Plutarch's demiurgic moralism in his Theseus–Romulus

ABSTRACT:This article deals with the tension between two points of interest in Plutarch's Theseus–Romulus. On the one hand, the pair is part and parcel of the Parallel Lives and should thus be understood in light of their 'zetetic moralism'. On the other hand, Plutarch pays much attention to questions of historical criticism, not only in the two biographies but even in the programmatic proem. These two issues, and their mutual relation and interplay, are examined against the background of Plutarch's Platonism (particularly his reception of the Timaeus). The task which Plutarch has set himself in this pair indeed bears comparison with that of the Demiurge who brought order to chaos. In that sense, Theseus–Romulus can be characterized as a project of 'demiurgic moralism'.