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Interstate relations. Greece and the environment. Antique polis as a unique phenomenon

In his youth in Athens, Plutarch studied philosophy (mainly with the Platonist Ammonius), mathematics, and rhetoric. In the future, the Peripatetics and Stoics had a significant influence on the philosophical views of Plutarch. He himself considered himself a Platonist, but in fact he was more of an eclecticist, and in philosophy he was mainly interested in its practical application. Even in his youth, Plutarch, together with his brother Lamprey and teacher Ammonius, visited Delphi, where the cult of Apollo, which had fallen into decay, was still preserved. This journey had a serious impact on the life and literary work of Plutarch.

Shortly after returning from Athens to Chaeronea, Plutarch received an assignment from the city community to the Roman proconsul of the province of Achaia and successfully carried it out. In the future, he faithfully served his city, holding public positions. Teaching his own sons, Plutarch gathered young people in his house and created a kind of private academy, in which he played the role of mentor and lecturer. Plutarch was well known to his contemporaries both as a public figure and as a philosopher. He repeatedly visited Rome and other places in Italy, had students with whom he taught in Greek (he began to study Latin only "in his declining years"). In Rome, Plutarch met the Neo-Pythagoreans, and also struck up friendships with many prominent people. Among them were Arulen Rusticus, Lucius Mestrius Florus (companion of Emperor Vespasian), Quintus Sosius Senecion (personal friend of Emperor Trajan). Roman friends rendered the most valuable services to Plutarch. Becoming purely formally a member of the Mestrian family (in accordance with the Roman legal practice), Plutarch received Roman citizenship and a new name - Mestrius Plutarch. Thanks to Senekion, he became the most influential person of his province: Emperor Trajan forbade the governor of Achaia to hold any events without prior approval from Plutarch. Subsequently, this order of Trajan was confirmed by his successor Hadrian.

In the fiftieth year of his life, Plutarch became a priest of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. In trying to restore the sanctuary and the oracle to their former importance, he earned the deep respect of the Amphictyons, who erected a statue of him.

Compositions

Plutarch was not an original writer. Basically, he collected and processed what others had written before him. However, the tradition of Plutarch influenced European thought and literature for many centuries.

The "Ethics" includes about 80 works. The earliest of these are those that are rhetorical in nature, such as praise for Athens, discussions about Fortune (Greek Tyche) and its role in the life of Alexander the Great or in the history of Rome. A large group is also made up of popular philosophical treatises; of these, perhaps the most characteristic of Plutarch is the short essay On the State of the Spirit. Without going deep into theoretical reasoning, Plutarch often gives a lot of valuable information on the history of philosophy. Such are the works "Platonic Questions" and "On the Creation of the Soul in the Timaeus", as well as polemical works directed against the Epicureans and Stoics.

For educational purposes, other essays were conceived containing advice on how to act in order to be happy and overcome shortcomings (for example, “On excessive curiosity”, “On talkativeness”, “On excessive timidity”). For the same reasons, Plutarch dealt with issues of love and marriage. The compositions on the topics of family life also include consolation (that is, a consolatory essay after a grievous loss), addressed to Plutarch's wife Timoksena, who lost only daughter. Plutarch's pedagogical interests are reflected in many of his works ("How to young man listen to poets”, “How to use lectures”, etc.). Thematically approaching them are the political writings of Plutarch, especially those that contain recommendations for rulers and statesmen.

Along with the most popular works in a dialogic form, Ethics also included others - close in nature to a scientific report. So, for example, the essay “On the face on the lunar disk” presents various theories regarding this celestial body; at the end, Plutarch turns to the theory adopted at the Academy of Plato (Xenocrates from Chalcedon), seeing in the Moon the homeland of demons.

Plutarch also wrote about the human soul, was interested in psychology, the psychology of animals (“On the ingenuity of animals”, “On meat-eating”).

Plutarch devoted numerous works to questions of religion, among them the so-called "Pythian" dialogues concerning the oracle of Apollo in Delphi. The most interesting in this group is the work "On Isis and Osiris", in which Plutarch, himself initiated into the mysteries of Dionysus, outlined the most diverse syncretic and allegorical interpretations of the mysteries of Osiris and ancient Egyptian mythology.

Plutarch's interest in antiquities is evidenced by two works: "Greek questions" (Aitia Hellenika; lat. Quaestiones Graecae) and "Roman questions" (Aitia Romaika; lat. Quaestiones Romanae), which reveal the meaning and origin of various customs Greco-Roman world(a lot of space is devoted to questions of the cult). Plutarch's predilection for anecdotes, which also manifested itself in his biographies, is reflected in the collection of Lacedaemon sayings (another collection of well-known sayings, "Apothegms of Kings and Generals", is most likely not authentic). Most different topics reveal in the form of a dialogue such works as "The Feast of the Seven Wise Men" or "Table Talk" (in 9 books).

The Ethics of Plutarch also includes non-authentic works (by unknown authors, attributed to Plutarch in antiquity and widely known under his name). The most important of them are the treatises “On Music” (one of the main sources of our knowledge about ancient music in general) and “On the Education of Children” (a work translated back in the Renaissance into many languages and before early XIX in. believed to be authentic).

A number of works previously attributed to Plutarch were written by unknown authors, in relation to which scientists now use the (conditional) name Pseudo-Plutarch. Among those - who lived presumably in the II century AD. e. unknown author of the works “Small Comparative Biographies” (another name is “Collection of Parallel Greek and Roman Histories”, abbreviated as ICJ) and “On Rivers”, containing a lot of information on ancient mythology and stories that, as is generally recognized in science, are completely invented by him. In addition to these two, many other works not belonging to him have been preserved under the name of Plutarch, for example, the treatise On Music.

Comparative biographies

Plutarch owes his literary fame not to eclectic philosophical reasoning, and not to writings on ethics, but to biographies (which, however, are most directly related to ethics). Plutarch outlines his goals in the introduction to the biography of Aemilius Paulus (Aemilius Paulus): communication with the great people of antiquity has an educational function, and if not all the heroes of biographies are attractive, then negative example also has value, it can have an intimidating effect and turn to the path of a righteous life. In his biographies, Plutarch follows the teachings of the Peripatetics, who in the field of ethics attributed decisive importance to human actions, arguing that every action gives rise to virtue. Plutarch follows the scheme of peripatetic biographies, describing in turn the birth, youth, character, activity, death of the hero. Nowhere is Plutarch a historian critical of the facts. The huge historical material available to him is used very freely (“we write a biography, not a history”). First of all, Plutarch needs a psychological portrait of a person; in order to visually represent him, he willingly draws on information from the private life of the persons depicted, anecdotes and witty sayings. The text includes numerous moral arguments, various quotations from poets. This is how colorful, emotional narratives were born, the success of which was ensured by the author's talent for storytelling, his craving for everything human and moral optimism that elevates the soul. Biographies of Plutarch have for us and purely historical value, for he had many valuable sources, which were subsequently lost.

Plutarch began to write biographies in his youth. At first, he turned his attention to the famous people of Boeotia: Hesiod, Pindar, Epaminondas. Subsequently, he began to write about representatives of other regions of Greece: the Spartan king Leonidas, Aristomenes, Arata of Sicyon. There is even a biography of the Persian king Artaxerxes II. During his stay in Rome, Plutarch wrote biographies of Roman emperors intended for the Greeks. And only in late period he wrote his most important work "Comparative Biographies" (ancient Greek. Βίοι Παράλληλοι ; lat. Vitae parallelae). These were biographies of prominent historical figures of Greece and Rome, compared in pairs. Currently, 22 couples and four single biographies of more than early period(Arat of Sicyon, Artaxerxes II, Galba and Otho). Among the couples, some are well composed: the mythical founders of Athens and Rome - Theseus and Romulus; the first legislators are Lycurgus of Sparta and Numa Pompilius; the greatest generals- Alexander the Great and Gaius Julius Caesar; the greatest orators are Cicero and Demosthenes. Others are compared more arbitrarily: "children of happiness" - Timoleon and Aemilius Paul, or a couple illustrating the vicissitudes of human destinies - Alcibiades and Coriolanus. After each pair, Plutarch apparently intended to give comparative characteristic(synkrisis), brief indication common features and the main differences between the characters. However, for several couples (in particular, for Alexander and Caesar), the juxtaposition is missing, that is, it has not been preserved (or, less likely, it has not been written). In the text of biographies there are cross-references, from which we learn that there were originally more of them than in the body of texts that has come down to us. Lost biographies of Leonidas, Epaminondas, Scipio Africanus).

