Key words: classical tradition, Benjamin Britten, Billy Budd, Herman Melville, E. M. Forster, Eric Crozier, opera, Plutarch’s Lives, Plutarch’s Eroticus, Plato, greek love, greek eros, gay studies

 The aim of this article is to propose and lay the foundations of a Plutarch’s way –not only his Lives but also his Eroticus- to the Platonic content of Billy Budd by B. Britten with a libretto by E. M. Forster in association with Eric Crozier.  Plutarch is not quoted in H. Melville’s novel, but E. M. Forster’s good knowledge of the texts by the Greek writer and philosopher makes this hypothesis quite credible.