Ctesias (a)

The most important writer of the group of authors who are said to have composed Persica works is Ctesias of Cnidus (fl. 400-390 BCE). Of all the authors treated in this book, Ctesias the physician is the only one about whose life and work we have relatively secure information, albeit it all appears to ultimately come from his own descriptions, and despite the fact that certain issues are still unclear. The chapter addresses passages in which Ctesias' name is explicitly stated as a source by Plutarch. It begins with an analysis of the passages in Plutarch's work, and combines the observations with what is known of Ctesias from other sources, to infer Plutarch's work method and the purpose of using Ctesias in the Artaxerxes and of mentioning him as a source.