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The Educational Theory of Plutarch A\. U. C. t A. <h. JC. DEPT. THE LffiRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/educationaltlieorOOwestiala THE EDUCATIONAL THEORY OF PLUTARCH PQR REVIEW THE EDUCATIONAL THEORY OF PLUTARCH K. M. WESTAWAY, D.Lit. (Lond.) STAFF LECTURER IN CLASSICS, ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE FORMERLY CLASSICAL SCHOLAR, AND LATER MARION KENNEDY STUDENT, OF NEWNHAM COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE LONDON UNIVERSITY OF LONDON PRESS, LTD. 17 WARWICK SQUARE, E.C.4 1922 U. C. L. A. EDUC. DEPT. U. C. L A. EDLC. DEPT. Education library LB ovroi KOt KoivQ ^vcX^dvT€? airap^v T^ <to^hxk aviOtfTov Tw 'AttoAAwvi cts rof vcwv tov iv ^€\<t}OLS, ypd.\j/avT€9 ravra, a 5^ ttoitcs v/avowii', yvwdi crauTov Kai firfiev ayav, Plato, ProtagoraSy 343 B. opa §€ KOt Tttin"! Ttt irpoypd/xfJuiTa, to 'yvto^i cravTov' Kai to ^/ir)8eva.yav.' oaa^^rjTtj(T€i^ kckcVi/kc <fiiko<r6^ovs Koi o<rov Xoywv jrXrjOo'i &<f> cxaoTOV Kadairtp otto (rirepfxaTO^ avair€<f>VKev. Plutarch, Z)^ E apud Delpbos, 385 D. 827732 PREFACE The popularity of Plutarch as the author of the Parallel Lives has never really waned. It is thus surprising that the other half of his extant work, the essays generally called by the collective title of the Moralia, should for long periods together be almost unread and unremembered. I have found in these essays an interest even greater than I had been led to expect from my love of the " Lives." In the Moralia Plutarch, the philosopher, the priest, the citizen, the father, reveals himself with an intimacy rare among the ancient Greeks. Above all, we see him as a teacher, the possessor, as we are, of an inheritance of im- perishable thought, pledged to a certain environment which is portrayed vividly in his pages, one who, in his lifelong devotion to his calling, is second to few of the teachers of old time, second perhaps only to his chosen master, Plato. The reflection in the Moralia seems wonderfully alive, and in some ways might almost be a portrait of to-day. Plutarch's teaching never fails to be suggestive, even when in some of its details it seems to clash with modern conditions and requirements. To several distinguished lovers of Plutarch I have to express cordial thanks for the invaluable assistance they gave me in the course of my work. Professor viii PREFACE ]. S. Reid, of Cambridge, has read most of the book in MS., and to his interest in later Greek philosophy, and his intimate knowledge of the historical background to the age of Plutarch, I am especially indebted. The late Professor Henry Jackson also gave most kind help, although he had already more calls on his time and interest than his failing strength could well bear. I consulted him about the chapters dealing with Plutarch's debt to Platonic philosophy, and he offered suggestions with that vigour and generosity for which he is always remembered. It is just over a century since probably the greatest work on the text of the Moralia was completed by Wyttenbach, Professor of Latin in the University of Leyden. The tradition survives there still, for Wyttenbach's chair was, until a year ago, held by Professor J. J. Hartman, whose exhaustive volume, De Plutarcho scriptore et philosopho, first drew my attention to Dutch work in this subject. Since then my debt to Dutch scholarship has grown continually. Professor Hartman read the first part of my book in MS., and his criticism illuminated not only my study of Plutarch but my whole view of Greek literature. I have received the greatest kindness from him and Mrs. Hartman, and from many of his colleagues whom I met in Holland ; and I realise now, as never before, the friendship which for centuries has bound British and Dutch scholars. I also thank Dr. J. W. Mackail for his most helpful criticism of several chapters which he kindly read before the book was sent to the press. This book was written during my tenure of the Marion Kennedy Studentship at Newnham College, PREFACE ix Cambridge. It is but an inadequate recognition of all that my College has done for me, but it is with the greatest gratitude and pride that I inscribe the name upon the title-page. My thanks are due to the Senate of the University of London for a grant, from their Publication Fund, towards the cost of the production of this work. K. M. W. Royal Holloway College. March, 1922. CONTENTS PART I 7HE EDUCATIONAL SCHEME OF PLUTARCH CHAPTER PAGB I. The Roman Empire in the Time of Plutarch .... II. Greek and Roman Education down TO THE Time of Plutarch 13 III. Life of Plutarch H IV. (A) Religion and Philosophy . 31 (B) Psychology 39 V. The Training of the Body 57 VI. The Training of the Passions 66 VII. The Training of Practical Reason 81 (A) Literature 85 (jB) History .... 