Other relatives by marriage mentioned as members of the family in the Moralia are Craton, Firmus, and Patrocleas. Plutarch taught in Chaeronia and represented his people before the Roman governor and in Rome. In Rome he made important contacts and lectured on philosophy and ethics in various parts of Italy.
He spent much time in Italy between 75 and 90; he apparently never mastered the Latin language, though he gained the friendship of notable Romans. The latter half of his life, Plutarch enjoyed the intellectual benefits of the Pax Romana, mostly in Chaeronia.
He held many civic positions, both high and low; the most notable one—that of head priest of Delphi—he held with distinction for 20 years and elevated to an importance it had not had in his time. During the latter part of his life he is thought to have written most of the Lives and some portions of the Moralia.
Plutarch is perhaps best known for the Moralia and the Lives, works which have much in common and have had enormous influence on later writers and the literatures of Europe and even America. He was very much concerned with men's moral conduct and individual moral guidance in an age when men were losing their faith in religion and philosophy. At any rate, Livy insists that this was so. But in his open acts also Potheinus was unbearable, since he said and did many things that were invidious and insulting to Caesar.
But owing to the political situation, though Caesar was not ignorant of these things and did not like them, he was compelled to make use of such assistants. Caesar therefore resolved to make an expedition against them. When a favouring wind arose, he embarked and put to sea with three thousand infantry and a few horsemen. He had under him, namely, a man who otherwise was a contemptible nobody, but belonged to the family of the Africani, and was called Scipio Sallustio.
Indeed, while Caesar's horsemen were once off duty a Libyan was showing them how he could dance and play the flute at the same time in an astonishing manner, and they had committed their horses to the slaves and were sitting delighted on the ground , the enemy suddenly surrounded and attacked them, killed some of them, p and followed hard upon the heels of the rest as they were driven headlong into camp.
At any rate, he said: "Cato, I begrudge thee thy death; for thou didst begrudge me the preservation of thy life. For how could he have spared Cato alive, when he poured out against him after death so great a cup of wrath?
Accordingly, he wrote a treatise in which he got together countless charges against Cato; and the work is entitled "Anti-Cato. These were still young, but had collected an army of amazing numbers and displayed a boldness which justified their claims to leadership, so that they beset Caesar with the greatest peril. This was confessedly a tyranny, since the monarchy, besides the element of irresponsibility, now took on that of permanence.
The earlier capture of both these cities, as well as their present restoration, chanced to fall at one and the same time. And all these things were in preparation. This the Romans use down to the present time, and are thought to be less in error than other peoples as regards the inequality between the lunar and solar years. At any rate, Cicero the orator, we are told, when some one remarked that Lyra would rise on the morrow, said: "Yes, by decree," implying that men were compelled to accept even this dispensation.
For the multitude this was a first cause of hatred, and for those who had long smothered their hate, a most specious pretext for it. But at this the people were confounded, and Caesar, disturbed in mind, said that his name was not King, but Caesar, and seeing that his words produced an universal silence, he passed on with no very cheerful or contented looks.
But afterwards he made his disease an excuse for his behaviour, 7 saying that the senses of those who are thus afflicted do not usually remain steady when they address a multitude standing, but are speedily shaken and whirled about, bringing on giddiness and insensibility.
It was, namely, the festival of the Lupercalia , of which many write that it was anciently celebrated by shepherds, and has also some connection with the Arcadian Lycaea. Accordingly, after he had dashed into the forum and the crowd had made way for him, he carried a diadem, round which a wreath of laurel was tied, and held it out to Caesar. Then there was applause, not loud, but slight and preconcerted. So two of the tribunes, Flavius and Maryllus, went up to them and pulled off the diadems, and after discovering those who had first hailed Caesar as king, led them off to prison.
I like him not over much, for he is much too pale. A certain seer warned Caesar to be on his guard against a great peril on the day of the month of March which the Romans call the Ides; 6 and when the day had come and Caesar was on his way to the senate-house, he greeted the seer with a jest and said: "Well, the Ides of March are come," and the seer said to him softly: "Ay, they are come, but they are not gone.
Some, however, say that this was not the vision which the woman had; but that there was attached to Caesar's house to give it adornment and distinction, by vote of the senate, a gable-ornament , as Livy says, and it was this which Calpurnia in her dreams saw torn down, and therefore, as she thought, wailed and wept. For never before had he perceived in Calpurnia any womanish superstition, but now he saw that she was in great distress.
