Think of this wonderful book as your personal guide to exploring the works of a truly prolific and influential ancient writer, Plutarch of Chaeronea. The Companion isn't just about giving you dry facts; it aims to provide general information about Plutarch himself, his intellectual setting within the Greco-Roman world of the first and second centuries CE, and the sheer breadth and significance of his writings. It's like setting out on a journey with Plutarch and the authors of the Companion, acting as fellow travelers and interlocutors in a leisurely dialogue. Plutarch was an incredibly hardworking individual who spent a lifetime not only writing but also deeply reading and thinking. The sheer volume of his surviving work is quite staggering, clocking in at over a million words. To put that in perspective, that's nearly twice the size of Plato's entire corpus! His writings cover a dizzying array of literary forms, from biographies and essays to dialogues, letters, collections of sayings, and much, much more. It's worth noting that sadly, much of what he wrote hasn't survived to our day, like his biography of Caligula or a treatise on Euripides, which we only know about from the ancient list known as the Lamprias Catalog. Now, when people think of Plutarch, his most famous work is usually the _Parallel Lives_. These are the wonderfully insightful biographies of famous Greek and Roman figures. However, the Companion makes it clear that his other major body of work, known collectively as the _Moralia_, is every bit as crucial for understanding the man and his thought. The _Moralia_ is a huge collection – over seventy-five essays! – covering an astonishingly diverse range of topics. You can find practical advice on how to behave in pretty much any situation, from funerals and dinner parties to political gatherings. There are philosophical dialogues, cultural explorations, witty collections of sayings, and even deeper philosophical discussions. If you ever wondered about Egyptian mythology, why meat-eating might be immoral, or how to spot a flatterer, Plutarch probably wrote about it in the _Moralia_. Many of the essays in the Companion draw heavily on this vast collection. A really central thread that weaves its way through nearly everything Plutarch wrote, and something the Companion focuses on, is his deep interest in morality. He was fundamentally concerned with what makes a good and honorable life, and perhaps even more importantly, _how_ one should actually live it. His writing often has a clear purpose: to "improve" his readers. One of the fascinating ways Plutarch goes about this moral education, particularly in the _Parallel Lives_, is by using historical figures as examples, or _paradeigmata_. The _Lives_ are famous for being structured in pairs, typically matching a Greek figure with a Roman one. While the sources don't explicitly state the _purpose_ of pairing in the provided text, this structure naturally lends itself to comparing and contrasting the lives and characters presented. Plutarch assumes his readers are already somewhat familiar with these figures, and he selects specific events or anecdotes from their lives to illustrate points about character. For instance, when discussing Nicias, Plutarch includes details about his lavish spending on religious missions and quotes from comic poets criticizing his timidity – details not found in a historian like Thucydides – precisely because they reveal character traits that influenced Nicias's actions and ultimately led to the failure of the Sicilian expedition. This focus on character and using lives as models (or warnings!) is a key strategy for Plutarch as a moral educator. The Companion suggests that Plutarch saw his biographical narratives as providing pragmatic political advice. Beyond the biographies, the _Moralia_ contributes significantly to moral and political education. These essays offer a wealth of practical advice and philosophical insights into ethical conduct. For example, his work _On tranquillity of mind_ is presented as a letter offering guidance on achieving contentment. Plutarch often presents himself as a teacher of correct behavior. The Companion encourages us to view Plutarch's entire body of work as a unified "macrotext". This perspective helps us see how ideas and themes echo and cross-reference between different works. It makes sense, for example, that he might reuse the same quotations or anecdotes in different contexts when viewed this way. This macrotextual reading helps bring to light recurring propositions that run through his writings. Some of these include his insistence on the importance of philosophically oriented education (_paideia_), the desirability of finding balance, both within an individual's soul (between rational and nonrational forces) and in society. He also consistently warns against disruptive forces like competitive ambition (_philotimia_) and anger. The Companion also touches on his religious views, which are seen as a blend of traditional Greek religious practice and philosophical inquiry. Interestingly, his political views, as seen through this macrotextual lens, seem to largely endorse the existing order of the Roman Empire. However, the Companion doesn't shy away from the challenges of reading Plutarch. The macrotextual approach, while revealing connections, also highlights areas that might seem inconsistent or present "formidable fault-lines". For instance, was Plutarch primarily a deep, serious philosopher operating within the Middle-Platonic tradition, or was he more focused on providing practical, commonsensical moral advice for the Greco-Roman elite, perhaps only loosely tied to deep philosophy?. The Companion suggests he might be both, noting that he himself believed it clever to philosophize without _seeming_ to philosophize. Another challenge is determining how prescriptive his moral judgments are – does he give open-ended guidance, or does he secretly have firm rules in mind?. The Companion suggests that we should embrace this "layered, contrapuntal complexity" rather