Abstract

The theory of "clusters of parallel passages" introduced by the Leuven School has been an important tool for the investigation of Plutarch's compositional techniques. This article seeks to test the exact validity of the Leuven approach by examining whether we can always detect clusters of Plutarch's thought in cases in which identical items recur in different contexts. In the first section of this article I discover a cluster shared by the An seni respublica gerenda sit and the Non posse suaviter vivi secundum Epicurum, while in the second section I end with an elaborate pattern of thought shared by the An seni respublica gerenda sit and the Praecepta gerendae reipublicae. Both cases illustrate equally how Plutarch reuses the same material to make it fit the varying themes of different essays.