Institute of Classical Studies The Afterlife of Plutarch (Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies Supplements): Volume 137

Plutarch s writings have had a varied reception history from when he was writing in the second century BCE down to today. This volume starts from what may be a translation into the Syriac dialect of a lost Plutarch essay; continues with a tribute from a leading scholar of the later Byzantine period; and follows the centuries of sustained enthusiasm from the Renaissance to the eighteenth century. This period started once a translation into Latin had become available, and ended when scholars in the nineteenth century lowered Plutarch s reputation as historian, biographer, philosopher, and stylist. By the end of the century, he came to symbolize in the eyes of Tolstoy precisely what history should not be. Both the causes of the decline and the later recovery of interest raise important new questions about how Plutarch should be assessed in the twenty-first century. This is one of the early volumes in the series of Afterlives of the Classics, being produced jointly by the Institute of Classical Studies and the Warburg. About the Author John North taught Greek and Roman history for forty years in the History Department at University College London, becoming Professor of History in 1992 and Emeritus Professor of History in 2003. He was Director of the Institute of Classical Studies from 2012–14 and co-editor of the series of ICS reception studies volumes. Peter Mack is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Warwick and a specialist in Renaissance rhetoric. From 2010 to 2014 he was Director of the Warburg Institute and Professor of the History of the Classical Tradition, University of London.