The lack of historical criticism and the depth of political thought did not interfere, and still do not prevent Plutarch's biographies from finding numerous readers who are interested in their diverse and instructive content and highly appreciate the warm humane feeling of the author.

Other works

The standard edition contains 78 treatises, some of which (according to modern science) do not belong to Plutarch.

Plutarch's translations

For editions of ethical writings, see Moralia (Plutarch)

Of the translators of Plutarch into new European languages, the French author Amyot enjoyed special fame.

Russian translations

Plutarch began to be translated into Russian since the 18th century: See the translations of Stepan Pisarev, “Plutarch’s Instructions on childcare” (St. Petersburg, 1771) and “The Word of Unceasing Curiosity” (St. Iv. Alekseev, "The Moral and Philosophical Writings of Plutarch" (St. Petersburg, 1789); E. Sferina, "On Superstition" (St. Petersburg, 1807); S. Distunis and others. "Plutarch's comparative biographies" (St. Petersburg, 1810, 1814-16, 1817-21); "Biography of Plutarch" ed. V. Guerrier (M., 1862); biographies of Plutarch in a cheap edition by A. Suvorin (translated by V. Alekseev, vols. I-VII) and under the title "Life and deeds of famous people of antiquity" (M., 1889, I-II); "Conversation about the face visible on the disk of the moon" ("Phil. Review" vol. VI, book 2).

reprint: Comparative biographies. / Per. V. A. Alekseev. M.: Alfa-kn. 2008. 1263 pages.

The best Russian edition"Comparative Lives", where most of the translation is done by S. P. Markish:

Plutarch. Comparative biographies. In 2 volumes / Ed. preparation S. S. Averintsev, M. L. Gasparov, S. P. Markish. Rep. ed. S. S. Averintsev. (Series "Literary monuments"). 1st ed. In 3 volumes - M.-L.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1961-1964. - 2nd ed., corrected. and additional - M.: Nauka, 1994. - T. 1. 704 p. - T. 2. 672 p.
Plutarch/ Per. G. A. Ivanova. Based on materials from the collection "Philosophy of Nature in Antiquity and the Middle Ages". Moscow: Progress-Tradition, 2000.

Research

For the comparative merits of Plutarch's manuscripts, see critical apparatuses for editions of Reiske (Lpts., 1774-82), Sintenis ("Vitae", 2nd ed., Lpts., 1858-64); Wyttenbach ("Moralia", Lpts., 1796-1834), Bernardakes ("Moralia", Lpts. 1888-95), also Treu, "Zur Gesch. d. Oberlieferung von Plut. Moralia" (Bresl., 1877-84). Dictionary of the Plutarchian language - under the name. Wyttenbach's edition. About the life of Plutarch, Svyda gives meager information.

From other Op. cf. Wesiermann, "De Plut. vita et scriptis” (Lpts., 1855); Volkmann "Leben, Schriften und Philosophie des Plutarch" (B., 1869); Muhl, "Plutarchische Studien" (Augsburg, 1885) and others.

Yelpidinsky Ya.S. Religious and moral outlook of Plutarch of Chaeronea. - St. Petersburg, 1893. 462 pages.
Averintsev S. S. Plutarch and ancient biography: On the question of the place of the classic of the genre in the history of the genre. - M., 1973.
- reissue in the book: Averintsev S.S. The image of antiquity. Sat. - St. Petersburg: ABC-classics. 2004. 480 pages, 3000 copies.

