Matching in Mind the Sea Beast’s Complexion. On the Pragmatics of Plutarch′s Hypomnemata and Scientific Innovation: The Case of Q. N. 19 (916 BF)
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Michiel Meeusen
Abstract
This article is devoted to Plutarch’s natural-philosophical interests and aspirations, as expressed more precisely in his collection of Quaestiones Naturales, which has been generally underestimated by scholars. In order to speculate about the actual position of this collection in the Corpus Plutarcheum, I present a case study of one particular problem, viz. Q.N. 19 (916BF). In the first part of the article, the scope is primarily confined to the traditional sources on which Plutarch relies, but I also take into account Plutarch’s conception of scientific innovation, as it is formulated in Quaestiones convivales. In the second part, I deal with the problematic degree of moral dynamics and literary stylistics, which are, in the main, absent from Quaestiones Naturales. I analyse a cluster of parallel passages (De soll. an. 978EF; De am. mult. 96F–97A; De ad. et am. 51D–53D; Alc. 23, 4–5) by way of contrast to Q.N. 19. This yields insight into Plutarch’s argumentative tactics and his process of writing and rewriting, with a particular focus on his use of ὑπομνήματα. On chronological grounds, I argue that at a certain point Plutarch bears the hypomnematic material of Q.N. 19 in his topical mind, but also that there are certain indications that Q.N. 19 itself is based on other ὑπομνήματα, which in turn provides new material for speculating about the true nature of Quaestiones Naturales as a “collection of notes” and about what the actual range of this label might be.
© by Akademie Verlag, Berlin, Germany
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- Comic Rivalry and the Number of Comic Poets at the Lenaia of 405 B. C.
- The Historical Present of Atelic and Durative Verbs in Greek Tragedy
- Matching in Mind the Sea Beast’s Complexion. On the Pragmatics of Plutarch′s Hypomnemata and Scientific Innovation: The Case of Q. N. 19 (916 BF)
- Per la storia del testo di Plauto nell’antichità (e ancora sui due Sisenna)
- Willkürliche Rechtssprechung. Ovids verhüllte Augustuskritik in der Tieropfer-Passage der Fasti (1, 349–456)
- Hungernde Dichter, unwillige Mäzene. Baptista Mantuanus’ Ekloge V und die römische Satire
- Der Trevi-Brunnen, Statius und Homer. Das Modell Nicola Salvis und die Bauten Clemens’ XII
- „Unser Rohde“. Der Briefwechsel zwischen Franz Overbeck und Otto Crusius
- Observations on the Hesiodic fragment 65 M–W
- Catullus 64, 94: A Textual Note
Articles in the same Issue
- Comic Rivalry and the Number of Comic Poets at the Lenaia of 405 B. C.
- The Historical Present of Atelic and Durative Verbs in Greek Tragedy
- Matching in Mind the Sea Beast’s Complexion. On the Pragmatics of Plutarch′s Hypomnemata and Scientific Innovation: The Case of Q. N. 19 (916 BF)
- Per la storia del testo di Plauto nell’antichità (e ancora sui due Sisenna)
- Willkürliche Rechtssprechung. Ovids verhüllte Augustuskritik in der Tieropfer-Passage der Fasti (1, 349–456)
- Hungernde Dichter, unwillige Mäzene. Baptista Mantuanus’ Ekloge V und die römische Satire
- Der Trevi-Brunnen, Statius und Homer. Das Modell Nicola Salvis und die Bauten Clemens’ XII
- „Unser Rohde“. Der Briefwechsel zwischen Franz Overbeck und Otto Crusius
- Observations on the Hesiodic fragment 65 M–W
- Catullus 64, 94: A Textual Note
