Book contents
- Plutarch’s Prism
- Ideas in Context
- Plutarch’s Prism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Setting the Stage
- Chapter 1 A Brief Introduction to Plutarch and a Comparison of Cicero and Plutarch on Public Ethics
- Chapter 2 The Secret History of Plutarch (and the History of Pseudo-Plutarch) and a Brief Account of Reception in Renaissance Italy
- Part II Plutarch in Renaissance France and England
- Part III Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Plutarch
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 1 - A Brief Introduction to Plutarch and a Comparison of Cicero and Plutarch on Public Ethics
from Part I - Setting the Stage
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2022
- Plutarch’s Prism
- Ideas in Context
- Plutarch’s Prism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Setting the Stage
- Chapter 1 A Brief Introduction to Plutarch and a Comparison of Cicero and Plutarch on Public Ethics
- Chapter 2 The Secret History of Plutarch (and the History of Pseudo-Plutarch) and a Brief Account of Reception in Renaissance Italy
- Part II Plutarch in Renaissance France and England
- Part III Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Plutarch
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The chapter is divided into three sections. In the first section I discuss Plutarch’s life and work in the general context of the first century CE. Following this, I provide a short analysis of six of Plutarch’s Lives, Lycurgus, Numa, Alexander, Caesar, Antony and Phocion, to demonstrate the key themes highlighted by scholars of his thought, and to introduce readers to accounts which figure among the most prominent as references in Western intellectual traditions. In the concluding section I offer a comparison and contrast between Cicero’s On Duties and the themes of Plutarch’s Lives and his moral essays devoted to questions of public life. This comparison highlights what distinguishes Plutarch’s contribution and signals his unique contribution to traditions of political reflection on public life and public service.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Plutarch's PrismClassical Reception and Public Humanism in France and England, 1500–1800, pp. 23 - 64Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022