North's Translation of Plutarch's Lives Published
1579 · Early Modern
Thomas North published his English translation of Plutarch's Parallel Lives under the title The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romanes. North translated from Jacques Amyot's 1559 French edition rather than the original Greek. The translation provided William Shakespeare with source material for multiple plays, including Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, and Timon of Athens. Shakespeare incorporated passages from North's prose directly into blank verse with minimal alteration, making this translation a foundational text for Elizabethan drama.
Key Figures
Thomas NorthJacques Amyot
Locations
London
Topics
Renaissance translationPlutarch's Parallel LivesShakespeare's sourcesElizabethan literatureclassical reception
Connected Events — 4 Connections
North's Plutarch was published 15 years after Shakespeare's birth and became his primary source for Roman history plays William Shakespeare Born
North's Plutarch provided Shakespeare the source material for Hamlet's political intrigue themes Hamlet First Performed
Gutenberg's printing press enabled mass production of translated works like North's Plutarch Gutenberg Printing Press
The dissolution redistributed monastic libraries, making classical texts more accessible to Tudor scholars Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII
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