104 VIII. The Transition from Practical to Contemplative Reason "5 (A) Natural Science "5 (B) Music .... 125 (C) Mathematics and Astronomy 134 xu CONTENTS CHAKrKR PAOB IX. The Exercise— of Contemplative Reason Philosophy . • 139 X. The End in View . •154 XI. Summary 167 PART II SOME SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PLUTARCH'S TEACHING XII. ^Esthetics in Education . '175 XIII. Individualism . ... 187 XIV. Moral Instruction IN the Curriculum 197 XV. Religion, Philosophy, and Ethics : THEIR Place in Education . 207 XVI. The Serene Philosopher . 215 XVII. Conclusion 223 Bibliography ...... 239 Index ........ 241 PART I THE EDUCATIONAL SCHEME OF PLUTARCH CHAPTER I THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE TIME OF PLUTARCH Plutarch is one of the most prolific writers whose works have come down to us from antiquity. In perusing the vast mass of his writings, which (apart from his famous Parallel Lives) deal with religion, metaphysics, ethics, politics, natural science, history, literature—indeed, with the most varied interests, both practical and academic—not all of his few readers realise the definite motive underlying them. These works are not to be compared with the impersonal store of information contained in an encyclopaedia. They are a deliberate gift to some recipient whom we have to discover and define. Plutarch is, before all things, a teacher. In the whole world there is hardly a relationship between one man and another which admits of such generous and single-hearted giving. The fact that those to whom Plutarch gave directly and so freely have long ago become nameless and unremembered, does not diminish the value of what he gave ; so we will take their places for a little, and examine this old and half-forgotten gift. When a man builds a house, he considers not only the materials, the wood and stone, at his disposal, and the architectural effect he will achieve with these. He considers the need for his house at a particular time and in a particular place, its adaptation to a certain climate, and its suitability for its proposed 3 4 EDUCATIONAL SCHEME OF PLUTARCH inhabitants. Afterwards, when critics come to judge the completed edifice, they will have to bear all these circumstances in mind before they deliver their verdict. This principle applies here. We must first consider Plutarch's relationship to the world around him—the where, the when, the why, of his teaching—before we venture to judge his methods or results. A teacher, as much as a pupil, is the product of his environment. He is made as well as born. The greatness of an educator lies, to a large extent, in his sensitiveness to the temperament and needs of the society in which he lives. He must study the world around him, and then formulate his theories to suit its requirements. Plato looked to the simplicity and restraint of the Spartan system of education, at a time when, in most parts of Greece, old canons of order in life and thought were being overthrown. Comenius, persecuted and homeless through the Thirty Years' War, laboured strenuously to prepare youth by a better education for a more tranquil and prosperous future. Rousseau, arguing from the corruption of Parisian life to the viciousness of civilisation in general, framed his revolutionary educational theories accord- ingly. What was the background which imposed its special form and colour on Plutarch's teaching ? If we were to accept the testimony of Juvenal and some of his contemporaries, we should expect the first century of the Roman Empire to have produced something like a Rousseau. But that, within the limits of politics, the in/esta virtutibus tempora arraigned by the Satirists and by Tacitus, left Plutarch's own life unhurt, and his outlook clear and serene, is beyond , ROMAN EMPIRE IN TIME OF PLUTARCH 5 doubt. Himself a Greek, and a member of an old and distinguished family, he wrote of the Roman rule in terms of unmeasured praise.^ From the point of view of a provincial he was probably right. We have sufficient evidence that Roman imperialism worked for the good of the Roman provinces. This good was often a dull, uninspiring condition, but it was sound enough to refute the pessimism of Tacitus and the sweeping generalisations of Juvenal. Augustus laid the foundations of provincial administration deep and true enough to survive the mad and extravagant policies of some of his successors. In Greece itself the following century was one of uninterrupted prosperity. From the reign of Claudius it is perhaps possible to trace the beginning of the fusion of Greek and Roman life which culminated in the removal of the seat of government from Rome to Byzantium.
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