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Compositions Plutarch

Compositions

Comparative biography

1 Unpaired biographies 2 Lost biographies

An excerpt characterizing Plutarch

“Yes, but it’s hard for us to imagine eternity,” said Dimmler, who approached the young people with a meek, contemptuous smile, but now spoke as quietly and seriously as they did.
Why is it so hard to imagine eternity? Natasha said. “It will be today, it will be tomorrow, it will always be, and yesterday was and the third day was ...
- Natasha! now it's your turn. Sing me something, - the voice of the countess was heard. - Why are you sitting down, like conspirators.
- Mother! I don’t feel like it,” Natasha said, but at the same time she got up.
All of them, even the middle-aged Dimmler, did not want to interrupt the conversation and leave the corner of the sofa, but Natasha got up, and Nikolai sat down at the clavichord. As always, standing in the middle of the hall and choosing the most advantageous place for resonance, Natasha began to sing her mother's favorite play.
She said that she did not feel like singing, but she had not sung for a long time before, and for a long time after, as she sang that evening. Count Ilya Andreevich, from the study where he was talking to Mitinka, heard her singing, and like a pupil in a hurry to go to play, finishing the lesson, he got confused in words, giving orders to the manager and finally fell silent, and Mitinka, also listening, silently with a smile, stood in front of count. Nikolai did not take his eyes off his sister, and took a breath with her. Sonya, listening, thought about what an enormous difference there was between her and her friend, and how impossible it was for her to be in any way as charming as her cousin. The old countess sat with a happily sad smile and tears in her eyes, occasionally shaking her head. She thought about Natasha, and about her youth, and about how something unnatural and terrible is in this upcoming marriage of Natasha to Prince Andrei.
Dimmler, sitting down next to the countess and closing his eyes, listened.
“No, countess,” he said at last, “this is a European talent, she has nothing to learn, this gentleness, tenderness, strength ...
– Ah! how I fear for her, how I fear,” said the countess, not remembering to whom she was speaking. Her maternal instinct told her that there was too much in Natasha, and that she would not be happy from this. Natasha had not yet finished singing, when an enthusiastic fourteen-year-old Petya ran into the room with the news that mummers had come.
Natasha suddenly stopped.
- Fool! she shouted at her brother, ran up to a chair, fell on it and sobbed so that she could not stop for a long time afterwards.
“Nothing, mother, really nothing, so: Petya scared me,” she said, trying to smile, but tears kept flowing and sobs squeezed her throat.
Dressed-up servants, bears, Turks, innkeepers, ladies, terrible and funny, bringing with them cold and fun, at first timidly huddled in the hallway; then, hiding one behind the other, they were forced into the hall; and at first shyly, but then more and more cheerfully and amicably, songs, dances, choral and Christmas games began. The countess, recognizing the faces and laughing at the dressed up, went into the living room. Count Ilya Andreich sat in the hall with a beaming smile, approving the players. The youth has disappeared.
Half an hour later, in the hall, among the other mummers, another old lady in tanks appeared - it was Nikolai. The Turkish woman was Petya. Payas - it was Dimmler, the hussar - Natasha and the Circassian - Sonya, with a painted cork mustache and eyebrows.
After condescending surprise, misrecognition and praise from those who were not dressed up, the young people found that the costumes were so good that they had to be shown to someone else.
Nikolay, who wanted to give everyone a ride on his troika along an excellent road, suggested that, taking ten dressed-up people from the yard with him, go to his uncle.
- No, why are you upsetting him, the old man! - said the countess, - and there is nowhere to turn around with him. To go, so to the Melyukovs.
Melyukova was a widow with children of various ages, also with governesses and tutors, who lived four miles from the Rostovs.
“Here, ma chere, clever,” said the old count, who had begun to stir. “Now let me dress up and go with you.” I'll stir up Pasheta.
But the countess did not agree to let the count go: his leg hurt all these days. It was decided that Ilya Andreevich was not allowed to go, and that if Luiza Ivanovna (m me Schoss) went, the young ladies could go to Melyukova's. Sonya, always timid and shy, began to beg Louisa Ivanovna more insistently than anyone else not to refuse them.
Sonya's outfit was the best. Her mustache and eyebrows were unusually suited to her. Everyone told her that she was very good, and she was in a lively and energetic mood unusual for her. Some kind of inner voice told her that now or never her fate would be decided, and in her man's dress she seemed like a completely different person. Luiza Ivanovna agreed, and half an hour later four troikas with bells and bells, screeching and whistling in the frosty snow, drove up to the porch.
Natasha was the first to give the tone of Christmas merriment, and this merriment, reflected from one to the other, grew more and more intensified and reached the highest degree at a time when everyone went out into the cold, and talking, calling to each other, laughing and shouting, sat down in the sleigh.
Two troikas were accelerating, the third troika of the old count with an Oryol trotter in the bud; Nikolai's fourth own, with its low, black, shaggy root. Nikolay, in his old woman's attire, on which he put on a hussar, belted cloak, stood in the middle of his sleigh, picking up the reins.
It was so bright that he could see plaques gleaming in the moonlight and the eyes of the horses looking frightened at the riders rustling under the dark canopy of the entrance.
Natasha, Sonya, m me Schoss and two girls sat in Nikolai's sleigh. In the old count's sleigh sat Dimmler with his wife and Petya; dressed up courtyards sat in the rest.
- Go ahead, Zakhar! - Nikolai shouted to his father's coachman in order to have an opportunity to overtake him on the road.
The troika of the old count, in which Dimmler and other mummers sat, screeching with runners, as if freezing to the snow, and rattling with a thick bell, moved forward. The trailers clung to the shafts and bogged down, turning the strong and shiny snow like sugar.
Nikolai set off for the first three; the others rustled and squealed from behind. At first they rode at a small trot along a narrow road. While we were driving past the garden, the shadows from the bare trees often lay across the road and hid the bright light of the moon, but as soon as we drove beyond the fence, a diamond-shiny, with a bluish sheen, a snowy plain, all doused with moonlight and motionless, opened up on all sides. Once, once, pushed a bump in the front sleigh; the next sleigh and the following jogged in the same way, and, boldly breaking the chained silence, the sleigh began to stretch out one after the other.
- A hare's footprint, a lot of footprints! - Natasha's voice sounded in the frosty constrained air.
– As you can see, Nicolas! Sonya's voice said. - Nikolai looked back at Sonya and bent down to get a closer look at her face. Some kind of completely new, sweet face, with black eyebrows and mustaches, in the moonlight, close and far, peeped out of the sables.
"It used to be Sonya," Nikolai thought. He looked closer at her and smiled.
What are you, Nicholas?
“Nothing,” he said, and turned back to the horses.
Having ridden out onto the main road, greased with runners and all riddled with traces of thorns, visible in the light of the moon, the horses themselves began to tighten the reins and add speed. The left harness, bending its head, twitched its traces with jumps. Root swayed, moving his ears, as if asking: “Is it too early to start?” - Ahead, already far separated and ringing a receding thick bell, Zakhar's black troika was clearly visible on the white snow. Shouting and laughter and the voices of the dressed up were heard from his sleigh.
“Well, you, dear ones,” shouted Nikolai, tugging on the reins on one side and withdrawing his hand with a whip. And only by the wind, which seemed to intensify against them, and by the twitching of the tie-downs, which were tightening and increasing their speed, it was noticeable how fast the troika flew. Nicholas looked back. With a shout and a squeal, waving their whips and forcing the natives to gallop, other troikas kept up. Root steadfastly swayed under the arc, not thinking of knocking down and promising to give more and more when needed.
Nikolai caught up with the top three. They drove off some mountain, drove onto a widely rutted road through a meadow near a river.
"Where are we going?" thought Nicholas. - “It should be on a slanting meadow. But no, it's something new that I've never seen before. This is not a slanting meadow and not Demkina Gora, but God knows what it is! This is something new and magical. Well, whatever it is!” And he, shouting at the horses, began to go around the first three.
Zakhar restrained his horses and turned his already frosted face up to the eyebrows.
Nicholas let his horses go; Zakhar, stretching his hands forward, smacked his lips and let his people go.
“Well, hold on, sir,” he said. - The troikas flew even faster nearby, and the legs of the galloping horses quickly changed. Nicholas began to take forward. Zakhar, without changing the position of his outstretched arms, raised one hand with the reins.
“You’re lying, master,” he shouted to Nikolai. Nikolai put all the horses into a gallop and overtook Zakhar. The horses covered the faces of the riders with fine, dry snow, next to them there was a sound of frequent enumerations and the fast-moving legs were confused, and the shadows of the overtaken troika. The whistle of skids in the snow and women's screams were heard from different directions.
Stopping the horses again, Nikolai looked around him. All around was the same soaked through moonlight magical plain with stars scattered over it.
“Zakhar shouts for me to take the left; why to the left? Nikolay thought. Are we going to the Melyukovs, is this Melyukovka? We God knows where we are going, and God knows what is happening to us – and what is happening to us is very strange and good.” He looked back at the sleigh.
“Look, he has both a mustache and eyelashes, everything is white,” said one of the sitting strange, pretty and strange people with thin mustaches and eyebrows.
“This one, it seems, was Natasha,” Nikolai thought, and this one is m me Schoss; or maybe not, but this is a Circassian with a mustache, I don’t know who, but I love her.
- Aren't you cold? - he asked. They didn't answer and laughed. Dimmler was shouting something from the rear sleigh, probably funny, but it was impossible to hear what he was shouting.
“Yes, yes,” answered the voices, laughing.
- However, here is some kind of magical forest with iridescent black shadows and sparkles of diamonds and with some kind of enfilade of marble steps, and some kind of silver roofs of magical buildings, and the piercing squeal of some kind of animals. “And if this is indeed Melyukovka, then it is even stranger that we were driving God knows where, and arrived at Melyukovka,” thought Nikolai.
Indeed, it was Melyukovka, and girls and lackeys with candles and joyful faces ran out to the entrance.
- Who it? - they asked from the entrance.
“The counts are dressed up, I can see by the horses,” the voices answered.

Pelageya Danilovna Melyukova, a broad, energetic woman, in glasses and a swinging bonnet, sat in the living room, surrounded by her daughters, whom she tried not to let get bored. They quietly poured wax and looked at the shadows of the coming out figures, when steps and voices of visitors rustled in the front.
Hussars, ladies, witches, payas, bears, clearing their throats and wiping their frost-covered faces in the hall, entered the hall, where candles were hurriedly lit. Clown - Dimmler with the mistress - Nikolai opened the dance. Surrounded by screaming children, mummers, covering their faces and changing their voices, bowed to the hostess and moved around the room.
"Oh, you can't find out! And Natasha is! Look who she looks like! Right, it reminds me of someone. Eduard then Karlych how good! I didn't recognize. Yes, how she dances! Ah, fathers, and some kind of Circassian; right, how goes Sonyushka. Who else is this? Well, consoled! Take the tables, Nikita, Vanya. And we were so quiet!
- Ha ha ha! ... Hussar then, hussar then! Like a boy, and legs!… I can’t see… – voices were heard.
Natasha, the favorite of the young Melyukovs, disappeared together with them into the back rooms, where a cork was demanded and various dressing gowns and men's dresses, which, through the open door, received bare girlish hands from the footman. Ten minutes later, all the youth of the Melyukov family joined the mummers.
Pelageya Danilovna, having disposed of the clearing of the place for the guests and treats for the gentlemen and servants, without taking off her glasses, with a suppressed smile, walked among the mummers, looking closely into their faces and not recognizing anyone. She did not recognize not only the Rostovs and Dimmler, but she could not recognize either her daughters or those husband's dressing gowns and uniforms that were on them.
- And whose is this? she said, turning to her governess and looking into the face of her daughter, who represented the Kazan Tatar. - It seems that someone from the Rostovs. Well, you, mister hussar, in which regiment do you serve? she asked Natasha. “Give the Turk some marshmallows,” she said to the bartender who was scolding, “this is not forbidden by their law.
Sometimes, looking at the strange but funny steps performed by the dancers, who decided once and for all that they were dressed up, that no one would recognize them and therefore were not embarrassed, Pelageya Danilovna covered herself with a scarf, and her whole corpulent body shook from the uncontrollable kind, old woman's laughter . - Sachinet is mine, Sachinet is mine! she said.
After Russian dances and round dances, Pelageya Danilovna united all the servants and gentlemen together, in one large circle; they brought a ring, a rope and a ruble, and general games were arranged.
After an hour, all the costumes were wrinkled and upset. Cork mustaches and eyebrows smeared over sweaty, flushed, and cheerful faces. Pelageya Danilovna began to recognize the mummers, admired how well the costumes were made, how they went especially to the young ladies, and thanked everyone for having so amused her. The guests were invited to dine in the living room, and in the hall they ordered refreshments for the courtyards.
- No, guessing in the bathhouse, that's scary! - spoke at dinner old girl who lived with the Melyukovs.
- From what? asked the eldest daughter of the Melyukovs.
- Don't go, it takes courage...
"I'll go," Sonya said.
- Tell me, how was it with the young lady? - said the second Melyukova.
- Yes, just like that, one young lady went, - said the old girl, - she took a rooster, two appliances - as it should, she sat down. She sat, only hears, suddenly rides ... with bells, with bells, a sleigh drove up; hears, goes. Enters completely in the form of a human, as an officer, he came and sat down with her at the device.
- BUT! Ah! ... - Natasha screamed, rolling her eyes in horror.
“But how does he say that?”
- Yes, like a man, everything is as it should be, and he began, and began to persuade, and she should have kept him talking to the roosters; and she made money; – only zarobela and closed hands. He grabbed her. It's good that the girls came running here ...
- Well, what to scare them! said Pelageya Danilovna.
“Mother, you yourself guessed ...” said the daughter.
- And how do they guess in the barn? Sonya asked.
- Yes, at least now, they will go to the barn, and they will listen. What do you hear: hammering, knocking - bad, but pouring bread - this is good; and then it happens...
- Mom, tell me what happened to you in the barn?
Pelageya Danilovna smiled.
“Yes, I forgot…” she said. “After all, you won’t go, will you?”

