CICERO, PLUTARCH AND GALEN: ON THE POSSIBILITY OF A THERAPEIA OF THE PASSIONS

In this paper we examine the answers given by Cicero, Plutarch and Galen, all noted representatives of imperial Philosophy, to the question of the possibility and legitimacy of a therapeia of the passions. Taking reflection on the nature of the soul and the status of the passions as starting point, they revived the debate that goes back to the scene in epic poetry where Achiles has to deal with Pallas Athene's appeal to him to calm his heart. To that end we have chosen the following texts: Cicero's Tusculans, book IV; Plutarch's Whether the passions of the soul are worse than those of the body and On the control of anger; and Galen's On the passions and errors of the soul and That the faculties of the soul follow the temperaments of the body.