Plutarch's Life and Legendary Writings Essay

Plutarch, ethnically Greek, had a Latin name of Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus. By the time he was born, approximately midway through the first century AD, the Pax Romana existed for several decades. He was born in Greece, in a prominent town not far from the famous city of Delphi, known in Greek history for the famous oracles. Plutarch had many occupations

When Pliny was first challenged with the issue of Christianity in his region, he was extremely confused and worried. He had never dealt with the issue before and so had no prior experience to dwell upon. However, he ended up dealing with them like any other threat to the Roman Empire he had dispensed with. He viewed these individuals as a contagion and threat to the Empire that needed to be distinguished. However, he knew that he did not have the resources or manpower to adequately confront the issue as it had spread not just in the cities, but also to the towns and farms across his region. This leads to the start of multiple letters to Emperor Trajan, so that he could be informed and order what needed to occur.

Plutarch (45-120 AD), a Greek biographer and moral philosopher, is the author of Life of Antony: an ancient source chronicling the life and dealings of Mark Antony (83-30 BC). Part of a larger collection of biographies focused on prominent Roman and Greek figures, the Life of Antony was intended as a character study (Fear, 2008). Plutarch was exceedingly intrigued by the ways in which the personalities, integrities and shortcomings of legendary men influenced the path of history. Life of Antony is infamous for its amalgamation of history and myth (Kimball, 2000). In the modern sense, Plutarch would not be considered a true historian. However, the source gives notable insight into significant figures in Antony’s life in particular Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt (69-30 BC). It is considered the principal ancient source of Cleopatra’s life (Fear, 2008), detailing the effect Plutarch believed Cleopatra to have on Antony.

Marcus Aurelius was born on April 26th, 121 AD. He was born as Marcus Annius Verus. His family was a very wealthy family who claimed that they were descendants of Numa, The Second King of Rome. His father was Annius Verus and his mother was Domitia Lucilla.

The true essence of human nature is seen during times of great hardships as can be seen comparing Pericles' Funeral Oration and the plague in Thucydides', The History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides accounts for many different aspects of justice, power, and human nature through his text. The order, the style of his writing, choice of words, and relations of what he believes actually happened, allows the reader to make different inferences about the message he's trying to convey. The juxtaposition of the two stories portrays many different characteristics to investigate and analyze.

Purposely difficult and intentionally obsessive, Plato’s Phaedrus is an exceedingly difficult read that defies all conventional logic as a piece of discourse. The text is extremely subjective, open to interpretation and individual creativity as to what or whom the narrative is about. Written by Plato, a close disciple of Socrates, this text is set along the Illissus river where Phaedrus and Socrates meet for a day of speech, debate, rhetoric and okay…flirting. Phaedrus leads of the day and recites a speech by his close friend Lysias, who Phaedrus considers to be a top speechmaker. Socrates then, after chiding by Phaedrus unleashes two speeches of his own that overshadow and refute Lysias claim so boldly that Phaedrus is so taken by the

According to George Grant the author of Why Read Plutarch?, he states “Plutarch's interest in history

In Plato’s The Republic, we, the readers, are presented with two characters that have opposing views on a simple, yet elusive question: what is justice? In this paper, I will explain Thrasymachus’ definition of justice, as well as Socrates’s rebuttals and differences in opinion. In addition, I will comment on the different arguments made by both Socrates and Thrasymachus, and offer critical commentary and examples to illustrate my agreement or disagreement with the particular argument at hand.

     Throught Oedipus Rex, Oedipus displays his heroism many times. From the Prologue of the play to the moment in which he leaves Thebes, Oedipus' heroics are extremely apparent; however, at the same time, the decisions which make Oedipus a hero ultimately become the decisions which bring him to shame and exile.

Sophocles's Oedipus Rex is probably the most famous tragedy ever written. Sophocles's tragedy represents a monumental theatrical and interpretative challenge. Oedipus Rex is the story of a King of Thebes upon whom a hereditary curse is placed and who therefore has to suffer the tragic consequences of fate (tragic flaws or hamartia). In the play, Oedipus is the tragic hero. Even though fate victimizes Oedipus, he is a tragic figure since his own heroic qualities, his loyalty to Thebes, and his fidelity to the truth ruin him.

The year was 359 BC. Greece, though weary from constant internal struggling still had supreme power over the Hellenistic world. Persia, though it had suffered large setback in the Persian Wars more then a century before was still a menacing force. The Barbarian State of Macedon was led by warrior kings who aspired to be Greek, yet ruled over a feudal society that was as multicultural as any of its time. Good morning Miss Boeston and class. Today's seminar will conclusively prove to you the statement that "Philip II of Macedon was responsible for the rise to greatness of the Macedonian Empire in the Fourth Century BC" by examining several issues associated with Philip's rule.

H.H.Scullard agrees with Plutarchs writing and maintains, after becoming an augur an augur at the age of ten, served with distinction under his brother-in-law Aemilianus at the siege of Carthage (146) and married Claudia, daughter of the Princeps Senatus, Appius Claudius Pulcher. Plutarch maintains soon after his marriage he saw active service in Africa under the command of the younger Scipio. Plutarch adds, `` He also soon showed himself to be the most disciplined and courageous young man of his generation. According to Fannius, while he was with the army many of his comrades came to feel affection for him, and when he left they missed him. After this campaign, Gracchus was elected quaestor under the consul Gaius Hostilius Mancinus in 137, in the war against Numantia. Plutarch, although he states that Mancinus was unlucky, he gives us the picture that Mancinus was an unlucky commander, and in contrast, Gracchus displayed great courage under

Tacitus, Suetonius and Plutarch, although major historians of their time, were not completely reliable and (now we realise) their works contained bias, mainly a result of upon the writers personal opinion and beliefs. Another cause of bias within primary text was the influence of the Roman elite hierarchy upon the contemporary writers of the time. Plutarch himself admitted this in many statements and claimed to not be a historian but a biographer. Plutarch regarded biography as a different class of writing, and his primary goal was to entertain the audience, as opposed to informing them. He did this by writing only what the reader wanted to read rather than the actual event that had taken place. This is the number one reason why much of ancient Roman sources are unreliable, and biased.

truths, and forms. He had no room in his views for imagination and what he saw

One of the last major philosophers of Virtue Ethics was Plutarch who advocated virtue but disagreed with Epicurus because he believed there was no true pleasure. At this same time, between 400 B.C.- 40 B.C. Stoic philosophers such Cicero, who combined the philosophies of Aristotle and Plato, developed his idea on ethics and how everyone has a duty and should imitate virtue for others. He said duty has two points which are to achieve the Supreme Good, and follow the rules for daily living. Cicero was a strong believer in rationality incorporated Plato’s Cardinal Virtues into his three rules of conduct: master desires through reason, know true value of goals and be moderate in actions and lifestyle.