Greek Lives (Oxford World's Classics)

Would much rather read this for a class than a textbook!

I read this English edition of Plutarch's Lives as part of my journey through the Western canon. My rating and this review are not of Plutarch himself, but of this English edition. As a note, OWC divides Plutarch's Lives into three editions: Greek Lives, Hellenistic Lives, and Roman Lives. This review is for OWC's Greek Lives.First, Philip Stadter writes an excellent introduction to Plutarch and the Greek lives covered in this edition. He demonstrates that Plutarch wrote the Parallel Lives not to provide a true historical record of each man but to provide moral instruction from the virtues or vices each man exhibited. Of note, Stadter comments in his introduction that, "one of the most important results of the scholarship of the last twenty-five years has been the recognition that Plutarch thought of each pair as a single work, developing a single overall impression, and linking the two lives not only in external features or accidents, but in many small ways regarding both events and traits of character." If that is the case, then perhaps OWC should not divide the Lives into separate Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman editions, but keep the pair together and group the pair together with others based on other common criteria.Second, Robin Waterfield's English translation is excellent. It is clear, concise, and accessible.Third, Stadter's notes are brief but provide helpful explanations of the text. However, they are end notes and not footnotes. End notes require the reader to constantly flip back-and-forth in the book. Footnotes are much preferred.Because of the use of end notes instead of footnotes, I've given this good English edition of Plutarch 4-out-of-5 stars.

I was dreading the myriad footnotes, but actually this is loads of fun to read. He’s more enjoyable than Herodotus to me, because of the succinctness of his portraits. Basically the biographies read like short stories. Also, I purchased the book used and it was in great shape(except for the inevitable sloppy stickers everywhere).

Oh sorry, wrong time period for the non-existent quote. I took Greek philosphy in college. Now I remember why I did not care for it, even when I did my best to pretend I was a fellow Greek citizen of the period. So in my golden years, I thought why not try and catch up on my reading and a subject I was less than stellar in so long ago. Even with a week in Athens staying at the Grande Bretgane with a spacious balcony and an excellent view of the Acropolis, as a primer, I discovered to my disappointment that I still was not ready for Plutarch and/or this translation. I am sure the book is fine, but just not for me.

I needed this book for a summer class and it was a pretty good read. Chapters are your average text book chapters, maybe a little shorter but not by much. Informative and I learned some new things.

he asked for it, so I assume he likes it

Just as described. Thank you!

Great read

Be warned: you need two bookmarks for this book - one to hold your place in the main text, and one to keep track of the excellent notes section. Each Life is given an introduction which deals with Plutarch's sources, strengths and shortcomings, plus notes on the contrast with the Roman life against which it was originally set. (It would be wonderful if we could have a volume with the pairs of lives side-by-side rather than having to refer across to the Roman Lives separately.) A cracking read, brilliantly translated by Waterfield to really bring the text to life.

Great translation. worth the expense if you want an easy-to-read translation.

A good translation. Recommended.

Robin Waterfield provided very vivid translation of Plutarch. I also appreciate the introduction to each "live" as well as the supporting comments.On the drawback side - perhaps it would be even better to have the lives in parallel as intended and not chasing them in three separate books.

worth the purchase