Rating: 
Summary: educator of the western world
Review: After the Turks had conquered Constantinople refuges brought manuscripts of Plutarch to Italy. It was the right time. Secular scholars and enlightened clerics took a new interest in the learning of Antiquity and the Greek language. For the first time since the fall of Rome, Homer was not just a name, but actually read in the original. And PlutarchÕs ÒLivesÓ became the handbook for the European gentlemanÕs higher education. In fact through many channels, Plutarch reintroduced the ancient concepts of republican freedom and democracy to a world that seemed to have completely forgotten that they ever existed.
Plutarch became the United States secret founding father; Thomas Jefferson and the under-signers to the constitution, they all had grown up with Plutarch on their school desks. He infused them with the spirit of democracy: ÒFor all we know, opposite parties or factions in a commonwealth, like passengers in a boat, serve to trim and balance the unsteady motions of power; whereas if they combine and come all over to one side, they cause to overset the vessel and carry down everything.Ó And he conveyed a grasp of the larger picture: ÒEconomy, which is but money-making, when exercised over men, becomes policy.Ó
With Plutarch, liberalism raises its voice and in Tiberius GracchusÕ (163-133 B.C.) speech, he recorded for us this timeless indictment of Òconservative valuesÓ and Òpatriotism:Ó Ò... The beasts find refuge in their dens, but men who for the safety of their country expose their lives in service, breathe on borrowed air in the open day. Having no roof of their own, with wive and children, they wander from place to place. Is it not ridiculous to hear generals exhort their soldiers to fight for the hearth of their ancestors, when not any of so many Romans own altar or monument, neither have even a house to defend? They fight and they are slain, but it is for the wealth of other men. Being called masters of the world, they have not one square-inch of land to call their own.Ó
But, always the realist, and himself living under despotic rule Plutarch adds: Òin a time when right is weak, we may be thankful if might assumes a form of gentleness,Ó because, (and he quotes Cato:) Òby nature a king is a man-eating animal.Ó PlutarchÕs grasp on human nature was already very advanced, before the barbaric notion of original sin threw society back into the ethical stone age: ÒMen by nature is not a wild animal or unsocial creature, neither was he born so, but makes himself what he naturally is not by vicious habit. He is civilized and grows gentle by a change of place, occupation, and manner of life, as wild beasts become tame and domesticated. With good reason, those who train horses and dogs, endeavour by gentle means to cure their angry and intractable tempers, rather than by cruelty and beating.Ó
Without being an atheist, PlutarchÕs comment on a situation equivalent to Gen. 22:2, reveals a discerning grasp on the motives and sentiments which underpin faith into the irrational and he urges: Òthat such a barbarous and impious obligation could not be pleasing to any Superior Being or to the father of gods and men; that it is absurd to imagine any divinities or powers taking delight in slaughter and sacrifices of men; or, if there were such, they are to be neglected as weak and unable to assist! Because such unreasonable and cruel desires can only proceed from weak and depraved minds.Ó And: Òthe worship most acceptable to the gods is that which comes from a cheerful heart.Ó
To fully appreciate his greatness, one has to remember, that Plutarch was neither a thinker, nor one of the great intellectual luminaries of his period - just a very bright popular writer and educator, but also a human being of integrity, culture, and a rare capacity for compassion. He influenced Western art as much as Western politics. For his dramas, Shakespeare lifted entire passages from NorthÕs translation. And no other writer in all Antiquity would have cared to take notice of the dog who jumped into the sea and swam side to side with the galley which carried his family, when during the Persian war the entire population of Athens was to be evacuated to Troezen. For lack of shipping space domestic animals and pets had to be left behind. The dog didnÕt quite make it and drowned short of the shores of Salamis.
