A few words about why I like Plutarch (Πλούταρχος) – and some clues to the richness and wisdom one can find in his writings.
Firstly, let me say that I am talking
about the ‘real’ or ‘famous’ ’ Plutarch, well to my mind at least. He is usually
known as ‘Plutarch of Chaeronea’ (a city in central Greece) and lived around 46 CE and died around 120. (In other words, this is not the latter Plutarch
of Athens who lived around 350 – 430 CE and was one of the latter Neo Platonist
group of that time – a group that I personally have mixed feelings about…… but
that is something for another day.)
Plutarch was born into a wealthy and well connected family
and received the best possible education.
He travelled to Asia minor and Egypt – and later made a series of visits
to Rome where he was given official recognition by the emperors Trajan and
Hadrian, which added to his fame.
He writes in a popular / accessible and practical way…. You
will know what Plutarch was getting at after you read the one of his essays –
even if you do not agree with him about everything. If you prefer reading this with specialist
vocabulary, supposed esoteric hidden meanings, and the discussion of very vague
abstract ideas opened to interpretation or esoteric deliberations - then I
think this Plutarch will not be to your taste.
However, if like me - you are not put off by down to earth and straightforward philosophical writing, I think it is fair to say Plutarch’s essays contain a rich source of spiritual and philosophical guidance and nourishment; along with several suggested pitfalls to avoid in a quest to lead a more philosophical life. Keep in mind, he also held responsible positions here in Delphi in the priesthoods there…and was very well respected here. When he speaks about ‘certain’ spiritual things – albeit in a simple and straightforward way - we should consider at least that he not only knows what he is talking about – but has an understanding of these deeper things as well.
When I hear some modern commentators relegate Plutarch to the side lines simply - because he uses down to earth and very understandable language - I am not that impressed. After all, Socrates himself (who lived some 400 years before Plutarch ) warns us about just accepting ‘clever or stylish arguments’ over ideas that are presented simply and in a straightforward manner. Socrates is very critical of rhetoric (basically the art of persuasion and clever speech making) - if it is in the wrong hands. By this Socrates means, if the speaker however elegant and polished, does not really what they are talking about and just pretends they do, or is deliberately trying to mislead is audience.…… as is often the case with our political leaders, or people who perhaps are trying to persuade us to buy things we don’t want, or do things that are not good for us.
Plutarch wrote two main works which have come down to us today:
..... One was the more well know Parallel Lives of
outstanding Greek and Roman leaders – which deliberately and cleverly compares
two leaders at a time who may have different characters or outlooks on certain
matters; so the descriptions are very ‘philosophical’ as well, and not just
historical.
The second lesser well know work (book) is conventionally
known as The Moralia which is a Latin translation of a Greek term for
‘Moral Pieces’ (ēthika), – which comprised of some 26 essays on various
subjects – not just moral subjects as we might suppose. (Incidentally,
Plutarch’s son, Lamprias, is attributed with compiling and editing his father’s
essays and papers into books after Plutarch’s death.)
Within The Moralia Plutarch writes an essay
explaining The E at Delphi, and I will make a few comments about this
over the next week or two. Greek members
of this group can read Plutarch’s Isis and Osiris, and about the E in Delphi from:
However, let me finish this post by telling you some of the
more unusual things (but very straightforward and important things) Plutarch
says within his essay on the Gods Isis and Osiris. I feel these are importance quotes to
share with people who are on the philosophical path….
Some Quotes from Plutarch’s essay on Isis and Osiris
(Plutarch is talking to a friend, Clea, in
Delphi)
🔑All good things, my dear Clea, sensible men
must ask from the gods; and especially do we pray that from those mighty gods
we may, in our quest, gain a knowledge of themselves, so far as such a thing is
attainable by men. For we believe that there is nothing more important for man
to receive, or more ennobling for God of His grace to grant, than the truth.
🔑For the Deity is not blessed by reason of his
possession of gold and silver, nor strong because of thunder and lightning, but
through knowledge and intelligence.
🔑Therefore, the effort to arrive at the Truth, and especially the truth about the gods, is a longing for the divine. For the search for truth requires for its study and investigation the consideration of sacred subjects, and it is a work more hallowed than any form of holy living or temple service; and, not least of all, it is well-pleasing to that goddess whom you worship, a goddess exceptionally wise and a lover of wisdom, to whom, as her name at least seems to indicate, knowledge and understanding are in the highest degree appropriate. For Isis is a Greek word,…..
