The Greek biographer and philosopher Plutarch of Chaeronea (c. 45-125 AD) makes a fascinating case-study for reception studies not least because of his uniquely extensive and diverse afterlife.
Brill’s Companion to the Reception of Plutarch offers the first comprehensive analysis of Plutarch’s rich reception history from the Roman Imperial period through Late Antiquity and Byzantium to the Renaissance, Enlightenment and the modern era. The thirty-seven chapters that make up this volume, written by a remarkable line-up of experts, explore the appreciation, contestation and creative appropriation of Plutarch himself, his thought and work in the history of literature across various cultures and intellectual traditions in Europe, America, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Sophia Xenophontos, DPhil (2011) Oxford, is a Lecturer in Classics at the University of Glasgow. Her research interests are in the Greek literature, philosophy and culture of the Roman Imperial period. She is the author of
Ethical education in Plutarch: moralising agents and contexts (Berlin-Boston 2016) and of several articles and book chapters on practical ethics and the therapy of the emotions in post-Hellenistic philosophical writings. Another strand of her research is the reception of the Greek ethical tradition (especially Plutarch and Aristotle) in late Byzantium and the Enlightenment. Her current book project is on Galen’s works of popular philosophy and their interplay with his medical theory and practice. She is also preparing the
editio princeps for George Pachymeres’
Commentary on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.
Katerina Oikonomopoulou, DPhil (2007) Oxford, is Assistant Professor of Ancient Greek Literature at the University of Patras. Her research focuses on Graeco-Roman imperial literature and culture, especially on miscellanistic and encyclopaedic writing, science, medicine and the symposium. Her publications include numerous article-length studies in the above topics and the co-edited volumes
The Philosopher’s Banquet: Plutarch’s Table Talk in the Intellectual Culture of the Roman Empire (with Frieda Klotz, OUP 2011) and
Space, Time and Language in Plutarch (with Aristoula Georgiadou, De Gruyter 2017).
Contributors are: Eran Almagor, Arkadiy Avdokhin, Francesco Becchi, Paul Bishop, Mauro Bonazzi, Michele Curnis, Aileen Das, Eudoxia Delli, Miryana Dimitrova, Christopher Edelman, Stephanos Efthymiadis, † Françoise Frazier, Michael Grünbart, Olivier Guerrier, Isobel Hurst, Katarzyna Jażdżewska, Theofili Kampianaki, Frieda Klotz, Pauline Koetschet, Florin Leonte, Michele Lucchesi, Francesco Manzini, Sébastien Morlet, András Németh, Katerina Oikonomopoulou, Marianne Pade, Aurelio Pérez Jiménez, Inmaculada Pérez Martín, Diether Roderich Reinsch, David Ricks, Alberto Rigolio, Geert Roskam, Thomas Schmidt, Elsa Giovanna Simonetti, Alicia Simpson, Fabio Stok, Maria Vamvouri Ruffy, Sophia Xenophontos
"This new companion to the reception of Plutarch is most welcome. The breadth of coverage in its thirty-seven chapters is unprecedented. (...) The depth of coverage is likewise unprecedented, for which it is all but required to have such a team of scholars to achieve this. (...) Some chapters are more synoptic, some more illustrative, some more engaging, but, as a set, the editors deserve praise for achieving their goal “to encourage further research” (6) in the reception of Plutarch. (...) The result is a set of studies as multifaceted and varied as the Plutarchan corpus itself." - Brad L. Cook, in:
Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2020.08.17
"The volume’s most important achievement is clear: the advancement made with regard to Plutarch’s reception in Byzantium is spectacular and reflects the relatively recent burgeoning of Byzantine studies in terms of both methodology and available sources. [...] it is clear that this volume is leaps and bounds ahead of earlier scholarship both in the scope of material collected and in interpretative depth.
