Why Read Plutarch?

0:00 Why Read Plutarch?
00:29 Who Was Plutarch?
02:27 Plutarch's Ancient Guests
04:55 To Know and To See - Biography the Daughter of Philosophy
08:40 Not Just Heroes
13:16 Shorter Intro to History
15:47 Plutarch Later Influence
20:21 A Note on Translations

We begin the podcast by answering a few questions:

Who was Plutarch?
Why did he write these Parallel Lives?
Why should we read them?

What's the format of this show?

One episode per life, arranged chronologically.

The first five episodes will represent each season as we work through chronologically for a historical overview of Greek and Roman antiquity.

1. Solon (representing Season 1: Kings and Lawgivers)
2. Aristides (representing Season 2: The Rise and Fall of the Polis)
3. Demosthenes (representing Season 3: Macedon Rising)
4. Cato the Elder (representing Season 4: The Roman Republic: From Polis to Empire)
5. Cicero (representing Season 5: The Roman Civil Wars)

What's the best English translation of Plutarch?

That depends on what you're looking for, but the following translations are mentioned in the show:

Wikipedia page linking to all public domain translations of Plutarch - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralle...

The Modern Library editions (Clough's update to Dryden's translation):
Two paperback volumes -
Vol. 1 - https://amzn.to/3YoB5LB
Vol. 2 - https://amzn.to/4bJR0H9
One hardback volume (ISBN: 0394607058) - https://amzn.to/3Y0ZlDa

The Penguin Editions:
The Rise and Fall of Athens (9 lives) - https://amzn.to/4cNtwlN
On Sparta (4 lives) - https://amzn.to/3zNckOL
The Age of Alexander - https://amzn.to/4d4iRmA
Makers of Rome (9 lives) - this volume includes Brutus and Antony, the lives I said were missing from the other volume. - https://amzn.to/4cISFy7
Rome in Crisis (repeats some lives, and strikes me as an odd assortment overall) - https://amzn.to/4669Eb0
Fall of the Roman Republic (6 lives) - https://amzn.to/3Wngq9c