Plutarch
PLUTARCH (L. Mestrios Ploutarchos, before 50–after 120 CE) was born at Chaironeia near Thebes. He spent much time at Athens but in later life seems to have resided mostly at Chaironeia and at Delphi, where he held a priesthood. He was a good friend of many eminent Greeks and Romans and accordingly had considerable political influence, advocating a partnership between Rome (the power) and Greece (the educator). Late authorities report that he received high distinctions from the emperors Trajan and Hadrian. The extant work of Plutarch, an extremely prolific writer, surpasses that of almost every classical author up to his time, while many nonauthentic works have survived under his name. The Parallel Lives, written in an idealistic but critical style, represents a vast and masterly achievement that has had enormous influence. Modern scholarship has also concentrated on his Moralia, treating Plutarch seriously as a creative thinker and writer whose views deserve respect and study.
Life, Works, and Religious Outlook
Plutarch wrote on religious, ethical, philosophical, rhetorical, and antiquarian subjects called Moralia or Moral Essays (Ethika in Greek), but he is most famous for his Parallel Lives of the Greeks and Romans. As a youth he studied Platonism at Athens under an Alexandrian named Ammonios, and Plutarch's own works in general belong to philosophical and religious Platonism.
