Pseudo-Plutarch

Pseudo-Plutarch is the conventional name given to the actual, but unknown, authors of a number of pseudepigrapha (falsely attributed works) attributed to Plutarch but now known to have not been written by him.

Some of these works were included in some editions of Plutarch's Moralia. Among these are:

• the Lives of the Ten Orators (
  Ten Orators of ancient Athens, based on Caecilius of Calacte, possibly deriving from a common source with the Lives of Photius
• The Doctrines of the Philosophers (
  Ancient Greek: Περὶ τῶν ἀρεσκόντων φιλοσόφοις φυσικῶν δογμάτων; Latin: Placita Philosophorum)^[1]
• De Musica (On Music)
• Greek and Roman Parallel Stories (
  Ancient Greek: Διηγήσεις Παράλληλοι Ἑλληνικαὶ καὶ Ῥωμαϊκαί), also known as the Parallela Minora^[2]
  (Minor Parallels)
• Pro Nobilitate (Noble Lineage)[3]
• De fluviis^[4] (On Rivers/About the Names of Rivers and Mountains; Greek: Περὶ ποταμῶν καὶ ὀρῶν ἐπωνυμίας)
• De Homero (On Homer)
• De Unius in Re Publica Dominatione (On the Rule of One in the Republic)
• Consolatio ad Apollonium (Consolation to Apollonius)

These works date to slightly later than Plutarch, but almost all of them date to

One pseudepigraphal philosophical work, De Fato (On Fate; included in editions of Plutarch's Moralia), is thought to be a 2nd-century Middle Platonic work.

Stromateis (Στρωματεῖς, "Patchwork"), an important source for pre-Socratic philosophy, is also falsely ascribed to Plutarch.^[5]

Some works ascribed to Plutarch are likely of medieval origin, such as the "Letter to Trajan."

References