Plutarch does not immediately come to mind when one considers the history of medicine. Known primarily as an historian, he was born in Chaeronea when Greece was already part of the Roman Empire. Widely influential, he was an important biographer, philosopher, and teacher, with a deep interest in ethics, morality, and how one should conduct one’s life. While most of this is reflected in his philosophical work, the Moralia, Plutarch is better known for his Parallel Lives, in which he compares the most notable Greek and Roman figures in history—kings, emperors, generals, and other prominent people. He describes them mostly in pairs, one Greek paired with one Roman, such as Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, or Demosthenes and Cicero, focusing not only on their eventful lives but often also on their views and beliefs. Plutarch remained highly influential in the Middle Ages, when he was Michel de Montaigne’s favorite author, and he continues to be widely read and recognized as a classic even in our day.

In his writings, especially in the many essays of the Moralia, Plutarch provides a perspective of his era’s medical practices and beliefs. Of the several schools of medicine established in his time, Plutarch’s approach resembles that of Hippocrates, emphasizing the importance of lifestyle in maintaining health rather than mere disease-specific treatments. In his essay particularly relevant to health, “De sanitate tuenda” (“On the Preservation of Health”), Plutarch advocates a balanced lifestyle, diet, and exercise as essential to good health.

Thus, Plutarch’s philosophy is deeply based on Plato’s, in which physical health cannot be separated from mental or spiritual wellbeing. He believed in the harmony of the body and soul, suggesting moderation in all aspects of life, from food and drink to emotional responses, and cautioning against excesses that could disturb the body’s equilibrium. He recommends regular exercise and physical activity, not just for its physical benefits but also for mental and moral health, and he recognizes the impact of emotions such as anger, fear, or joy on physical health. He advises managing emotions to prevent diseases, which anticipates modern psychosomatic medicine. In the Moralia he has chapters on education, love, loving one’s offspring, virtue and vice, controlling one’s anger, shyness, friends, how to discern a flatterer from a friend, talkativeness, curiosity, contentedness of mind, envy and hatred, how one can praise oneself without exciting envy, against borrowing money, and many other subjects.

While not a medical practitioner, Plutarch refers in his works to contemporary medical practices and mentions the use of herbs and baths and the importance of physicians, though he criticizes excessive reliance on drugs rather than natural remedies or lifestyle changes. His observations sometimes reflect a skepticism towards the medical science of his time, which was still grappling with superstitions and pseudo-scientific practices.

He also notes how some physicians are more interested in profit than in healing, a critique that resonates through the ages. He also discusses how superstition can interfere with medical treatment, advocating for a more rational approach to health. His observations and philosophical insights into health and medicine serve as a bridge between ancient medical practices and the philosophical contemplation of what constitutes a healthy life, a reminder that medicine is not only about treating diseases but about understanding and nurturing the human person.

Further reading

1. Richard J. Durling. Medicine in Plutarch’s “Moralia”. Traditio, 1995, Vol. 50 (1995): 311-4.
2. D.A. Russell. On Reading Plutarch’s “Moralia”. Greece & Rome, Oct. 1968, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Oct. 1968): 130-46.
3. Simon Swain. Plutarch, Hadrian, and Delphi. Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, 1991, Bd. 40, H. 3 (1991): 318-30. Franz Steiner Verlag.
4. Plutarch’s Lives. Translated by John Dryden. New York: Modern Library.