To browse Academia. This is followed by a number of papers on violence and conflict in disruptive symposia and by studies of the key concepts of philanthropia, philia and eros. Finally, separate sections are devoted to two specific works, viz. The intended audience of this book extends well beyond the growing community of Plutarchists and includes anybody who makes regular or occasional use of the Lives or of the Moralia.
Cleopatra second wife of Philip II of Macedon ; ; ; ; Cleopatra VII Egyptian queen n. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus, P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus, P. Cornelius Sulla, L. Cyrus the Great Persian king n. Cyrus the Younger second son of Darius II. This chapter explores Plutarch's relationship to the Greek past, by discussing his use of a key concept, that of philotimia, in contexts related to Athenian democracy.
The comparison between the sources focuses on two topics. Firstly, I consider differences in the conceptual construction of philotimia. In Plu-tarch, I argue, philotimia seems to be more of a trait that inhabits the hero and is part of his character as well as of his personality.
Its manifestation, good or bad, is presented firstly as a matter of the individual's choices which are undoubtedly, yet only secondarily, informed by external stimuli, while at the same time specific socio-political norms do not seem to delimit the range and quality of philotimia manifestations.
Philotimia within Athenian democracy, on the other hand, should be seen more as a civic virtue and as a social construct, the quality of which is primarily informed from without: its manifestation and, more importantly, its representation in public discourse is delimited within specific contexts, metaphorical and literal. As I argue, this is how democratic ideology managed to tame this dangerous as well as much needed virtue.
