Maty Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 If we were to redo Plutarch's Parallel Lives with ancient modern/pairings who would you use? I was given this challenge recently and came up with such lamentable efforts as Julius Caesar/Steve Jobs George Bush jnr/Demetrius Poliorcetes Cicero/Churchill I'm sure the members of this forum can do better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil61 Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 Julius Caesar/Steve Jobs Interesting choice, on reflection it makes sense. Off the top of my head; Nixon/Pompey T. Gracchus/JFK G.Gracchus/Robert Kennedy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klingan Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 The question is, who dares to add Hitler into the mix? I'm absolutely sure that Plutarch would have, had he lived today... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 Actually he may well have paired Hitler with Julius Caesar or more likely Alexander. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klingan Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 Actually he may well have paired Hitler with Julius Caesar or more likely Alexander. I was actually thinking more Hannibal - the whole revenge, total destruction and ultimate defeat seems to fit better, although there were (of course) other very significant areas where the two differ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 The major problem is that Hitler, while a renowned 'messianic orator', does not appear to have been a tactical genius (he had a staff for that and really fouled up when he over ruled them) while the three alternatives offered to date all could make some claim towards - sometimes strongly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 While I remember If we were to redo Plutarch's Parallel Lives with ancient modern/pairings who would you use? I was given this challenge recently and came up with such lamentable efforts as Julius Caesar/Steve Jobs Not sure why they should be seen as parallel lives since SJ wasn't in the military or a renowned politician George Bush jnr/Demetrius Poliorcetes Why? GBJ fails on all counts except lack of political nouse on the World stage. A better choice may be someone like Prince Rupert the Royalist cavalry commander in the English Civil War a man with undoubted military prowess BUT fairly erratic. Alternatively someone like General Alexander from WW2 was a better general than many claimed but who failed in the political arena when dealing with his masters. Cicero/Churchill Actually quite a good choice since Churchill did have a parallel political career apart from being assassinated and Hitler tried that several times. Looking back at Plutarch's work it is noticable how many of the examples cited were men whose lives included both a military and political element in their careers which in the modern world cuts down on how many examples you can put forward. Possibly a few candidates in each couple of decades from the American Civil War onward but the choices from WWI and WW2 are actually surprisingly limited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil61 Posted December 13, 2012 Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 (edited) If we didn't use an exact match--being a general, politician, whatever--and dealt simply with the affect one had on their era [which I think is the Caesar/Jobs comparison] what Roman or Greek do we pair with Gandhi? Is it even possible. Edited December 13, 2012 by Virgil61 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostOfClayton Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 It'd be interesting to find a modern parallel to Livia Drusilla. At first I thought about Margaret Thatcher, but to be true to the spirit of the exercise, we would need to be looking for a 'first lady' type person. Though I can't help thinking the iron Lady would be secretly delighted to be likened to the Divine Augusta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 It'd be interesting to find a modern parallel to Livia Drusilla. At first I thought about Margaret Thatcher, but to be true to the spirit of the exercise, we would need to be looking for a 'first lady' type person. Though I can't help thinking the iron Lady would be secretly delighted to be likened to the Divine Augusta. I like the thought of Margaret Thatcher being without issue or better yet her parents I suppose however that you have to look to the matriarchs of political families for a suitable comparison such as remaining married in the face of external pressures - infidelity always seems to crop up in moden politics. On that basis Rose Kennedy would seem a suitable matriarchal figure with a lot of politicians in succeeding generations but if we discount succeeding generations being a requirement then Hillary Clinton would seem to tick several 'parallel lives' boxes. In her case active political/ external contacts especially having her own career and becoming both a senator and senior politician in her own right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil61 Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 I was thinking of Cato the Younger and either Thatcher or Reagan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barca Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 Julius Caesar/Steve Jobs Considering all the womanizing, I would say: Bill Clinton/Julius Caesar. Here's another: Donald Trump/Crassus - both very wealthy, but somewhat ineffective in other areas Just my thoughts. I do think it would make a great work to compare the characters of the ancients to those of the modern day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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