Wisdom in Loose Form ― The Language of Egyptian and Greek Proverbs in Collections of the Hellenistic and Roman Periods

Proverbs serve many purposes, including transmitting wisdom or social norms, serving as pedagogical frameworks, or even working as foundations of faith. Lazardis (Oriental studies, American U., Cairo) finds them also to be fascinating tools for understanding the similarities and differences between cultures, particularly when they are considered within the context of collections, because they contain relationships of ideas and offer fertile ground for comparisons. His insightful multi-level analysis, in which he compares the association of proverbs with the cultural context of their production and usage, clearly explains similarities and differences in the literature of Egypt and Greece in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The result is a careful examination of the contact these two civilizations had during changing times and establishes a case for intimate intellectual and social contact across the Mediterranean region. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Nikolaos L. Lazaridis, D.Phil. (2005) in Oriental Studies, Merton College, Oxford University, is currently lecturing at the American University in Cairo. He has written extensively on ancient wisdom and cultural interaction includingThe Challenge of Producing Proverbs in Demotic and Greek (Oxford).