[1] _Amatorius_, 13, 756 A, D; 757 B. The quotation is from Euripides,
_Bacchae_, 203.
[2] _Non suaviter_, 21, 1101 E-1102 A.
[3] _de Iside_, 68, 378 A.
[4] _de def. orac._ 8, 414 A.
[5] Mahaffy, _Silver Age of Greek World_, p. 45.
[6] Horace is the best known of Athenian students. The delightful
letters of Synesius show the hold Athens still retained upon a very
changed world in 400 A.D.
[7] Life of Antony, 68.
[8] _Symp._ i, 5, 1.
[9] _Symp._ iv, 4, 4.
[10] _v. Ant._ 28.
[11] _Symp._ iii, 7, 1.
[12] _Symp._ ii, 8, 1.
[13] _Symp._ viii, 6, 5, _hubristes on kai philogelos physei_. _Symp._
ix, 15, 1.
[14] _de fraterno amore_, 16, 487 E. Volkmann, _Plutarch_, i, 24,
suggests he was the Timon whose wife Pliny defended on one occasion,
_Epp._ i, 5, 5.
[15] _de frat. am._ 7, 481 D.
[16] _de E._ 1, 385 B.
[17] _v. Them._ 32, end.
[18] Zeller, _Eclectics_, 334.
[19] _de E._ 17, 391 E. Imagine the joys of a Euclid, says Plutarch,
in _non suaviter_, 11, 1093 E.
[20] _Symp._ ix, 15.
[21] _Symp._ viii, 3, I.
[22] _Pericles_ 13.
[23] Dio Chr. _Rhodiaca, Or._ 31, 117.
[24] Cf. the _Nigrinus_.
[25] Gellius, N.A. ii, 21, 1, _vos opici_, says Gellius to his
friends--Philistines.
[26] _Symp._ v, 5, 1.
[27] _Polit. praec._ 20, 816 D.
[28] _de curiositate_, 15.
[29] _Demosthenes_, 2.
[30] See Volkmann, i, 35, 36; _Rom. Qu._ 103; _Lucullus_, 37, end.
[31] _Demosthenes_, 2.
[32] _de sera_, 15, 559 A.
[33] _de Stoic. rep._ 2, 1033 B, C.
[34] _Pol. Praec._ 15, 811 C.
[35] _Symp._ ii, 10, 1; vi, 8, 1.
[36] Reference to Polemo's hand-book to them, _Symp._ v, 2, 675 B.
[37] _de E._ 384 F.
[38] _Demosthenes_, 2; and 1.
[39] _Timoleon_, pref.
[40] _Alexander_, 1.
[41] _de tranqu. animi_, i, 464 F, _ouk akroaseos heneka theromenes
kalligraphian_--a profession often made, but in Plutarch's case true
enough as a rule.
[42] See, _e.g._, variety of possible explanations of the E at Delphi,
in tract upon it.
[43] Stapfer, _Shakespeare and Classical Antiquity_ (tr.), p. 299. "It
may be safely said he followed Plutarch far more closely than he did
even the old English chroniclers."
[44] _Cons. ad Ux._ 2-3, 608 C, D.
[45] _Cons. ad Ux._ 11, 612 A, B. Cf. _non suaviter_, 26, 1104 C, on
the loss of a child or a parent.
[46] _de coh. ira._ 11, 459 C; cf. _Progress in Virtue_, 80 B, 81 C, on
_epieikeia_ and _praotes_ as signs of moral progress.
[47] Cf. Sen. _Ep._ 47; Clem. Alex. _Paed._ iii, 92.
[48] A curious parallel to this in Tert. _de Patientia_, 15, where
Tertullian draws the portrait of Patience--perhaps from life, as Dean
Robinson suggests--after Perpetua the martyr.
[49] Gellius, _N.A._ i, 26.
[50] _Solon_, 32.
[51] Artemidorus, _Oneirocritica_, iv, 72. On this author see chapter
vii.
[52] See _non suaviter_, 17, 1098 D, on the unspeakably rich joy of
such a life of friendly relations with gods and men.
[53] _Progress in Virtue_, 4, 77 C, Love of Philosophy compared to a
lover's passion, to "hunger and thirst."
[54] Plato, _Apology_, 38 A, _ho de anexetastos bios ou biotos
anthropo_.
[55] _Pensees_, Art. xxiv, 5.
