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Besides his famous Lives, Plutarch wrote dozens of essays on moral questions, and this volume gathers some of the most humane of them. He writes on the…
Besides his famous Lives, Plutarch wrote dozens of essays on moral questions, and this volume gathers some of the most humane of them. He writes on the education of children and the love of parents for their offspring, on virtue and vice, on how to tell a flatterer from a true friend, on restraining anger, on envy and hatred, on how a man may praise himself without giving offence, on the dangers of borrowing money, on exile and on fortune. Among them is a moving letter of consolation to his wife on the death of their little daughter.
Context and significance
Plutarch (about 46–120) was a priest at Delphi, and his essays, known as the Moralia, were loved by Montaigne and many later writers for their good sense and kindness. This translation is by A. R. Shilleto. His biographies are in Plutarch's Lives, and Seneca's Minor Dialogues treat many of the same subjects.
About the author
Plutarch (c. 46–after 119) lived in the small town of Chaeronea in Greece and served as a priest at the oracle of Delphi. He was a philosopher, a teacher and a tireless writer who knew the Roman elite of his day while remaining devoted to his home town.
His Parallel Lives pair famous Greeks and Romans, Alexander and Caesar, Demosthenes and Cicero, to compare their characters, and his many essays on morals cover everything from anger to the education of children. Shakespeare took the plot of Julius Caesar from Plutarch, as did many writers after him.