Plutarchos a barátságról
Plutarch about the Friendship

Summary/Abstract: The topic of friendship had been present in Greek philosophical literature since Plato. By the 2nd century CE ready-made stock arguments were available in rhetorics regarding the basic questions of friendship. In his ethical work De amicorum multitudine, Plutarch expounds Aristotle’s thesis „εἶναι φίλον … οὐκ ἔστι πρὸς πολλούς” (Arist. EN 1171a 18–20). Plutarch’s vast knowledge of literature and philosophy makes his rendering of the topic unique. The present study first takes a brief view of Plutarch’s predecessors in the topic, then taking Plutarch’s anthropology as a starting point, inquires into his theory of friendship. Plutarch places a special emphasis on the similarity of brotherhood and friendship and the difference between the friend and the flatterer, which is demonstrated in a comparison of the relevant works found in the Moralia. After the analysis of De amicorum multitudine, the present study concludes in a comparison between Plutarch’s essay and Aristotle’s theory of friendship (NE 8–9), which seems to have exercised the deepest influence on Plutarch’s present work.

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