Plutarch on the Great Battles of Greece

Christopher Pelling

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Chapter 6 Plutarch on the Great Battles of Greece

In: A Man of Many Interests: Plutarch on Religion, Myth, and Magic

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Christopher Pelling

Christopher Pelling
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 92–113

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004404472_007

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Abstract

Plutarch has a problem. His heroes are men of achievement, very often military achievement: yet so many of the great battles of Greece were ones that, in one mindset, he might find unsuitable for treatment, perhaps because they might encourage the impressionable young to the sort of emulation that might be dangerous in the Greece of his own day, perhaps because so much of the blood spilt had been Greek and so many of the wars had been regrettable. This paper explores his techniques in treating such battles, taking as sample cases the Persian Wars, Aegospotami, Leuctra, and Sellasia. The heroic achievement is fully acknowledged and admired, but Plutarch leaves no doubt that there was a downside too, and points out the distress and suffering caused by those internecine battles. The heroes themselves, still more than their cities, take some of the blame.

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A Man of Many Interests: Plutarch on Religion, Myth, and Magic

Essays in Honor of Aurelio Pérez Jiménez

Series: Brill's Plutarch Studies, Volume: 2

Cover A Man of Many Interests: Plutarch on Religion, Myth, and Magic

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004404472

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 27 Jun 2019

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Chapter 6 Plutarch on the Great Battles of Greece

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A Man of Many Interests: Plutarch on Religion, Myth, and Magic

Essays in Honor of Aurelio Pérez Jiménez

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