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Plutarch
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Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans (Complete and Unabridged) Paperback – July 1, 2015

by Plutarch (Author), Arthur Hugh Clough (Editor)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 325 ratings
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ONE OF THE FEW COMPLETE AND UNABRIDGED EDITIONS OF PLUTARCH'S LIVES--all fifty biographies, and eighteen comparisons.


"To be ignorant of the lives of the most celebrated men of antiquity is to continue in a state of childhood all our days." Plutarch


"I would rather excel in the knowledge of what is excellent than in the extent of my power or possessions." Plutarch

"Silence at the proper season is wisdom, and better than any speech." Plutarch

"To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future." Plutarch

"It is part of a good man to do great and noble deeds, though he risk everything." Plutarch

Plutarch's Lives is a brilliant collection of biographies by one of the greatest biographers and moralists of all time. By comparing a famous Roman with a famous Greek, Plutarch intended to provide model patterns of behaviour and to encourage mutual respect between Greeks and Romans. There are fifty biographies of famous soldiers, legislators, orators, and statesmen, and an additional eighteen comparisons. The form of Plutarch's Lives was new; he outlined the birth, youth, achievements, and death of his characters, followed by a formal comparison. The Lives display formidable learning and research. Plutarch is essentially a moralist whose aim is to edify the reader; destiny follows from character, which he illustrates by anecdotes.

Plutarch (AD 46 -119 ) was a philosopher, teacher, and biographer, whose writing strongly influenced the evolution of the essay, the biography, and historical writing in Europe from the 16th to the 19th century, especially the work of Michel de Montaigne and William Shakespeare. He lived mostly in Greece, where he was a local magistrate, though he was a Roman citizen who knew the Emperors Trajan and Hadrian.

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  1. Print length
    1008 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Benediction Classics
  4. Publication date
    July 1, 2015
  5. Dimensions
    6.14 x 2.25 x 9.21 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1781395136
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1781395134
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Benediction Classics (July 1, 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 1008 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1781395136
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1781395134
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.35 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 2.25 x 9.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 325 ratings

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Plutarch

Plutarch

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Plutarch (/ˈpluːtɑːrk/; Greek: Πλούταρχος, Ploútarkhos, Koine Greek: [plǔːtarkʰos]; later named, upon becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus (Λούκιος Μέστριος Πλούταρχος);[a] c. AD 46 – AD 120) was a Greek historian, biographer and essayist, known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. He is classified as a Middle Platonist. Plutarch's surviving works are believed to have been originally written in Koine Greek.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo from Parallel Lives, Amyot's French translation [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
325 global ratings
DO NOT BUY
1 Star
DO NOT BUY
NOT the 1,000 plus page book described above. It was barely 375 pages and was only certain selections by some odd editor and did not include the Greeks. Dissappointed! Not worth the $15 I paid.
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Top reviews from the United States

snowflashdrop
5.0 out of 5 stars opinions of a pion rating greatness
Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2013
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How does one rate greatness? My words might last for 15 minutes (if I am lucky), but the words of Plutarch have originated when the nature of our present society was in its infancy. Even though I am fortunate to read and understand at an academic level, I found it difficult to keep everything in the perspective that Plutarch had in mind when he wrote them. Part of the problems that I think I am having is that this is the first book that I read by this author or even from this era. I am not familiar with most of the folks that he talked about, and it sounds like the author had difficulty in ascertaining the truth about some of the persons he described. Often Plutarch had only the places or celebratory events named after the individual that he wrote about. Second, I found it difficult to keep in mind that he was comparing the Greek great figures with the respective Roman great figures from a historical perspective. IMHO his writing leads to our modern society's idea that our young should study and emulate the greats in our modern society in order to become a better person - mind you, we often need to over look their human weaknesses, as we all have some.
So I came to the conclusion that Plutarch was not only a great writer, but a historian and also a philosopher. The difficulty I had in reading and understanding Plutarch's work had to do with weakness on my part, and not on the author's. I hope that one of my grandchildren studies Plutarch in college, so that I will have someone to discuss and analyze Plutarch,s work with.
13 people found this helpful
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GreyBeard
5.0 out of 5 stars History written is ancient times about even more ancient times.
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2015
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Many of the books I read and have reviewed are light, fun to read, fiction books. This is not one of those. This is something I want to study in my spare time.

It is a classic book from the beginning of the second century AD written about lives of people from many centuries earlier. You have to be interested in the history of ancient Greece and Rome.

Plutarch gives an overview of what was known in his day from earlier historians and oral tradition. He presents the different, some times fantastical accounts, available to him. Then he tries to discern how much is myth, how much is history and what the most probable truth was in his opinion.

He does the biographies in pairs of lives, one from Greece and one from Rome. He then compares them.

It is interesting to me and fills in an area of study I studiously avoided in the past.

I have just started reading the lives with the profiles and comparisons of Romulus and Theseus, Numa and Lycurgus. Many of the references are lost on me, but since I am reading it on a kindle app, I can search people, places and terms as I go.

