5 “Cease Provoking the God, My Dear Planetiades”: How Plutarch Deals with Cynic Anti-Oracular Polemics
In: Plutarch and his ContemporariesSearch for other papers by Wim Nijs in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Abstract
Although Plutarch is a staunch defender of the Delphic oracle’s legitimacy, we notice that his Delphic dialogues also leave some room for representatives of philosophical schools who famously criticize divination and the legitimacy of oracles. This paper focuses on De defectu oraculorum, where we read how the Cynic Didymus Planetiades makes a spirited, but rather short appearance during a discussion about the obsolescence of oracles. It considers Plutarch’s treatment of his Cynic opponent in its proper polemical context of the early imperial age’s ongoing anti-oracular debate. It explores Planetiades’ arguments and aims to establish how Plutarch’s representation of his words relates to the criticisms voiced by Cynics and other critical thinkers of that era. Moreover, I argue that Planetiades’ brief intervention causes a disturbance which disrupts the normal code of conduct of a typical Plutarchan discussion in a significant way.