Plutarch's "Fortune": A Close Reading
Item
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Title
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Plutarch's "Fortune": A Close Reading
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Identifier
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d_2009_2013:50dfd91d6488:10754
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identifier
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10988
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Creator
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Lansky, Hannah MacKay,
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Contributor
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Peter Simpson
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Date
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2011
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Classical studies | Classical literature | ancient religion/philosophy | neo-pythagoreanism | Plutarch | Plutarch's Moralia | secret writing | Tyche/Fortuna/Chance
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Abstract
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Plutarch's Fortune has been ignored, if not dismissed, as a work of little or no importance. Certainly, there has been no in depth critical treatment of it in the current century or the twentieth century. To be sure, it seems an expression of superficial ideas. A closer reading, however, reveals a dense text which alludes or refers to numerous sources and literary genres, including philosophy, tragedy, lyric, comedy and oratory. Plutarch creates a subtle and complex fabric of association, which does not create a clear enough pattern to suggest his purpose in writing the work.;Possible clues toward an understanding of such a work as this one appears to be, are provided by Leo Strauss, Eduard Zeller, William Thomas, and John Toland, authors of the twentieth, nineteenth, and eighteenth centuries, as well as Cicero, Gellius and Plutarch, in antiquity. They describe a technique used by ancient writers which presented a superficial, exoteric teaching for the casual reader, while a more sophisticated reader would discern a deeper, esoteric teaching. As Plutarch's opusculum demonstrates a number of the signs of such writing, it is possible that he has employed such a technique of obscure writing.;This dissertation begins with an introductory chapter which outlines brief biographical details for Plutarch and the basic problems in studying the figure of Tyche, a description of the existing editions and previous treatments of the work, and introduces the problem of obscure writing as a possible approach to this essay of Plutarch. The complete text is presented in a commentary, which explores the references found throughout the essay and questions apparent discrepancies. The concluding chapter adds another aspect of the process of writing secretly, that of reading related works of different authors together to learn more of the underlying message. A short comparison between Plutarch and his contemporary, Favorinus, is presented. No firm conclusions have been drawn here, about the content of the inner teaching, but the project is intended as a foundation for further work.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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2009_2013.csv
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Classics