Plutarch of Chaeronea (ancient Greek Πλούταρχος) (c. 45 - c. 127). Ancient Greek philosopher, biographer, moralist.

Plutarch came from a wealthy family who lived in small town Chaeronea in Boeotia, (known from the famous battle of 338 BC).

In his youth in Athens, Plutarch studied mathematics, rhetoric and philosophy, the latter mainly under the Platonist Ammonius. In the future, the Peripatetics and Stoics had a significant influence on the philosophical views of Plutarch. He himself considered himself a Platonist, but in fact he was more of an eclecticist, and in philosophy he was mainly interested in its practical application. Even in his youth, Plutarch, together with his brother Lamprey and teacher Ammonius, visited Delphi, where the cult of Apollo, which had fallen into decay, was still preserved. This journey had a serious impact on the life and literary work of Plutarch.

Shortly after returning from Athens to Chaeronea, Plutarch received some commission from the city community to the Roman proconsul of the province of Achaia and successfully carried it out. In the future, he faithfully served his city, holding public positions. Teaching his own sons, Plutarch gathered young people in his house and created a kind of private academy, in which he played the role of mentor and lecturer.

Plutarch was well known to his contemporaries both as a public figure and as a philosopher. He repeatedly visited Rome and other places in Italy, had students with whom he conducted classes on Greek(he began to study Latin only "in his declining years").

In Rome, Plutarch met with the neo-Pythagoreans, and also struck up friendships with many prominent people. Among them were Arulen Rusticus, Lucius Mestrius Florus (companion of Emperor Vespasian), Quintus Sosius Senecion (personal friend of Emperor Trajan). Roman friends rendered the most valuable services to Plutarch. Having become purely formally a member of the Mestrian family (in accordance with Roman legal practice), Plutarch received Roman citizenship and a new name - Mestrius Plutarch. Thanks to Senekion, he became the most influential person in his province: Emperor Trajan forbade the governor of Achaia to hold any events without prior approval from Plutarch. Subsequently, this order of Trajan was confirmed by his successor Hadrian.

Plutarch was not an original writer. Basically, he collected and processed what other, more original writers and thinkers had written before him. But in the treatment of Plutarch, a whole tradition, marked by the sign of his personality, acquired a new look. It was in this form that it influenced European thought and literature for many centuries.

As can be seen from the catalog of a certain Lamprias, the alleged student of Plutarch, he left behind about 210 works. A significant part of them has safely reached our time. According to the tradition dating back to the publishers of the Renaissance, these works are divided into two main groups: philosophical and journalistic, known under the general name "Ἠθικά" or "Moralia", and biographical (biography).

In the Ethics we find about 80 writings. The earliest of these are those that are rhetorical, such as praises of Athens, discussions about Fortune (Greek Tyche) and her role in the life of Alexander the Great or in the history of Rome. A large group is also made up of popular philosophical treatises; of these, perhaps the most characteristic of Plutarch is the short essay On the State of the Spirit. Without going deep into theoretical reasoning, Plutarch often gives a lot of valuable information on the history of philosophy. Such are the works "Platonic Questions" and "On the Creation of the Soul in the Timaeus", as well as polemical works directed against the Epicureans and Stoics.

For educational purposes, other essays were conceived containing advice on how to act in order to be happy and overcome shortcomings (for example, “On excessive curiosity”, “On talkativeness”, “On excessive timidity”). For the same reasons, Plutarch dealt with issues of love and marriage. The compositions on the topics of family life also include consolation (that is, a consolatory essay after a grievous loss), addressed to Plutarch's wife Timoxene, who lost her only daughter. Plutarch's pedagogical interests are reflected in many of his works (“How a young man should listen to poets”, “How to use lectures”, etc.). Thematically, the political writings of Plutarch approach them, especially those that contain recommendations for rulers and statesmen.

Along with the most popular works in the dialogic form, the Ethics also included others - close in nature to a scientific report. So, for example, the essay “On the face on the lunar disk” presents various theories regarding this celestial body; at the end, Plutarch turns to the theory adopted in the Academy of Plato (Xenocrates), seeing in the moon the homeland of demons.

Plutarch also wrote about the human soul, was interested in psychology, the psychology of animals (“On the Intelligence of Animals”, “On Meat Eating”), and was an adherent of vegetarianism. Plutarch devoted numerous works to questions of religion, among them the so-called "Pythian" dialogues concerning the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. The most interesting in this group is the work "On Isis and Osiris", in which Plutarch, himself initiated into the mysteries of Dionysus, outlined the most diverse syncretic and allegorical interpretations of the mysteries of Osiris and ancient Egyptian mythology.

Plutarch's interest in antiquities is evidenced by two works: "Greek questions" (Aitia Hellenika; lat. Quaestiones Graecae) and "Roman questions" (Aitia Romaika; lat. Quaestiones Romanae), which reveal the meaning and origin of various customs of the Greco-Roman world ( much space is devoted to questions of worship). Plutarch's predilection for anecdotes, which also manifested itself in his biographies, is reflected in the collection of Lacedaemon sayings (another collection of well-known sayings, "Apothegms of Kings and Generals", is most likely not authentic). A variety of topics are revealed in the form of a dialogue by such works as "The Feast of the Seven Wise Men" or "Conversations at the Feast" (in 9 books).

The Ethics of Plutarch also includes non-authentic works (by unknown authors, attributed to Plutarch in antiquity and widely known under his name). The most important of them are the treatises “On Music” (one of the main sources of our knowledge about ancient music in general) and “On the Education of Children” (a work translated into many languages back in the Renaissance and considered authentic until the beginning of the 19th century).

A number of works previously attributed to Plutarch were written by unknown authors, for whom scientists now use the (conditional) name Pseudo-Plutarch.

Comparative biographies

Plutarch owes his enormous literary fame not to eclectic philosophical discourses and not even to writings on ethics, but to his biographies (which, however, are most directly related to ethics).

Plutarch outlines his goals in the introduction to the biography of Aemilius Paulus (Aemilius Paulus): communication with the great people of antiquity has educational functions, and if not all the heroes of biographies are attractive, then after all, a negative example also has value, it can have an intimidating effect and turn on the path righteous life. In his biographies, Plutarch follows the teachings of the Peripatetics, who in the field of ethics attributed decisive importance to human actions, arguing that every action gives rise to virtue.

Plutarch follows the scheme of peripatetic biographies, describing in turn the birth, youth, character, activity, death of the hero. Nowhere is Plutarch a historian critical of the facts. The huge historical material available to him is used very freely (“we write a biography, not a history”). First of all, Plutarch needs a psychological portrait of a person; in order to visually represent him, he willingly draws on information from the private life of the persons depicted, anecdotes and witty sayings. The text includes numerous moral arguments, various quotations from poets. This is how colorful, emotional narratives were born, the success of which was ensured by the author's talent for storytelling, his craving for everything human and moral optimism that elevates the soul. Biographies of Plutarch have for us a purely historical value, because he had many valuable sources, which were subsequently lost.

Plutarch began to write biographies in his youth. At first, he turned his attention to the famous people of Boeotia: Hesiod, Pindar, Epaminondas. Subsequently, he began to write about representatives of other regions of Greece: the Spartan king Leonidas, Aristomenes, Arata of Sicyon. There is even a biography of the Persian king Artaxerxes II. During his stay in Rome, Plutarch wrote biographies of Roman emperors intended for the Greeks. And only in the later period did he write his most important work, Comparative Biographies (Bioi paralleloi; lat. Vitae parallelae). These were biographies of prominent historical figures of Greece and Rome, compared in pairs. Currently, 22 couples and four single biographies of an earlier period are known (Arat of Sicyon, Artaxerxes II, Galba and Otho). Among the pairs, some are well composed: the mythical founders of Athens and Rome - Theseus and Romulus; the first legislators - Lycurgus Spartan and Numa Pompilius; the greatest commanders are Alexander the Great and Gaius Julius Caesar; the greatest orators are Cicero and Demosthenes. Others are compared more arbitrarily: "children of happiness" - Timoleon and Aemilius Paul, or a couple illustrating the vicissitudes of human destinies - Alcibiades and Coriolanus. After each pair, Plutarch apparently intended to give a comparative description (synkrisis), a brief indication of the common features and main differences between the characters. However, for several couples (in particular, for Alexander and Caesar), the juxtaposition is missing, that is, it has not been preserved (or, less likely, it has not been written). In the text of biographies there are cross-references, from which we learn that there were originally more of them than in the body of texts that has come down to us. Lost biographies of Leonidas, Epaminondas, Scipio Africanus).