And he had gone but a little way from his door when a slave belonging to some one else, eager to get at Caesar, but unable to do so for the press of numbers about him, forced his way into the house, gave himself into the hands of Calpurnia, and bade her keep him secure until Caesar came back, since he had important matters to report to him.
This was the signal for the assault. Therefore Brutus also gave him one blow in the groin. Not one of these came in their way, but all were well barricaded. He dreamed, that is, that he was invited to supper by Caesar, and that when he excused himself, Caesar led him along by the hand, although he did not wish to go, but resisted.
What they did and suffered before they died, has been told in the Life of Brutus. Plutarch records that when Cato was made praetor magistrate , "he would often come to the court without his shoes, and sit upon the bench without any undergarment, and in this attire give judgment in capital causes, and upon persons of the highest rank.
Plutarch's voice is decent, tolerant, knowing—the voice of a grown-up. Like Herodotus, that earlier connoisseur of heroes and myths, he savors the irrepressible peculiarities of people. Thus Plutarch is bemused—a little amazed—by the cultural shiftiness of Alcibiades, whose unscrupulous behavior helped stir up the Peleponnesian War: "Alcibiades, whether with good men or with bad, could adapt himself to his company, and equally wear the appearance of virtue or vice. At Sparta, he was devoted to athletic exercises, was frugal and reserved; in Ionia, luxurious, gay, and indolent; in Thrace, always drinking; in Thessaly, ever on horseback; and when he lived with Tissaphernes, the Persian satrap, he exceeded the Persians themselves in magnificence and pomp.
In his treatment of large figures, Plutarch also mixes a due respect and even reverence with strokes of deflation. He grants the preeminent Athenian leader Pericles "a weight and grandeur of sense, superior to all arts of popularity For which reason almost all the images and statues that were made of him have the head covered with a helmet The poets of Athens called him Schinocephalos, or squill-head, from schinos, a squill or sea-onion.
One savors Plutarch for such cunning, lifelike oddments. There is a lovely moment in his life of Caesar: "Cicero was the first who had any suspicions of [Caesar's] designs upon the government, and as a good pilot is apprehensive of a storm when the sea is most smiling, saw the designing temper of the man through this disguise of good humour and affability, and said, in general, that in all [Caesar] did and undertook, he detected the ambition for absolute power.
Cicero goes on: "But when I see his hair so carefully arranged, and observe him adjusting it with one finger, I cannot imagine it should enter into such a man's thoughts to subvert the Roman state. It is said against Plutarch that his characters do not develop—they only stand for types.
But do any of us "develop? Plutarch must have stayed in Athens not only during his studies with Ammonius but considerably longer, so as to become an Athenian citizen Table Talks A. However, Plutarch spent most of his life in his native city and in nearby Delphi. There must have been two reasons for this; first, Plutarch's strong ties with his family, which apparently was wealthy enough to support his studies and travels Russell , 3—5 , and, second, his own interest in the religious activity of Delphi.
The latter is testified to by the fact that Plutarch served in various positions in Delphi, including that of the priest of Apollo Table Talks E , and also in his several works concerning Delphi and the local sacred rituals On the E at Delphi, On Oracles at Delphi, On the Obsolescence of Oracles ; see Stadter These works demonstrate intimate knowledge of Delphi, its traditions, and activities.
Plutarch must have died after CE, the date at which he was appointed procurator of Achaea by Hadrian Eusebius' Chronicle. Plutarch was a prolific writer. The so-called Lamprias catalogue, an ancient library catalogue preserved mutilated , supposedly compiled by Plutarch's son Lamprias, lists works, several of them no longer extant Russell , 18— Plutarch's works divide into philosophical and historical-biographical. The latter, the so-called Lives Bioi of distinguished Greek and Roman men examined in pairs, demonstrate Plutarch's historical and rhetorical abilities, also showing his interest in character formation and politics Russell , — Plutarch's philosophical works, many of them dialogues set in Delphi or Chaeronea , cover half of his literary output.
