The Spartan general, the victor of the Peloponnesian War, and the Roman consul, notorious for the tyrannical regime he imposed and for the persecutions of his opponents.

The biographer and philosopher Plutarch (c. 50-120 AD) was born in Chaeronea, Boeotia. Through his travels, he broadened his intellectual horizons and came into contact with prominent figures of his time, mainly distinguished Romans. He spent most of his life in his homeland and held priestly public offices.

His surviving work is distinguished between the historical-biographical part and the so-called "Ethics" writings. In the "Parallel Lives," eminent Greeks and Romans are juxtaposed and indirectly compared, highlighting the worlds each represents.

In the "Ethics," issues of morality, philosophy, science, politics, philological criticism, as well as topics from religion, nature, history, and more are developed, sometimes in the form of dialogues and sometimes as treatises or essays.

Knowledgeable and of refined mind, the author expressed traditional Greek values with simplicity and an optimistic view. His work entertains and instructs, while also being an important source of literature from the classical and Hellenistic periods.

CACTUS PLUTARCH, ANCIENT GREEK LITERATURE, CACTUS PLUTARCH