Plutarch · c. AD 46-after 119
Consolation to Apollonius
Παραμυθητικὸς πρὸς ἈπολλώνιονThe Consolation to Apollonius is a letter of consolation to a father who has lost a young son, transmitted among Plutarch's Moralia although it is often thought not to be by him. It gathers, in the manner of the Greek consolatory tradition, quotations from Homer, the tragedians, Pindar, Plato, Crantor and others to argue that grief should be moderated, that death is no evil, and that an untimely death may be a gift of the gods. It preserves several well-known stories, among them Cleobis and Biton, Agamedes and Trophonius and the wisdom of Silenus.
Contents · 8 passages
- 1–5The death of Apollonius' son; grief in moderation; the changes of fortune1391 words
- 6–9Reason as the remedy; Homer, the comic poets and Socrates on common sorrows1601 words
- 10–13Death is no evil: Aeschylus, Nature's concealment and Socrates' comparisons1574 words
- 14–17Gifts of the gods: Cleobis and Biton, Agamedes and Trophonius; the best life is the most virtuous1930 words
- 18–22Untimely death and whom the mourner grieves for; Plato on accepting what befalls us1167 words
- 23–28Troilus and Priam; Crantor; Silenus' answer to Midas; the evils outweigh the goods2253 words
- 29–34The Pythian precepts; Providence; Anaxagoras, Pericles, Antigonus and others bear their sons' deaths2433 words
- 35–37The reward of the pious; Plato on the immortality of the soul; the close of the letter1249 words
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English translation by Matthew Morgan (1874). Original text: William W. Goodwin (ed.), Plutarch's Morals, translated from the Greek by several hands, vol. 1, Boston: Little, Brown and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874 (Greek text: Gregorius N. Bernardakis, Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, vol. 1, Leipzig: Teubner, 1888, as digitised by Perseus).
Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.
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