Claim OwnershipThe Plutarch Podcast
Subscribed: 109Played: 1,483
Subscribe
© 2024 The Plutarch Podcast
Description
Tom Cox from grammaticus.co explores Plutarch’s Parallel Lives to introduce you to antiquity, encourage you in your education, or refresh your perspective on people and politics by stepping outside the news cycle. Biography invigorates the study of history by bringing it to life. Plutarch was the first master of this form, examining in a person the relationship between fortune, virtue, and excellence. Whether you just want to study antiquity from your armchair, sit at the feet of the greatest teachers of the West, or expand your own classical education, Plutarch’s Parallel Lives and the podcast are here to serve. Plutarch wrote almost 50 lives exploring the greatest leaders of the Greek and Roman world before Christ. His lives have been foundational to education for centuries, but they are often wrapped in the obscurity of older translations or bog the reader down with specific political and social terms from Athens or Rome. Let Tom translate the jargon and enliven the journey by outlining and explaining each essay encouraging you to dive in and learn from the teacher himself, or guide your students through his essays. Whether you learn or teach in a classroom or at home, join Plutarch—and Tom—in examining what it means to live well, by considering those who have lived before us.
42 Episodes
Reverse
Full Show NotesGreek Parallel - TimoleonImportant PeoplePerseus - A tyrannical Macedonian leader who acts as a foil to Aemilius's virtues. They are like parallel lines running in opposite directions, even down to their family lives. Tubero - An obscure character worth keeping an eye on. Raised in a frugal, Roman home supporting Roman virtue, he rises to a trusted position in Aemilius’s army and continues to be dependable and virtuous. A stark contrast to the many lackeys who attend Perse...
Full Show Notes - https://plutarch.life/titus-flamininus/Greek Parallel - PhilopoemenImportant PeoplePhilip V - The second-to-last Macedonian king because the Romans play fair in this generation and allow Philip to remain on the throne even after soundly defeating him in battle twice. Philip also has to give up over-lordship of Greece which allows Titus to declare them free. Antiochus III - Antiochus swoops in when he sees an opportunity and tries to market himself as a liberator for the...
Full Show Notes for Plutarch's Life of CleomenesRoman Parallel - Tiberius GracchusImportant PeopleAratus - The same Aratus from the last life, but older and more experienced now. Between Aratus, Cleomenes, and Philopoemen, it becomes clear that the Greeks themselves are the architects of their own undoing. None of these three men cooperates with the other and this dissension makes easy target for Antigonus. Megistonoüs - Cleomenes's father-in-law and right-hand man once he takes the thro...
Important PeopleLycurgus - ancient lawgiver, whose biography Plutarch also wrote, and to whom everyone refers constantly in this life as the original set of laws they are trying to hearken back to.Leonidas - one of two kings of Sparta (along with Agis, the protagonist of this life) who first secretly and then openly resists and thwarts Agis’s reforms at every turn.Lysander - Not the Lysander who was a contemporary of Agesilaus, but a new Lysander, elected as ephor and one of the main allies f...
Pelopidas Show NotesMarcellus Show NotesHow do these two hasty generals compare? Who had the greater victories? Who had the greater flaws? What lessons are there for us over two centuries later?Support the Show.
Marcellus - Rome's Sword Against HannibalParallel - PelopidasImportant PeopleArchimedes (sections 15-17; 19)Important PlacesNola - A small settlement near Naples.Tarentum -The Greek colony that had called Pyrrhus over to help them fight the Romans about eighty years before this Second Punic War. They switch sides several times, but their location on the spur of the calf of Italy makes them strategically important for either side. Naples - Originally a Greek colony, Syracuse - An eve...
Fabius Show NotesPericles Show NotesSupport the Show.
Full Show Notes: https://plutarch.life/fabiusGreek Parallel - PericlesImportant PeopleTerentius Varro - Mastermind of Cannae, survivor of the same battle, much to his shame.Marcellus - The sword to Fabius’s shield. Marcellus, whose life Plutarch also wrote, and Fabius together kept the Romans in their war against Hannibal without shameful or crippling setbacks.Scipio (Africanus) - The young and ambitious general, first succesful in Spain against the Carthaginians, makes a plan to take the war...
Full Show Notes for Camillus - Noble Roman DictatorGreek Parallel - ThemistoclesNo Extant Parallel Essay - :(Important PeopleBrennus - Gallic chieftan, unscrupulous and forceful, but without much character development as Plutarch did for other villains (see, for example, Alexander of Pherae's character development in the Life of Pelopidas or Dionysius II's tyrannical character as developed in the Life of Dion). The Common (Ro)Man - Whether volunteering to give your wagon to Vestal Virgin...
