Amistad, filantropía y eros en la paideia plutarquea: la Vida de Catón el Viejo

Abstract

The present contribution reviews some ethical and emotional criteria that underlie the Life of Cato the Elder in order to determine the real meaning of the Plutarchan paideia. In that sense, Plutarch shows that friendship, philanthropy and eros constitute (in praesentia aut in absentia) a proper manner to describe Cato’s personality and education, which must improve as he becomes increasingly familiar with the above-mentioned Greek concepts. Finally, Plutarch seems to maintain that the right use of these concepts has an effect on both the moral and the political education of the statesman.