Moralia: Volume XIII

by Plutarch

Plutarch (Plutarchus), ca. 45-120 CE, was born at Chaeronea in Boeotia in central Greece, studied philosophy at Athens, and, after coming to Rome as a teacher in philosophy, was given consular rank by the emperor Trajan and a procuratorship in Greece by Hadrian. He was married and the father of one daughter and four sons. He appears as a man of kindly character and independent thought, studious and learned.

Plutarch wrote on many subjects. Most popular have always been the 46 "Parallel Lives," biographies planned to be ethical examples in pairs (in each pair, one Greek figure and one similar Roman), though the last four lives are single. All are invaluable sources of our knowledge of the lives and characters of Greek and Roman statesmen, soldiers and orators. Plutarch's many other varied extant works, about 60 in number, are known as "Moralia" or Moral Essays. They are of high literary value, besides being of great use to people interested in philosophy, ethics and religion.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of the "Moralia" is in fifteen volumes, volume XIII having two parts.

Genres: Philosophy

544 pages, hardback

Published January 1, 1976

About the author

Plutarch (later named, upon becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus; AD 46–AD 120) was a Greek historian, biographer, and essayist, known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. He is classified as a Middle Platonist. Plutarch's surviving works were written in Greek, but intended for both Greek and Roman readers.

Reviews

[Unknown]

Human affairs are all defiled by vice. —Against the Stoics on Common Conceptions, 1066a

To be in agreement with nature is the greatest good . . . —Against the Stoics on Common Conceptions, 1060d
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. . . tasted the lotus of leisure and spent all their lives, and very long lives too, with talk and books and strolling in the schools. —On Stoic Self-Contradictions, 1033c

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This volume contains the following essays:
• On Stoic Self-Contradictions
• The Stoics Talk More Paradoxically Than the Poets
• Against the Stoics on Common Conceptions
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Some essays examining ancient stoic thought. Likely to be of greater interest to anyone with an interest in ancient stoic studies.
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On Stoic Self-Contradictions
The faculty of reason must not be used for inappropriate ends . . . (1037b)

Its exceeding sublimity and beauty . . . (1041f)

The life of tranquility . . . (1043b)
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Against the Stoics on Common Conceptions
Just as in the sea the man a cubit from the surface is drowning no less than the one who has sunk 500 fathoms, so neither are they any the less in vice who are approaching virtue than they who are a long way from it; and just as the blind are blind even if they are going to recover their sight a little later, so those who are making progress continue to be stupid and depraved until they have attained virtue. (1063a)

Seeing daylight and, risen above vice, have drawn breath again. (1063c)

For us and our affairs the existence of vice has proved to be useful. (1066b)

Most of the things here in our life have turned out to be examples of vice, for in respect of virtue not a single man is sober but all of us are staggering about in an indecent and unhappy condition. (1067e)

Annihilated the whole of time . . . (1081e)

[Alexander Rolfe]

In this volume Plutarch makes war on the Stoics. Especially Chrysippus, who seems to have written whatever sounded good at the time, with little attempt to reconcile his own conflicting statements. When writing about religious matters, one should make a more serious attempt, not just write for popularity. I think Plutarch felt the same kind of impatience I felt when reading Richard Foster's book on prayer-- in one chapter he says many prayers go unanswered, and in another chapter he ridicules those who pray with anything less than certainty that God will grant the healing they request. Shameful.

It was a pleasure to read Plutarch's handling of theological questions that are as relevant to me today as to him back then. He makes rubble of the Stoic claim that good requires evil, or finds evil useful. He faults them for saying the gods are good, but then attributing absolutely "Galatian" deeds to them, such as orchestrating the Trojan war to drain off surplus population. There is quite a bit in this volume on providence, the character of God, and whether God causes evil acts or not. Plutarch is not afraid to accuse Aeschylus and Homer of blasphemies; he must have had a pretty well-developed theology. But only some of it comes through, since he wrote these essays to expose faults in the Stoic system, not present his own.