How to discern the flatterer of a friend: Flattery. How one can distinguish the flatterer hiding under the guise of a friend.

How one feels oneself advancing in virtue: The notion of progress. The progress of the wise, but also of every person who strives to rid themselves of their flaws.

How one can benefit from their enemies: Thoughts on the ways in which one can benefit from their enemies. The text is addressed to a Roman official.

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 personalities of the time, mainly prominent Romans. He spent most of his life in his homeland and held public priestly offices.

His surviving work is distinguished into the historical-biographical part and the so-called "Moral" writings. In the "Parallel Lives," prominent Greeks and Romans are compared, and the worlds each represents are implicitly contrasted. In the "Moral" writings, issues of ethics, philosophy, science, politics, literary criticism, as well as topics from the realm of religion, nature, history, etc., are developed, sometimes in the form of dialogues and sometimes as essays or treatises.

Multilingual and with a subtle mind, the author expressed traditional Greek values with simplicity and an optimistic outlook. His work delights and teaches, while also being an important source of the literature of classical and Hellenistic times.

CACTUS PLUTARCH ANCIENT GREEK LITERATURE CACTUS PLUTARCH