 1 copy
Dione: Bruto (2000) 1 copy
VIDAS PARALELAS I (1985) 1 copy
De Ísis e Osíris 1 copy, 1 review
L'arte di vivere bene (2022) 1 copy, 1 review
Т. 3 1 copy
Bavards et curieux (2001) 1 copy
L'Ami véritable (1999) 1 copy
Le vice et la vertu (1999) 1 copy
L'Ami véritable (2020) 1 copy
Т. 2 1 copy
dialogues 1 copy
Т. 2 1 copy
Œuvres 1 copy
Flaminin 1 copy
Parallel Lives Vol. 3 (2018) 1 copy
Gaius Marius 1 copy
Lives II 1 copy
Vies, tome 1 1 copy
Peri sarkofagias 1 copy, 1 review
Lives I 1 copy
Lives III 1 copy
Lives IV 1 copy
Lives V 1 copy
Lives VI 1 copy
Lives VII 1 copy
Lives IX 1 copy
Lives XI 1 copy
La politica 1 copy
L'educazione 1 copy
Los tratados 1 copy, 1 review
Della vera amicizia (1996) 1 copy
LIVES Vol. II 1 copy, 1 review
Roman Lives 1 copy
Crassus (Another Leaf Press) (2013) 1 copy, 1 review
Arte de la biografía (1999) 1 copy

Associated Works

The Art of the Personal Essay (1994) — Contributor — 1,517 copies, 11 reviews
Extraordinary Tales (1955) — Contributor — 379 copies, 8 reviews
Cleopatra [1963 film] (1963) — Original book — 237 copies, 5 reviews
The Moral Life: An Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature (1999) — Contributor — 202 copies, 2 reviews
The Columbia Anthology of Gay Literature (1998) — Contributor — 171 copies
Greek Civilization and Character (1924) — Contributor — 166 copies
The World of Mathematics, Volume 1 (1956) — Contributor — 153 copies
The Book of Love (1998) — Contributor — 151 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Plutarch
Legal name
Mestrius Plutarchus, Lucius
Other names
Πλούταρχος
Birthdate
c. 0046 CE
Date of death
c. 0120 CE
Gender
male
Education
The Academy, Athens, Greece (mathematics and philosophy)
Occupations
historian
philosopher
priest
biographer
magistrate
ambassador
Organizations
Oracle of Delphi (Priest of Apollo)
Short biography
Studied in Athens under a philosopher named Ammonius
Nationality
Boeotia
Roman Empire
Birthplace
Chaeroneia, Boeotia, Greece
Places of residence
Chaeroneia, Boeotia, Greece
Athens, Greece
Place of death
Delphi, Greece
Map Location
Greece

Members

Discussions

LEC Plutarch in George Macy devotees (February 2023)
Fine editions of Plutarch’s Lives in Folio Society Devotees (September 2022)
here comes Plutarch in Challenge: Loeb Classical Library (January 2020)
Plutarch in Ancient History (March 2008)

Reviews

263 reviews
It's been aeons since I read the Roman Lives companion volume to this, and I don't really understand why Plutarch's paired lives (one Greek, one Roman) aren't presented that way by the publisher. Still, I'm glad I finally got around to it. I enjoy Plutarch's anecdotal style, his eschewal of big battle scenes in favour of illustrative vignettes, his preference for human causes over divine ones. I especially like how he goes to the Greek comedians for evidence of how his subjects were really show more perceived by hoi polloi.

My favourite story here is of the Athenians who, destitute or enslaved in Sicily following the disastrous invasion, are able to ingratiate themselves with the locals by reciting the latest hits of Euripides. You get a sense of what a megastar Euripides was and how folks in far-flung islands, even big ones like Sicily, were desperate for access to his work. It's one of those anecdotes that makes the ancient world palpable.
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I wanted some background on key Roman figures, and reading Plutarch felt like going 'straight to the source'. This is effectively an abridgement of an abridgement from the full "Lives": only ten lives are featured, all of them Romans (there is a companion volume for Greeks). The introduction warns that even more cutting has occurred within the entries themselves (abridgement to the third degree!) Early selected entries from the Kingdom period are mythological but still informative, since show more these were the myths that Romans shared. I was interested in reading selections from across the Republic's span, but half of these entries are gathered at its end.

