Synopses & Reviews
The Philosopher's Banquet is the first sustained study of Plutarch's Table Talk, a Greek prose text which is a combination of philosophical dialogue (in the style of Plato's Symposium) and miscellany. The form of Table Talk was imitated by several later Greek and Roman imperial authors (such as Aulus Gellius, Athenaeus, and Macrobius), making it a vital part of the early Roman Empire's literary and cultural history. Similarly, the great variety of its contents links it with a broader imperial cultural trend, that of systematizing knowledge, which features increasingly prominently as a subject of scholarly study in both classics and the history of science. The contributors to The Philosopher's Banquet offer a range of methodologically innovative and sophisticated readings of Table Talk's literary form, themes, cultural background, and influence.
Review
"For the uninitiated, this collection will provide a solid introduction to Table Talk and some issues at stake in reading and analyzing this text. For experienced Table Talk readers, the collection provides many moments of specific interest, raising possibilities for further analyses of Plutarch's text, thus agreeably mirroring its general understanding of how Table Talk works."--Bryn Mawr Classical Review
About the Author
Frieda Klotz is a Freelance journalist.
Katerina Oikonomopoulou is Leverhulme Research Fellow, School of Classics, University of St Andrews.
Table of Contents
Introduction
I. Traditions
1. Plutarch's Table Talk: Sampling a Rich Blend. A Survey of Scholarly Appraisal, Frances B. Titchener
2. The Miscellany and Plutarch, Teresa Morgan
II. Topics and Themes
3. Philosophy in Plutarch's Table Talk: In Jest or in Earnest?, Eleni Kechagia
4. Peripatetic Knowledge in Plutarch's Table Talk, Katerina Oikonomopoulou
5. Symposium, Physical and Social Health in Plutarch's Table Talk, Maria Vamvouri Ruffy
III. Voice and Authority
6. Imagining the Past: Plutarch's Play with Time, Frieda Klotz
7. Self-Promotion and Self-Effacement in Plutarch's Table Talk, Jason Konig
IV. Contradictions
8. Putting the -viv- into Convivial: The Table-Talkand the Lives, Christopher Pelling