What a lovely treatise on improving the soft skills of learning and listening. I have come across this treatise three times in my life, and each time it sparked different thoughts. The first time, I was astonished by how well it described the essence of conferences—much like Small World by David Lodge, but without the gossip, sex and funding drama. The second time, I was able to delve in depth into the Greek text and its philosophical content, in preparation for my Spanish translation. This time, I enjoyed the easy flowing and up-to-date English translation by Jeffrey Beneker, and could not help but connect it to our current youth and social media use (see below on this).
His book opens with an introduction, followed by the Greek text with facing English of Plutarch’s De audiendo, notes and a brief list of further readings.
The Introduction is short and deals with Plutarch’s interest in what makes a good life, and the relevance of study, community and accountability in its pursuit. I found that the author writes with a sense of wit similar, dare I say, to Plutarch’s.
Beneker’s translation is commendable. Plutarch’s style is at times tricky, with long clauses and elaborate syntax. The English text, however, flows easily, maintaining Plutarch’s wit while making its content more accessible to a modern reader. This is sometimes achieved by spelling out ancient expressions. For instance, where the Greek reads ἡ κατὰ πλευρὰν ἢ κατὰ διάμετρον κίνησις (literally “the motion according to the side or to the diametrically opposed”)—a sentence quite hard to make sense of—, Beneker, correctly understanding that it refers to the different movements of animals, translates “the motion of ambling and trotting”. In some cases, Beneker goes out of his way to make sure the original phrasing is recorded in the endnotes (see nn. 1, 23, 39, 40). The accessibility of the translation is achieved, in other instances, by clarifying the meaning of the Greek text with the addition of short parentheses, as in his treatment of ἀγγείοις τε βραχυστόμοις καὶ πινακίσι χαλκαῖς ἀπεικάζοντες: “They compared themselves to narrow-necked jugs (which take time to fill) and to bronze tablets (which require effort to inscribe).”
The endnotes do not all seem to have the same value or, perhaps, the same intended readership in mind. Most of the explanatory notes offer basic information about the ancient world (e.g. n. 16, “The aulos was an ancient wind instrument often compared to the oboe”; n. 30, “Pythagoras, a pre-Socratic philosopher and namesake of the Pythagorean theorem”). Generally, references to passages quoted or alluded to in the Greek text are not provided in the notes, which is understandable if they are meant for a wider public that might not be looking to check the ancient texts. However, references are given for some authors: Herodotus, Sophocles, Plato and Aristotle. One wonders why all authors quoted by Plutarch do not receive the same treatment.
While the general simplicity of the endnotes is useful for those with no knowledge of the Graeco-Roman world, their elementary tone clashes with the incorporation of the Greek text in the book, since people not knowing who Pythagoras was most probably have not learned to read ancient Greek. This dissonance, in an otherwise well-edited volume, feels more of an issue with the collection as a whole rather than with this specific treatise, and perhaps it would be beneficial for the editors to decide who the intended audience is, which would in turn result in a more coherent structure throughout the book.
As mentioned above, this is my third encounter with the treatise. This time, I found a strong connection to the use of social media in our current world. Particularly, in Section 9 (5 in the traditional Loeb division of the text)[1], the text discusses issues like envy, the distracted mind, and constant criticism without a proper assessment of the value of content. This struck a chord, given that these are issues easily associated with the (ab)use of social media. We have seen a rise of jealousy directed towards other people’s achievements and lifestyle, a concerning drop in the ability to concentrate and focus on difficult tasks for long periods of time, and a rise of “haters”, negative comments, conspiracy theories, and other forms of constant critique, which fosters the tendency to compare ourselves to others in a negative way.
Moreover, academic readers will probably recognize, in Plutarch’s advice on learning and hearing, their behavior at conferences, their own role as teachers, and the attitude of their students in class. Beneker’s up-to-date and enjoyable translation might be perfect reading for debates about the expectations, rights and obligations needed to maximize benefit during class time, as well as to address relevant societal challenges. All of this goes to prove the enduring value of ancient texts and shows how new readings will always lead to new interpretations, thus confirming the need for providing ancient texts with fresh translations for modern audiences. This is the great achievement of the book.
Notes
[1] The author warns in the Introduction (p. xxv) that, while he uses the Greek text of the Loeb Classical Library, he has divided the essay into more sections.