Greek polis culture

The Achaeans and other Greek tribes settled in the valleys among the mountains, which became a natural defense and the boundary of settlements. From their peaks, a wide view of the entire surrounding territory, as well as the sea, was opened, from where a pirate attack could always be expected. Therefore, it is not an integral state that is being formed, but separate policies, which included administrative center with a fortification (acropolis) and surrounding peasant settlements. The policy is easier to defend, it is easier to manage it, but at the same time the policies were disunited, they constantly competed and were at enmity with each other. All this formed the basis for the development of a special mentality of a polis man with his passion for competitiveness and militancy. Therefore, speaking about the culture of Greece, it is always necessary to clarify which people of which policy are we talking about: the Boeotians, Lydians, Spartans or Athenians.

Even in the archaic period, a special polis form of government and way of life were formed. For a long time they were in power aristocrats (gr. aristos“best”+ Kratos“power”), which received influence, property, and then land since the collapse of the communal system. But gradually the reins of government passed to tyrants (Etruscan. tiran“master”, “mistress”) - rulers chosen from among the people, who exercised their power alone. There were, of course, such policies where power belonged to a group of the rich or the most significant people - oligarchs (gr. oligos"few" + arche"power"). The monarchy of Sparta had a peculiar character. There were two kings, whose power was limited by a supervisory body - ephorate(gr. ephoroi"observer").

But still, gradually, step by step, in many cities, and above all in Athens, the greatest invention of Greek antiquity arises - democracy (VI century BC).

The translation of this word is known - “power of the people”. However, with all the achievements of statehood, power could never belong to the whole people as a whole - this was possible only in a primitive society based on blood ties. In Greece, as in any state, consanguinity did not affect the relations of the people who inhabited the policy. Equality was also out of the question. Power belonged only to the “citizens” of the policy, and among them initially two categories of people stood out: “there were noble, descendants of the first settlers of the country, members of clans ... These nobles, who were also rich at the same time, cultivated the land for the most part themselves with the members of their “house”. In addition to them, there were other free citizens of the city, small landowners, artisans, who “were always on the verge of slavery, being the owners of only their own hands” [ibid, p. 142].

While Greece did not know money, people lived in conditions of natural economy and exchange, although attempts were already made to streamline this exchange. Oxen was the measure of value. This is stated by Homer in the Iliad: on one of the heroes, Glaucus, Zeus sent temporary insanity, and

He gave the hero Diomedes his golden armor on copper,

One hundred valued calves, exchanged for a standing nine.

It also mentions copper and iron bars that served for retribution:

The rest of the wine are the bouffant children of the Achaeans

Everyone bought, paying someone with iron, someone with bright copper,

Some with bull skins, some with bulls themselves

Or slaves - people ...

Iron and copper sometimes took the form of a rod, they were first called skewers, later - obolom, and a handful of obols - drachma. But this is not yet money in its direct form: real money must have a state seal on it, which guarantees its weight and purity.

For the first time, money appeared in the Asia Minor part of Greece, in Lydia (7th century BC). They were made from a metal called electron. It was gold mixed with silver: the gold mined near the Paktol River contained from 25 to 95% of an admixture of silver.

Money changed the relationship between people in society: a merchant class arose, usurers appeared who profited from money itself, and with this, the opportunity to accumulate a fortune that was not subject to spoilage, like other products of labor. Debt slavery appears next, and then civil wars begin, the way out of the bloody drama of which was the emergence of democracy, which reached its peak in Athens already in the period of the classics.

At the origins of democracy in Athens was Solon, who can be considered the founder political culture, since his reforms were aimed at creating in Athens a society of humanism and justice. Of course, this was the humanism of antiquity, in many respects not coinciding with modern ideas, but the step forward that Solon took cannot be compared with the most enlightened and wise utopias of the East. Greek historian Plutarch(c. 45-c. 127) wrote: “... When he (Solon) was asked if he gave the best laws to the Athenians, he replied: “Yes, the best of those that they could adopt.” Solon himself said about himself: “I combined coercion with the law!” . According to the testimony of the same Plutarch, “where things were quite good, he did not apply healing and did not introduce anything new for fear that “if everything is turned upside down in the state, then he will not have the strength to put everything in its place and streamline in the best possible way” [ibid.].

Solon began reforms in 594 BC. e. with the abolition of debt slavery, forbidding lending on the security of people. This law became the basis of future law throughout Attica, the center of which was Athens. In addition, he introduced a law allowing the division of property after the death of the father of the family (this marked the beginning of the fragmentation of large property and an attempt to equalize people in society). Under Solon, the power of the “noble” aristocrats ended: those who were at the lowest level among the free began to be allowed to participate in management. Rich people still occupied the main place in the policy, but they also had the heaviest duties. Plutarch mentions this in detail: “Solon introduced the assessment of the property of citizens. Those who produced a total of five hundred measures of products, both dry and liquid, he placed first and called them "pentacosiomedimnes" (i.e., five hundred.- A. B.); he placed second those who could keep a horse and produce three hundred measures; these were called "belonging to the riders" (or hippees.- A. B.);“Zevgits” were called people of the third qualification, who had two hundred measures of both products together. All the rest were called “feta”; he did not allow them to exercise any office; they participated in the management only of those that could be present in the people's assembly and be "judges". Here is how one or the other was defined qualification: those who received 500 medimns of grain (1 medimn = 52.5 liters) or the same number of meters (1 meter = 39 liters) olive oil, belonged to the first class, the zeugites had to have a team of two oxen and heavy weapons, while the fetes were artisans. Only the first three categories could hold high positions in the state (five hundred, riders, zevgits), feta also participated in the people's assembly and the court.

The heart of Greek culture, the center of its best achievements, "Hellas Hellas" was Athens in the heyday of democracy.

The basis of polis democracy was landowners with the right to vote. After civil wars and the reforms of Solon, an increasing part of the free acquire this right, but still a few participated in the management: only 28% of the adult male population could vote, and only those who owned the land and reached the age of 20. Immigrants from other areas - meteki, engaged in crafts and trade, were deprived political rights: they were considered free, permanently lived in Athens, but did not have citizenship. A man who has reached the age of 30 and satisfies all the above requirements could become the chosen one. Slaves, on the other hand, were not perceived as people at all; they were considered speaking tools even by such prominent scientists as Aristotle.

Women were also completely powerless, because they did not have land property. They did not participate in the affairs of their husbands, they almost did not appear at feasts and festivities, they had to walk down the street with their faces covered and spent their lives on genikee(the female half of the house), doing housework and raising children.

The main governing body in the policy was the general meeting. “General meetings were convened up to 40 times a year; they aroused the liveliest interest of the Athenians and sometimes took place very violently. The rest of the time, the leadership was carried out first, in the time of Solon, by the Council of Four Hundred, then by the Council of Five Hundred. To manage the most responsible aspects of Athenian life, for example, finances, religious rites, command of the troops, they were separately elected archons(Greek “regent”). They had to pass a special examination that gave them the right to this position. The remaining members of the Council were chosen by lot, and in order to avoid the temptation to abuse power, "the law forbade the re-election of one person to the same position."

To become a member of the Council was considered an honorable affair, pleasing to the gods. The persons elected to it wore myrtle wreaths, had special places at all festivities and meetings, and for the period of their election were exempted from military service. It was a shame to turn out to be those who did not live up to expectations, disgraced. For some offenses, the perpetrators were subjected to ostracism (gr. ostrakon“shard”) - condemnation to a ten-year exile. The decision on this was made as follows: everyone who had the right to vote wrote on a clay shard the name of a person who, in his opinion, was dangerous for the people, and the one whose name was more common was expelled.