Often Plutarch conveys a sense of wellbeing, of a Golden Age, and he still holds his sway over our imagination. The most interesting chapter for anthropologists, is the portrayal of Lycurgus and his laws. Himself a product of a patriarchal society, Plutarch had not a clue, that his accurate description of Spartan customs, would depict one of the last matriarchal societies that had survived the coup de tat of the patriarchs. Utopian fantasies often become the excuse for totalitarian atrocities on dissenting minds - Plutarch was never part of the posse. But I remember him best for the little story about a freight-galley sailing in a moonlit night leeward of the Aegean coast, when the sailors suddenly heard a voice carrying over from the near by shore: ÒTravellers, tell the CorinthianÕs, the Great Pan is dead.Ó
Plutarch was a loving husband and father, an incorruptible administrator and conscientious ambassador for his people, a humanist and a model for liberalism ever since. There are books you want to have in your briefcase if that is all you are allowed to carry away from disaster and war; books that keep you company in your most difficult hour. PlutarchÕs ÒLivesÓ is definitely one of them. It had been of tremendous influence, but unlike the Bible, of a wholesome and humanizing influence. Mommsen called Plutarch Òmellow and sweet as the honey from Mount Hymettos.Ó Who is to say, that ancient paganism had nothing to contribute to the modern world?
Rating:
Summary: educator of the western world
Review: After the Turks had conquered Constantinople, refuges brought manuscripts of Plutarch to Italy. It was the right time. Secular scholars and enlightened clerics took a new interest in the learning of Antiquity and the Greek language. For the first time since the fall of Rome, Homer was not just a name, but actually read in the original. And PlutarchÕs ÒLivesÓ became the handbook for the European gentlemanÕs higher education. In fact through many channels, Plutarch reintroduced the ancient concepts of republican freedom and democracy to a world that seemed to have completely forgotten that they had ever had existed.
Plutarch became the United StatesÕ secret founding father; Thomas Jefferson and the signatories to the constitution, they all had grown up with Plutarch on their curriculum. He infused them with the spirit of democracy: ÒFor all we know, opposite parties or factions in a commonwealth, like passengers in a boat, serve to trim and balance the unsteady motions of power; whereas if they combine and come all over to one side, they cause to overset the vessel and carry down everything.Ó And he conveyed a grasp of the larger picture: ÒEconomy, which is but money-making, when exercised over men, becomes policy.Ó
With Plutarch, liberalism raises its voice and in Tiberius GracchusÕ (163-133 B.C.) speech, he recorded for us this timeless indictment of Òconservative valuesÓ and Òpatriotism:Ó Ò... The beasts find refuge in their dens, but men who for the safety of their country expose their lives in service, breathe on borrowed air under the open sky. Having no roof of their own, with wive and children, they wander from place to place. Is it not ridiculous to hear generals exhort their soldiers to fight for the hearth of their ancestors, when not any of so many Romans own altar or monument, neither have even a house to defend? They fight and they are slain, but it is for the wealth of other men. Being called masters of the world, they have not one square-inch of land to call their own.Ó
But, always the realist, and himself living under despotic rule Plutarch adds: Òin a time when right is weak, we may be thankful if might assumes a form of gentleness,Ó because, (and he quotes Cato): Òby nature a king is a man-eating animal.Ó PlutarchÕs grasp on human nature was already very advanced, before the barbaric notion of original sin threw society back to the ethical stone age: ÒMen by nature is not a wild animal or unsocial creature, neither was he born so, but makes himself what he naturally is not by vicious habit. He is civilized and grows gentle by a change of place, occupation, and manner of life, as wild beasts become tame and domesticated. With good reason, those who train horses and dogs, endeavour by gentle means to cure their angry and intractable tempers, rather than by cruelty and beating.Ó
Without being an atheist, PlutarchÕs comment on a situation equivalent to Gen. 22:2, reveals a discerning grasp on the motives and sentiments which underpin faith into the irrational and he urges: Òthat such a barbarous and impious obligation could not be pleasing to any Superior Being or to the father of gods and men; that it is absurd to imagine any divinities or powers taking delight in slaughter and sacrifices of men; or, if there were such, they are to be neglected as weak and unable to assist! Because such unreasonable and cruel desires can only proceed from weak and depraved minds.Ó And: Òthe worship most acceptable to the gods is that which comes from a cheerful heart.Ó
To fully appreciate his greatness, one has to remember, that Plutarch was neither a thinker, nor one of the great intellectual luminaries of his period - just a very bright popular writer and educator, but also a human being of integrity, culture, and a rare capacity for compassion. He influenced Western art as much as Western politics. For his dramas, Shakespeare lifted entire passages from NorthÕs translation. And no other writer in all Antiquity would have cared to take notice of the dog who jumped into the sea and swam side to side with the galley which carried his family, when during the Persian war the entire population of Athens was to be evacuated to Troezen. For lack of shipping space domestic animals and pets had to be left behind. The dog didnÕt quite make it and drowned short of the shores of Salamis.
