Plutarch is one of the most versatile Greek authors. He not only wrote works of completely different styles and generic registers – ranging from philosophical, ethical, rhetorical and educational essays to biographical works –, but also varied extensively the structure of the works in the same group (e.g. his biographical books, see T. Duff, ClAnt 30 [2011], 213–78) as well as his moral attitude from one work to another. Different arguments about the same things or people, for example, can be exploited in different contexts to make different points. The volume under review is made up of sixteen papers and is divided into four main parts, which examine several aspects of Plutarch's versatility: ‘Plutarch's Versatile Philosophy’; ‘Literary Versatility’; ‘The Versatile World of the Lives’; and ‘A Versatile Paideia’. The volume is addressed to Luc Van der Stockt on the occasion of his retirement, a distinguished scholar whose work on Plutarch contributed enormously to the establishment and advancement of Plutarchan studies.

After a brief introduction, in which T. summarises beautifully the breadth and depth of the honorand's scholarship as well as the main themes of the chapters, J. Dillon efficiently shows the variety of Plutarch's approaches to the concept of apatheia. Dillon argues that Plutarch varies his usage of the term according to the context and mode of composition of his work: as a school philosopher Plutarch uses the concept philosophically and polemically as a technical term of Stoic ethics, while as an essayist and historian he uses it in its normal, non-technical and positive meaning. Philosophy is the subject of the next chapter too, in which R. Hirsch-Luipold examines Plutarch's religious philosophy, which (as he argues) explains much of Plutarch's harsh attacks on Stoics. The discussion enlightens Plutarch's complex attitude towards the Stoics, which, as is shown, varies from Plutarch's acceptance of Stoic ideas, or acceptance of Stoic terminology and revision of the concepts behind it, to severe criticism of them. It also brings into relief a transformation that happened in the philosophy and the philosophical discourse of the Early Empire, ‘namely a move towards a religious philosophy not only in Jewish circles, but also in pagan-religious philosophy’ (p. 35). In the next chapter, O. looks at both the topic and the structure of the De sera and gives a thorough analysis of any consistencies and inconsistencies found in Plutarch's different conceptions of punishment (corrective, retributive, preventive) and divine retribution. The first part of the volume ends with a chapter by P. Volpe Cacciatore who advances our understanding of Plutarch the philosopher by discussing his philosophical reflections on the soul in several works of the Moralia. She compares Plutarch's ideas mainly with those of Plato and dwells on some thematic pairs (consonance/dissonance, rational soul/irrational soul, soul/body) that figure prominently in Plutarch's work.

The second part of the volume, which deals with Plutarch's literary versatility, begins with a chapter by E. Bowie, who explores Plutarch's quotation of the poetry of Simonides of Ceos. Bowie, elaborating on his recent work on Plutarch's practice of citing poetry, illuminates not only Plutarch's interest in and (good) knowledge of Simonides, but also his use of Simonidean lines primarily as a historical or myth-historical source and secondarily for their poetic quality. Bowie also stresses that Plutarch's abstention from ascribing some lines or phrases, which he cites, to Simonides is indicative of Plutarch's circumspection, while his repeated citation of some Simonidean anecdotes may strengthen the hypothesis that Plutarch compiled some sort of hypomnema. The hypomnema suggestion is plausible and fits perfectly well in a volume dedicated to the scholar who introduced and developed this aspect of Plutarch's working method. In the next chapter, F.E. Brenk focuses on Plutarch's dialogues in the Moralia in which the characters, often including the main speakers, appear to be flawed. His discussion clearly demonstrates how these flawed characters give much food for thought about things that are morally complex and problematic. Plutarch's practice may be compared to his depiction of ‘flawed characters’ in the Lives as a springboard for moral reflection. Brenk appositely mentions C. Pelling's and T. Duff's work in that direction (see p. 89 with n. 1). J. Mossman next discusses Plutarch's Table Talk. Her emphasis rests on the relationship between the presence of the god Dionysus in the Table Talk and the underlying arrangement of the work. Mossman neatly proves that Dionysus performs a unifying function for many of the most prevalent themes of the work and (most importantly) for the dramatic texture of the dialogue. C. Pelling proceeds to examine how Plutarch's biographies are enriched by evoking themes, motifs and language associated with tragedy. Plutarch, as Pelling thoughtfully suggests, employs tragic colouring and theatricality as an interpretative tool that does not simply allude to ‘bad things’, but also underlines moments where the distinction between dramatic fantasy and reality collapses or where showiness/shallowness/unreality (often suggested through the term τραγικός and related words) impinges on reality, thus offering explanatory ways in which an individual's self-destruction can be probed and understood.