Peculiarities public organization Greek society influenced customs, traditions, morality and even art. Some European theorists (K. Levi-Strauss, for example) believe that human behavior can be determined by its main motivation - it can be a “culture of shame” or a “culture of guilt”. The “culture of guilt”, which is more characteristic of Christianity, is directed towards the “voice of conscience”, that is, towards internal judgment over oneself, while the “culture of shame” is focused on assessing a person’s behavior from the outside, by members of one or another social group. In this case, “the main motives of behavior ... are imitation of the best (those who are considered the best) and rivalry. ... The feeling of inner sinfulness was alien to the Greeks. But they had the highest degree of shame in front of fellow citizens. ... Fear of shame, fear of seeming stupid or ridiculous were among the most important motives that determined the behavior of the ancient Greek in society. The other side of this was the desire for superiority, for becoming the best among many.

This explains the sports traditions of the Greeks, many of which had a cult character. The Olympic Games dedicated to Zeus were first held in 776 BC. e. Since that time, military conflicts have ceased every four years, and from all over Hellas those who could, for the glory of Zeus and their policy, could demonstrate strength, dexterity and talent, approve the physical virtues of a person - arete - and get their public recognition. Participants and spectators could only be free Greeks, full citizens, not stained by the shedding of anyone's blood. The Olympic Games included athletic and equestrian competitions, competitions of messengers and trumpeters. Boys competed after adult men. Scientists and artists also spoke, and although they were not awarded victories, they had a great opportunity to acquaint thousands of people with their creations, and their fame became the property of all Hellas. Victory on Olympic Games ah was considered a victory for the policy, and not individual person. The winner became a hero, he was crowned with a laurel wreath or a wreath of olive branches, honored as a person patronized by Zeus, in special cases a monument was erected to him in his homeland. For the Greeks, this was a great honor and served as a confirmation of their importance to society. Even famous philosophers such as Socrates and Plato participated and won victories in various competitions at the Olympic Games.

The spirit of competition also reigned in the field of science, rhetoric and politics, and even at general meetings. Any member of the policy who participated in the discussion public problems, could express his opinion and even persuade the voters to his side, influence the decision, competing with others in eloquence and public speaking which was taught by sophists(gr. sophos"wise"). To do this, the speaker had to have a love “for a beautiful word, a lengthy and magnificent speech, replete with a variety of epithets, metaphors, comparisons”, and also be able to think logically and express thoughts with reason, refuting the arguments of opponents.

The main importance was given court speeches. The Greek court was as public as all public life. In Greece, there was no institution of prosecutors: any person could act as an accuser, and the defendant himself was a defender: “speaking to the judges, he sought not so much to convince them of his innocence, but to pity them, to attract their sympathies to his side” . Historian and theorist of Hellenistic rhetoric Dionysius of Halicarnassus(I century BC) wrote: “When judges and accusers are the same persons, it is necessary to shed abundant tears and utter thousands of complaints in order to be listened to with benevolence” [ibid.].

At the same time, rules for creating and delivering speeches are developed. One of the famous sophist orators, Gorgias(485-380 BC) advised speakers: "Refut the serious arguments of the enemy with a joke, jokes with seriousness." He developed special speech techniques: repetitions, symmetrically constructed phrases, a special rhythm. Here is an example that not only demonstrates the beauty of the speech of the ancient orator, but also confirms the idea of the special mentality of the Athenian citizen - the desire for glory: everything opposite to this is just dishonor.” Great politician and orator Demosthenes(384-322 BC) made each of his performances extraordinarily lively, since he used not only the logic and rules for constructing speech, but also intonation, facial expressions, and gestures, which made a strong impression on the audience.

All the features of relations between the people of the Greek polis brought up special feeling patriotism, which has never been ostentatious - speakers talk about it, every Hellene feels it, poets write about it:

And it is praiseworthy and glorious for a husband to fight for his homeland,

Fight for small children, for a young wife

With an evil enemy. Death will only come when we have to share

Moira will strain her ...

Let with a raised spear

Everyone strives forward and covers his chest with a shield,

Powerful in spirit, as soon as a hot fight starts!

(Callinus, 7th century BC)

A beautiful share - a mouth in the front ranks of the militia,

Motherland defending from enemies in battle;

The land is to leave the native, who nursed you and bread

Asking strangers is the bitterest destiny.

(Tirteus, 7th century BC)

So they wrote in the archaic period, and in the heyday of Greek culture, these motifs became the main meaning of the relationship of every Hellene with his policy; those who did not have love, respect and pride for their homeland covered themselves with shame. These qualities of the Greeks were not an accidental manifestation of character. Society consciously and most different ways developed and strengthened them in its citizens.

In every culture there is some basis for the preservation of basic social values, the maintenance of traditions: religion, rituals, moral norms, the education system.

In Athens, almost all free citizens were literate, even women were taught in elementary school to read, write and count. Education was three-stage. First, six-year-old children, accompanied by a domestic slave - teacher(lit. “leading the child”) went to the teacher, and after class received a small amount of goodies from their teacher. They studied three subjects: grammar, which included reading, writing and counting, music - they learned to play the cithara (a kind of lyre) - and gymnastics. There were no textbooks, they read mainly the texts of Homer, and learned to write according to drawing- images of letters cut into the plates in the form of a stencil, which were outlined with a sharp stick on the wax coating of the writing board. When the hand got used to doing necessary movements, the stencil was removed.

The youths entered gymnasiums(sports schools) for physical improvement and education of courage, later they introduced other compulsory subjects - “musical” arts (Apollo Musaget and the Muses were considered their patron): “they included knowledge various kinds poetry, musical theory, the ability to play musical instruments (cithara, lyre, flute) and, finally, a dance, usually accompanied by singing (chorea) ” . The Greeks believed that a person who did not understand music should not be taken into the ranks of warriors, since he could betray, he could not be trusted with a wounded in battle or raising a child, since he did not know how to empathize and sympathize.

Higher education from the 5th century BC. e., could be obtained from the sophists who taught rhetoric, and later - philosophy. For the Greeks, the main thing was not the possession of a variety of information about the world, but a harmonious combination of physical and spiritual principles.

Greek culture was predominantly male culture. This was not due to the fact that constant wars put the man and the warrior at the center of attention; not because only men participated in the popular assembly, but mainly because only men owned property since ancient times, since even the most ancient tribes of the Achaeans had a patriarchal organization of society. Always and everywhere the main character was a man, and all art glorified the image of a citizen, a hero, a warrior.

Plutarch(also called Plutarch of Chaeronea) - ancient Greek writer, historian, philosopher, biographer. The description of his life path as something integral has not reached our time, but the works of Plutarch allow us to restore many events. The philosopher was a native of Boeotia, a small town of Chaeronea, where he was born around the year 45. He was a descendant of an old wealthy family, received a rhetorical and grammatical education typical of his social stratum.

Education was continued in Athens, where Plutarch comprehended rhetoric, mathematics and philosophy. As a philosopher, Plutarch considered himself a Platonist, but, most likely, his views could be called eclectic, and he was mainly interested in the practical application of philosophy. It is known that in his youth, Plutarch, in company with his mentor Ammonius and his brother Lamprey, paid a visit to Delphi, where the cult of Apollo still existed, although it had fallen into decay. This event left a noticeable imprint on the further life of Plutarch and his literary activity in particular.

After studying in Athens, he returned to his native Chaeronea, where he successfully completed the assignment given to him by the city community. Subsequently, he was active public life, held various positions, in particular, was the caretaker of buildings, a member of the council of the Boeotian Union; they elected him archon. On city affairs, he traveled to Rome and other Italian cities more than once. In the capital, he met prominent statesmen, in particular, Arulen Rustik, Quintus Sosius Sention, who was a close friend of Emperor Trajan and a consul.

Friendly relations with them helped Plutarch seriously advance as a public figure. He was given Roman citizenship, and with it he received a new name - Mestrius Plutarch, turned into an extremely influential person in his province. The governor of Achaia had to coordinate any events with him in advance: this was ordered by the emperor Trajan, later by his successor Adrian.

Good connections and increased fame as a writer helped Plutarch become proconsul under Trajan and procurator of the province of Achaia under Hadrian. But even with such a brilliant career as a politician, Plutarch did not move to the capital, preferring a quiet native city, where he lived, surrounded himself with children and students, creating a kind of small academy in which he taught young people.

When Plutarch was almost 50, he was elected by his fellow citizens as a member of the college of priests of the temple of Apollo at Delphi and put a lot of effort into making the sanctuary regain its former grandeur. Died around 127.

His literary heritage was very large - about 250 works, of which no more than a third part survived. His activity in the field of literature was educational, enlightening, moral and ethical, and was addressed to the widest readership.

