In-depth analysis of Plutarch's anti-Epicurean treatise Adversus Colotem.

L'Adversus Colotem, composto intorno al 100 d.C., fa parte, insieme al non posse e al de latenter vivendo, della cosiddetta 'trilogia anti-epicurea' di Plutarco. Questo volume analizza l'Adversus Colotem nel suo complesso, approfondendone, in particolar modo, le strategie polemiche, le alleanze filosofiche e le tecniche argomentative. Il libro si articola in quattro capitoli, rispettivamente dedicati: 1) all'analisi del...

The value of Plutarch's perception of physical reality and his attitude towards the natural spectacle.

Plutarch was very interested in the natural world around him, not only in terms of its elementary composition and physical processes, but also with respect to its providential ordering and 'wonders'. His writings teach us a lot about his perception of physical reality and about his attitude to the natural spectacle. He found his greatest inspiration in the ontological and epistemological fr...

The epigram is certainly one of the most intriguing, while at the same time most elusive, genres of Neo-Latin literature. From the end of the fifteenth century, almost every humanist writer who regarded himself a true ‘poeta’ had composed a respectable number of epigrams. Given our sense of poetical aesthetics, be it idealistic, post-idealistic, modern or post-modern, the epigrammatic genre is difficult to understand. Because of its close ties with the historical and social context, it does...