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Plutarch’s Lives, Volume 1
- Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
- Length: 42 hrs and 26 mins
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Plutarch’s Lives, Volume 1
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Summary
This book was the principal source for Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Coriolanus, and Antony and Cleopatra. It was also one of two books Mary Shelley chose for the blind hermit to use for Frankenstein’s monster’s education, with the other being the Bible.
Plutarch’s Lives remains one of the world’s most profoundly influential literary works. Written at the beginning of the second century, it forms a brilliant social history of the ancient world. His “parallel lives” were originally presented in a series of books that gave an account of one Greek and one Roman life, followed by a comparison of the two. Included are Romulus and Theseus, Pompey and Agesilaus, Dion and Brutus, Alcibiades and Coriolanus, Demosthenes and Cicero, and Demetrius and Antony.
Plutarch was a moralist of the highest order. “It was for the sake of others that I first commenced writing biographies,” he said, “but I find myself proceeding and attaching myself to it for my own; the virtues of these great men serving me as a sort of looking glass, in which I may see how to adjust and adorn my own life.”
The first of the two volumes in this translation by John Dryden presents Theseus and Romulus, Pericles and Fabius, Alcibiades and Coriolanus, Aristides and Marcus Cato, and Lysander and Sylla, among others.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Sasha
- 23-12-12
Excellent book
I read Plutarch's lives in Greek when I was young but thoroughly enjoyed listening to it and finding out how many details I had forgotten. This book is an excellent choice for anyone who is interested in this time period of Classical Greece and Rome. There is still so much to learn from the past. That's what the word "history" means in Greek, it comes from the verb "oida" which means to know.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alex
- 03-02-14
In-audible! Awfully low recording quality!
If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?
I doubt anyone can listen to this recording! Just listen to the "sample" before you buy and you will notice the recording quality is so bad (...I didn't).. John Dryden must have recorded this either sitting at the bottom of a well or over a 1960s long distance telephone connection!
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6 people found this helpful