The main work of Plutarch, which he wrote in the last period of his life, was the Comparative Lives, which are biographies of famous citizens of Rome and Greece. In total, 70 works were written within their framework, of which 50 have survived to our time. Comparative Biographies are one of the most famous works of the era of antiquity, the pinnacle of the biographical genre of that time. Plutarch's works on philosophy, ethics, pedagogy, religion, politics, history, literature, and natural science are a valuable source of information about the history of ancient peoples.

Biography from Wikipedia

Plutarch(other Greek Πλούταρχος) (c. 46, Chaeronea, Boeotia - c. 127, place of death unknown) - ancient Greek writer and philosopher, public figure. He is best known as the author of Comparative Biographies, in which he recreated the images of prominent political figures in Greece and Rome. Publicistic, literary and philosophical writings of Plutarch on various topics are usually combined into a series called "Moral writings" ("Morals"), which, among other things, includes the popular "Table Talk" (in 9 volumes).

Plutarch came from a wealthy family who lived in the small town of Chaeronea in Boeotia. In his youth in Athens, Plutarch studied philosophy (mainly with the Platonist Ammonius), mathematics, and rhetoric. In the future, the Peripatetics and Stoics had a significant influence on the philosophical views of Plutarch. He himself considered himself a Platonist, but in fact he was more of an eclecticist, and in philosophy he was mainly interested in its practical application. Even in his youth, Plutarch, together with his brother Lamprey and teacher Ammonius, visited Delphi, where the cult of Apollo, which had fallen into decay, was still preserved. This journey had a serious impact on the life and literary work of Plutarch.

Plutarch was well known to his contemporaries both as a public figure and as a philosopher. He repeatedly visited Rome and other places in Italy, had students with whom he taught in Greek (he began to study Latin only “in his declining years”). In Rome, Plutarch met with the neo-Pythagoreans, and also struck up friendships with many prominent people. Among them were Arulen Rusticus, Lucius Mestrius Florus (companion of Emperor Vespasian), Quintus Sosius Senecion (personal friend of Emperor Trajan). Roman friends rendered the most valuable services to Plutarch. Having become purely formally a member of the Mestrian family (in accordance with Roman legal practice), Plutarch received Roman citizenship and a new name - Mestrius Plutarch. Thanks to Senekion, he became the most influential person in his province: Emperor Trajan forbade the governor of Achaia to hold any events without prior approval from Plutarch. This position allowed Plutarch to freely engage in social and educational activities in his homeland in Chaeronea, where he held not only the honorary position of archon-eponym, but also more modest magistracies.

Creation

According to Lampria's catalogue, Plutarch left behind about 210 writings. A significant part of them has come down to our time. According to the tradition coming from the publishers of the Renaissance, Plutarch's literary heritage is divided into two main groups: philosophical and journalistic works, collectively known as "Moralia" (ancient Greek Ἠθικά, lat. Moralia), and biographies (biography).

Moralia traditionally includes about 80 compositions. The earliest of them are rhetorical in nature, such as praise of Athens, discussions about Fortuna (ancient Greek Τύχη), her role in the life of Alexander the Great and in the history of Rome (“On the luck and valor of Alexander the Great”, “On the glory of Alexander” , "On the Fortune of the Romans").

Plutarch outlined his philosophical positions in works devoted to the interpretation of the works of Plato (“On the Origin of the Soul in Plato’s Timaeus”, “Platonic Questions”, etc.), and criticism of the views of the Epicureans and Stoics (“Is the saying good: “Live inconspicuously?” ”, “Against Kolot”, “On the fact that even a pleasant life is impossible if you follow Epicurus”, “On the contradictions among the Stoics”). Without going deep into theoretical reasoning, Plutarch cites in them a lot of valuable information on the history of philosophy.

For educational purposes, other essays were conceived containing advice on how to act in order to be happy and overcome shortcomings (for example, “On excessive curiosity”, “On talkativeness”, “On excessive timidity”). The compositions on the topics of family life include "Consolation to the wife", written in connection with the death of his daughter. Plutarch's pedagogical interests are reflected in a number of works ("How a young man should listen to poets", "How to use lectures", etc.). Thematically approaching them are the political writings of Plutarch, great place in which they take instructions for rulers and statesmen (“On the monarchy, democracy and oligarchy”, “Instructions on state affairs”, etc.)

Along with popular works in dialogic form, Moralia also includes others stylistically similar to scientific treatises. So, the treatise "On the face on the lunar disk" presents various astronomical ideas popular for that time; at the end of the treatise, Plutarch refers to the theory adopted in the Academy of Plato (Xenocrates from Chalcedon), seeing in the moon the homeland of demons.

Plutarch was also interested in the psychology of animals ("On the Intelligence of Animals").

Plutarch was a deeply pious man and recognized the importance of traditional pagan religion for the preservation of morality. He devoted numerous works to this topic, including “Pythian” dialogues concerning the oracle of Apollo in Delphi (“On the “E” in Delphi”, “On the fact that the Pythia no longer prophesies in verse”, “On the decline of the oracles”), dialogue “Why the deity delays in retribution”, etc. In the treatise “On Isis and Osiris”, Plutarch outlined various syncretic and allegorical interpretations of the mysteries of Osiris and ancient Egyptian mythology.

Plutarch’s interest in antiquities is evidenced by the works “Greek questions” (ancient Greek Αἴτια Ἑλληνικά, lat. Quaestiones Graecae) and “Roman questions” (ancient Greek Αἴτια Ῥωμαϊκά, lat. Quaestiones Romanae), which reveal the meaning and the origin of various customs of the Greco-Roman world (a lot of space is devoted to questions of worship). Plutarch's predilection for anecdotes, which also manifested itself in his biographies, is reflected in the collection of Lacedaemon winged sayings. One of the currently popular works is “Table Talks” (in 9 books), where the traditional form of symposium (feast) for Greek literature allows the writer to raise and discuss (with the involvement of a large number quotations from authorities) a variety of life and scientific topics.

Plutarch's Moralia traditionally includes works by unknown authors attributed to Plutarch in antiquity and widely known under his name. The most important of them are the treatises “On Music” (one of the main sources of our knowledge about ancient music in general) and “On the Education of Children” (a work translated into many languages back in the Renaissance and considered authentic until the beginning of the 19th century). In relation to non-authentic writings, modern scholars use the (conventional) name Pseudo-Plutarch. Among those - who lived presumably in the II century AD. e. unknown author of the works “Small comparative biographies” (another name is “Collection of parallel Greek and Roman stories”) and “On rivers”, containing a lot of information on ancient mythology and history, which, as is generally recognized in science, are completely invented by him. The collection of winged sayings "Apothegms of kings and generals" is not authentic either. In addition to those mentioned, under the name of Plutarch, many other works that do not belong to him (mostly anonymous) have been preserved.

Comparative biographies

Plutarch owes his literary fame not to eclectic philosophical reasoning, and not to writings on ethics, but to biographies (which, however, are most directly related to ethics). Plutarch outlines his goals in the introduction to the biography of Aemilius Paulus (Aemilius Paulus): communication with the great people of antiquity has educational functions, and if not all the heroes of biographies are attractive, then a negative example is also valuable, it can have an intimidating effect and turn to the path of the righteous life. In his biographies, Plutarch follows the teachings of the Peripatetics, who in the field of ethics attributed decisive importance to human actions, arguing that every action gives rise to virtue. Plutarch follows the scheme of peripatetic biographies, describing in turn the birth, youth, character, activity, death of the hero. Nowhere is Plutarch a historian critical of the facts. The huge historical material available to him is used very freely (“we write a biography, not a history”). First of all, Plutarch needs a psychological portrait of a person; in order to visually represent him, he willingly draws on information from the private life of the persons depicted, anecdotes and witty sayings. The text includes numerous moral arguments, various quotations from poets. This is how colorful, emotional narratives were born, the success of which was ensured by the author's talent for storytelling, his craving for everything human and moral optimism that elevates the soul. Biographies of Plutarch have for us a purely historical value, because he had many valuable sources, which were subsequently lost.

