{"title":"Marrying Stoicism with Platonism? Pseudo-Plutarch's Use of the Circe Episode","authors":"M. Domaradzki","doi":"10.1353/ajp.2020.0019","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The present paper discusses the account of Circe that was put forward by an unknown author in the treatise De Homero. When analyzing how the enchantress transmogrifies from an allegory of pleasure into an allegory of metempsychosis, this article shows that Pseudo-Plutarch utilizes various Pythagorean, Platonic and Stoic views, as he moves from a Platonizing account of the story (Odysseus personifies renunciation of the flesh, Circe symbolizes reincarnation) to a Stoicizing one (the hero represents the self-sufficiency of virtue, the sorceress stands for pleasure). The study argues that Pseudo-Plutarch's goal is more rhetorical than philosophical and that his approach is better characterized as \"encomiastic\" rather than \"syncretic\" or \"eclectic.\"","PeriodicalId":46128,"journal":{"name":"AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6000,"publicationDate":"2020-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/ajp.2020.0019","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGY","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/ajp.2020.0019","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"CLASSICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
Abstract:The present paper discusses the account of Circe that was put forward by an unknown author in the treatise De Homero. When analyzing how the enchantress transmogrifies from an allegory of pleasure into an allegory of metempsychosis, this article shows that Pseudo-Plutarch utilizes various Pythagorean, Platonic and Stoic views, as he moves from a Platonizing account of the story (Odysseus personifies renunciation of the flesh, Circe symbolizes reincarnation) to a Stoicizing one (the hero represents the self-sufficiency of virtue, the sorceress stands for pleasure). The study argues that Pseudo-Plutarch's goal is more rhetorical than philosophical and that his approach is better characterized as "encomiastic" rather than "syncretic" or "eclectic."
期刊介绍：
Founded in 1880, American Journal of Philology (AJP) has helped to shape American classical scholarship. Today, the Journal has achieved worldwide recognition as a forum for international exchange among classicists and philologists by publishing original research in classical literature, philology, linguistics, history, society, religion, philosophy, and cultural and material studies. Book review sections are featured in every issue. AJP is open to a wide variety of contemporary and interdisciplinary approaches, including literary interpretation and theory, historical investigation, and textual criticism.
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