Plutarch

Plutarch was a prolific and influential writer who lived in the first and second centuries AD. He was born in Chaeronea, a small town in Boeotia, where his family was prominent and wealthy. He studied mathematics and philosophy in Athens under Ammonius, a follower of the Middle Platonist school. He traveled extensively in the Mediterranean world, visiting Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, and Italy. He became a Roman citizen and adopted the name Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus after his patron. He served as a priest of Apollo at Delphi and a magistrate of his hometown. He also participated in several diplomatic missions and was a friend of several emperors, including Trajan and Hadrian. Plutarch's most famous works are the Parallel Lives, a series of biographies of illustrious Greeks and Romans arranged in pairs to illustrate their moral virtues and vices, and the Moralia, a collection of essays and dialogues on various topics such as ethics, religion, politics, literature, and natural philosophy. He also wrote commentaries on Plato and Aristotle, as well as treatises on specific subjects such as the E at Delphi, the Pythian oracle, the Isis and Osiris myth, and the face on the moon. He aimed to educate his readers by providing moral examples and practical wisdom. He was not a systematic philosopher, but rather a eclectic thinker who drew from various sources and traditions. He was especially influenced by Plato, but also by Pythagoras, Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Cynicism. Plutarch's writings had a lasting impact on Western culture. They were widely read and admired by later authors, such as Montaigne, Shakespeare, Rousseau, Emerson, and Nietzsche. They also inspired many historians, biographers, artists, and political leaders. His Parallel Lives influenced the genre of biography and historiography, while his Moralia contributed to the development of the essay and ethical discourse. His works were translated into many languages and circulated throughout Europe during the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. He is regarded as one of the greatest humanists and moralists of all time.