Now himselfe confesseth
in some place, that when he began this worke, at the first it was but to
profit others; but that afterwards it was to profit himselfe, looking
upon those histories, as if he had looked in a glasse, and seeking to
reform his life in some sort, and to forme it in the mould of the
vertues of these great men; taking this fashion of searching their
manners, and writing the Lives of these noble men, to be a familiar
haunting and frequenting of them. Also he thought, [said he himselfe]
that he lodged these men one after another in his house, entering into
consideration of their qualities, and that which was great in either of
them, choosing and principally taking that which was to be noted, and
most worthy to be knowne in their sayings and deeds."[A]
[Footnote A: North's 'Plutarch,' 1631, p. 1198.]
Of Plutarch in his domestic relations we gather much information from
his own writings. The name of his father has not been preserved, but it
was probably Nikarchus, from the common habit of Greek families to
repeat a name in alternate generations. His brothers Timon and Lamprias
are frequently mentioned in his essays and dialogues, where Timon is
spoken of in the most affectionate terms. Rualdus has ingeniously
recovered the name of his wife, Timoxena, from internal evidence
afforded by his writings. A touching letter is still extant, addressed
by Plutarch to his wife, bidding her not give way to excessive grief at
the death of their only daughter, who was named Timoxena after her
mother.
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