In modern times they have been published under the collective term Moralia , a term first given to a collection of eleven ethical works preserved in a 14 th century manuscript Parisinus Graecus When the collection was augmented by many other writings preserved in other manuscripts on topics ranging from metaphysics, psychology, natural philosophy, theology, logic, to philosophy of art, the name was retained with the misleading implication that Plutarch's philosophical works are essentially or primarily ethical.
Among Plutarch's works, several serve polemical purposes. He wrote a number of works against the Stoic and Epicurean philosophies. An recte dictum sit latenter esse vivendum. All these works are marked by the use of a distinct polemical tone against assumed adversaries, and of recognizable polemical strategies.
They are often captious and in many instances betray a less than fair engagement with the views being opposed see Warren , — and Kechagia , — for a vindication of Plutarch's polemics in Against Colotes. It is worth considering why Plutarch engaged in writing so many polemical works against the two main Hellenistic schools of philosophy. One reason for Plutarch's preoccupation must be that the early Stoics and Epicureans both strongly criticized Plato.
Another reason for Plutarch's engagement was the fact that both Epicureans and Stoics drew freely and extensively for their own purposes on Plato without acknowledging it and despite their criticism of Plato. This holds true especially for the Stoics see Babut a. They were inspired by the Timaeus , for instance, in their adoption of two principles, god and matter, but their god, unlike that of Plato, is immanent in the physical world and bodily, and he alone, without the Forms, suffices for the formation of matter.
The Stoics were probably guided to their view that only bodies exist by passages in the Sophist ac and in the Timaeus 31bc, 49d-e, 53b-c. For Plutarch, though, this is an utterly mistaken reading of the Timaeus De communibus notitiis DE. Plutarch's polemics were, then, motivated by his desire to advocate Platonism against what he regarded as misguided interpretations and criticisms on the part of Epicureans and Stoics. This defense of Platonism was of vital importance for Platonism at Plutarch's time, since both Stoicism and Epicureanism were still thriving, mainly in virtue of their ethics.
Plutarch wanted to show that Stoic and Epicurean ethics rest on mistaken assumptions about human nature and reality, which render their ethical doctrines useless De virtute morali , De Stoicorum repugnantiis EA, De communibus notitiis BD.
Plutarch's polemics were fuelled by the view he shares with Hellenistic philosophers that the end of philosophy is to support ethical life see e. De profectibus in virtute ; if a school's ethical ideal is unrealizable or, worse, unworthy of human nature, this for Plutarch as for Antiochus, Cicero, De finibus 5.
As in the rest of his philosophical works, in his polemical treatises too, Plutarch aims to show that Plato's philosophy makes good sense as a whole, that is, it does justice to the world and human nature and can bring human beings to happiness see below, sect. The central line permeating Plutarch's relevant criticism is that Stoics and Epicureans contradict our common notions see e.
De communibus notitiis CF and do not do justice to things themselves De profectibus in virtute 75FA. Ironically, perhaps, Plutarch's polemical writings are chiefly of interest—but also of very great value—for the many quotations they contain from Stoics, Epicurus, and other authors whose works were not preserved into modern times, and for his references to and paraphrases of their views in other passages of works available to him but not to us.
Were it not for Plutarch, our grasp of Stoic and Epicurean philosophy would be much less extensive than it is, and our ability to reconstruct and appreciate their ideas much reduced. Here is an overview of Plutarch's works, to give a sense of his conception of philosophy and of what in Platonist philosophy especially he valued.
This, however, does not necessarily point to a lack of interest or knowledge on his part. Quite the opposite is the case. Plutarch is particularly attracted to epistemology because he considers this as a crucial aspect of Platonist philosophy.
He seeks to defend the epistemology of Academic skeptics like Arcesilaus and Carneades and on these grounds to advocate the unity of the Academy against the criticisms of Antiochus of Ascalon 1 st c.
BCE; see below, sects. The latter two are indicative of a reawakening of interest in Aristotelian logic, beginning in the 1 st c. BCE, cultivated mainly by Peripatetics such as Boethus and Andronicus, but also characterizing Platonists of Plutarch's era, such as Eudorus and Nicostratus, who set themselves in dialogue especially with Aristotle's Categories. Although the content of these Plutarchean works remains unknown, we do have Plutarch's own claim that Aristotle's doctrine of categories is foreshadowed in the Timaeus De an.
