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Plutarch's pragmatic biographies : lessons for statesmen and generals in The parallel lives / by Susan G. Jacobs.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Jacobs, Susan G., author.
- Series:
- Columbia studies in the classical tradition ; v. 43.
- Columbia studies in the classical tradition, 0166-1302 ; volume 43
- Language:
- English
- Greek, Ancient (to 1453)
- Latin
- Subjects (All):
- Plutarch. Lives.
- Plutarch.
- Lives (Plutarch).
- Biography as a literary form.
- Greece--Biography--History and criticism.
- Greece.
- Rome--Biography--History and criticism.
- Rome.
- Rome (Empire).
- Genre:
- Biographies.
- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
- Physical Description:
- xv, 471 pages ; 25 cm.
- Place of Publication:
- Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2018]
- Language Note:
- In English with passages in Greek and Latin.
- Summary:
- In 'Plutarch's Pragmatic Biographies', Susan Jacobs argues for a major revision in how we interpret the Parallel Lives. She integrates the existing focus on moral issues into the much broader paradigm of effective leadership found in Plutarch's Moralia. There, in addition to moral virtue, the successful leader needed good critical judgment, persuasiveness and facility in managing alliances and rivalries. The analysis of six sets of Lives shows how Plutarch carefully portrayed Greek and Roman leaders of the past assessing situations and solving problems that paralleled those faced by his politically-active audience. By linking victories and defeats to specific strategic insights and practical skills, Plutarch created 'pragmatic biographies' that could instruct statesmen and generals of every era.
- Contents:
- Training the Politikos under Rome
- Plutarch and His Audience
- Plutarch's Concept of the Politikos
- Plutarch's Audience as Politikoi
- Political Careers Open to the Educated Elite
- Conclusion: Implications for Interpreting the Parallel Lives
- Pragmatic Literature for Statesmen and Generals
- Advice Literature
- Pragmatic History
- Individual Lives of Statesmen and Generals: Nepos and Plutarch
- Conclusion: Implications for the Purpose of the Parallel Lives
- Didactic Agenda of the Parallel Lives: Insights from the Prologues and Synkriseis
- Statesmanship and Generalship in the Prologues
- Statesmanship in the Synkriseis
- Techniques for Reinforcing Pragmatic Lessons Across the Parallel Lives
- Conclusion: Didactic Agenda of the Parallel Lives as Pragmatic Biography
- Political and Military Leadership
- Pericles-Fabius Maximus
- Introduction
- Life of Pericles
- Life of Fabius Maximus
- Insights from the Synkrisis
- Coriolanus-Aleibiades
- Life of Coriolanus
- Life of Alcibiades
- Agesilaus-Pompey
- Life of Agesilaus
- Life of Pompey
- Ruling and Being Ruled
- Aemilius-Timoleon
- Life of Aemilius Paullus
- Life of Timoleon
- Demetrius-Antony
- Life of Demetrius
- Life of Antony
- Phocion-Cato Minor
- Life of Phocion
- Life of Cato Minor
- Insights from Analyzing Differences
- Conclusion
- Plutarch's Project in the Parallel Lives
- Applying the Exempla
- Reception of the Lives as Pragmatic Biography in the Western Classical Tradition
- "Pragmatic Biography" versus "Explorations of Issues of Virtue and Vice".
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Other Format:
- Online version: Plutarch's pragmatic biographies.
- ISBN:
- 9789004276604
- 9004276602
- OCLC:
- 991743266
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