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Plutarch · c. AD 46-after 119

Life of Aratus

Ἄρατος
Ancient Sources / Plutarch / Life of Aratus

Plutarch's Life of Aratus tells of Aratus of Sicyon, who as a young man freed his city from the tyrant Nicocles and brought it into the Achaean League, whose growth became the aim of his public life. It follows him through the capture of Acrocorinthus, his struggles with the tyrants of Argos and with Cleomenes of Sparta, his call to Antigonus of Macedon for help, and his death by poison ordered by Philip. The Life is addressed to Polycrates, a descendant of Aratus, and ends with the honours paid to Aratus at Sicyon.

Read from the start
Text
Greek original with English translation, 13 passages, about 17600 words in English.
Translator
Bernadotte Perrin (1926)
Edition
Bernadotte Perrin (ed. and trans.), Plutarch's Lives, vol. 11, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1926 (Greek text as digitised by Perseus)
Cite as
Plutarch, Life of Aratus 1.1 (by chapter, section)

Contents · 13 passages

  1. 1.1–4.3Prologue to Polycrates; the boy Aratus escapes the tyrant Abantidas1036 words
  2. 5.1–9.6Aratus takes Sicyon by night and frees the city from Nicocles1892 words
  3. 10.1–15.3Aratus, Ptolemy and the settling of the Sicyonian exiles1644 words
  4. 16.1–19.3Acrocorinthus: Antigonus's trick and Aratus's bargain with Erginus1289 words
  5. 20.1–24.5The night capture of Acrocorinthus from Antigonus1915 words
  6. 25.1–29.6Aratus against the tyrants of Argos: Aristomachus and Aristippus1747 words
  7. 30.1–32.3Lydiades resigns his tyranny; Aratus routs the Aetolians at Pellene (Artemis's sanctuary)1016 words
  8. 33.1–34.5Aratus's attempts on the Peiraeus and the freeing of Athens645 words
  9. 35.1–37.3Aratus and Cleomenes: Lycaeum, Mantineia and the death of Lydiades858 words
  10. 38.1–42.3Aratus calls in Antigonus against Cleomenes1718 words
  11. 43.1–46.2Antigonus and Aratus against Cleomenes; the fate of Mantineia1357 words
  12. 47.1–50.6Philip of Macedon, Aratus and the citadel of Ithome1313 words
  13. 51.1–54.3The death of Aratus by Philip's poison and his burial at Sicyon1126 words

More by Plutarch

English translation by Bernadotte Perrin (1926). Original text: Bernadotte Perrin (ed. and trans.), Plutarch's Lives, vol. 11, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1926 (Greek text 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.