Plutarco, An seni respublica gerenda sit (783B-791D): traduzione e commento

Abstract

The aim of this doctoral thesis is to produce a new translation and commentary of Plutarch's An seni respublica gerenda sit. The work involved chapters 1-14 of the work (784B-791D), which were translated into Italian. In addition, the thesis consists of a commentary that delves into thematic, literary, linguistic, stylistic and (sometimes) philosophical aspects related to the text and addresses the main exegetical and textual problems. The commentary investigates the argumentative structure of the pamphlet in relation to the purpose of the work, which is to show that elderly rulers should not abandon political activity, both because there are no reasons to prevent them from practicing it and because their wisdom and experience turn out to be of great importance for stability of the entire citizen body. The commentary examines the thematic similarities between the An seni and Plutarch's other works, with regard to the writer's political thought and its possible sources, including in relation to his philosophical training. The commentary examines the contexts and purposes of the use of exempla, anecdotes and poetic quotations in the work and their reworking and reuse by Plutarch in other loci of the corpus. The commentary is accompanied by two appendices: the first reconstructs the textual history of a corrupted passage from the An seni (784D), for which a proposed diagnostic conjecture is made, while the second, devoted to the theme of athletic imagery in Plutarch, examines athletic metaphors and similes found in the An seni, the Lives and some pamphlets of the Moralia. [edited by Author]