Plutarch's Lives

Rating:
Summary: Invaluable source and historical document.
Review: After having read McCullogh's splendid series on Rome, I turned to this fat, dense book with great expectations. I was not disappointed: the stories are endlessly fascinating, from their basic details on ancient history to the bizarre asides that reveal the pre-Christianised mind-set of the author.

Like all great books, this one can be read on innumerable levels. First, there is the moralising philosophy that is perhaps the principal purpose of the author to advance - each life holds lessons on proper conduct of great and notorious leaders alike. You get Caesar, Perikles, and Alcibiades, and scores of others who are compared and contrasted. Second, there is the content. Plutarch is an invaluable source of data for historians and the curious. Third, there is the reflection of religious and other beliefs of the 1C AD: oracles and omens are respected as are the classical gods. For example, while in Greece, Sulla is reported as having found a satyr, which he attempted unsuccesfully to question for its auguring abilities during his miltary campaign in Greece! It is a wonderful window into the mystery of life and human belief systems. That being said, Plutarch is skeptical of these occurances and both questions their relevance and shows how some shrewd leaders, like Sertorious with his white fawn in Spain, used them to great advantage.

Finally, this is a document that was used for nearly 2000 years in schools as a vital part of classical education - the well-bred person knew all these personalities and stories, which intimately informed their vocabulary and literary references until the beginning of the 20C. That in itself is a wonderful view into what was on people's minds and how they conceived things over the ages. As is well known, Plutarch is the principal source of many of Shakespeare's plays, such as Coriolanus and Julius Caesar. But it was also the source of the now obscure fascination with the rivalry of Marius and Sulla, as depicted in paintings and poetry that we still easily encounter if we are at all interested in art. Thus, this is essential reading for aspiring pedants (like me).

Of course, there are plenty of flaws in the work. It assumes an understanding of much historical detail, and the cases in which I lacked it hugely lessened my enjoyment. At over 320 years old, the translation is also dated and the prose somewhat stilted, and so it took me 300 pages to get used to it. Moreover, strictly speaking, there are many inaccuracies, of which the reader must beware.

Warmly recommended as a great and frequently entertaining historical document.

Rating:
Summary: The only complete collection, but not best edition
Review: It is unfortunate that the only complete set of Plutarch's Lives (one of the great treasures of literature, ancient or modern) is offered by Modern Library, whose overrated editions are reasonably priced but suffer from poor editing and mediocre typesetting and binding.

In favor of this edition (both vols. I and II) is the fact that it not only offers all of the Lives, but offers them in the original parallel format. Plutarch, in most of his mini-biographies, tried to pair off Greek and Roman individuals who had similar careers or personalities -- like Alexander the Great and Caesar -- to highlight their similarities and differences. I much prefer this to the way in which other editions tend to separate them out (for ex. the Penguin and Oxford versions, which just concentrate on select groups of Romans or Greeks). Given this fact and the reasonable price the Modern Library edition is not a total waste.

On the negative side, the publishers have expended absolutely no effort in putting these volumes together. This version is an 1864 revision of the Dryden translation and has been in the public domain for ages. You can download the text online for free. And while the Dryden/Clough text is often elegant, the average reader will find it archaic. Even more aggravating is the fact that there are virtually no footnotes or explanatory text. By contrast, Penguin and Oxford collections do a good job of providing annotation to set the Lives in context with important dates and details that don't appear in the original writings. Unless you're already an expert in the period, you'll get lost.

Rating:
Summary: A book every man should read
Review: Plutarchs historic portrayals of the lives of the gretest men in BCE western history, is truly inspiring. From the passionate warrior kings Alexander the Great and Julius Ceasar to the Athenean states men Dion and Draco, the list goes on, each text providing an insight to lives that were lived to the fullest potential.