PLUTARCH, PLATO AND SPARTA

Hipparchus, Plutarch, Schröder and Hough

1. Hipparchus and Plutarch. Plutarch was a Greek biographer and philosopher from Chaeronea, who was born before a.d. 50 and died after a.d. 120. He is best known for his Parallel Lives, which inspired such Renaissance writers as Montaigne, Shakespeare, Dryden, and Rousseau. His many other works have been gathered together under the name Moralia, \a collection of comparatively short treatises an...

Plato and Innatism

Endocrinology in ancient Sparta.

This article attempts to analyze the crucial link between the plant Agnus castus and human health, particularly hormonal status, with special reference to the needs of the society of ancient Sparta. The ancient Spartans used Agnus both as a cure for infertility and as a remedy to treat battle wounds. These special properties were recognized by the sanctuary of Asclepios Agnita, which was locate...

Plato and Innatism

Plato and Divination

Plato uses the idea of divinatory knowledge as a metaphorical descriptor for a variety of kinds of daytime, waking knowing. What unites these examples is that they all include discussion of a kind of knowing that cannot account for itself, and that is tentative, imagistic and non-discursive. These metaphorical uses can further be illuminated by his more detailed discussion of divinatory knowled...