Selected Essays of Plutarch SELECTED ESSAYS OF PLUTARCH VOL. II TRANSLATED WITH INTRODUCTION BY A. O. PRICKARD ‘But the Author in whom he delighted most was Plutarch, of whose works he was lucky enough to possess the worthier half; if the other had perished Plutarch would not have been a popular writer, but he would have held a higher place in the estimation of the judicious.’—SOUTHEY, _The Doctor_, chapter vi, p. 1. OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1918 PREFACE This volume covers about one-eighth part of the miscellaneous works of Plutarch known as the _Moralia_, much the same quantity as is contained in Professor Tucker’s volume of this series which appeared in 1913. All the pieces now offered are in the form of dialogue, except the short treatise _On Superstition_, which seemed to justify its inclusion by a certain affinity of thought. The text followed is that of Wyttenbach, issued by the Clarendon Press in 1795-1800, or rather a text compounded of the Greek text there printed, his own critical notes and revision of the old Latin version, his commentary, where one exists, and his posthumous Index of Greek words used by Plutarch (1830). A few corrections by C. F. Hermann, Emperius, Madvig, and other scholars, have been introduced, for many of which I am indebted, in the first place, as I have acknowledged more particularly, to M. G. N. Bernardakis, the accomplished editor of the _Moralia_ in the Teubner series (1888-96). A very few fresh corrections, mostly on obvious points, have been admitted. The notes at the foot of the page are intended to show all deviations from Wyttenbach’s text, so constituted, or to give references to the authors of passages quoted by Plutarch; there may be a few exceptions, where an illustrative reference or an obvious explanation is given. For the plays and fragments of the Tragic Poets reference is made to Dindorf’s _Poetae Scenici_; for Pindar and other lyric poets, to Bergk’s _Poetae Lyrici Graeci_ (ed. 1900); for the fragments of Heraclitus, to Bywater’s _Heracliti Ephesii reliquiae_ (Oxford, 1877); those of other early philosophers will be found in their places in Diels’ _Vorsokratiker_ (1903) or other collections.