history - Plutarch?

Question

once again, consider Plutarch's reliability as a source of information? Do any different concerns arise from his depiction of Pericles than from his description of ancient Sparta? If so, what are they? Why might documents from ancient Greece raise concerns that did not occur in our investigations of more ancient societies?

Answer 1

Hey Tnatlapia,

Mestrius Plutarchus (c. 46- 127), known in English as Plutarch, (in Greek Πλούταρχος) was a Greek historian, biographer, and essayist.

Born in the small town of Chaeronea, in the Greek region known as Boeotia, probably during the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius, Plutarch travelled widely in the Mediterranean world, including twice to Rome. Due to his parents' wealth, after 67, Plutarch was able to study philosophy, rhetoric, and mathematics at the Academy of Athens.

He had a number of influential friends, including Soscius Senecio and Fundanus, both important senators, to whom some of his later writings were dedicated. He lived most of his life at Chaeronea, and was initiated into the mysteries of the Greek god Apollo. However, his duties as the senior of the two priests of Apollo at the Oracle of Delphi (where he was responsible for interpreting the auguries of the Pythia) apparently occupied little of his time - he led an active social and civic life and produced an incredible body of writing, much of which is still extant.