Plutarch's In The Western Canon

Shakespeare writes of Brutus's constant pangs of regret after he joined the conspiracy and after he took part in Caesar's assassination. "[Brutus] was the noblest Roman of them all: all the conspirators save only he did that they did in envy of great Caesar." (Shakespeare 5.5.69-71). Overall, Plutarch's tone about Brutus is opposite of Julius Caesar compared to Shakespeare's passionate tone about Brutus's honor and love for Rome.

Petrarch is a writer of great knowledge with a desire of theology and politics, as so many before him, while keeping the words and acts of humanism to be held sacred and gifts of our Heavenly Judge. He was a teacher of knowledge, sobriety, and humbleness. With the aid from the philosophies of Aristotle, Petrarch wrote with finesse and poise, which Petrarch only new in the Latin language, his driven thoughts in relation to that of Cicero, a roman poet and politician that died years before Petrarch was born, Petrarch was considered to be one of these learned men as so many others. He was patronized by the wealthy due to his style and ability to write with such power and grace. He refers constantly other great poets such as Euripides and biblical characters, such as, Jeremiah. All these display an attitude towards learning and kindness.

Plutarch, Life of Solon (from N.M Bailkey Readings in Ancient History (D.C. Heatlth and Co,

Suetonius brought about a new style of biographies of the Caesars. Some believe it was to be for the good of society, and some

Plutarch's popularity rested upon his ability to avoid raising situations which people may find disquieting. Plutarch wrote freely and superficially, using a combination of anecdote and his own morals and ethics, to please the general audience.

Commonalities between Cato and Caesar abound in Suetonius and Plutarch's biographies. The most apparent similarity is physical appearance and ability. Cato followed a sober mode of living and trained hard to attain “ a tough constitution and a body which was as strong as it was healthy” (P1). In battle Cato was a “formidable fighter, who stood his ground resolutely and and confronted his opponents with a ferocious expression “ (P1). Caesar was also strong in body and battle. He was “tall fair and well built,” and he was “a most skillful swordsman and horseman, and showed surprising powers of endurance” (s45,57). The enormous number of victories left by Caesar are testimony to his skill as general and fighter. Similarity in strength is only one part of domestic life Cato and Caesar had in common.

Plutarch presented history through biographical stories of the people that were important and influential during the time period he wished to address. However, after having read some of his work, one realizes that Plutarch inserts his own personal opinion and views of the people at hand into the factual documentation of their lives. For example, in The Life of Crassus, Plutarch expresses a general dislike and negative view of the man, but in The Life of Caesar he portrays the life through a lens of praise. It also seems that he uses his opinions of the people that he writes about to subtly extend moral lessons to the reader. What follows is a further isolation of Plutarch's opinions and

This book reminds me of one of the movies of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back. One of the similarities are the roles of the characters Plutarch and Lando. Plutarch works for the Capitol. Later in the book he betrays the Capitol and helps the rebels. A similar character, Lando works for the Evil Empire but, ends up helping the rebels. The plot is very similar as well. “The Empire Strikes Back”, is about a group of rebels including Jedi’s, that are trying to destroy the Evil Empire led by the Sith. “Catching Fire”, is about rebels from districts that are trying to destroy the Capitol led by President Snow. In the end of “Catching Fire,” Peeta is captured by the Capitol while, Katniss is saved by a hovercraft. In the Star Wars movie, Hans is

This major event sparked the transition of the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire; however, Plutarch, Suetonius, and Caesar each depict different aspects of this monumental event to show its importance. In Plutarch’s, Roman Lives, Caesar is described through personal anecdotes that show both a ruthless and extremely ambitious side of the political leader, and a humble, more caring side of the soldier. Suetonius portrays Caesar as a manipulative politician, motivated by a need for power. While Caesar himself takes a more militaristic viewpoint of the events. While these authors may have opposing perspectives, it is clear that their depictions describe one of the most important events in history, and that each was written in an attempt to describe the motivations and actions of Julius Caesar which lead to the Roman Civil

Firstly,there were Athenians the crucible of civilization,the beginning of culture. Athens was the first city-state in the era along came Persia,Sparta and numerous other Greek empires. Of the Greek philosophers was Socrates a man who’s wisdom became world wide even after death. He preached to Plato,who

From the impressions I have garnered from this relationship, Oil and blood do not amalgamate, For you still call me your own, Our fruit of apprehension is severed by the apple of discord, In which, arms have been reached out to congeal, Yet still remain fissured by the Isthmus of Antecedence, I posit that Life, alike Cicero, Puts forth its strongest of warriors to combat its greatest battles, And soon our enmity will be nullified, With Plutarch and Herodotus ready with memorandums, To praise these endeavors that try men's

A critical study of a significant aspect or aspects of Plutarch's aims and achievements as a biographer -To what extent does Plutarch achieve his aims for the lives of Marius and Caesar? We are able to establish Plutarch's aims in creating his biographies by looking at his background and influences. Plutarch was born in Greece to a wealthy established family. He was well educated, studying rhetoric in Athens, and then travelled to Rome where he established connections with some important political figures. Despite being an outsider (a Greek), Plutarch accepted Roman aristocratic tradition as well as the moralising of some key Roman figures.

Each Greek writer has a different perspective on how they saw the Spartan culture mainly because a lot of them lived in different time periods. Plutarch absolutely admired the Spartan system their culture and women. Considering he was writing about it 5 centuries after the events occurred so he is clearly not a complete reliable source, although he cites much of Lykurgus which led him to his opinion things such as “there was nothing disgraceful in the light clothing of girls, for they were modest”. Like Plutarch Xenophon also admired the Spartan system and its military force, but gave a brief glimpse of Sparta considering he was an Athenian who went to stay in Laconia. He spoke more of methods that could have made them stronger “and instead

Neither Plutarch, Suetonius or any other historian of the time write about the mundane lives of the people that are involved. We do not know what Brutus or Caesar or any other characters were thinking or the finer details of their relationships with the people around them. This means that the writers have to use their creative license to fill in the gaps in a way that makes them as authentically feeling as

western literature. He was a greek through and through as he held important political positions, and he