The next chapter, which introduces the third part of the volume, ‘The Versatile World of the Lives’, turns our attention from the ‘tragic’ in Plutarch's biographies to the ‘comic’. M. Beck focuses on the Life of Antony, in which he identifies some humorous instances or references to humorous behaviour. Beck rightly stresses the serious value of wit and humour in Plutarch's Antony, which are used for didactic purposes and in the service of philosophy. Plutarch's Demosthenes–Cicero book is the subject of the next chapter by J. Beneker. Beneker offers a new analysis of this book. He focuses on two central themes of the Demosthenes–Cicero prologue, namely that virtue does not depend on the environment and that self-awareness is critical to success, and successfully shows how these themes are elaborated in the two biographies that follow. His analysis not only adds to our understanding of the cohesiveness of the prologue and the following biographies, but also reveals important aspects of Plutarch's ethics and method in the Demosthenes–Cicero book and the Parallel Lives in general. In the next chapter, R. and S. Verdegem offer an elaborate discussion of the functions of digressive passages in the Coriolanus. After some helpful introductory remarks on Plutarch's conception of the digressive in the Lives, they comment on fourteen passages from the Coriolanus that they have marked as digressions, bringing out what sort of information Plutarch offers there. Their conclusions concern not only the distribution, diversity and origin of Plutarch's digressive information in the Coriolanus, but also the main functions of the digressive passages, which can serve as structural markers, create suspense, enhance the probability of the story and connect or compare the main subject with other historical agents. It is particularly important that R. and Verdegem move their discussion beyond the Coriolanus and examine how the digressions strengthen the unity of the Coriolanus–Alcibiades pair. What is also interesting in this chapter is the suggestion that the digressions contribute to Plutarch's transmission of paideia and reveal several of his pedagogical methods (e.g. his use of examples, comparison, cross-references etc.) as well as the status of his erudite readership. In the last chapter of Part 3, P. Stadter examines Plutarch's code-shifting in the Lives, i.e. his introduction of Latin words into his texts. In addition to shedding important light on the different methods that Plutarch uses to introduce Latin words (translation, transliteration and paraphrase), Stadter's analysis successfully sets forth the main functions of Plutarch's code-switching, which are to highlight features of a character and themes of a biography, to give an anecdote colour and strength and to catch the exact sense of a Latin expression.

Part 4 looks further at Plutarch's versatile paideia. L. Athanassaki considers a number of literary and non-literary sources in order to discover the identity of Eucles, whom Plutarch associates (in an alternative account which, according to Plutarch, most people accept) with the legendary Marathon runner in the De gloria Atheniensium 347C. She persuasively shows that Eucles was a distant ancestor of the Marathonian Attici and that this family played a primary role in creating and spreading the belief that the legendary hero was their remote ancestor. In the next chapter, H.G. Ingenkamp discusses the Life of Demosthenes in the light of Plutarch's principles of historiographical criticism in the De Herodoti Malignitate. He argues that Plutarch's attacks on Demosthenes are driven by political and philosophical concerns, while those on Herodotus can be explained by Plutarch's patriotic feelings. One may notice, in addition, that Plutarch ignores the principles of De Malignitate in other biographies as well (see e.g. C. Pelling, ‘Truth and Fiction in Plutarch's Lives’, in D.A. Russell [ed.], Antonine Literature [1990], pp. 32–5). Plutarch is the most important source of information on Solon's laws, as D.F. Leão efficiently demonstrates in the next chapter. Leão asserts that the information that Plutarch provides about Solon's laws is generally consistent and highly reliable. He offers a concise overview of Plutarch's interpretations and evaluations of Solon's legislative activity, which can vary from discrete praise to ironic ambivalence and increasing criticism. The chapter is very well and lucidly written. Finally, the last chapter, contributed by A. Pérez-Jiménez, consists of some textual remarks on De Facie 944C, which thoughtfully suggest some emendations to the text, followed by a translation.

As a conclusion it is important to emphasise that the value of this volume lies in the wide range of salient themes and areas of research on Plutarch that it covers. The editors have succeeded in collecting very different contributions, which, read together, give a most representative idea of the versatile character of Plutarch's writings. The individual chapters lend a useful insight into Plutarch's philosophy and philosophical work, his attitude towards poetry, his narrative technique in both the Moralia and the Lives, the influences of other texts and literary traditions, his style of writing (comic, tragic, serio-comic), his ethical programme and engagement with the contemporary Greco-Roman world, his understanding of law and history, and his literary qualities. This is a most appropriate way of paying tribute to a scholar who has fundamentally shaped all these lines of inquiry into Plutarch's multifaceted work.