A Companion to Plutarch

Almost certainly in common with many other people, my introduction to Plutarch came not from my classical studies but through Shakespeare. Study of Julius Caesar, in particular, introduced us to Plutarch's Lives as the ultimate source of the plot, through the medium of North's translation. So, it was natural enough that I should turn immediately to Professor Braden's chapter on Shakespeare in the Reception Studies section of this Companion. North's translation was published in 1579, his translation made from the French version by Amyot 20 years previously, as it seems that North, as Shakespeare was reported by Johnson, had...