[56] _Adv. Coloten_ (foe Epicurean), 31, 1125 D, E. For this argument
from consensus, see Seneca, _Ep._ 117, 6, _Multum dare solemus
praesumptioni omnium hominum et apud nos veritatis argumentum est
aliquid omnibus videri: tanquam deos esse inter alia hoc colligimus,
quod omnibus insita de dis opinio est, nee ulla gens usquam est adeo
extra leges moresque projecta ut non aliquos deos credat_. This
consensus rests (with the Stoics) on the common preconceptions of the
mind, which are natural. For ridicule of the doctrine of consensus,
see Lucian, Zeus Tragaedus, 42.
[57] _Amatorius_, 18, 763 C. Cf. view of Celsus _ap._ Orig. _c. Cels._
vii, 41.
[58] _Consol. ad Apoll._ 34, 120 B.
[59] _Quomodo Poetas_, 1, 15 E, F, poetry a preliminary study to
philosophy, _prophilosopheteon tois poiemasin_.
[60] _de Pyth. orac._ 29, 408 F. Cf. the pagan's speech in Minucius
Felix, 7, 6, _pleni et mixti deo vates futura praecerpunt ... etiam per
guietem deos videmus_....
[61] So Volkmann, _Plutarch_, ii, 290 n. Cf. a passage of Celsus,
Orig. _c. Cels._ viii, 45.
[62] _de def. or._ 14, 417 C, _emphaseis_ and _diaphaseis_.
[63] Tertullian sums up the pagan line of argument and adds a telling
criticism in his book _adversus Nationes_, ii, 1: _adversus haec igitur
nobis negotium est, adversus institutiones maiorum, auctoritates
receptorum, leges dominantium, argumentationes prudentium, adversus
vetustatem consuetudinem necessitatem, adversus exempla prodigia
miracula, quae omnia adulterinam istam divinitatem corroboraverint....
Maior in huiusmodi penes vos auctoritas litterarum quam rerum est_.
[64] _de Iside_, 67, 377 F-378 A
[65] Oakesmith, _Religion of Plutarch_, p. 88--a book which I have
found of great use.
[66] _de E._ 18-20. Cf. Clem. Alex. _Protr._ 84. The true To-day of
God is eternity. Also Tert. _ad Natt._ ii, 6, on the axiom of no
change in God.
[67] _de E._ 21.
[68] Cf. Plato, _Timaeus_, 55 D.
[69] Plutarch, _de. def. orac._ 29, 425 F-426 A. Celsus has the same
view; (Origen, _c. Cels._ v, 25; vii, 68): the world's regions are
severally allotted to _epoptai_ under Providence; so that local usages
may well be maintained in such form as pleases them; to alter these
would be impious, while to worship the daemons is to honour God, who is
not jealous of them. Cf. Plutarch, _de fortuna Romanorum_, 11, 324 B,
_ho Romaion megas daimon ... te polei synebesas kai synauxetheis,
kthe_--the tract is a poor and rhetorical one, and the phrase may be
merely a synonym for "luck." See also Celsus (Orig. _c. Cels._ viii,
58) on the Egyptian attribution of the human body to thirty-six "daemons
or gods of aether," so that by prayer to the right one disease in any
part of the body may be cured; Celsus gives some of their names. The
Christians assumed a somewhat similar scheme with a rather different
development. Athenagoras, an apologist of the second century, gives
the following account in his _Presbeia_, 24-27. A system of angels
under Providence existed, some good and some bad, enjoying free-will as
men also do; "the ruler of matter and of the forms in it" lusted after
virgins and succumbed to flesh, and neglected the administration
entrusted to him; others fell with him; they cannot regain heaven but
meantime occupy the air; their children by mortal women were giants and
the souls of these are the daemons; the ruler of matter directs all
things against God; with matter are connected the soul's worse
impulses. See also Clem. Alex. _Strom._ vi, 157, on angelic governance
of individual nations and cities; and Lactantius, _Instit._ ii, 8, 14,
whose account fairly resembles that of Athenagoras. Tertullian,
however, suggests (_Apol._ 11) that the Creator had no need of
ancillary gods to complete his work.
[70] For a summary of Stoic teaching here, see Cicero, _N.D._ ii, 60-70.
[71] _de def. orac._ 29, 426 B. Cf. _de Iside_, 66, 377 D, E. "You
might as well give the name of steersman to sails, ropes or anchor."
[72] _de def. orac._ 30, 246 D, E.
[73] This triple government of the Universe is worked out in _de fato_
(a tract whose authorship is questioned), but from one passage and
another of Plutarch's undoubted works it can be established, though
every statement has a little fringe of uncertainties.
[74] _de Iside_, 25, 360 E.
[75] _de def. orac._ 12, 416 C.
[76] Cf. Athenagoras, _Presb._ 24 (quoted in note 1 on p. 95); and
Apuleius, _de deo Socr._ 6, 132, cited on p. 232.
