Stoic threads, Platonic answers: Plutarch's demiurgic cosmology

The thesis aims at exploring Plutarch's cosmology in its relationship with Stoic doctrines. The first part focuses on the background: chpt. 1 reconstructs the central tenets of Stoic physics (the notions of principle, element, cause), while chpt. 2 attempts to provide a classification of the main Platonists threads and tendencies by Plutarch's time and before him. The second part is devoted to analysing Plutarch's theory of demiurgy and his onto-theology, with a particular attention to the De E apud Delphos. The third part is then devoted to reconstructing Plutarch's theory of matter (chpt. 5) and of the cosmic soul (chpt. 6).