Plutarch began to write biographies in his youth. At first, he turned his attention to the famous people of Boeotia: Hesiod, Pindar, Epaminondas. Subsequently, he began to write about representatives of other regions of Greece: the Spartan king Leonidas, Aristomenes, Arata of Sicyon. There is even a biography of the Persian king Artaxerxes II. During his stay in Rome, Plutarch wrote biographies of Roman emperors intended for the Greeks. And only in the later period did he write his most important work, Comparative Biographies (ancient Greek Βίοι Παράλληλοι; Latin Vitae parallelae). These were biographies of prominent historical figures of Greece and Rome, compared in pairs. Currently, 22 couples and four single biographies of an earlier period are known (Arat of Sicyon, Artaxerxes II, Galba and Otho). Among the pairs, some are well composed: the mythical founders of Athens and Rome - Theseus and Romulus; the first legislators - Lycurgus Spartan and Numa Pompilius; the greatest commanders are Alexander the Great and Gaius Julius Caesar; the greatest orators are Cicero and Demosthenes. Others are compared more arbitrarily: "children of happiness" - Timoleon and Aemilius Paul, or a couple illustrating the vicissitudes of human destinies - Alcibiades and Coriolanus. After each pair, Plutarch apparently intended to give a comparative description (synkrisis), a brief indication of the common features and main differences between the characters. However, for several couples (in particular, for Alexander and Caesar), the comparison is missing, that is, it has not been preserved (or, less likely, it has not been written). There are cross-references in the text of biographies, from which we learn that initially there were more than in the body of texts that has come down to us. Lost biographies of Leonidas, Epaminondas, Scipio Africanus).

reception

Despite the compilation method and eclectic style of Plutarch, his legacy was actively studied, translated and republished from the Renaissance until the 20th century. In 1935, the International Astronomical Union named Plutarch's crater on visible side Moon.

INTERPOLIS RELATIONS. GREECE AND THE WORLD

Ancient Greece, which consisted of several hundred policies, never was not a single state. Each policy was perceived as a completely independent, sovereign state body. However, in the most backward Greek regions (Aetolia, Epirus, etc.) in the archaic era, the process of formation of policies had not yet begun, and their population still lived in conditions tribalism. In general, during this period in the Greek world there was a wide variety of options for the economic, political, and cultural development of the regions.

At the same time, Greece was not a purely geographical concept. Already in the archaic era, if not earlier, the Greeks came to the realization of the fact that for all their differences they belong to the same ethnic unity - Hellenes. The undoubted commonality of origin, language, social structures, historical fate made themselves felt. Being in a state of almost permanent wars with each other, the Greek policies at the same time sought to establish ever closer contacts. This convergence of policies was facilitated by the presence of religious and cultural institutions that had a pan-Hellenic status, i.e., recognized by all Greeks. Among these institutions, first of all, it is worth mentioning common cults and reputable cult centers throughout the Greek world, such as the sanctuaries of Apollo at Delphi and Zeus at Olympia. During temple holidays, in processions, with sacrifices and other sacred rites, Greeks from all parts of Hellas took part, which could not but intensify their communication with each other.

In the formation of the unity of the Greek ethnos, an important role was played by Greek sports competitions(Olympic Games, etc.). It is no coincidence that for the period of the Olympic Games, all the policies participating in them proclaimed a sacred truce: military conflicts were suspended for several months, so that athletes and spectators could safely reach the competition site and return home.

Athena Aphaia. Sculpture from the island of Aegina

Gradually, between the various policies, despite the constant internecine wars, they begin to take shape diplomatic relations. Initially, these interstate relations were still entirely personal in nature: an aristocrat from one policy established contacts with an aristocrat from another policy and entered into relations with him. xenia- the union of sacred hospitality. Such a union was hereditary in nature: from generation to generation, the descendants of the persons who concluded it continued to support it. Over time, literally the entire Greek world became involved in such inter-aristocratic relations.

From xenia grew proxenia- a friendly union, when connections with a resident of another policy were no longer established by an individual citizen, but by the policy itself. The person awarded proxenia, henceforth, became, as it were, a representative of his policy in another state.

Thus, full-fledged diplomatic relations were born. For negotiations on specific issues, ambassadors and heralds were sent from one Greek state to another, who were considered inviolable persons. At the same time, Greece did not know such a phenomenon as a permanently functioning embassy on the territory of another state.

In the archaic era, policies began to conclude among themselves interstate agreements of a different nature: on the resolution of disputed territorial issues, on friendly relations, etc. Some of these ancient agreements have come down to us in the form of inscriptions carved on stone. It was about creating interpolis unions- associations of several states. One of the most common types of such associations was amphiktyony- a religious and political union of a number of policies with a center in some authoritative sanctuary. The most famous and influential was the Delphic Amphictyony, which included several strong policies (including Athens and Sparta), whose task was to protect the sanctuary in Delphi from any encroachment. The Amphictyons were, of course, very heterogeneous structures in terms of membership and political orientation.

A more cohesive association was symmachy- a military alliance concluded by policies or on the basis of equality, or (more often) under the leadership of the most powerful of the participants. A typical example of a symmachy was the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta. However, in view of the separatist tendencies characteristic of the polis world, full-scale and long-term military-political associations were rare. The policies preferred to conclude allied treaties for a short period or for a specific military event. Indeed, after a short time, a situation could arise when you have to fight against a recent ally.

Interstate relations that had developed in the polis world began to spread beyond its borders. The Greeks entered into economic and political relations with neighboring states. They called all foreigners barbarians(i.e. slurring). The word "barbarian" in the era of the archaic did not yet carry a derogatory connotation. Contempt for non-Greek peoples, recognition of them as “second-class” people, alien to freedom, “slaves by nature” is a phenomenon of a later era. In the meantime, the Greek aristocrats willingly entered into friendly and marriage relations with the kings and leaders of the "barbarian" peoples.

In the VIII-VI centuries. BC e. the foreign policy situation was very favorable for the Greek world. Greece did not know any serious external threats: none of the neighbors had either sufficient strength or desire to encroach on the independence of this country, to turn the freedom-loving and warlike people against themselves. More characteristic was the establishment of friendly relations between Greece and neighboring states.

In the east, in Asia Minor, the main partner of the Greek policies was the strong and very rich kingdom of Lydia. The Lydian kings, it is true, exerted pressure on the Hellenic cities of Ionia, seeking to subjugate them to their influence, but they tried to maintain friendship with Balkan Greece itself. The most famous of the rulers of Lydia - Croesus in every possible way demonstrated his respect for the Delphic oracle, made an alliance with Sparta. In the north, the Greeks were in active contact with the Thracians, who were at the stage of formation of statehood. In the south, mutually beneficial ties with Egypt were established: the Greek policies bought bread from the Egyptians, and Egyptian pharaohs attracted Greek hoplites to serve as mercenaries. It should be said that the absence of a large-scale external danger was one of the important factors in the calm development of archaic Greece, which led to such outstanding results.

Sources

Important information about the events that took place in the Greek world of the archaic era is contained in the works of later ancient authors. Relying on the ancient tradition, partly of an oral nature, they preserved in their works a number of reliable information on the early history of the Greek policies.

First of all, two great historians of the 5th century should be mentioned. BC e. - Herodotus and Thucydides (although their works are mainly devoted to the events of the classical era, both authors also make excursions into the history of the archaic period). So, Herodotus in his "History" he gives extremely important data on the ups and downs of the political life of archaic Athens, Sparta, Corinth, policies of Asia Minor and other Greek states.

At the beginning of his work "History of the Peloponnesian War" Thucydides gives a general overview of the early history of Greece, accompanied by conclusions of a theoretical nature, many of which have not lost their value to this day. In addition, this historian more than anyone else talks about Greek colonization Sicily in the 8th century BC e.

One should not underestimate the importance for the restoration of the history of the archaic Greek city-states and the writings of the authors of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. After all, they had access to (and actively used) the works of early historians, which by our time have already been irretrievably lost. The most authoritative of the "late" writers is considered Plutarch. His main work is the fundamental collection of biographies of famous Greeks and Romans "Comparative Lives". Some of the individuals whose biographies were compiled by Plutarch lived in the archaic era. So, in the biography of Solon, in all details (not always, however, reliable) it is told about reform activities this great Athenian, and in the biography of Lycurgus - about many aspects of the socio-political structure of the Spartan policy, about the lifestyle of the Spartans.

Historiography

The problem of the policy as a fundamental phenomenon of ancient civilization has always been of exceptional interest to researchers of ancient Greek history. In the 19th century the French historian made an extremely large contribution to the creation of the modern concept of the policy H. Fustel de Coulanges(N. Fustel de Coulanges). Currently, a large group of scientists from different countries is studying the Greek policy under the guidance of a Danish antiquity scholar. M. Hansen(M. Hansen). IN national historiography works devoted to the basic socio-economic aspects of the policy S. L. Utchenko And G. A. Koshelenko.

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Chapter 3