The Morals (Moralia), Book 2

Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus (c. 46 - c. 120)

The Moralia (loosely translatable as "Matters relating to customs") of the 1st-century Greek scholar Plutarch of Chaeronea is an eclectic collection of 78 essays and transcribed speeches. They give an insight into Roman and Greek life, but often are also fascinating timeless observations in their own right. Many generations of Europeans have read or imitated them, including Montaigne and the Renaissance Humanists and Enlightenment philosophers. The Moralia include "On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander the Great" — an important adjunct to his Life of the great general — "On the Worship of Isis and Osiris" (a crucial source of information on Egyptian religious rites), and "On the Malice of Herodotus" (which may, like the orations on Alexander's accomplishments, have been a rhetorical exercise), in which Plutarch criticizes what he sees as systematic bias in the Father of History's work; along with more philosophical treatises, such as "On the Decline of the Oracles", "On the Delays of the Divine Vengeance", "On Peace of Mind" and lighter fare, such as "Odysseus and Gryllus", a humorous dialog between Homer's Odysseus and one of Circe's enchanted pigs. The Moralia were composed first, while writing the Lives occupied much of the last two decades of Plutarch's own life. Some editions of the Moralia include several works now known to be pseudepigrapha: among these are the "Lives of the Ten Orators" (biographies of the Ten Orators of ancient Athens, based on Caecilius of Calacte), "The Doctrines of the Philosophers", and "On Music". One "pseudo-Plutarch" is held responsible for all of these works, though their authorship is of course unknown. Though the thoughts and opinions recorded are not Plutarch's and come from a slightly later era, they are all classical in origin and have value to the historian. The book is also famously the first reference to the problem of the chicken and the egg. (Summary adapted from the Wikipedia)

Genre(s): Classics (Greek & Latin Antiquity), *Non-fiction, Self-Help

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 The Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, part 1 Alan Brown
00:33:53
Play 02 The Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, part 2 Elena Pol
00:31:10
Play 03 The Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, part 3 KHand
00:20:47
Play 04 How a Young Man Ought to Hear Poems, part 1 KHand
00:31:12
Play 05 How a Young Man Ought to Hear Poems, part 2 KHand
00:24:37
Play 06 How a Young Man Ought to Hear Poems, part 3 Lynne T
00:24:34
Play 07 How a Young Man Ought to Hear Poems, part 4 Ann Boulais
00:21:52
Play 08 Of Envy and Hatred Arnie Horton
00:10:26
Play 09 How to Know a Flatterer From a Friend, part 1 Anna Simon
00:25:35
Play 10 How to Know a Flatterer From a Friend, part 2 Anna Simon
00:27:27
Play 11 How to Know a Flatterer From a Friend, part 3 MorganScorpion
00:33:48
Play 12 How to Know a Flatterer From a Friend, part 4 MorganScorpion
00:32:45
Play 13 That It Is Not Possible to Live Pleasurably According to the Doctrine of Epicurus, part 1 Cameron Davis
00:31:37
Play 14 That It Is Not Possible to Live Pleasurably According to the Doctrine of Epicurus, part 2 Ann Boulais
00:34:13
Play 15 That It Is Not Possible to Live Pleasurably According to the Doctrine of Epicurus, part 3 Ann Boulais
00:33:35
Play 16 Roman Questions, part 1 Ann Boulais
00:32:24
Play 17 Roman Questions, part 2 Ann Boulais
00:33:30
Play 18 Roman Questions, part 3 Ann Boulais
00:32:19
Play 19 Roman Questions, part 4 Ann Boulais
00:34:29
Play 20 Greek Questions, part 1 MorganScorpion
00:33:49
Play 21 Greek Questions, part 2 MorganScorpion
00:32:15
Play 22 Of the Love of Wealth MorganScorpion
00:25:38
Play 23 How a Man May Inoffensively Praise Himself Without Being Liable to Envy Josh Kirsh
00:34:06
Play 24 Concerning the Procreation of the Soul As Discoursed In Timaeus, part 1 MorganScorpion
00:26:36
Play 25 Concerning the Procreation of the Soul As Discoursed In Timaeus, part 2 Anna Simon
00:33:13
Play 26 Concerning the Procreation of the Soul As Discoursed In Timaeus, part 3 Jairus Amar
00:40:44
Play 27 That a Philosopher Ought Chiefly to Converse With Great Men Larry Wilson
00:22:32
Play 28 A Discourse Concerning Socrates's Daemon, part 1 Simon Brouwer
00:30:42
Play 29 A Discourse Concerning Socrates's Daemon, part 2 Simon Brouwer
00:32:53
Play 30 A Discourse Concerning Socrates's Daemon, part 3 Simon Brouwer
00:33:50
Play 31 Of Curiosity, Or an Over-busy Inquisitiveness Into Things Impertinent, part 1 Andrea Curry
00:18:39
Play 32 Of Curiosity, Or an Over-busy Inquisitiveness Into Things Impertinent, part 2 Ann Boulais
00:25:35
Play 33 How a Man May Be Sensible of His Progress In Virtue, part 1 Luke Sartor
00:37:10
Play 34 How a Man May Be Sensible of His Progress In Virtue, part 2 Luke Sartor
00:34:08
Play 35 Of Fortune Luke Sartor
00:14:43
Play 36 Of Virtue and Vice Luke Sartor
00:07:55
Play 37 Conjugal Precepts, part 1 Larry Wilson
00:23:27
Play 38 Conjugal Precepts, part 2 Larry Wilson
00:25:08