Plutarch's interest in the Topics , on the other hand, must have been motivated by his interest in the dialectical methodology of arguing both sides of a question Karamanolis , 86—87; see further below, sect. Plutarch's works on epistemology cover a broad spectrum of issues.
The lost work Whether He Who Suspends Judgment on Everything is Led to Inaction must have confronted the common accusation against skepticism voiced in its title.
His most important surviving works in metaphysics are those related to the interpretation of the Timaeus , namely On the Generation of Soul in the Timaeus De animae procreatione in Timaeo , On Isis and Osiris De Iside et Osiride ; from lost works of Plutarch relevant are the following: Where are the Forms?
Plutarch shows quite some interest in the explanation of natural phenomena in several surviving works, most importantly in: On the Face Which Appears in the Orb of the Moon De facie quae in orbe lunae apparet , On the Principle of Cold De primo frigido , On the Cleverness of Animals De sollertia animalism.
Plutarch's interest in this area is apparently motivated by the wish to develop Platonist natural philosophy and also oppose the Stoics, who were dominant in this field especially since Posidonius 1 st c.
BCE , and in Plutarch's age with his much older contemporary Seneca ca. Given the importance of god in the world's coming into being according to Plutarch, he is seriously engaged with theology, especially with questions pertaining to the relation between god and man, such as the issue of divination, divine justice and divine punishment, and so on, in: On Oracles at Delphi De Pythiae oraculis , On the Obsolescence of Oracles De defectu oraculorum , On the E at Delphi De E apud Delphos , On Delays in Divine Punishment De sera numinis vindicta , and On the Daemon of Socrates De genio Socratis Socratis.
Plutarch's On the Generation of Soul in the Timaeus together with the ten Platonic Questions illustrate well his work as a Platonic exegete see Hershbell , Ferrari Plutarch's ethical works include some of theoretical orientation e. On Moral Virtue , which refutes the Stoic theory of virtue and some of practical one e.
The tendency, however, to distinguish two altogether separate classes of ethical works following Ziegler , — is problematic given the considerable affinities between them, yet Plutarch does use different styles in them, presumably targeting different audiences Van Hoof , — Plutarch wrote also works on aesthetics and education, which one could classify also as works of practical orientation.
Plutarch, following Plato, evaluates poetry from the point of view of ethical education. The latter two could not have been merely historical, however; the historical perspective must rather have served to defend the point of view of the skeptical Academy, which Plutarch advocated as doing justice to the aporetic spirit of Plato's philosophy see below, sect.
Plutarch lived in the wake of the revival of the dogmatic interpretation of Plato begun by Antiochus and Eudorus in the 1 st c.
BCE, which in a way he continues. Plutarch, however, shows a more complex philosophical profile, apparently through developing the version of Academic skepticism defended by Antiochus' contemporary Philo of Larissa and also slightly later Cicero.
He strives for a synthesis of the skeptical interpretation of Plato, defended by the Academic skeptics Arcesilaus, Carneades and Philo, with that of Antiochus' dogmatic interpretation, according to which Plato held doctrines of his own. For Plutarch, rather Plato accommodates harmoniously both an aporetic and a doctrinal element in his philosophy.
According to Plutarch, the aporetic element in Plato encourages a way of searching for the truth without prejudices or a priori commitments, and this practically amounts to a dialectical inquiry, arguing either side of a given question; but this dialectical spirit does not deny the possibility of reaching firm conclusions, or even the possibility of achieving secure knowledge.
According to Plutarch, Plato had reached such conclusions in his dialogues, which can be identified as Plato's doctrines and yet he still preserved the spirit of unceasing inquiry, embedded in the dialogue form itself, by not holding them in a way which closed off reconsideration and further inquiry. This is why Plutarch advocates an epistemology that integrates both the suspension of judgment i.
Suspension of judgment, he thinks, is rather an established method of philosophical research followed by several illustrious ancient philosophers Heraclitus, Parmenides, Socrates, Plato , rather than an innovation of Arcesilaus Adv. For Plutarch, the Academic both appreciates Plato's aporetic spirit and still values his doctrines.
Similar in this respect appears to be the position of the anonymous author of the 1 st c. In accordance with this conception of Platonism, Plutarch himself writes dialogues, which, like Plato's, are either dramatic e. De cohibenda ira , narrated e.
