tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745538876989378112.post3208688138427434641..comments2022-02-28T12:14:59.451-08:00Comments on L E G E N D U M: De Malignitate HerodotiSaibanchohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13526852676971703119noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745538876989378112.post-10400030763549257052013-11-23T02:29:43.136-08:002013-11-23T02:29:43.136-08:00Its interesting to note that almost all Victorian ...Its interesting to note that almost all Victorian era publications (for general readers) omit this essay, and its only recently that it has re-appeared. For a while people thought that it couldn't be him because it was so aggressive in tone against Herodotus. I think that it is still left out of Penguin Classics 'Moralia' since I have no recall whatsoever of this essay when I first read him over a decade ago. Perhaps it is still thought of as not in balance with the other essays or too different in tone. This leads to the interesting thought of how doctored are other ancient authors works? Have successive ages tinkered with or done similar surgery to a writer's work in order to make them fit their desired image?Saibanchohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526852676971703119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745538876989378112.post-69091845044501235642013-11-17T03:53:33.858-08:002013-11-17T03:53:33.858-08:00I keep discovering these things about classical au...I keep discovering these things about classical authors that I never knew or had overlooked in the past. Plutarch is a fascinating case in point! I have always liked Plutarch and remember reading his Parallel Lives amd Moralia and finding him a very inspiring writer with a commanding and for the most part a sympathetic style. It's when he comes across something he considers as anti Greek that his particular bell gets rung. I have no memory of reading this particular essay in the Moralia and so it came as a shock to read the title when perusing a mongraph on Greek Historians by John Marincola (OUP Greece & Rome Series 2001). De Malignitate Herodoti can be found quite easily and is worth a look. I agree that Herodotus is, in the final analysis, a very sympathetic one - this is clearly a problem for Plutarch although I suspect it may have been just an exercise in judicial rhetoric. It was common in the ancient world (and still in legal training today) to take a theme and practice praising/damning it. Personally from evidence elsewhere in Plutarchs work, I think he really did object to Herodotus' 'lack of moral fibre'! I am glad you enjoyed the post.Saibanchohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526852676971703119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745538876989378112.post-57264642631088925092013-11-17T03:33:34.455-08:002013-11-17T03:33:34.455-08:00Great post, Stephen, thanks. I'll look up the ...Great post, Stephen, thanks. I'll look up the Plutarch on the web. I've been reading the Herodotus, and think I've not really had Plutarch's nationalist problems or concerns about accuracy, just taken it as it comes. I've read the first book as well as all the extracts, and I'm struck by how Herodotus comes across as a person, and a thoroughly sympathetic one. He appears very accepting of the foibles of human beings and cities, even when they're pretty weird, possibly by his as well as our standards. <br />Anyway, looking forward to reading more.<br />DOmnia mutanturhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17398342216269820004noreply@blogger.com