Essais choisis de Plutarque, vol. I

The essays here rendered into English have not been selected as the very best pieces in Plutarch’s _Moralia_, but, first, as typical examples of his writing in that kind, and, second, as covering between them a tolerably large field of interesting matter. The _Moralia_ offer us perhaps the best of all extant material for judging the civilization of the middle classes of society just before and after the year 100 of our era. From them and from Pliny’s _Letters_ we are able to form a fairly complete picture of a large part of that sounder social element which lay between the froth and the dregs. In the Introduction some remarks are offered concerning Plutarch’s literary style. Here it will suffice to say that the English version does not seek to be either more formal or more vivacious, either more imposing or more humorous, than the original. An attempt has been made to preserve the tone as faithfully as the substance. In making Plutarch write as he does in the following pages the translator hopes that _il ne luy a au moins rien presté qui le desmente ou qui le desdie_. It is fair to add that no modern version of the _Moralia_ has been consulted for the purposes of this rendering. In the Introduction, however, one cannot fail to owe much suggestion to Gréard and Volkmann. In the spelling of Greek proper names every modern scholar must follow his own best judgement. It does not follow that, because it is necessary to say ‘Plato’ and usual to say ‘Parmenio’, it is equally judicious to say ‘Chilo’. Nor can any safe rule be laid down for a choice between ‘Pisistratus’ and ‘Peisistratus’. Perhaps the most advisable course is to safeguard, as far as possible, the pronunciation of those who are unfamiliar with Greek, and the spelling ‘Pheidias’ may do something towards correcting the common English tendency to pronounce the first syllable as it is pronounced in ‘fiddle’.…