Order and Adornment: The Role of Dress in Plutarch

This dissertation investigates the role of dress in the ancient Greek author and intellectual Plutarch. The works of Plutarch comprise one of the most prolific authorships preserved to us from classical antiquity. His writings span a plethora of disciplines in ancient scholarship and have preserved a multitude of references to the lives and customs of both his contemporaries and his predecessors. The sheer volume of his authorship and the many details he provides make it a significant source for our knowledge of the ancient world. He is therefore often drawn upon in modern scholarship both in his own right and to shed light on further sources. However, despite his importance, there has so far been no larger study of his stance on dress. The investigation treats dress throughout his works, both the Vitae and the Moralia, and aims to shed new light on how he perceived its role in life and the attainment of moral virtue through a representative overview of his treatment of dress and its connection to life and morals. Further sources are also taken into account, both earlier classical Greek authors, Republican and Imperial Latin authors, as well as Imperial Greek authors. When possible, epigraphical material and Greek papyri are included for comparison. Plutarch refers to both Greek, Roman, barbarian, and mixed dress in his works. These concern its use in liminal life events, in cult and ritual, as insignia, as well as in relation to gender and clothing regulations. His treatment of dress furthermore attests to its use in ancient sociocultural propaganda and to his views on the relation between the internal and external qualities of its wearer. It is argued that Plutarch perceived dress in terms of intrinsic virtue versus external features. These aspects are connected to notions of order and adornment, both of which are encapsulated in the Greek word kosmos. The present study argues that Plutarch’s stance on dress is fundamentally connected to the concept of an ordered life without excess and the necessity of a golden mean in life. To Plutarch this order is necessary for a virtuous and moral life and moderate dress consists in true adornment.