Beyond the Boundaries of Fantasia: An ancient imagining of the future of leadership

Discovering Gendered Leadership (4:30)

Plutarch's Life of Antony, part of a series of "Parallel Lives" of Greek and Roman leaders, presents the reader with a portrait of a leader from the perspectives of family lineage, natural character, upbringing, education, and life experiences that are often tragic, wondrous, or bizarre. The purpose, as Plutarch explains, is to give the reader a sense of who the leader is, not necessarily what the leader's most historic accomplishments were. Plutarch's expectation is that readers will study the Life and develop their own sensibilities about what good and bad leadership is. What's remarkable about Antony's Life is its exploration of gender and leadership right from the outset, not only in Antony's own gendered characteristics but in many other influential women, especially Antony's wives: Fulvia, Octavia, and finally Cleopatra.

Listening for Leadership

Life of Antony, Part One: Civil War and the Formation of the Second Triumvirate (1:30)
Life of Antony, Part Two: Antony in the East (1:30)
Life of Antony, Part Three: Caesar Octavian vs. Antony and Cleopatra (1:30)

Possible Group Activity

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