Adagia

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edition of the Adagia by Aldus Manutius , Venice, 1508
Erasmus of Rotterdam (painting by Hans Holbein the Younger , 1523)

The Adagia (plural of Latin adagium "proverb") are a collection and commentary on ancient proverbs , sayings and sayings of the humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam . The first edition appeared in Paris in 1500 with the title Collectanea adagiorum ("Collected Proverbs").

Emergence

At a young age, Erasmus began to collect, interpret and comment on ancient wisdom and proverbs. He called his first collection "Antibarbari", a writing against the "language barbarians". He developed his passion for writing educational books at an early age and published the first collection of 818 adagias as a small book in 1500.

1503: 818 Adagia
1508: 3,260 Adagia
1533: 4,251 Adagia

Even while writing it, Erasmus said that he could easily expand the collection to several thousand. In the new edition published in 1508, the collection had already grown to 3,260 proverbs and was now entitled Adagiorum Chiliades tres ac centuriae fere totidem . The book was published by the publisher Aldus Manutius in Venice , who was the first to give him a chance. Erasmus came to Italy with his disordered and incomplete collection of material and was able to expand his collection there immensely. Here he saw a whole series of works by Greek authors either for the first time or at least in good manuscripts.

“At the beginning of 1508, Aldus began printing and Erasmus began compiling the material. 'That was reckless of me', he would say later, whenever he looked back on those eight months of feverish work, during which, to make matters worse, kidney stones plagued him. Aldus printed 'two Ternions' a day, and meanwhile Erasmus, undeterred by the noise and bustle of the printing press, was constantly collating , translating and commenting on the manuscript for the following day. He felt comfortable in this atmosphere, in this work, which for our terms has something journalistic about it, and he regarded the printing press as an 'almost divine instrument', from which he found himself, especially in connection with a publishing program like that of Aldus , promised true miracles for the spread of the bonae litterae and thus any culture. "

Erasmus added Greek wisdom to this collection of Latin sayings for the cultivation of an elegant style, until the last edition in 1536 contained 3,260 annotated idioms. By the end of his life he completed this collection, until it finally grew to 4,251 wisdoms.

It is thanks to the Erasmic Herculean work - as he called it himself - that educational language formulations and idioms became a general European cultural asset after translation into the various national languages. The Adagia , for centuries one of the most widely read "educational books", were his best-known work for a long time.

content

In the first chapter Erasmus brings together a number of definitions of the term paroemia (proverb), only to discard them as insufficient and replace them with a definition of their own. The adagias follow one another with deliberate lack of plan, which avoids monotony.

shape

All Greek quotations are translated into Latin, and some even from Latin into Greek. The individual sections contain

  • an interpretation of the proverb in question,
  • Suggestions for applying the proverb in question and
  • Evidence from various authors.

The essays have been part of the "Adagia" since 1515 and fundamentally change the character of the work. They are a forum for the personal views of Erasmus, who was already famous at that time. He now criticizes the social and ecclesiastical conditions of his time - wherever a wisdom offers the opportunity.

intention

The editor Anton J. Gail sees four main points in the way in which Erasmus discusses the individual adagia:

  • Educational and entertaining
  • Pagan challenge for Christians
  • Pagan Reality and Christian Measure in Politics
  • Self-Portrait and Face of Time

Erasmus does not dwell on speculating about the origin of an adagium. On the other hand, he delights himself with a receipt that gives him the opportunity to entertain his readers. For him the heathen were also the "better Christians". In addition, Erasmus is a strong reminder that progress must be coupled with a sense of preservation.

Examples of editorial commentary

For each of the collected idioms Erasmus gives at least the "source", often extensive background information and interpretations. For example, he remarks on the Adagium Respublica nihil ad musicum ("Politics is not for a beautiful spirit"):

“It has always been a widespread belief that educated and righteous men should not be drawn into political activity and that is still held by many today. Plato renounced it, Socrates tried unsuccessfully, Demosthenes and Cicero did not have a happy ending. Nero's mother finally decidedly forbade her son to study philosophy because she felt that it would not be necessary for a future ruler. And Augustine wrote a letter against a group of sectarians who claimed that Christian teaching was only a hindrance to a politician. Aristophanes put this view nicely. There a man who refuses to take over the government receives the following answer on the grounds that he is not musically educated: 'Governing is not a thing for people of character or artistic education!' "

One of his most extensive glosses is that of the Adagium 3001 Dulce bellum inexpertis ("War seems sweet to the inexperienced"). Erasmus speaks out against all forms of war , for example:

“It has come to the point that people generally regard war as an acceptable thing and wonder why there are people who do not like it. […] But the human being is naked, tender, defenseless and weak, one cannot see anything in the limbs that would be intended for a fight or violence. He is born and has been dependent on outside help for a long time, can only call for help by whimpering and crying. Nature gave him friendly eyes as a mirror of the soul, flexible arms to embrace, gave him the sensation of a kiss, laughter as an expression of happiness, tears as a symbol of gentleness and compassion.
War is created out of war, out of a sham war an open war emerges, out of a tiny war the most powerful [...]. Where is the kingdom of the devil if it is not at war? Why are we dragging Christ here, to whom war is even less suitable than a whore house? So let us compare war and peace, the most wretched and criminal thing at the same time, and it will become completely clear how great madness it is, with so much turmoil, so much hardship, so great expense, with great danger and so many losses To wage war, although unity could be bought for a lot less. "

There you will also find the quotation that is frequent in the enlightenment literature of the 18th century:

“Do we not see that great cities are built by the people and destroyed by the princes? That a state becomes rich through the diligence of its citizens, only to be plundered through the greed of its rulers? That good laws are passed by the representatives of the people and violated by kings? That the general public loves peace and the monarchs instigate war? Villages are burned, fields devastated, houses of worship plundered, innocent citizens slaughtered, everything clerical and secular is destroyed while the king throws the dice or dances or has fun with fools or with the hunt and carousing. "

The proverbs (selection)

Erasmus always used the Latin version as the heading. The originally "thousand" (actually 818) proverbs and sayings in his collection include the following (here sorted alphabetically):

literature

  • Erasmus from Rotterdam: Adagia . Latin-German selection and translation by Anton Gail. Philipp Reclam jun. Stuttgart, ISBN 978-3-15-007918-8 .
  • Erasmus of Rotterdam: Selected Writings. Edition in eight volumes Latin-German. 7th volume. Translation by Theresia Payr. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1972, ISBN 3-534-05948-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Erasmus of Rotterdam : Selected Writings . Volume 7. Scientific Book Society. 1972
  2. ↑ Erasmus von Rotterdam, Theodor Knecht (Ed.): Adagia. About the meaning and life of proverbs . Zurich 1985.
  3. ↑ Erasmus von Rotterdam, Brigitte Hannemann (Hrsg.): The war seems sweet to the inexperienced . Munich 1987.