Often Plutarch conveys a sense of wellbeing, of a Golden Age, and he still holds court over our imagination. The most interesting chapter for anthropologists, is the portrayal of Lycurgus and his laws. Himself a product of a patriarchal society, Plutarch had not a clue, that his accurate description of Spartan customs, would depict one of the last matriarchal societies that had survived the coup de tat of the patriarchs. Utopian fantasies often become the excuse for totalitarian atrocities on dissenting minds - Plutarch was never part of the posse. But I remember him best for the little story about a man of trade sailing in a moonlit night leeward of the Aegean coast, when the sailors suddenly heard a voice carrying over from the near by shore: ÒTravellers, tell the CorinthianÕs, the Great Pan is dead.Ó
Plutarch was a loving husband and father, an incorruptible administrator and conscientious ambassador for his people, a humanist and a model for liberalism ever since. There are books you want to have in your briefcase if that is all you are allowed to carry away from disaster and war; books that keep you company in your most difficult hour. PlutarchÕs ÒLivesÓ is definitely one of them. It had been of tremendous influence on our civilization, but unlike the Bible, of a wholesome and humanizing influence. Mommsen called Plutarch Òmellow and sweet as the honey from Mount Hymettos.Ó Who is to say, that ancient paganism had nothing to contribute to the modern world?
Rating:
Summary: Plutarch enlightens as well as informs.
Review: As well as being a great historian Plutarch was a philosopher who used the examples of good and infamous men alike to reinforce his conception of morality and what the best in a man can truly be. Unlike other classical historians, he doesn't just except stories about individuals at face value but always mentions conflicting facts in the historical record. He often digresses in mid narrative, but never to the reader's frustration, as it is always with an eye to the social practice's and political enviroment of the people of whom he writes, analyzing deeply with an anecdote here or an quotation there the merits and demerits of that society, and leaving us with a clearer picture of the classical mind-set as well as we might know it. As for the translation of Dryden which my fellow reviewer below much bemoans, I can only say that as a classic of English prose style it ranks only second to Gibbon and reminds us that Plutarch means not just to educate, but to delight and entertain as well; such an achievement is not easily matched without the advantage of genius.
Rating:
Summary: essential reference
Review: I have now plowed through the second and final volume of this series, and though my energy began to flag, I still think this is one of the great classics of all time. Though not exactly chronological, the stories in this volume tend to occur later than in the first volume and are often longer, which is understandable given that Julius Caesar and Alex the Great are covered in this volume. THe stories are also more intricately interwoven - you get lives that overlap, such as those of Brutus and Caesar, with slightly different takes and details in each one. The upshot of all this is that the serious reader will need to keep this around as a reference, going over the text again when some question of detail comes up or to refresh one's point of view. Plutarch's take on things is very different from that of many authors: he is a pro-aristocrat conservative and admiring of martial prowess, yet pro-Republican. Once again, the reader really needs to know the historical context before undertaking this. It is not at all introductory. Warmly recommended. Though it takes real effort at times to continue, it is well worth the slog.
