The Life of Coriolanus

Plutarch excels at describing great deeds, and is at his best when those deeds disclose a great man, whose virtues and flaws together reveal the heart of his character. It is no wonder that the fatherless Coriolanus, raised as a proud patrician by the mother he revered, should have become, in turn,......more

The Shadow of Shakespeare 7 March 2018 As I was reading this life all I could think of was the play by Shakespeare. In fact, the main version of the play that was going through my head was the Ralph Fiennes version which is set in the modern era, basically has machine guns and is actually a pretty aw......more

I read this in preparation for Shakespeare's Coriolanus, and the story of this man's life was absolutely fascinating. In particular, the parallels with David, when he was fleeing Saul, fighting against his home country were fascinating, and I also wondered at the question of why Martius's mother and......more

5th century BC After Rome rejected him, he led the Volsci against the Romans in war until his mother pleaded with him to stop. Compared with the Greek traitor, Alcibiades.......more

Plutarque rapproche les vies de Coriolan et d'Alcibiade dans une démarche historique et philosophique. Il s'agit d'un extrait de son œuvre principale, Les Vies Parallèles, qui permettent de réfléchir sur l'antiquité mais aussi sur la duplication de certains profils !......more