I plan to read a pair of lives each week or so, between my light reading.
5 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2017
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It is interesting, but a tough read.
One person found this helpful
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D. Gilbert
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating History
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2020
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This amazing book covers heroes and lawgivers from ancient Greece and Rome going back hundreds of years B.C.E., comparing and contrasting their characters, their accomplishments and their laws. It provides good insight into the beginning foundations of ancient civilizations; laws, wars, alliances, betrayals and so many interesting characters, situations and people. I highly recommend for an interesting read. Well written and never boring from Plutarch.
One person found this helpful
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Eric
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for those interested in western history
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2017
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If you're a fan of Western history & classical Greek / Roman texts, you'll love this. It's always shocking to me how much ancient history has played a part in shaping the language, customs and ideas of today. This continuity bleeds through in every page. Plutarch discusses myths and historical texts revolving around major figures of Grecian and Roman history. He works to create accurate depictions, pointing out likely exaggerations or falsehoods in some historical accounts and paying equal attention to the vices as well as the virtues of his subjects.
14 people found this helpful
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SheaMorrissey
3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I’d recommend for Undergrads/High Schoolers
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2019
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I’ll state my problems with this first. This edition has no introductions, explanatory footnotes, or discussion of Plutarch as a source. It uses the 17th century Dryden translation with the 19th century Clough edits. That is to say, it’s not the most readable translation for most young people. It also doesn’t number the chapters of the lives, so if you’re planning on quoting it in a formal academic paper you won’t be able to cite it correctly if your professor is a stickler about that sort of thing. If you’re new to Plutarch, an undergraduate student or even a high school student, I would recommend the Oxford or Penguin editions of Plutarchs lives. They don’t have all the lives compiled in one volume, instead they put out collections of lives with specific themes (fall of Roman republic, age of Alexander etc etc). You’re better off choosing the 10-20 lives you’re most interested in and doing it that way. All those editions include all the helpful bits of information listed above and use much more modern translations and are thus much easier to handle for the modern reader. If you’re comfortable with the Dryden translation and don’t need to cite it, this is the only collection which presents all of the lives that I would trust. This volume is definitely superior to the other digi-reads edition that amazon is offering.
36 people found this helpful
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skeptic
5.0 out of 5 stars Montaigne loved Plutarch and so do I
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2013
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After reading Montaigne's essays, I wanted to see the original Plutarch for myself. He is fascinating and full of stories, some of which I had heard of before, like the Spartan boy who didn't flinch as a fox he had hidden under his cloak ate his stomach out and killed him. I'm not done with Plutarch yet, but I love what I've read and will now go and read some more. He makes the ancient world of the Greeks and Romans come alive for me, as he did for Montaigne.
11 people found this helpful
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jackel88
5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful history
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2014
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Plutarch is someone who should be read by anyone who is a history buff, especially if they are interested in the Romans and Greeks.

He gives a really fine comparison between similar types of people in both of these societies. Remember these were the societies which formed our western civilization.

I would have to imagine that this is required reading in an ancient history studies. If it isn't, it should be.

It's free, so try it. You can always erase it if you don't find it as interesting as I did.
5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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J.W.
4.0 out of 5 stars seems great but
Reviewed in Canada on April 20, 2022
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they dont write the title of the chapters on the page they write the title of the book on every page instead...
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Sanchez-Aranda, Jose J.
2.0 out of 5 stars Selección de menor interés
Reviewed in Spain on November 9, 2018
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Las que se incluyen en esta versión. no son las vidas más interesantes, aunque siempre es bueno leer a Plutarco
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Hans-Joachim Franzeck
5.0 out of 5 stars Das große Vorbild für alle abendländischen Biographien
Reviewed in Germany on May 6, 2016
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Plutarchs geniale Idee war es bekanntlich, jeweils das Leben eines bedeutenden Griechen dem eines bedeutenden Römers gegenüberzustellen.
So erhellen sich die Verdienste, Charaktermerkmale und Schicksale der in seinem Werk besprochenen Persönlichkeiten gegenseitig. Plutarchs "Lives of ..." ist auch für den heutigen Leser interessant und teilweise sogar spannend zu lesen. Die Übersetzung ins Englische scheint mir gelungen, allerdings kann ich darüber keine qualifizierte Aussage machen.
One person found this helpful
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Penantol
5.0 out of 5 stars All you ever wanted to know...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 13, 2013
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This book contains all those stories about Ancient Rome and Greece which you learnt when you were a kid, but wished there was more detail on. Well here it is.
It also provides an insight into how analytical historians were way back (probably more so than some are now).
And finally it is a fascinating read, written in such a conversational style that it is easy to get on with
13 people found this helpful
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Clive Gibson
5.0 out of 5 stars essential reading
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2020
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Magnificent and sublime, if you haven't read Pultarch then you don't know the basic elements of western culture.
2 people found this helpful
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