I’ve begun reading Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, and already I’m struck by how familiar these ancient stories feel.
For so many to have lived such fascinating lives makes it seem as though the patterns of human experience are, in some way, repeatable.
And as I read them, I inevitably make connections to the lives of modern historical figures, thinking there are similarities between the lives Plutarch studied and the ones I studied.
Reading about Theseus and Romulus, I can’t help thinking of Washington and Bolívar, or maybe Mandela and Churchill.
The characters change, but the roles remain the same.
It makes me wonder: what would a modernized version of Plutarch’s Parallel Lives look like? Who would the characters be that most would recognize? What lessons would we learn from them? And more importantly, what changes could such a project bring about?
Perhaps there are too many characters to decide which ones to include and compare, yet that’s all the more reason it must be done.
It can serve as a modern reminder that the lives we live aren’t that different from the lives of the past, even if they were almost 2,000 years ago. And perhaps a revival of heroes would arise. After all, the world is in dire need of heroship.
In any case, this idea has plagued my mind, and it may be the culmination of a few projects I’ve already considered. It only deepens my resolve to finish what’s before me so I may begin what must follow.
Whether out of ambition or necessity, I feel it growing clearer by the day. Neither the world nor I can wait any longer.
The past is not dead. It is not even past.
William Faulkner