Romulus (circa 700 BC) - strong mythological tones here. Plutarch offers some alternative stories behind the roots of Rome's origin, but not one of them sounds plausibly realistic. The kidnapping and rape of the Sabine women is heinous even in Plutarch's dull telling, and their intervention in the heat of later battle has romantic overtones but a dark heart.

Numa Pompilius (753-673 BC) - in a nation irrevocably split by party lines, one party elects the next ruler for all of them from among the population of the other; that's pretty smart. They chose Numa of the Sabines to be Romulus' successor, a peace-loving, wise and noble man except for the bit where he buried vestal virgins alive if they betrayed their vows. Some good information from Plutarch here about the origin of the months' names as we know them today.

Fabius (275-203 BC) - the Roman who defeated Hannibal, which makes for an interesting biography as the clash between these two intelligent foes is described. A master of patience and of playing the long game, but perhaps not open-minded enough to allow that others could be right to take initiative when opportunity offered.

Marcellus (268-208 BC) - another Roman who fought Hannibal, as well as the imaginative defences at Syracuse as conceived by Archimedes. Admired Fabius. Seems like he was a bit of a hothead in comparison, but measured in his hotheadedness. Too bad about his fatal error.

Marcus Cato (234-149 BC) - Cato the Elder proved at Thermopolaye that he had studied his history, but he is more renowned and praised for his frugality and austerity. He rose to consul after the tail end of Hannibal's days, and then to censor, where he could bring the full power of those traits to bear. The nobility didn't like him much.

Crassus (115-53 BC) - Crassus was largely responsible for putting down Spartacus' slave rebellion. He conspired with Pompey and Caesar to extend his rule as consul, avarice blinding him to realizing he was getting played. That led to his ill-fated expedition against the Parthian Empire, a classic case of hubris.

Caesar (100-44 BC) - Caesar's political maneuvers are both complex and subtle, a bit hard to follow but largely built on his largesse among the general population. He was equally skilled if not more so at the head of an army, conquering Gaul and Britannia and then challenging Pompey. A map would have been handy to follow along with as he jumped among provinces, especially in the civil war portion. He was brilliant in a lot of respects, but he didn't know to quit while he was ahead.

Pompey (106-48 BC) - Pompey served under Sylla, was consul alongside Crassus, then he became Caesar's chief rival for control of Rome. This edition includes a note to say that it omits a large section here, jumping ahead from Pompey's last triumph to his defeat by Caesar. I'm to assume there's no benefit in reading about the missing events from Pompey's point of view?

Cicero (106-43 BC) - mediocre soldier, but a renowned orator in the courts and Senate. Plutarch is able to give instances when his rhetoric saved the day (including halting a conspiracy to destroy the Senate in Pompey's absence), but cannot always provide what he actually said; I guess Shakespeare never filled this in for us? I related to him most of the bunch and found his ending sad.

