Heroes Imitating Heroes: Ethical and Pragmatic Intratextuality in the Parallel Lives

Susan Jacobs

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Chapter 14 Heroes Imitating Heroes: Ethical and Pragmatic Intratextuality in the Parallel Lives

In: The Dynamics of Intertextuality in Plutarch

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Susan Jacobs

Susan Jacobs
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 215–231

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004427860_016

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Abstract

In the Prologues to Pericles-Fabius, Aemilius-Timoleon and Demetrius-Antony, Plutarch indicates that he expects readers to use the paradigms in the Lives as catalysts for action in private and public life. It is now widely recognized—based on work of Christopher Pelling, Philip Stadter, Timothy Duff and others—that Plutarch’s paradigms are not prescriptive, but are descriptive and exploratory, and that readers are expected to distill positive and deterrent paradigms for themselves from the key incidents in a hero’s Life. This chapter examines Plutarch’s paradigms from a different perspective: rather than considering how readers might respond to the paradigms, the focus is on how Plutarch employs intratextuality across the Lives to sharpen the portrayal of his heroes as being guided by the example of leaders of the past and becoming role models themselves for later generations. Two questions are central. First, in what ethical and pragmatic contexts does Plutarch evoke the heroes of other Lives as standards of comparison or role models for handling challenges of public and private life? Second, to what extent do intratextual references to subjects of other Lives provide a unifying thread connecting ethical, political and military themes across the series? Nearly eighty cross-references are examined in three categories: (1) heroes referring to subjects of other Lives, (2) contemporaries naming subjects of other Lives and (3) Plutarch’s references to the subjects of other Lives in his authorial comments. This analysis illustrates how such intratextuality reinforces the central themes of the Lives and forms meaningful threads unifying the entire series of Parallel Lives into a multifaceted exploration of the ethical and pragmatic dimensions of leadership.

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The Dynamics of Intertextuality in Plutarch

Series: Brill's Plutarch Studies, Volume: 5

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004427860

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 06 May 2020

Subjects
- Classical Studies
  - Greek & Latin Literature
- Literature and Cultural Studies
  - Criticism & Theory

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Chapter 14 Heroes Imitating Heroes: Ethical and Pragmatic Intratextuality in the Parallel Lives

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The Dynamics of Intertextuality in Plutarch

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