ART

.

Some editions of the Moralia include several works now known to be pseudepigrapha: among these are the Lives of the Ten Orators (biographies of the Ten Orators of ancient Athens, based on Caecilius of Calacte), The Doctrines of the Philosophers, and On Music. One "pseudo-Plutarch" is held responsible for all of these works, though their authorship is of course unknown. Though the thoughts and opinions recorded are not Plutarch's and come from a slightly later era, they are all classical in origin and have value to the historian.

The Moralia (loosely translatable as Matters relating to customs and mores) of the first-century pagan priest Plutarch of Delphi is an eclectic collection of 78 essays and transcribed speeches. They give an insight into Roman and Greek life, but often are also fascinating timeless observations in their own right. Many generations of Europeans have read or imitated them, including Montaigne and the Renaissance Humanists and Enlightenment philosophers.

The Moralia include On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander the Great — an important adjunct to his Life of the great general — On the Worship of Isis and Osiris (a crucial source of information on Egyptian religious rites), and On the Malice of Herodotus (which may, like the orations on Alexander's accomplishments, have been a rhetorical exercise), in which Plutarch criticizes what he sees as systematic bias in the Father of History's work; along with more philosophical treatises, such as On the Decline of the Oracles, On the Delays of the Divine Vengeance, On Peace of Mind and lighter fare, such as Odysseus and Gryllus, a humorous dialog between Homer's Ulysses and one of Circe's enchanted pigs. The Moralia were composed first, while writing the Lives occupied much of the last two decades of Plutarch's own life.

Some editions of the Moralia include several works now known to be pseudepigrapha: among these are the Lives of the Ten Orators (biographies of the Ten Orators of ancient Athens, based on Caecilius of Calacte), The Doctrines of the Philosophers, and On Music. One "pseudo-Plutarch" is held responsible for all of these works, though their authorship is of course unknown. Though the thoughts and opinions recorded are not Plutarch's and come from a slightly later era, they are all classical in origin and have value to the historian.

Books

Since the Stephanus edition of 1572, the Moralia have traditionally been arranged in 14 books, as follows:

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

X.

XI.

XII.

XIII.

XIV.

Editions

Links

Most of the Moralia are not online.

Plutarch's Moralia from the Online Library of Liberty Complete William W. Goodwin translation 1878 in PDF facsimile, plus selections as PDF ebooks and HTML.

Plutarch, Moralia, How to tell a flatterer from a friend", 24 (38 MB PDF)

Plutarch page at LacusCurtius (20th century English translation includes On the Fortune or Virtue of Alexander, On the Fortune of the Romans, Roman Questions, Isis and Osiris, "On Putting One's Enemies to Use", and the so‑called Parallela Minora, which is probably one of those pseudepigrapha.)

Plutarch's Essays Volume 3 from Project Gutenberg

Ancient Greece

Science, Technology , Medicine , Warfare, , Biographies , Life , Cities/Places/Maps , Arts , Literature , Philosophy ,Olympics, Mythology , History , Images

Medieval Greece / Byzantine Empire

Science, Technology, Arts, , Warfare , Literature, Biographies, Icons, History

Modern Greece

Cities, Islands, Regions, Fauna/Flora ,Biographies , History , Warfare, Science/Technology, Literature, Music , Arts , Film/Actors , Sport , Fashion

---

Cyprus

Greek-Library - Scientific Library

From Wikipedia, All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

Greeks

Greece

World

Index

Hellenica World