Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers

Plutarch and the Greece of His Age
you may be placed. Do not take too seriously the
hindrances to a virtuous life that you may find in
your way, because you can remove them if you will.
No matter what your station in life, do not expect
your path to be always a smooth one. If you keep
these things in mind you will probably live long,
you are sure to live happily.
Plutarch s views regarding the education of
women are far in advance of his age. He follows his
master, Plato, in vindicating for them the same
virtues that belong to men. His treatise often desig
nated The Virtues of Women is chiefly
a record of
heroic deeds that have been performed by the socalled
weaker sex. He admits that the worth or
efficiency of women is not necessarily
of the same
quality as that of men, but he contends that its
ethical value is equal and its intrinsic merit in no
wise inferior. The woman who has performed a
noble deed is entitled to just as much credit as a
a man. He takes issue with Thucydides for say
ing
that the best woman is
said either for good
or evil.
the one of whom least is
He also takes issue with
the thoroughly Greek sentiment, though perhaps
more pronounced in Athens than elsewhere, that
woman is at most little else than a plaything and a
convenience for man; and that her highest function
is to bear legitimate male children. According to
Plutarch the wife is to be the equal partner in the
management of the household. When it is well con
ducted she deserves equal commendation with the
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