🔑.....for she is wise, and discloses the divine mysteries to those who truly and justly have the name of “bearers of the sacred vessels” and “wearers of the sacred robes.” These are they who within their own soul, as though within a casket, bear the sacred writings about the gods clear of all superstition and pedantry; and they cloak them with secrecy, thus giving intimation, some dark and shadowy, some clear and bright, of their concepts about the gods, intimations of the same sort as are clearly evidenced in the wearing of the sacred garb. ……
🔑 It is a fact, Clea, that having a beard and
wearing a coarse cloak does not make philosophers, nor does dressing in linen
and shaving the hair make votaries of Isis; but the true votary of Isis is
he/she who has legitimately received what is set forth in the ceremonies
connected with these gods, and uses reason in investigating and in studying the
truth contained therein…
🔑 But for all this there is only one true reason,
which is to be found in the words of Plato: “for the Impure to touch the Pure
is contrary to divine ordinance.” [Note:
This is particularly important for readers searching for the truth, the
beautiful, the good or the divine….]
🔑 In Saïs the statue of Athena, whom they believe
to be Isis, bore the inscription: “I am all that has been, and is, and shall
be, and my robe no mortal has yet uncovered.” Moreover, most people believe
that Amoun is the name given to Zeus in the land of the Egyptians, a name which
we, with a slight alteration, pronounce Ammon. But Manetho of Sebennytus
dthinks that the meaning “concealed” or “concealment” lies in this word.
🔑 When they, therefore, address the supreme god,
whom they believe to be the same as the Universe, as if he were invisible and
concealed, and implore him to make himself visible and manifest to them, they
use the word “Amoun”; so great, then, was the circumspection of the Egyptians
in their wisdom touching all that had to do with the gods. 10 1 Witness to this
also are the wisest of the Greeks: Solon, Thales, Plato, Eudoxus, Pythagoras,
who came to Egypt and consorted with the priests; and in this number some would
include Lycurgus also.
🔑 ……and you must not think that any of these
tales actually happened in the manner in which they are related. The facts are
that they do not call the dog by the name Hermes as his proper name, but they
bring into association with the most astute of their gods that animal’s
watchfulness and wakefulness and wisdom,b since he distinguishes between what
is friendly and what is hostile by his knowledge of the one and his ignorance
of the other, as Plato remarks. Nor, again, do they believe that the sun rises
as a new-born babe from the lotus, but they portray the rising of the sun in
this manner to indicate allegorically the enkindling of the sun from the
waters.
🔑 If, then, you listen to the stories about the
gods in this way, accepting them from those who interpret the story reverently
and philosophically, and if you always perform and observe the established
rites of worship, and believe that no sacrifice that you can offer, no deed
that you may do will be more likely to find favour with the gods than your
belief in their true nature, you may avoid superstition which is no less an
evil than atheism.
🔑 Moreover, Lysippus the sculptor was quite right
in his disapproval of the painter Apelles, because Apelles in his portrait of
Alexander had represented him with a thunderbolt in his hand, whereas he
himself had represented Alexander holding a spear, the glory of which no length
of years could ever dim, since it was truthful and was his by right. 25 1
Better, therefore, is the judgment of those who hold that the stories about
Typhon, Osiris, and Isis, are records of experiences of neither gods nor men,
but of demigods, ewhom Plato and Pythagoras and Xenocrates and Chrysippus,
following the lead of early writers on sacred subjects, allege to have been
stronger than men and, in their might, greatly surpassing our nature, yet not
possessing the divine quality unmixed and uncontaminated, but with a share also
in the nature of the soul and in the perceptive faculties of the body, and with
a susceptibility to pleasure and pain and to whatsoever other experience is
incident to these mutations, and is the source of much disquiet in some and of
less in others. For in demigods, as in men, there are divers degrees of virtue
and vice.
🔑 The assumption, then, is that the demigods (or
daemons) have a complex and inconsistent nature and purpose; wherefore
🔑 …..That Osiris is identical with Dionysus who
could more fittingly know than yourself, Clea? For you are at the head of the
inspired maidens of Delphi, and have been consecrated by your father and mother
in the holy rites of Osiris. If, however, for the benefit of others it is
needful to adduce proofs of this identity, let us leave undisturbed what may
not be told, but the public ceremonies which the priests perform in the burial
of the Apis, when they convey his body on an improvised bier, do not in any way
come short of a Bacchic procession; for they fasten skins of fawns about
themselves, and carry Bacchic wands and indulge in shoutings and movements
exactly as do those who are under the spell of the Dionysiac ecstasies.
🔑 The Egyptians, as has already been stated,
point out tombs of Osiris in many places, and the people of Delphi believe that
the remains of Dionysus rest with them close beside the oracle; and the Holy
Ones offer a secret sacrifice in the shrine of Apollo whenever the devotees of
Dionysus wake the God of the Mystic Basket.
🔑 We must not treat legend as it were history at
all, but we should adopt that which is appropriate in each legend in accordance
with its verisimilitude.