De sera numinis vindicta , or mixed De genio Socratis ; see the typology of Platonic dialogues in Diogenes Laertius 3.
As in Plato, in Plutarch's dialogues too the speakers give long speeches in favor of a certain view Russell , 34— It is often unclear, however, with what view Plutarch sympathizes, despite the fact that sometimes he appears as character in some dialogues e. On the E at Delphi. Besides, Plutarch, following Plato again, often uses myths, metaphors, and analogies.
The work On Isis and Osiris is particularly interesting in this regard. In it Plutarch relates the myth of the two Egyptian deities, yet he interprets it allegorically as a story informative about god, being, and creation Ziegler , — Of special interest are the eschatological myths in Plutarch, as they integrate cosmological, psychological, and ethical considerations. This is the case with the myth narrated in On The Face Which Appears in the Orb of the Moon , which centers on the role of the moon in the world and its role in the life of souls see Cherniss, Plutarch Moralia , vol.
XII, Loeb, Introduction. These authorial practices present a problem for the scholar who wants to identify Plutarch's own philosophical views, just as they do with Plato's own dialogues. The works that unambiguously present Plutarch's opinions on exegetical and philosophical matters are On the Generation of Soul in the Timaeus , and Platonic Questions , while the others must be used with caution, for the reasons given above, or because of their polemical aim and tone see Opsomer Plutarch represents a synthesis also with regard to his philosophical interests.
On the one hand he shares Antiochus' emphasis on ethics, yet on the other he focuses considerably on metaphysics, which was revived by Eudorus end of 1 st c. Like them, Plutarch as noted above pays special attention to the Timaeus , which from then on became the keystone of Platonism. Plutarch is particularly interested in the generation of the soul, and he devotes an entire treatise to discussing one short passage, Timaeus 35a1—36b5 On the Generation of Soul in the Timaeus ; see Cherniss, Plutarch Moralia , Loeb vol.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Plutarch's interpretation of the Timaeus shapes his entire philosophy. In the case of natural phenomena, this means that explanations should make reference to intelligible causes De primo frigido B-C which account for the nature of things in the world, while in the case of human beings, their nature and their final end in life, that is, their happiness cannot be determined unless one understands that the human constitution is similar to that of the world, consisting of body, soul, and intellect De facie A, A, De virtute morali D.
Plutarch systematically employs the analogy between worldly macrocosm and human microcosm, suggested in the Timaeus , which is important also in Stoicism see below, sect. Plutarch is also familiar with Neo-Pythagorean and Aristotelian philosophies. Interest in both Pythagorean ideas and Aristotelianism were in vogue at the end of the 1 st century BCE and during the 1 st century CE, when Plutarch writes.
There is a wave of Neo—Pythagorean treatises written at this time, such as those of ps—Archytas, Euryphamus, Theages see Dillon , —, b, —, Centrone , while Plutarch's contemporary Moderatus attempted to systematize Pythagorean ideas as background to Plato he wrote a work Pythagorean Doctrines in many books; Stephanus Byzantius, s.
Gadeira, Porphyry, Life of Pythagoras 48; Dillon , — Aristotelian philosophy, on the other hand, was revived by Peripatetics and Platonists alike during this period. In the Peripatetic camp this is the time when Andronicus of Rhodes was active, being responsible for a complete edition of Aristotle's works at the end of the 1 st century BCE, while Xenarchus of Seleukeia was critically engaged with Aristotle's physics.
But already before them, Antiochus and Cicero had been well acquainted with Aristotle's works, the former arguing that Aristotle was in essential agreement with Plato, at least in ethical theory Cicero, Academica I. Plutarch was familiar with several Aristotelian treatises from all periods of his writing career cf. Plutarch's attitude to Pythagoreanism and Aristotle is complex and sophisticated. Plutarch's cosmic principles, the One and the Indefinite Dyad De defectu oraculorum FA , allegedly found in the Timaeus , had long been considered Pythagorean in origin.
Plutarch shows his familiarity with Pythagoreanism in the second and rather cryptic part of On the Generation of the Soul in Timaeus , where he seeks to explain the nature and role of numbers and ratios in the Timaeus making repeated references to Pythagoreans. With regard to Aristotle, Plutarch is more cautious than Antiochus; he considers some of Aristotle's doctrines to be an articulation or development of Platonic philosophy e.
