Ancient Philosophy Commons^™

Philosophy And Politics Perfected: Aristotle’S Greatness Of Soul Embodied In Plutarch’S Alexander The Great, Raquel Grove

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

In this paper, I examine the value of Aristotle’s “great-souled man” and the narrative structure of Plutarch’s Life of Alexander as political and philosophical exempla designed to lead men to virtue on a large scale. The confusing, apparently contradictory nature of Aristotle’s virtue “greatness of soul” must be read in the context of the Ethics as a deeply political work. Likewise, Plutarch’s description of Alexander the Great demands examination from a narrative, as well as historical, perspective. Despite their differences in emphasis and method, Aristotle and Plutarch produce writings characterized the same end––each work unites ethics and politics to create …