Plutarch

Greek biographer, essayist, and philosopher, born c. 46 CE at Chaeronea, died after 119 CE

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About

Plutarch, born c. 46 CE at Chaeronea in Boeotia, was a Greek philosopher and writer of the Roman era. He studied philosophy in Athens and taught in Rome, where he attained consular rank under Trajan and a procuratorship under Hadrian. His major work, Parallel Lives, comprises 46 biographies pairing Greek and Roman figures, designed as ethical character studies. His Moralia, over 60 essays, cover ethics, religion, politics, and natural philosophy. About 128 of his 227 attributed works survive. His Lives profoundly influenced Western literature, notably Shakespeare's Roman plays via North's translation.

Major works

Parallel Livesbiographies
Moraliaessays

Key milestones

c. 46Born at Chaeronea in Boeotia.
c. 120-125Died after 119 CE, commonly given as c. 120-125.
1579English translation of Lives by Thomas North, source for Shakespeare.

Themes

ethicscomparative biographymoral philosophyhistoryreligion

Sources: britannica.com · hup.harvard.edu · crrs.library.utoronto.ca

“The measure of a man is the way he bears up under misfortune.”

— PlutarchTheme · Personal Development

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“We rich men count our felicity and happiness to lie in these superfluities, and not in those necessary things.”

— PlutarchTheme · Society

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“That state of life is most happy where superfluities are not required and necessities are not wanting.”

— PlutarchTheme · Wisdom

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“The man who first brought ruin upon the Roman people was he who pampered them by largesses and amusements.”

— PlutarchTheme · Politics

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“Moral habits, induced by public practices, are far quicker in making their way into men’s private lives, than the failings and faults of individuals are in infecting the city at large.”

— PlutarchTheme · Society

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“Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little.”

— PlutarchTheme · Motivation

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