than demanding absolute consistency. His use of dialogue forms, like in his Delphic essays or the sympotic writings, further complicates pinning down his precise beliefs, as different characters express various views, and Plutarch himself doesn't always speak in his own voice or maintain consistency. Now, let's talk about Plutarch's incredible journey through history and his lasting influence. The Companion traces his reception across centuries, starting in the Byzantine East. In Byzantium, his works, both the Lives and the Moralia, were highly valued. Byzantine scholars read, excerpted, and were influenced by his texts. Figures like Photios, in the ninth century, engaged with his works, excerpting passages and sometimes adding his own commentary, showing a particular interest in political history and the pitfalls of power. Arethas, in the tenth century, also owned a manuscript of the Lives and wrote scholia (notes) on them, clearly admiring Plutarch's moral stance. Access to Plutarch's works was a mark of a well-educated elite in Byzantium. Theodoros Metochites in the 14th century, a high-ranking civil servant, wrote a comprehensive assessment of Plutarch, recognizing his "abundance of wisdom" and his ability to write easily on everything. This Byzantine tradition played a key role in preserving Plutarch's works and transmitting them back to the West. From the Byzantine East, Plutarch's works began to re-emerge in the Latin West, particularly during the Renaissance. His _Parallel Lives_ were translated into Latin relatively early, and his works were seen as invaluable resources for a wide range of thinkers – theologians, philosophers, moralists, and literary figures. The Companion highlights the Spanish Renaissance, where Plutarch's Lives were translated and recommended for students as both historical and moral texts. Scholars like Pedro Simón Abril drew heavily on him. Christian thinkers also found much to admire, seeing Plutarch as a "most Christian master of life" and using his ideas to complement their own writings, even invoking him to support points from St. Paul or discuss the examination of conscience. The wider European Renaissance saw Plutarch's influence explode, particularly through translations into vernacular languages. Jacques Amyot's influential French translation made Plutarch accessible to a much broader audience. Amyot explicitly framed the works, especially the _Moralia_, as containing moral instruction suitable even for kings, suggesting that reading Plutarch could help rulers gain wisdom and learn things their courtiers might hide. Sir Thomas North's famous English translation of Amyot's _Lives_ brought Plutarch to readers like Shakespeare, who extensively drew on him for his plays. Montaigne is presented as perhaps the most famously indebted figure, who devoured Plutarch in Amyot's translation and openly declared that his own essays were built "entirely out of their spoils". Montaigne especially appreciated the _Moralia_'s collection of knowledge in "pieces not sewn together," finding its concise, mosaic-like quality perfectly suited to his reading style and recognizing that Plutarch's condensed ideas provided fertile ground for future writers. Beyond the biographical and moral instruction, the Companion also touches on more specific aspects of Plutarch's writing and intellectual world. We learn about his engagement with language, style, and rhetoric, noting that he didn't strictly adhere to the 'Atticist' style of some contemporaries but created his own distinctive voice with a huge vocabulary and a rich tapestry of allusions. His treatment of myth and religion is explored, revealing a complex approach that synthesizes traditional beliefs with philosophical interpretation, sometimes even presenting conflicting views through dialogue. His polemical side is mentioned, such as his critiques of other historians like Herodotus. The Companion also offers insights into his political ideas and his depiction of social settings like the symposium. The symposium, or dinner party, was a significant genre for Plutarch, offering a setting for diverse discussions ranging from practical advice and ethics to natural science and philosophical inquiry, reflecting the many facets of his identity as a philosopher, priest, socialite, and writer. His sympotic writings, like the _Quaestiones convivales_, are seen as capturing an intellectual style that values inquiry, pluralism, open-mindedness, and civil discussion, crucially inflected by philosophy. In summary, "The Cambridge Companion to Plutarch" provides a rich and detailed picture of Plutarch, showcasing him not just as a biographer, but as a multifaceted writer, a profound moral and political thinker, and a figure whose influence has shaped Western literature and thought for nearly two thousand years. It guides readers through the vastness of his work, highlighting key themes, intellectual contexts, and the enduring questions his writings raise. Considering this comprehensive overview offered by the Companion, what kind of further questions does it make you think about? Perhaps: - Given Plutarch's blend of traditional religious views and philosophical inquiry, how did this shape his moral teachings compared to authors who might have approached morality purely from a philosophical or purely from a religious perspective? - Montaigne found Plutarch's "pieces not sewn together" style perfect for his essays. How does this mosaic-like, or macrotextual, approach to knowledge and writing compare to more systematic philosophical treatises of the time or later periods, and what are its advantages or disadvantages for a reader seeking understanding? - The Companion notes that Plutarch seemed to endorse the status quo of the Roman Empire. How might this political position influence his portrayal of historical figures in the _Lives_, particularly those who challenged established power? There's clearly so much to explore and appreciate about Plutarch, and the Companion seems like an excellent way to begin or deepen that exploration!