page_title: Plutarch
section_title: Late period: Priest at Delphi
hierarchical_section_title: Plutarch / Life / Late period: Priest at Delphi
caption_attribution_description: English: Left: Bust of Plutarch or of another Neoplatonic philosopher. Right: Headless herm of a votive with the bust of Plutarch, set up by the people of Delphi around 125 AD. The inscription on the herm reads: ΔΕΛΦΟΙ ΧΑΙΡΩΝΕΥΣΙ ΝΟΜΟΥ ΠΛΟΥΤΑΡΧΟΝ ΕΘΗΚΑΝ ΤΟΙΣ ΑΜΦΙΚΤΙΟΝΩΝ ΔΕΛΦΟΙΣ ΠΕΙΘΟΜΕΝΟΙ The engraved inscription on the marble pillar reveals that this votive with the bust of Plutarch was set up by the people of Delphi and the citizens of Chearonea in honour of the great author and priest of Apollo. Both items were found near the southeast corner of the temple of Apollo at Delphi. Delphi Archaeological Museum &#160;&#160;LocationDelfi Municipality&#160;, GreeceCoordinates38°&#160;28′&#160;49.06″&#160;N, 22°&#160;29′&#160;59.42″&#160;E &#160;Established1903&#160;Web pageodysseus.culture.gr/h/1/eh155.jsp?obj_id=3404&#160;Authority control : Q636928 VIAF:&#8201;145993304 ULAN:&#8201;500306710 LCCN:&#8201;n85090983 GND:&#8201;5245755-2 SUDOC:&#8201;031077560 WorldCat institution QS:P195,Q636928
context_page_description: Plutarch was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo. He is known primarily for his Parallel Lives, a series of biographies of illustrious Greeks and Romans, and Moralia, a collection of essays and speeches. Upon becoming a Roman citizen, he was named Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus.
context_section_description: Plutarch spent the last thirty years of his life serving as a priest in Delphi. He thus connected part of his literary work with the sanctuary of Apollo, the processes of oracle-giving and the personalities who lived or traveled there. One of his most important works is the "Why Pythia does not give oracles in verse" (Moralia 11) ( "Περὶ τοῦ μὴ χρᾶν ἔμμετρα νῦν τὴν Πυθίαν"). Even more important is the dialogue "On the E in Delphi"  ("Περὶ τοῦ Εἶ τοῦ ἐν Δελφοῖς"), which features Ammonius, a Platonic philosopher and teacher of Plutarch, and Lambrias, Plutarch's brother. According to Ammonius, the letter E written on the temple of Apollo in Delphi originated from the following fact: the wise men of antiquity, whose maxims were also written on the walls of the vestibule of the temple, were not seven but actually five: Chilon, Solon, Thales, Bias and Pittakos. However, the tyrants Cleobulos and Periandros used their political power in order to be incorporated in the list. Thus, the E, which corresponds to number 5, constituted an acknowledgment that the Delphic maxims actually originated from the five real wise men. 
  The portrait of a philosopher exhibited at the exit of the Archaeological Museum of Delphi, dating to the 2nd century AD, had been in the past identified with Plutarch. The man, although bearded, is depicted at a relatively young age. His hair and beard are rendered in coarse volumes and thin incisions. The gaze is deep, due to the heavy eyelids and the incised pupils. The portrait is no longer thought to represent Plutarch.  
  But a fragmentary hermaic stele next to the portrait probably did once bear a portrait of Plutarch, since it is inscribed, "The Delphians along with the Chaeroneans dedicated this (image of) Plutarch, following the precepts of the Amphictyony" ("Δελφοὶ Χαιρωνεῦσιν ὁμοῦ Πλούταρχον ἔθηκαν |  τοῖς Ἀμφικτυόνων δόγμασι πειθόμενοι" Syll.³ 843=CID 4, no. 151).
caption: Portrait of a philosopher and Hermaic stele at Delphi Museum
exif: {}