Plutarch and the Natural World
13th International Congress of the International Plutarch Society
11-13 June 2025, Groningen, Netherlands
The relationship of mankind to the natural world has always been, and remains, a topic of vital intellectual interest. In the ancient world, the urge to explain puzzling natural phenomena provided a spur to the development of philosophy, historiography and medicine; and Plutarch provides ample evidence that nature remained good to think with under the Roman Empire.
We are interested in papers on all aspects of Plutarch’s thought on the natural world, including but not limited to: explaining natural phenomena; medical matters and the human body; humans and animals; imagery from nature; the natural environment including the earth, the sea, and the heavens; the elements; the gods and the natural world; meteorological and geographical phenomena and their significance; natural development; and natural processes from birth to death.
Please send the proposed title of your paper, together with an abstract of no more than 300 words, as an email attachment to Professor Lautaro Roig Lanzillotta (f.l.roig.lanzillotta@rug.nl) and Professor Judith Mossman (judith.mossman@coventry.ac.uk) no later than 31 January 2025. Papers should be no more than 30 minutes long.
