PLUTARCH, plot:it/irk (Gr. Greek writer: b. Chwronea, Bixotia, about 46 A.D. ; d. there, about 125. He studied philosophy under Ammonius, a peripatetic philosopher of Attica, in 60 A.D., which is the only indication of his age. He several times visited Rome, where during the reign of Vespasian he remained for some little time, giving lectures in philosophy and collecting materials for his He spent his later years at Chmronea, where he had a priesthood and was also an archon and build ing-inspector. To many friends he was guide, philosopher and mentor, expounding especially the tenets of the Greek moralists then very popular among men of culture. A school or group gathered about him to which he lectured on Greek and Roman institutions. He was a great admirer of the Spartans, but appears not to have been fully conversant with Roman institutions. His 'Parallel Lives of Illus trious Greeks and Romans> is the work to which he owes his fame. The lives are writ ten in pairs, one Greek and one Roman, fol lowed by a comparison of the two, which in some instances is wanting. A few of the themselves are lost. In these Plutarch is said to have quoted 250 authors, the works of many of whom are lost. The work is chiefly intended for the illustration of char acter, and as he makes use of incidents for this purpose without regard to their relative value, is only partially serviceable for historical purposes. In the arrangement of his incidents he does not always follow a chronological order. Their excellence consists mainly in their fidelity in biographical portraiture. They traverse all of the classical antiquity, are the prime authority, and the only one, for numberless factors, and contribute more, perhaps, along certain lines to the knowledge of the ancient world than does any other one work. A knowledge of them was long considered indispensable to culture. A Latin collection, consisting of translations made by different persons of the separate lives, was printed in Rome in two volumes folio in 1470. The first edition of the text was printed in Florence in 1517. An edition by Bryan, with Latin translation (completed after his death by Du Soul), was published in 1729. There are editions by Coraes (1809-15), Sintenis (1839 46), and Diibner (1846-47). Among transla lations there is the fine French translation by Amyot (1559), and there is of this the worthy English version by Sir Thomas North (1579), characterized as "Shakespeare's storehooe of learned history," since to it the great dramatist was indebted for his outlook on classical history and some of his finest characters and plots, as also one by Evelyn, Garth, Creech and others, with a life by Dryden (1638-86) ; and one by John and William Langhorne (1770, with sev eral subsequent improved editions). The trans lation called Dryden's was corrected and re vised by A. H. Clough, and published in 1859. George Long has translated and annotated some of the 'Lives.' Plutarch's other works, about 60 in number, are generally classed as 'Moraha,' though some of them are narrative. The style
of some is difficult while the genuineness of others is open to question. They include 'On the Education of Children,' in which some sterling maxims are propounded for the guid ance of parents, who, according to Plutarch, should be of equal rank; 'How a Young Man Ought to Hear Poetry,' containing very many quotations from Homer and the tragedians; 'On the Right Way of Hearing,' in which the value of silence is emphasized, caution not to give too great weight to a speaker's style and diction, and a generous appreciation advocated; 'How a Flatterer may be Distinguished from a Friend,' evidently the world of Plutarch's day suffered more from flatterers than we do to day; the work abounds in quotations; 'How One May be Conscious of Progress in Good ness,' in which are given various criteria by which our moral progress may be measured; 'How to Get Benefit out of Enemies' advises turning our enemies to some good purpose for ourselves either by inducing in us an honest life so that they may be made jealous of us, or by their criticisms pointing out the way we must travel toward perfection, etc.; 'On Hav ing Many Friends); 'On Chance' ; 'On Virtue and Vice,' all three containing numerous cita tions, otherwise unknown to us; 'Precepts About Health' is strewn with many platitudes enunciated in technical and difficult idiom; 'Ad vice to the Married,' containing short precepts and anecdotes and a few citations; 'The Ban quet of the Seven Wise Men,' a treatise in narrative form of what happened at a public gathering near Cornith; 'On Superstition,' containing numerous quotations and many ex cellent maxims applicable even in our day; it is one of the most interesting of the 'Moralia); 'On Isis and Osiris,' a treatise on Egyptian symbolism of great interest to Egyptologists; 'On the Cessation of Oracles,' a discussion of the decline in popularity of the old Greek seats of worship and prophecy; 'On the Face of the Moon's • On Fate' ; 'On the Genius of Socrates); 'On Exile> ; 'Consolation to His Wife,' a feeling exhortation to a grief-stricken mother; 'Short Sayings); 'Parallels,' etc. Philemon Holland executed an English trans lation of the 'Morals' (1603), and there is also a translation revised by W. W. Goodwin (1874 78). An edition of all the works of Plutarch, by J. C. Hutten, appeared at Tubingen (1791 1805). There is also a Paris edition with Latin translation (1862-77). The latest English trans lation is by Clough, A. H. (5 vols., New York 1909). The best text of the 'Moralia' is that of Bernardakis (1888-97). The name Plutarch is sometimes given to a collection of lives of distinguished men. Consult also Volkmann, 'Leben, Schriften, and Philosophic des Plu tarch) (Berlin 1873) ; Oakesmith, John, 'The Religion of Plutarch' (New York 1903) ; Greard, 'De la morale de Plutarque> (Paris 1866) ; Trench, R. C., 'A Popular Introduction to Plutarch) (London 1873) ; Wright, W. C., 'A Short History of Great Literature' (New York 1907). See PLUTARCH'S LIVES, NORTH'S TRANSLATION OF.