PLUTARCH’S “PARALLELA MINORA” AS A HISTORICAL SOURCE

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to fully analyze the treatis “Parallel stories”, whose authorship is ascribed to the ancient historian Plutarch. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, consistency, verification, author’s objectivity, as well as the use of general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, generalization. Particular attention is paid to the method of analyzing the historical source proposed by Johann Droisenm and “Cambridge system” criticism of ancient tests. For the first time in Ukrainian historical science, are comprehensively analyzed essence and content, as well as the source link of source “Parallela minora” with other ancient and medieval historical sources. It is determined that the compilative nature of the work is objectively determined by the genre of ancient comparisons. Probably the main idea can be considered a demonstration of the repeatability of historical and mythological stories popular in ancient literature. These stories served as a source of both inspiration and outright plagiarism for other authors. Assume that the author of the treatise «Parallela minora» could both reproductively rewrite the story from the real to the source base and consciously allow certain flaws or outright in primitivization as a satire on a similar genre, borrowing and/or authors. Moreover, without the discovery of the new primary sources, which at the moment are lost (as happened with the work on the state structure of Athens by Aristotle), due to a number of specific and unique characteristics and elements of “Parallela minora”, an unconditional assessment of the work and authorship can hardly be considered completely unambiguous. Is has been suggested that this treatise should be taken as a manifesto to modern historians with a call for a more thorough analysis of the source base.