Aristotle's ethics, logic and science; see Teodorsson , and espouses them as being Platonic e. De virtute morali B-C , De an. However, he also criticizes Aristotle for contradicting Plato's presumed doctrines e. Hence it is wrong to portray Plutarch as an eclectic philosopher e. Ziegler , , F. Babbitt, Plutarch's Moralia , Introduction, vol. Rather Plutarch uses philosophers such as Aristotle only instrumentally in order to advance through them what he perceives as Plato's doctrines Karamanolis , 92— Plutarch shares with Antiochus Cicero, Academica I.
On this view, Xenocrates, Polemo and Aristotle developed and articulated Platonic philosophy, though not without faults, while the Stoics and Epicureans were instead guilty of systematic distortion. Plutarch is not a populariser either Babbitt op. Rather, Plutarch's work shows great complexity and sophistication and evinces the spirit of a meticulous interpreter, who ventures to advance innovative views, such as on the creation of the soul, on human constitution, as well as on ethics and poetics see below, sects.
Plutarch lived in an age in which philosophy had taken the form of exegesis of classical philosophical texts, but through this exegetical process philosophers in late antiquity such as Plotinus and the commentators on Plato and Aristotle crystallize and voice their own views on crucial philosophical questions. Indeed Plutarch takes some very interesting lines on metaphysics, psychology, and ethics, which became influential in later generations of Platonists, such as Plotinus and Porphyry see below, sect.
Like the Hellenistic Philosophers and Antiochus, Plutarch appears to be particularly sensitive to the question of how we acquire knowledge.
Plutarch sets out to defend the interpretation of Plato's epistemology maintained in the skeptical Academy. Plutarch defends this epistemological position against the Stoic accusation that such an attitude leads to inaction, making life impossible, and also against the Epicurean claim that sense-experiences are always true.
The first two alone, Plutarch argues, against the Stoics, suffice to produce action Adv. Consequently, Plutarch argues, suspension of judgment saves us from making mistakes B but does not prevent us at all from acting.
Opsomer , 88 has rightly noted that Plutarch's argument is very similar to that of the Pyrrhonian skeptics. Plutarch recommends suspension of judgment as a method of testing and evaluating knowledge obtained through the senses Adv. This is not only because the senses often deceive us De primo frigido A, De E E ; the problem according to Plutarch rather is that the world is a place that cannot be known perfectly.
This, however, does not amount to dismissal of the senses, which is how Colotes criticized Plato Adv. According to Plutarch, the senses are of limited application because they can at best inform us only about the sensible world, which is a world of generation, of appearances, not of being De E E.
For a Platonist like Plutarch, perfect knowledge can only be of being, and for that we need to transcend the sensible world and move our thought to the intelligible one De Iside DA. Plutarch makes a sharp distinction between sensible and intelligible knowledge, which corresponds to the fundamental ontological distinction between sensible or physical and intelligible reality Plat. He appears to distinguish two distinct faculties of human knowledge, the sensory and the intellectual, each of which grasps the corresponding part of reality Plat.
The cognitive faculty for intelligibles, the human intellect, is external to the embodied soul De an. Numenius fr. In Plutarch's view, human beings come to understand through the intellect by making use of the notions or concepts ennoiai , apparently identifiable with the Forms Plat. Indeed, knowledge of intelligibles can take one as far as to understand the divine realm ibid.
This is the main task of philosophy for Plutarch. Philosophy in his view must be inspired by the Socratic practice of inquiry, and this practice amounts to the continuous search for truth, which presupposes that, following the example of Socrates, one admits ignorance Adv. To be in a position to carry out this search for truth, however, one must search oneself and purify one's soul, Plutarch argues Adv.
And he points out that Socrates promoted precisely this practice, using the elenchus as a purgative medicine, trying to remove false claims to knowledge and arrogance from the souls of his interlocutors, and to seek truth along with them, instead of defending his own view Plat.
Plutarch does not defend the Socratic-Academic epistemology only at the theoretical level, but also applies it practically. While discussing in On the Principle of Cold whether cold is a principle rather than a privation and whether earth is the primary cold element, he defends suspension of judgment as the right attitude to take on the matter C; see Babut , 72—76 contra Boys-Stones b.
This is indicative of Plutarch's attitude to natural phenomena quite generally.
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