Brill’s Companion to the Reception of Plutarch<7i> will undoubtedly stimulate further study of Plutarch’s reception, not only as a reference work, but also by inspiring new ways of approaching the rich afterlife of this unforgettable intellectual." - Bram Demulder, in: The Classical Review 71.2 350–352
Contents
Acknowledgements List of Figures Table of Latin Abbreviations of Titles of Plutarch’s Moralia with English Translation Notes on Editors and Contributors Note to the Reader
Introduction Katerina Oikonomopoulou and Sophia Xenophontos
part 1: The Early Fame
1
Plutarch in Macrobius and Athenaeus Maria Vamvouri Ruffy
2
Plutarch in Gellius and Apuleius Katerina Oikonomopoulou
3
Plutarch’s Reception in Imperial Graeco-Roman Philosophy Mauro Bonazzi
4
Plutarch and Atticism: Herodian, Phrynichus, Philostratus Katarzyna Jażdżewska
5
Plutarch and the Papyrological Evidence Thomas Schmidt
part 2: Late Antiquity and Byzantium
6
Plutarch and Early Christian Theologians Arkadiy Avdokhin
7
Plutarch in Christian Apologetics (Eusebius, Cyril, Theodoretus) Sébastien Morlet
8
Plutarch and the Neoplatonists: Porphyry, Proclus, Simplicius Elsa Giovanna Simonetti
10
On Donkeys, Weasels and New-Born Babies, or What Damascius Learned from Plutarch Geert Roskam
11
Plutarch in Stobaeos Michele Curnis
12
The Reception of Plutarch in Constantinople in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries András Németh
13
The Reception of Plutarch in Michael Psellos’ Philosophical, Theological and Rhetorical Works: an Elective Affinity Eudoxia Delli
14
Plutarch in Michael Psellos’ Chronographia Diether Roderich Reinsch
15
Plutarch and Zonaras: from Biography to a Chronicle with a Political Leaning Theofili Kampianaki
16
Plutarch in Twelfth-Century Learned Culture Michael Grünbart
17
Precepts, Paradigms and Evaluations: Niketas Choniates’ Use of Plutarch Alicia Simpson
18
Maximos Planoudes and the Transmission of Plutarch’s Moralia Inmaculada Pérez Martín
19
Plutarch and Theodore Metochites Sophia Xenophontos
20
Plutarch’s Reception in the Work of Nikephoros Xanthopoulos Stephanos Efthymiadis
21
Plutarch and Late Byzantine Intellectuals (c. 1350–1460) Florin Leonte
part 3: Other Medieval Cultures
22
Plutarch in the Syriac Tradition: a Preliminary Overview Alberto Rigolio
23
Para-Plutarchan Traditions in the Medieval Islamicate World Aileen Das and Pauline Koetschet
part 4: Renaissance
24
Leonardo Bruni and Plutarch Marianne Pade
25
Plutarch and Poliziano Fabio Stok
26
Plutarch’s French Translation by Amyot Françoise Frazier and Olivier Guerrier
27
The First Editions of Plutarch’s Works, and the Translation by Thomas North Michele Lucchesi
28
Humanist Latin Translations of the Moralia Francesco Becchi
29
Plutarch and Montaigne Christopher Edelman
30
Taking Centre Stage: Plutarch and Shakespeare Miryana Dimitrova
part 5: Enlightenment and the Modern Age
31
Plutarch from Voltaire to Stendhal Francesco Manzini
32
Plutarch and Goethe Paul Bishop
33
Plutarch and Adamantios Koraes Sophia Xenophontos
34
Plutarch and the Victorians Isobel Hurst
35
Plutarch and Cavafy David Ricks
36
Plutarch in American Literature: Emerson and Other Authors Frieda Klotz
37
Plutarch’s Fortune in Spain Aurelio Pérez Jiménez
38
A Sage and a Kibbutznik: Plutarch in Modern Hebrew Literature and Culture Eran Almagor
Index Rerum et Nominum Index Locorum
All interested in the reception of the classical literature especially ancient biography and philosophy, and anyone concerned with Plutarch and/or his afterlife.