Plutarch – The Parallel Lives Collection

305.00

“A small thing like a phrase or a jest often reveals more of a character than battles where thousands die.” – Plutarch, Parallel Lives (Life of Alexander)

Weight7 kg
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SKU: MTG10113 Weight: 7 kg Category:
Language: Ancient Greek & Greek
Volumes: 24
Description

Parallel Lives, by Plutarch: the most renowned work of the great Middle Platonist philosopher, through which invaluable information about major figures of Greek and Roman antiquity has been preserved.

What makes Plutarch’s work outstanding?

Plutarch’s most famous work consists of paired biographies, with one Greek and one Roman in each volume. Most of the biographies include a direct comparison of the characters of the individuals portrayed. Through vivid storytelling and carefully chosen details, the work highlights how personal virtues and flaws can shape an entire life, and sometimes even the fate of a society. It remains a timeless source of reflection, inviting readers to consider leadership, ethics, and human nature through real examples from the ancient world.

Plutarch’s aim was not so much to present the historical facts of each person’s life as to study their character and psychological makeup.

What does Plutarch’s Parallel Lives include?

The Parallel Lives constitute an important source of information about major historical figures. For some of those portrayed, Plutarch provides details that are not found in any other sources.

The biographical pairs are:

  • Solon – Publicola
  • Themistocles – Camillus
  • Theseus – Romulus
  • Lycurgus – Numa Pompilius
  • Pericles – Fabius Maximus
  • Coriolanus – Alcibiades
  • Aristides – Cato the Elder
  • Pelopidas – Marcellus
  • Agis and Cleomenes – Tiberius and Gaius
  • Gracchus
  • Aemilius Paulus – Timoleon
  • Dion – Brutus
  • Cimon – Lucullus
  • Pyrrhus – Gaius Marius
  • Philopoemen – Titus Flamininus
  • Nicias – Crassus
  • Phocion – Cato the Younger
  • Alexander – Julius Caesar
  • Demosthenes – Cicero
  • Lysander – Sulla
  • Agesilaus – Pompey
  • Eumenes – Sertorius
  • Demetrius – Mark Antony
  • Aratus – Artaxerxes
  • Galba – Otho

From our Journal

F.A.Q.
What is Plutarch’s Parallel Lives collection?
Plutarch’s Parallel Lives is a 24-volume series of paired biographies that preserves valuable information about major Greek and Roman figures from antiquity.
What makes Plutarch’s work outstanding?
It presents one Greek and one Roman life side by side, often followed by a direct comparison, showing how character, virtues, and flaws can influence both personal destiny and the course of history.
What was Plutarch’s main aim in writing the Lives?
His focus was less on listing historical facts and more on revealing each person’s character and psychological makeup through meaningful details and storytelling.
Why is Parallel Lives an important historical source?
Because it offers unique information about key individuals, and for some figures it preserves details that are not found in any other surviving sources.
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