Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers

Plutarch and the Greece of His Age
have already seen, he has always hearers in mind
rather than readers. We can imagine him ever and
anon saying, You either know what is right, what
your duty is. or you want to know. The rules of con
duct are plain and simple; you have but to obey
them and you will be happy. Perform the duties
incumbent upon you, to the gods, to your fellow citi
zens, to the members of your family, to yourself, and
you will be content with the present order of things,
and your fellow men with you. If you want to lead
a moral life, be humane, be truthful, be sympathetic,
be chaste, deal honestly with your fellow men, follow
your rational nature rather than your emotions, and
you will have no reason to regret that you have
lived; your fellow men will be glad that you have for
a time sojourned among them, and have left behind
you the light of your example to shine for those who
come after you.
Lecky in his History of European Morals, already
cited, has some interesting passages on the relation of
Seneca and Plutarch to certain phases of the thought
of their time, a few of which may properly find a
place here. He says: "A class of writers began to
arise, who, like the Stoics, believed virtue rather than
enjoyment, to be the supreme good, and who acknowl
edged that virtue consisted solely of the control
which the enlightened will exercises over the desires,
but who at the same time gave free scope to the be
nevolent affections, and a more religious and mystical
tone to the whole scheme of morals."
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