So how do Coriolanus and Alcibiades actually compare? One seems like an angry fireball of revenge, the other a self-serving but talented chameleon. Coriolanus couldn't care less about his reputation, but wants the excellence that lives up to his own standard. Alcibiades can accept anyone's standards of behavior... as long as there is something in it for him. How do these two very different men stand in their similarities and differences? What can we learn for ourselves and apply to our own li...
https://plutarch.life/coriolanusGreek Parallel - AlcibiadesImportant PeopleVolumnia - Coriolanus’s mother and, because his father died young, the woman on whom Coriolanus will pour all his filial piety.Tullus Aufidius - The leader of the Volscians against the Romans. When Coriolanus switches sides, it is Tullus who is eclipsed.The Senate - Yes, the Senate acts as a character in this Life, so much so that they represent those with all the power and control, even though they don’t do all the fi...
plutarch.life/pyrrhusPyrrhus, tempted to fight in the old Homeric style of one on one, strikes me as a man born in the wrong era. With the rise of the Macedonian phalanx, his tactical brilliance sees some success but his personal appetite for risk and voracious craving for the next adventure over the horizon cause him to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory too many times in his life. From Fabricius to Sparta to Argos, Pyrrhus seems to learn prudence, but only learns that even the Spar...
Roman Parallel - Marius (157-86 BC)Important PeopleDemetrius (337-283) - Neighbor and even, for a time, brother-in-law. Son of Antigonus I and father of Antigonus II, Demetrius rules in Greece, Macedon (for seven years), Asia Minor but was ultimately conquered by Seleucus and imprisoned until he died of his own drinking habit.Cassander (355-297) - Son of Antipater, who had served as regent of Macedon during Alexander’s campaigns and later served as regent after the death of Perdiccas, he did ...
Full Show Notes Available at https://plutarch.life/demetriusRoman Parallel: Mark Antony (83-30 BC)Season 4 is brought to you by Hackett Publishing - Use the coupon code PLUTARCH for 20% off and free shipping at hackettpublishing.comKey Vices and VirtuesLuxury or Softness (τρυφή) - At first, Demetrius seems to have control over this vice, but it turns out that it’s a symptom of a larger lack of self-control. Even when he can rein in his appetites for food and sex, he never fully conquers his a...
Full Show Notes Available at https://plutarch.life/phocionSeason 4 is brought to you by Hackett Publishing - Use the coupon code PLUTARCH for 20% off and free shipping at hackettpublishing.comRoman Parallel - Cato the Younger (95–46 BC)Phocion was three years old when Socrates died in 399 and then lives through the reigns of Philip, Alexander, and dies under Cassander's takeover of Athens. Though less well-known than his contemporary, Demosthenes, Plutarch wants us to remember him as a politi...
Full Show Notes Available at https://plutarch.life/eumenesSeason 4 is brought to you by Hackett Publishing - Use the coupon code PLUTARCH for 20% off and free shipping at hackettpublishing.comKey Virtues and VicesBravery (ἀνδρεῖος) - Eumenes, in spite of being the head secretary, is no pencil pusher. Plutarch wants to emphasize this even from the beginning. His education in and prowess in wrestling impress Philip equally as much as his intelligence. Both become an asset to Philip and then Ale...
Check out what I'm up to this summer and fall and see if you can learn some Greek and Latin with me.Full Show Notes Available at https://plutarch.life/alexanderSeason 4 is brought to you by Hackett Publishing - Use the coupon code PLUTARCH for 20% off and free shipping at hackettpublishing.comKey Virtues and Vices Generosity (μεγαλόδωρος) - When his wealth becomes nearly infinite his generosity keeps pace with it. Many examples given of Alexander’s largesse as he builds his empire. Justi...
Check out what I'm up to this summer and fall and see if you can learn some Greek and Latin with me.Full Show Notes Available at https://plutarch.life/alexanderSeason 4 is brought to you by Hackett Publishing - Use the coupon code PLUTARCH for 20% off and free shipping at hackettpublishing.com Important People-Bucephalus - Yes, a horse is an important character! Fiery, hard-working, and lasting till the edge of Alexander's empire, Bucephalus (ox-head) provides an analogue f...
Check out what I'm up to this summer and fall and see if you can learn some Greek and Latin with me. Full Show Notes Available at https://plutarch.life/timoleonSeason 4 is brought to you by Hackett Publishing - Use the coupon code PLUTARCH for 20% off and free shipping at hackettpublishing.comImportant PeopleTimophanes - Timoleon’s brother and the first tyrant we meet in this story. His name, rather fittingly, means "seems honorable."Dionysius II - The tyrant whom Dion overthrew, but did not ...
Check out what I'm up to this summer and fall and see if you can learn some Greek and Latin with me.Full show notes available at https://plutarch.life/dionSeason 4 is brought to you by Hackett Publishing. Use coupon code PLUTARCH for 20% and free shipping in the US and Canada. Important PeopleDionysius I (the elder) - Tyrant of Syracuse taking power shortly after the Peloponnesian War and reigning until 367 BC. For some authors, he's the textbook tyrant in the way he held on to power, the fea...
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States
the sound quality is very poor(((
I had high hopes for this episode. Sadly, it is a garbled and confusing account of these events. Like a poorly written high school essay on this chapter of Plutarch. Skip the podcast and read the original.