The City and the Self in Plutarch

Zadorojnyi, Alexei V ORCID: 0000-0002-5069-4739 (2022) The City and the Self in Plutarch. In: Plutarch's Cities. Oxford University Press,Oxford, pp. 235-252. ISBN 9780192859914

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Abstract

<p>Chapter 13 investigates Plutarch’s conception of the <italic>polis</italic> as a somatic, psychological, and moral entity, which recalls and elaborates the city/soul analogy in Plato’s <italic>Republic</italic>. It is argued that the tropes for the soul in Plutarch are not dominated by contemporary references to the Roman empire, but rather point to a timeless, palpably classical, <italic>polis</italic> fighting off the enemies from its gates. Such a ‘defensive’ turn of the city/soul analogy does not, however, make it any less valuable to Plutarch as a Platonically bent interpreter of the past and of the imperial present. The city/soul analogy helps to triangulate the three major ideological circuits of the Plutarchan macrotext: his sustained interest in human soul and character, his scrutiny of city-state politics from a perspective which is simultaneously pragmatic and idealistic, and his decision to explore both character and the <italic>polis</italic> with, and through, Plato.</p>

Item Type:	Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Platonism, Plutarch
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Histories, Languages and Cultures
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	30 Mar 2022 10:12
Last Modified:	01 Mar 2024 02:30
DOI:	10.1093/oso/9780192859914.003.0014
Related URLs:	Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3151755