Questions about Plutarch

Short answers, pulled from the story.

Where was Plutarch born and what was his family background?

Plutarch was born in the small town of Chaeronea located about 30 kilometers east of Delphi. His father bore the name Autobulus and his grandfather was named Lamprias within the Greek region of Boeotia.

When did Plutarch serve as a priest at the temple of Apollo at Delphi?

Around the 90s AD Plutarch was appointed one of two sanctuary priests for the temple of Apollo at Delphi. This appointment occurred during a construction boom that revived the site after it had declined considerably since the classical Greek period.

What is the structure of Plutarch's Parallel Lives collection?

The surviving collection contains 23 pairs each pairing one Greek life with one Roman life plus four unpaired single lives. Plutarch wrote a prominent Greek life then found a suitable Roman parallel ending with brief comparison to illuminate common moral virtues and vices.

How many works by Plutarch survive today compared to the total number he wrote?

A Catalogue of Lamprias lists 227 works total though only 78 survive to the present day. Parts of both the Lives and what would be considered parts of the Moralia have been lost over time including biographies of Augustus Claudius and Nero.

Which English translation of Plutarch influenced Shakespeare most significantly?

Sir Thomas North published an English version based on Jacques Amyot's French text in 1579 which Shakespeare paraphrased in plays occasionally quoting them verbatim. The complete Moralia first reached English audiences through Philemon Holland's 1603 translation from original Greek.