Past and present in Plutarch’s Table Talk (original) (raw)

Space, Time and Language in Plutarch

One of the best witnesses reflectingPlutarch'sintellectual world as well as the trends and broader framework of the contemporaryeliteishis TableT alk. In the firstinstance,through the Romanparticipants (and high officialsatthat) in these learned conversations,the work bringstogether Greek andRoman intellectuals.Inaddition,through thep articipation of thinkersf romvarious philosophical schools,i tp rovides avivid picture of currenti ssues, interests,a nd trendsa sw ella sc ontemporary intellectual differences and conflicts over them. Further,inthe contextofthe dinner-party,itr eveals social mores, habits,p ractices and customs, matterso fe tiquette, and cultural issues. Moreover,i ts heds lighto nP lutarch'sf amilya nd friends,a nd bears important witness to stagesofhis life andcareer,but also to dailylife in Chaeronea and otherGreek cities. Finally, through thediscussion-topics involved, it mirrors the mainintellectual interests of this elitea tt he end of the firsta nd the beginningo ft he second centuryo fo ur era. This chapterw ills howh ow Plutarch managedt ob alance within theG raeco-Roman worldo fh is era, namely, betweent he realities of the Roman present andh is ownH ellenicp ast; in other words, betweenapresent that came from without andapast that emanatedf romw ithin. As is known, Plutarch lacks his own biographer and so what we know of Plutarch as am an, his publica nd private life, his family,h is habits and his overall mentality is primarilye stablished by piecing together the information which Plutarch himself scattered in his numerous writings. His political, social and intellectual stand is not difficult to ascertain, and in broad lines we can safelys peako faman born into an aristocratic familyofconsiderablyw ealthylandowners, who acquired an excellent education in Athens, travelled widelya nd created friendlyr elations with se-veralR omano fficials, senators and consuls included. But this general picture does not answer certain questions that one might raise: for instance, could Plutarch have made acareer either in the Roman administration or as an influential philosopher in the circles of the Romani ntellectual elite, had he so wished?² Another question: Does Plutarch'sd ecision to remain in Greece, and his obvious reluctance to learn Latin properly, although he did recognise the universality of the Latin languagei n his time (cf. Quaest. Plat.1 010D), tell us anything about his feelingsa nd attitude  Manythanks to the anonymous referee for his/her meticulous reading of my article and for the corrections, observations and stylei mprovements he/she kindlys uggested.