Plutarch severely criticizes the opinion on fortune held by both Stoics and Epicureans, and -
while taking these two positions as ideological extremes - repeatedly refers to Tyche seen as a
force acting in opposition to man’s virtues. He thus falls back on the Peripatetic doctrine and
often quotes Menander, who also studies the way fortune affects the attitudes of his characters.
In particular, two quotations from Menander (at De fort. Rom. 318D and Quaest. conv. 3.6,
654D) deserve special attention, not least in view of their importance for establishing Plutarch’s
own text.