Plutarch's three treatises on animals : a translation with introductions and commentary

205 Pages·2021·2.009 MB·English

by  Plutarch, Stephen Thomas Newmyer, Plutarch

PLUTARCH’S THREE TREATISES
ON ANIMALS
This volume offers a new translation of Plutarch’s three treatises on animals—
On the Cleverness of Animals, Whether Beasts Are Rational and On Eating
Meat—accompanied by introductions and explanatory commentaries.
The accompanying commentaries are designed not only to elucidate
the meaning of the Greek text, but to call attention to Plutarch’s striking
anticipations of arguments central to current philosophical and ethological
discourse in defense of the position that non- human animals have intellectual
and emotional dimensions that make them worthy of inclusion in the moral
universe of human beings.
Plutarch’s Three Treatises on Animals will be of interest to students of
ancient philosophy and natural science, and to all readers who wish to
explore the history of thought on human–non- human animal relations, in
which the animal treatises of Plutarch hold a pivotal position.
Stephen T. Newmyer is Professor Emeritus of Classics at Duquesne Univer-
sity in Pittsburgh, USA. He has published extensively on classical views on
the intellectual and emotional dimensions of non- human animals, and is
the author of Animals, Rights and Reason in Plutarch and Modern Ethics
( Routledge, 2006), Animals in Greek and Roman Thought: A Sourcebook
(Routledge, 2011) and The Animal and the Human in Ancient and Modern
Thought: The ‘Man Alone of Animals’ Concept (Routledge, 2017).
ROUTLEDGE CLASSICAL TRANSLATIONS
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accurate, modern translations of key texts that illuminate distinctive aspects
of the classical world and come from a range of periods, from early Greece
to the Byzantine empire. Volumes include thematic groupings of texts, texts
from important authors as well as texts from the Byzantine period that are
relevant for the study of the classical world but which remain inaccessible.
Each volume has accompanying notes and commentary that provide a solid
framework for deeper understanding of the material. As well as providing
translations of significant texts, the series makes available material that is
untranslated into English or difficult to access, and places these texts within
new contexts to open- up areas of study and support research.
THE LOST HISTORY OF PETER THE PATRICIAN
An Account of Rome’s Imperial Past from the Age of Justinian
Thomas Banchich
THE SORROWS OF MATTIDIA
A New Translation and Commentary
Curtis Hutt and Jenni Irving
MUSAEUS’ HERO AND LEANDER
Introduction, Greek Text, Translation, and Commentary
Silvia Montiglio
PLUTARCH’S THREE TREATISES ON ANIMALS
A Translation with Introductions and Commentary
Stephen T. Newmyer
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.
com/classicalstudies/series/CLTRA
PLUTARCH’S THREE
TREATISES ON
ANIMALS
A Translation with Introductions
and Commentary
Stephen T. Newmyer
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Stephen T. Newmyer
The right of Stephen T. Newmyer to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
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or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-138-57084-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-70318-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by codeMantra
FOR
THE HONORABLE WILLIAM S. STICKMAN IV,
“A Good Man Skilled in Speaking”

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
Preface xi
1 Whether Land or Sea Animals Have More Intelligence,
or On the Cleverness of Animals (De sollertia animalium) 1
Introduction 1
Translation 20
2 Whether Beasts Are Rational, or Gryllus
(Bruta animalia ratione uti) 95
Introduction 95
Translation 106
3 On Eating Meat (De esu carnium) 128
Introduction 128
Treatise I: Translation 138
Treatise II: Translation 156
Bibliography 169
Index 177
vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It is a pleasure to acknowledge my gratitude to Amy Davis-Poynter and
Lizzi Risch at Routledge who welcomed this project with enthusiasm and
guided me to its conclusion. Their remarkable forbearance and indulgence
with my many questions and requests along the way deserve my special
thanks. The sensible editorial hand of Gail Welsh showed me, in a gentle
way, that there is always room for improvement.
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