Antony (83-30 BC) - always comes across to me as a sidekick who tried to be a hero, instead of the real thing. A very flawed character who you can't even say tried his best, he was the last hope to prevent Augustus from putting a final end to the Republic. Cleopatra gets too much of the blame.
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I don't know why I find biographies of Roman times so fascinating. This collection, culled from Plutarch's biographies, is, like all such biographies, about powerful, violent men who wage war on the world. The most interesting is Mark Antony's story which is also, in the end, Cleopatra's story. You can almost hear Plutarch tsk-tsking at Marc Antony's fatal attraction, but theirs is much more than a tragic love-story. Cleopatra gambled on who could help her attain and keep power in the Roman show more dominated world and lost spectacularly. Her last request to Octavian (Augustus) Caesar was for her children's future. This is a woman who used everything at her disposal for much bigger goals than love. Wish she had kept a diary! show less
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We who are readers have all threaded Life’s sinuous paths, wrestled the impossible beast, and returned out the gateway again bearing its gifts of meaning and value. There are many such doors. Every human soul contains its own secret world, and our work as human beings involves finding our way back to ourselves, and beyond ourselves to the love of others. Countless times I have revealed the Lost Gate and guided others as a living Ariadne's Thread; for such is the work of teachers and show more counselors, but also of family and of simple friendship as well. Each of the elements of the original myth are important, charged with vital force and bearing transformative power. The struggle with the chthonic figure of the Minotaur is at the heart of the journey, but equally important is the embrace of the bride upon return, among other things a figure of creative vision empowering the task of making our new insights real through art, music, authorship, or as our abilities permit as a gift to the world.

Theseus fails his exit exam in the Abandonment of Ariadne, failing to conjoin with his feminine creative force and achieve wholeness, but he is not the hero of this story. Theseus the Oath Breaker fails and is punished by his fathers suicide. It is Ariadne and Bacchus who enact the Union of Opposites, ecstasy and wisdom harnessed together to renew the world. As a myth of the power and meaning of Art , of spinning our straw into gold, our pain and joy into beauty, it remains a living path of our journey to becoming human.
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Associated Authors

Sir Thomas North Translator
James Boswell Contributor
Tacitus Contributor
Diogenes Laërtius Contributor
Samuel Johnson Contributor
Lytton Strachey Contributor
Marcel Schwob Contributor
Suetonius Contributor
J. Mau Editor
Bernard Mayes Narrator
Harold Cherniss Translator
T. E. Page Editor
Isaäc Bos Author
John Dryden Translator
Arthur Hugh Clough Translator, Translation revision, Introduction, Editor
Robin Waterfield Translator
Ian Kidd Editor
F. H. Sandbach Translator
Victor Hanson Introduction
Philip A. Stadter Introduction, Contributor
John Langhorne Translator
Lionel Pearson Translator
A.E. Zijderveld Introduction, Composer, Translator
Eduard C. Lindeman Editor & Introduction
Kalle Suuronen Translator
W. P. Theunissen Translator, Introduction
C. Hubert Editor
Cynthia Patterson Contributor
Lisette Goessler Contributor
Hazel Harvey Translator
Lin Foxhall Contributor
Keith Bradley Contributor
Emma J. Stafford Contributor
Simon Swain Contributor
Richard Hawley Contributor
Jo Ann McNamara Contributor
Wim J. Koster Cover designer
J.C.B. Eykman Translator, Introduction
Bernadotte Perrin Translator, Editor
James Atlas Introduction
André Dacier Translator
Richard Steele Translator
Rex Warner Translator
G. T. Griffith Introduction
Arnis Mazlovskis Translator
James Amyot Translator
Thomas North Translator
Eduardo Gil Bera Translator
Carles Riba Foreword
Wilhelm Ax Translator
Max Pohlenz Editor, Preface
Jacques Amyot Translator
Carl Van Doren Introduction
W. C. Helmbold Translator
Romek Marber Cover designer
Hugh Clough; Translator
Simone Beta Foreword
Simona Ciccone Contributor
Claudia Mazzei Translator
Chantal Gabrielli Contributor
Ralph Waldo Emerson Introduction
John Scheid Translator
M. Pohlenz Editor
Émile Faguet Introduction
Barbara Scardigli Contributor
Mario Manfredini Contributor
Jānis Veselis Translator
Simon Goulart Translator
Bruno Snell Translator
Emma Luppino Manes Contributor
Lucia Ghilli Translator

Statistics

Works
1,618
Also by
23
Members
25,893
Popularity
#803
Rating
½ 3.7
Reviews
209
ISBNs
1,133
Languages
27
Favorited
23

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