Plutarch Essay

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

The first century AD gave birth to Plutarch of Chaeronea. He was born into the Greco-Roman world during the Pax Romana, a time of peace that which had not been seen in all of the country's history. Plutarch, coming from an upper-class family, was able to get a good education and find a purpose to his life1. Philosophy was his calling and he was brilliant in his work. An aficionado of the works of his forefathers in thought (from Zeno to Plato), Plutarch used their systems to take his knack for

Plutarch was a son of the philosopher named Aristobulus. He was born in 46 AD in Chaeronea, Boeotia; and he died in 120 AD. Plutarch was also known as a historian, essayist and biographer who had left a huge literary heritage for humanity. By traveling abroad to other countries such as Egypt, Greece…, Plutarch assembled lots of information about the heroes of the Roman and Greece mythology. After that, he used that information to write about lives of heroes. He gathered all fascinating biographies

manipulated, it is impossible to avoid all sources such as documents, leaders and friends. Manipulation, the ability to alter the position or influence a person, occurs everywhere one goes. Throughout Julius Caesar by Shakespeare and The Life of Caesar by Plutarch, the theme of manipulation was revealed through countless instances showing both its sources and effects. Several of the characters in both accounts, such as Brutus, Caesar, and the people of Rome, were manipulated one time or another, by sources

Plutarch in our textbook tried to define the teaching of Plato as how to love liberty and living it by focusing on virtue, justice and morality. So, the write could explain Plato’s teaching by his students Dion and Brutus, that they were noble men who had risen from an inconsiderable background. They were both pupils of Plato whose lives were set parallel by his teachings. Dion should have ended up in sadness and miserable life. They fought together great struggles and overcame many odds to rise

the people of Athens. Plutarch wrote, "The truth is, his liberties, his public shows, and

future western writers in regard to the interpretation of Alexander the Great. Plutarch’s Alexander’s fortune and virtue claimed that Alexander’s aim for his empire was “homonoia," the unity of mankind and “fusion” between civilizations. According to Plutarch, Alexander rejected the traditional “Greek” view that Persian were “barbarians," and instead proclaimed that Alexander was intentionally trying to establish a sense of oneness throughout his empire. In the more than two millennium since Plutarch’s

Plutarch was a well-known historian, biographer, and essayist. Also, Plutarch was a Greek scholar, and today is considered to be a Middle Protanist. Clyde Curry Smith, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, tells readers “Plutarch was born sometime around 46 A.D. in Chaeronea, Boeotia”(Smith). Plutarch was born “around the Roman imperial administration of Claudius I”(Smith). It is also believed that Plutarch died around the age of 74, “sometime after 120 c.e.”(Smith). Along with being a historian

author's portrayal of Cleopatra and Antony, he spreads the message that obsession with power is bad and the idea that manipulation and attempts at domination are signs of a bad ruler. Sexism is compatible with such messages because as indicated by Plutarch, Cleopatra utilizes sexist expectations of women in order to manipulate Antony through her aspirations of domination. Therefore, similar to the films Cleopatra and Quo Vadis, because Cleopatra is unsuccessful as she commits suicide in the end and

Plutarch's text and Julius Caesar, other than the tone is the content. Shakespeare omits many events from his play such as Porcia's proving of herself by self-inflicting a wound on her thigh. On the other hand, Plutarch does not go into Brutus's and Portia's conversation of Brutus's troubles. Plutarch describes Antony's great speech at Caesar's funeral, but does not capture the emotional struggle Antony went through to win the hearts of Roman citizens. Shakespeare intensely writes of the crowd's reactions

under the category Hellenistic Greeks is the name Plutarch. Plutarch is considered one of the best-known Greek biographers and essayists, writing extensively about ancient Greek and Roman culture, influencing later Western writers according to Biography.com. He has written over two hundred pieces of work and Plutarch has influenced and inspired many historians and philosophers throughout the centuries and still does to this very day. Plutarch has many positive aspects throughout his life and has

Plutarch, so precisely, allows us to delve more deeply into the nature of Alcibiades by shedding light on his lineage. “.... His father, Cleinias, was famous for the part he played in the sea battle at Artemisium in a trireme he had equipped at his own expense, and died later at Coronea in a battle against the Boeotians. Pericles and Ariphron, the sons of Xanthippus, who were closely related to Alcibiades, then became his guardians.”(Plutarch. Greek Lives p. 222). It

studied the real life events which occurred, and from them he created a masterful work of art which is now famous across the globe. Shakespeare took references from multiple sources, the largest of which was Roman author and philosopher, Plutarch. From Plutarch, Shakespeare got his influence for the main characters; Julius Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, Antony, and many of the conspirators. Both in the play and in real life, Brutus kills

Female Power, Maternity and Genderbending in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra The 19th century essayist and literary critic William Hazlitt wrote of Cleopatra, "She is voluptuous, ostentatious, conscious, boastful of her charms, haughty, tyrannical, [and] fickle," which are "great and unpardonable faults" (Hazlitt 2-3). Much of the criticism of Antony and Cleopatra has recycled this judgement, depicting Cleopatra as a villainess uses her eroticism and sexuality to motivate Antony to

In Life of Alexander, Plutarch employs extensive methods to depict Alexander as a man of both great ambition and self-control, despite Alexander’s degeneration of character by the end of his life. In the modern world, the regression from just conqueror to unrestrained tyrant is completely congruent with the contemporary concept of ambiguous morality. In the ancient world, however, everything is expressed and understood in clear constructs; therefore, one’s character cannot change within a lifetime—it

strengthens the reliability his opinion, in turn helping to justify the praise he adorns upon Alexander. In comparison to the other four surviving sources on Alexander, it is easy to understand why Arrian’s is considered the most accurate. Plutarch, like Arrian portrays Alexander in a favourable light, however, some of it verges on the romantic, thus dismissing it as bias. Justin’s work is widely regarded as unreliable and Curtius is also considered somewhat suspect. Although

Geoffrey Chaucer’s works can be seen quoted in some of Shakespeare’s works. An example of this is of Chaucer’s poem Troilus and Criseyde which was Shakespeare's main innovation for his play, Troilus and Cressida. A Roman philosopher by the name of Plutarch was also an inspiration for Shakespeare. Plutarch’s series of biographies, called Parallel Lives, was used as a source for some of

Plutarch – “Pericles the Politician” Plutarch was a well-known and respected historian, biographer, and philosopher. He held a very high status in society. He taught philosophy in Rome for some time and was granted high office by the royal family. When he returned to his native town in Greece, he was appointed as the Priest of Apollo. He wrote many philosophical essays as well as biographies of influential people during the times. This particular document was written by Plutarch as a biographical

Montaigne’s own unorthodox childhood education played a role in shaping the way he thought about learning and about life. He spent his infancy in the countryside, his childhood immersed in Latin, and his adolescence in classes with older students at the Collège de Guyenne. Because of his father’s nontraditional ideas about education, as Bakewell states, Montaigne “grew up to be an independent-minded adult, following his own path in everything rather than deferring to duty and discipline” (55)

age showed characteristics of a leader. When Alexander managed to tame the horse, Bucephalus his father pointed out even as a child his ambition is far too great, “My son, seek thee out a kingdom equal to thyself; Macedonia has not room for thee” (Plutarch 317). Alexander didn’t experience struggles or opposition when he rose to power, in fact he had inherited his position when his father was assassinated. However, there is no concrete evidence whether Alexander the great had anything to do with the