Note 103 — Chapter III · ANCESTRY OF SHAKESPEARE’S ROMAN PLAYS

Les livres qui m’y servent, c’est Plutarque depuis qu’il est françois, et Seneque (ii. iv.). Of course Montaigne knew some Greek and read it more or less. He has even his own opinion about Plutarch’s style (see page 104), and M. Faguet conjectures: “It is quite conceivable that Montaigne compared the translation with the text, and that it is a piece of mere affectation when he says he knows nothing of the Greek.” But doubtless he read the French much more habitually and easily.