Jump into Greek and Roman history with the easy-to-read The Children's Plutarch, Tales of the Romans and Greeks, by Plutarch and J.F. Gould. Plutarch was an early Greek writer who lived from 46 to 120 AD. Plutarch's most well known work is Parallel Lives, where he compared famous Greeks and Romans. The book influenced Shakespeare, who consulted the biographies while writing his Roman plays.

Plutarch's Lives were biographies of the most famous men and women in the Greek and Roman pantheon. By writing them, Plutarch intended to describe the character, vitality and heroic deeds of these famous people, and he turned to the famous library at Alexandria to help him reconstruct their lives.

Gould takes Plutarch's biographies and tells them in simple language for readers of approximately 10 to 14 years old. The book is also a good introduction to Plutarch's Lives for readers of all ages because it is the most condensed version of Plutarch that is available in English. The text includes pronunciations.

The Children's Plutarch provides a brief biography of most of the Greeks who appeared in Plutarch's Lives, like Solon, Lycurgus, Aristides, Lysander, Agis, Agesilaus, Demosthenes, Alexander, Dion, Timoleon, and others. Rather than complete biographies, the chapters are quick sketches illustrating life lessons. For example, in The Just Man, Plutarch tells the story of Aristides, who was praised by Herodotus as the most just man in all of Greece. The moral of the story is that honor is better than money.

Plutarch's lives emphasize life lessons and character over historical record, but Plutarch was the only historian to record certain historical events, which lends credibility to his accounts. If you enjoy history and are looking for a condensed summary of major Greek and Roman figures, then you will love read The Children's Plutarch, Tales of the Romans and Greeks.

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