[77] _de def. orac._ 13, 416 F.
[78] _de def. orac._ 9, 414 F.
[79] See _de comm. not. adv. Stoicos_, 33, and _de Stoicorum repugn._
33, 34--three very interesting chapters. Clement of Alexandria has the
same tone in criticizing this idea--_ouk oid hopos anexethi tis epaion
toutou theon egnokos apidon eis ton bion ton hymeteron en hosois
phyrometha kakois. ein gar an outos, ho med eipein themis, merikos
hamartanon ho those, kthe_. _Strom._ ii, 74.
[80] _de Iside_, 26, 361 C. Cf. Plato, _Sympos._ 202 E, 203 A
(referred to above), for the functions of _to daimonion_, which is
_metaxu theou te kai thnetou ... hermeneuon kai diamorthmeuon theois ta
par anthropon kai anthropois ta para theon kthe ... theos de anthropo
ou mignutai ... ou toi de daimones polloi kai pantodapoi eisin, eis de
touton esti kai ho Eros_.
[81] _de def. orac._ 10, 414 F-415 A.
[82] _de Iside_, 27, 361 E; _de def. orac._ 10, 415 C; cf. Tert. _ad
Natt._ ii, 2.
[83] _Romulus_, 28; _de def. orac._ 10, 415 B.
[84] Hesiod, _Works and Days_, 121. "But," asks Tatian (c. 16), "why
should they get _drastikoteras dynameos_ after death?" See the reply
given by Plutarch, _de def. orac._ 39, 431 E. Compare also views of
Apuleius (_de deo Socr._ 15) cited on p. 233.
[85] _de genio Socratis_, 24, 593 D-F. He is thinking of the series of
rebirths.
[86] On such places and on necromancy in general see Tertullian, _de
anima_, 57, who puts it down to illusion of the evil one--_nec magnum
illi exteriores oculos circumscribere cui interiorem mentis aciem
excaecare perfacile est_.
[87] Cf. p. 15 on the _genius_ and the _fravashi_.
[88] _de tranqu. animi_, 15, 474 B.
[89] Cf. the story of the appearance to Brutus of his evil genius--_ho
sos_, _o broute_, _daimon kakos_, Brutus, 36. Basilides the Gnostic
(the father of Isidore) is credited with describing Man as a sort of
Wooden Horse with a whole army of different spirits in him (Clem. Alex.
_Strom_, ii, 113). Plutarch makes a similar jibe at the Stoic account
of arts, virtues, vices, etc., as corporeal or even animate and
rational beings--making a man "a Paradise, or a cattle-pen, or a Wooden
Horse," _de commun. notit. adv. Stoicos_, 45, 1084 B. There was a
tendency in contemporary psychology to attribute all feelings, etc., to
daemonic influence; cf. Clem. Alex. _Strom._ ii, 110, who suggests that
all _pathe_ are imprints (as of a seal) made on the soul by the
spiritual powers against which we have to wrestle. Cf. Tert. _de
Anima_, 41, the evil of soul in part due to evil spirit.
[90] Clement says (_Strom._ vi, 53) that Isidore the Gnostic "in the
first book of the expositions of Parchor the Prophet" dealt with the
daemon of Socrates and quoted Aristotle's authority for such tutelary
spirits. For the book of Apuleius, see ch. vii.
[91] Porphyry, _v. Plotini_, 10. Cf. Origen, _c. Cels._ vii, 35, for
Celsus' views on the visibility of daemons, _e.g._ in the cave of
Trophonius.
[92] _Life of Numa_, 4--a most interesting chapter, when it is
remembered what other works were being written contemporaneously.
[93] _de genio Socr._ 20, 588 D, 589 D.
[94] _de gen. Socr._ 24, 593 D.
[95] _de def. orac._ 38, 431 C, _phantasias tou mellontos_.
[96] Cf. Clem. Alex. _Strom._ vi, 46, on preaching of Christ in Hades,
where souls, rid of the flesh, see more clearly.
[97] _de dif. orac._ 40, 432 C-E, _thermoteti gar kai diachysei porous
tinas anoigein phantastikous tou mellontos eikos estin_.
For these _poroi_ cf. Clem. Alex. _Strom_, vii, 36, with J. B. Mayor's
note.
[98] _de def. orac._ 46-48, 435 A-437 A (referring to Phaedo, 97 D).
