Plutarch: How to Study Poetry (de Audiendis Poetis)

Plutarch wrote this essay to lay out reading habits that would stop poetry from harming young readers' morals. It opens a view onto ancient education and scholarship, a world that can seem remote to readers raised on modern literary theory and criticism.

The edition includes a full introduction and commentary by Richard Hunter and Donald Russell, which help readers situate the essay in its setting. It is useful to students of classics, ancient literature and the history of education, and to anyone interested in how the ancients thought poetry should be read.

Published by Cambridge University Press. ISBN-13: 9780521173605.