Plutarch. De superstitione: Edited with a commentary

• Applicant: Dr. Felix Meister
• Subject Area: Greek and Latin Philology
• Term: from 2017 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 387073042

The vast corpus of Plutarch´s writings still contains a number of texts that have received either insufficient treatment or no commentary at all, which excludes these texts from profound scholarly engagement. This deficiency is particularly manifest in the case of the essay "On Superstition" (De superstitione). Although this text, which stands out in many respects from the rest of the corpus, offers a key document to understanding aspects of Imperial philosophy of religion, central questions about it remain unanswered. This project aims at addressing these questions through a comprehensive commentary on De superstitione, with special focus on three different aspects. The first concerns traditional areas of philological analysis, like the transmission of the manuscripts and the establishment of a critical text as well as linguistic and stylistic peculiarities. The second concerns the philosophical argument within the context of contemporary debates and received views on piety, superstition, and atheism. The third concerns the role of De superstitione as a religious testimony that preserves a wealth of peculiar rituals and cultic perspectives. By pursuing these aspects, this project aims to make this central text for early Imperial religion and religiousness equally accessible for students and researchers of Classical literature, philosophy, history of religion, and theology.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants