Book Cover of The Morals (Moralia), Book 2

The Morals (Moralia), Book 2

by Plutarch

The Moralia (loosely translatable as "Matters relating to customs") of the 1st-century Greek scholar Plutarch of Chaeronea is an eclectic collection of 78 essays and transcribed speeches. They give an insight into Roman and Greek life, but often are also fascinating timeless observations in their own right. Many generations of Europeans have read or imitated them, including Montaigne and the Renaissance Humanists and Enlightenment philosophers. The Moralia include "On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander the Great" — an important adjunct to his Life of the great general — "On the Worship of Isis and Osiris" (a crucial source of information on Egyptian religious rites), and "On the Malice of Herodotus" (which may, like the orations on Alexander's accomplishments, have been a rhetorical exercise), in which Plutarch criticizes what he sees as systematic bias in the Father of History's work; along with more philosophical treatises, such as "On the Decline of the Oracles", "On the Delays of the Divine Vengeance", "On Peace of Mind" and lighter fare, such as "Odysseus and Gryllus", a humorous dialog between Homer's Odysseus and one of Circe's enchanted pigs. The Moralia were composed first, while writing the Lives occupied much of the last two decades of Plutarch's own life. Some editions of the Moralia include several works now known to be pseudepigrapha: among these are the "Lives of the Ten Orators" (biographies of the Ten Orators of ancient Athens, based on Caecilius of Calacte), "The Doctrines of the Philosophers", and "On Music". One "pseudo-Plutarch" is held responsible for all of these works, though their authorship is of course unknown. Though the thoughts and opinions recorded are not Plutarch's and come from a slightly later era, they are all classical in origin and have value to the historian. The book is also famously the first reference to the problem of the chicken and the egg.
Books in 'The Morals (Moralia)' series
The Morals (Moralia), Book 2 by Plutarch

Book Details

Language

English

Original Language

Greek

Published In

100 AD

Authors

Plutarch image

Plutarch

Greece

Plutarch was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo. He is known primarily for his Parallel Lives, a series of biographies of illustr...

Books by Plutarch

Listen/Download Audiobook

Read by:
00:00
Playback Speed 1.0
00:00
  • Select Speed

Related books

 History of Rome from the Earliest Times Down to 476 AD Cover image

History of Rome from the Earliest Times Down to 476 AD by Robert F. Pennell

History of Rome from the Earliest times down to 476 AD. This compilation is designed to be a companion to the author's History of Greece. It is hoped...

Critias Cover image

Critias by Plato (Πλάτων)

Critias, one of Plato's late dialogues, recounts the story of the mighty island kingdom Atlantis and its attempt to conquer Athens, which failed due t...

The Mystic Will  Cover image

The Mystic Will by Charles G. Leland

This book presents a method of developing and strengthening the faculties of the mind, through the awakened will, by a simple, scientific process poss...

Journal of A Residence On A Georgian Plantation, 1838-1839  Cover image

Journal of A Residence On A Georgian Plantation, 1838-1839 by Frances Kemble

Fanny Kemble was a British actress who married mega-plantation owner, Pierce Butler of Georgia. During her marriage she kept journals of everyday life...

It's a Good Old World  Cover image

It's a Good Old World by Bruce Barton

In this collection of essays, Bruce Barton, considered to be among the most influential advertising men of the 20th century, uses history, religion an...

The Consolation of Philosophy Cover image

The Consolation of Philosophy by Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius

Consolation of Philosophy (Latin: Consolatio Philosophiae) is a philosophical work by Boethius written in about the year 524 AD. It has been described...

How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day Cover image

How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day by Arnold Bennett

This book is a classic piece on self-improvement teaching you to live to the fullest. Judging from the title of the book, the reader might expect tha...

Minor Works of Josephus Cover image

Minor Works of Josephus by Flavius Josephus

There are 3 parts to this collection. Against Apion is a two-volume defence of Judaism as classical religion and philosophy, stressing its antiquit...

Sophistical Elenchi  Cover image

Sophistical Elenchi by Aristotle

The Sophistical Elenchi is the sixth of Aristotle's six texts on logic which are collectively known as the Organon ("Instrument"). In the Sophistical...

How to Listen to Music  Cover image

How to Listen to Music by Henry Krehbiel

This book is "not written for professional musicians, but for untaught lovers of the art". It gives broad instruction on composers, styles, instrument...

Reviews for The Morals (Moralia), Book 2

No reviews posted or approved, yet...