Source edition
Plutarch. Perrin, Bernadotte, editor. Plutarch's Lives, Vol. IV. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1916.
Source data
Perseus Digital Library · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This work presents a comparative analysis of the lives and characters of the Athenian politician Alcibiades and the Roman general Gaius Marcius Coriolanus. While acknowledging their exceptional military talents, the author focuses on their contrasting and problematic political attitudes toward the populace. The comparison examines their personal motivations, such as deceit and anger, their behavior during exile, and their respective attitudes toward wealth and honor. It vividly contrasts Alcibiades, who was affable and persuasive yet prone to personal excess, with Marcius, who was remarkably self-controlled regarding money but brought about his own tragedy through his uncompromising nature. Ultimately, the text demonstrates how these differences in character shaped the citizens' perceptions of them and determined their respective political fates.