The curious mixture of metaphors, the double suggestion of _krasis_,
the parallel from music, and the ambiguity of _to enthousiastikon_
(characteristic of the confusion of spiritual and material then
prevalent) make a curious sentence in English. On the relation of
daemons to oracles, see also _de facie in orbe lunae_, 30, 944 D; also
Tertullian, _de Anima_, 46, who gives a lucid account of daemons as the
explanation of oracles, and _Apol._ 22--daemons inhabiting the
atmosphere have early knowledge of the weather, and by their incredible
speed can pass miraculously quickly from one end of the earth to the
other, and so bring information--strange, he adds (c. 25), that Cybele
took a week to inform her priest of the death of Marcus Aurelius--_o
somniculosa diplomata_! ("sleepy post").
[99] _de Iside_, 80, 383 E. Clem. Alex. _Strom._ i, 135, says Greek
prophets of old were "stirred up by daemons, or disordered by waters,
fragrances or some quality of the air," but the Hebrews spoke "by the
power and mind of God."
[100] _Praec. Conj._ 19. Cf. Plato, _Laws_, 906 A, _symmachoi de hemin
theoi te ama kai daimones, hemeis d' au ktema theon kai daimonon_.
[101] _de repugn. Stoic._ 38, 1051 E.
[102] _non suaviter_, 20, 1101 B.
[103] _non suaviter_ 21, 1101 C. Clem. Alex. _Paed._ ii, 1, says it is
"peculiar to man to cleanse the eye of the soul."
[104] _non suaviter_, 22, 1102 F.
[105] _de Iside_, 1, 351 D.
[106] _de Iside_, 2, 352 A.
[107] _de Iside_, 9, 354 C, _emphaseis kai diaphaseis_.
[108] _de Iside_, 9, 354 C.
[109] _de Iside_, 53, 372 E, _Myrionumos_.
[110] _de ser. num. vind._ 18, 560 F.
[111] _de ser. num. vind._ 17, 560 B-D. Justin, _Apology_, 1, 18,
appeals to the belief in the continuance of the soul, which pagans
derive from necromancy, dreams, oracles and persons "daemoniolept."
[112] In _de sera numinum vindicta_ and _de genio Socratis_. Cf. also
the account of the souls of the dead given in _de facie in orbe lunae_,
c. 28 ff.
[113] _de def. orac._ 18, 419 E. Another curious tale of these remote
islands is in Clem. Alex. _Strom._ vi, 33.
[114] Cumont, _Mysteries of Mithra_ (tr.), p. 35. Mithraism began to
spread under the Flavians, but (p. 33) "remained for ever excluded from
the Hellenic world."
[115] _de Iside_, 20, 358 F.
[116] _de Iside_, 11, 355 C.
[117] _de Iside_, 20, 358 E. Cf. the language of Clement in dealing
with expressions in the Bible that seem to imply an anthropomorphic
conception of God. See p. 291.
[118] _de Iside_, 23, 360 A.
[119] _de Iside_, 8, 353 E.
[120] _de def. orac._ 14, 15, 417 B-F. Cf. Clem. Alex. _Protr._ 42,
_apanthropoi kai misanthropoi daimones_ enjoying _anthropoktonias_.
[121] So Tertullian urges, _ad Natt._ ii, 7.
[122] This man, or somebody very like him, appears as a Christian
hermit in Sulpicius Severus, _Dial._ i, 17; only there he is reported
to consort with angels.
[123] _de def. orac._ 21, 421 A-E. Cf. Tert. _de Spect._ 10. The
names of the dead and their images are nothing, but we know _qui sub
istis nominibus institute simulacris operentur et gaudeant et
divinitatem mentiantur, nequam spiritus scilicet, daemones_. He holds
the gods to have been men, long deceased, but agrees in believing in
daemonic operations in shrines, etc.
[124] _de Iside_, 70, 71, 379 B-E.
[125] _de Iside_, 76, 382 A.
[126] See discussion in Oakesmith, _Religion of Plutarch_, p. 185.
Greard, _de la Morale de Plutarque_, p. 269, ranks it with the best
works that have come down to us from Antiquity.
[127] Tertullian on pagan baptisms--Isis and Mithras, _de Baptismo_, 5;
_de Praescr. Haer._ 40.
[128] Cf. Tert. _Apol._ 9, on these sacrifices, in Africa, and
elsewhere, and see p. 26.
[129] _Conjug. Praec._ 19.
[130] Cf. _de Iside_, 55, 373 C; 18, 358 B; the image of Osiris, 36,
365 B. Origen (_c. Cels._ v, 39) remarks that Celsus is quite pleased
with those who worship crocodiles "in the ancestral way."
[131] If the legend is mere fable, he asks, _cur rapitur sacerdos
Cereris, si non tale Ceres passet est? cur Saturno alieni liberi
immolantur ... cur Idaeae masculus amputatur_? _ad Natt._ ii, 8.
{113}