Rating:
Summary: essential reference
Review: I have now plowed through the second and final volume of this series, and though my energy began to flag, I still think this is one of the great classics of all time. Though not exactly chronological, the stories in this volume tend to occur later than in the first volume and are often longer, which is understandable given that Julius Caesar and Alex the Great are covered in this volume. THe stories are also more intricately interwoven - you get lives that overlap, such as those of Brutus and Caesar, with slightly different takes and details in each one. The upshot of all this is that the serious reader will need to keep this around as a reference, going over the text again when some question of detail comes up or to refresh one's point of view. Plutarch's take on things is very different from that of many authors: he is a pro-aristocrat conservative and admiring of martial prowess, yet pro-Republican. Once again, the reader really needs to know the historical context before undertaking this. It is not at all introductory. Warmly recommended. Though it takes real effort at times to continue, it is well worth the slog.
Rating: 
Summary: Out of date translation of a timeless classic
Review: It is a shame that such an interesting, and historicaly valuable work such as Plutarch's lives is so difficult for modern readers. Though many others have commented on how difficult this English is for the modern reader, consider the following quote taken at random, from the first two sentences of the life of the Roman Camillus: Among the many remarkable things that are related of Furius Camillus, it seems singular and strange above all, that he, who continually was in the highest commands, and obtained the greatest successes, was five times chosen dictator, triumphed four times, and was styled a second founder of Rome, yet never was so much as once consul. The reason of which was the state and temper of the commonwealth at that time; for the people, being at dissension with the senate, refused to return consuls, but in their stead elected other magistrates, called military tribunes, who acted, indeed, with full consular power, but were thought to exercise a less obnoxious amount of authority, because it was divided among a larger number; for to have the management of affairs entrusted in the hands of six persons rather than two was some satisfaction to the opponents of oligarchy. Ugh. And on it goes. The North translation is even worse, to my ear. The best translation that I've found is the Loeb Classical Library. However, they are spread across eleven volumes, making for a very expensive acquisition.
Rating:
Summary: Out of date translation of a timeless classic
Review: It is a shame that such an interesting, and historicaly valuable work such as Plutarch's lives is so difficult for modern readers. Though many others have commented on how difficult this English is for the modern reader, consider the following quote taken at random, from the first two sentences of the life of the Roman Camillus: Among the many remarkable things that are related of Furius Camillus, it seems singular and strange above all, that he, who continually was in the highest commands, and obtained the greatest successes, was five times chosen dictator, triumphed four times, and was styled a second founder of Rome, yet never was so much as once consul. The reason of which was the state and temper of the commonwealth at that time; for the people, being at dissension with the senate, refused to return consuls, but in their stead elected other magistrates, called military tribunes, who acted, indeed, with full consular power, but were thought to exercise a less obnoxious amount of authority, because it was divided among a larger number; for to have the management of affairs entrusted in the hands of six persons rather than two was some satisfaction to the opponents of oligarchy. Ugh. And on it goes. The North translation is even worse, to my ear. The best translation that I've found is the Loeb Classical Library. However, they are spread across eleven volumes, making for a very expensive acquisition.
Rating:
Summary: Contains Much Information
Review: Plutarch's Lives contains a lot of information. It contains information on the Teutonic invasion and other invasions. Some parts are very interesting. The part about Lycurgus contains interesting information on how he affected the Spartan way of life.
Rating:
Summary: Contains Much Information
Review: Plutarch's Lives contains a lot of information. It contains information on the Teutonic invasion and other invasions. Some parts are very interesting. The part about Lycurgus contains interesting information on how he affected the Spartan way of life.
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of Information but tough read
Review: Plutarch's lives has biographies of various people such as Lycurgus, who made laws for Sparta, Caius Marius, a Roman who led his army victoriously against the Teutonish, Cimbrish, and Ambronish invaders. Shakespeare based his play on Julius Caesar from an account of the same person in Plutarch's Lives. This book contains a lot of information and you'll probably like it if your really into Greco-Roman history, but it is a tough read.
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