Apophthegmata, Collected Works of Erasmus , vols. 37 and 38 by Desiderius Erasmus, and: Apophthegmatum Libri I-IV , Erasmi Opera Omnia IV-4 by Desiderius Erasmus (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Apophthegmata, Collected Works of Erasmus, vols. 37 and 38 by Desiderius Erasmus, and: Apophthegmatum Libri I-IV, Erasmi Opera Omnia IV-4 by Desiderius Erasmus Willis G. Regier Desiderius Erasmus. Apophthegmata, Collected Works of Erasmus, vols. 37 and 38. Translated and edited by Betty I. Knott and Elaine Fantham. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2014. xxxii, 1012 pages. Desiderius Erasmus. Apophthegmatum Libri I-IV, Erasmi Opera Omnia IV-4. Edited by Tinke L. ter Meer. Leiden: Brill, 2010. x, 399 pages. Collections of sayings, or apophthegmata, have a distinguished history, descending to our era through gnomologia, chrestomathies, proverbia, florilegia, golden treasuries, table talk, quotation collections, and the multiple wit-and-wisdoms of celebrated figures. Tinke L. ter Meer describes apophthegms as “pointed remarks which characterized the person who expressed them.” For example: Quum accepisset esse quondam qui conuiciis ipsum impeteret, “Regium est,” inquit, “quum facias bene, audire male.” (ASD IV-4.302) When Alexander found out that someone was assailing him with abuse he said, “It is a king’s lot to act kindly and be spoken of unkindly.” (CWE 37.357) If a minor genre, apophthegms have immense prestige. In his Institutio principis christiani (1516), Erasmus recommended that the first secular book a prince should read is Plutarch’s Apophthegmata. Erasmus’s Apophthegmata is largely drawn from Plutarch, supplemented with pieces from Quintilian, Suetonius, Athenaeus, Valerius Maximus, Diogenes Laertius, Philostratus, Macrobius, Stobaeus, and others. In the dedicatory letter prefacing his collection, Erasmus proposed several uses for apophthegms. As statements they “let us see the mind of person truly reflected.” As extracts that represent larger works they save time. When gathered as Plutarch gathered them they reveal the character of nations. Arranged chronologically, as Plutarch arranged them, they sketch a nation’s history. While their primary use is education (his editions were used for that purpose for years) they are also entertaining. A sprinkling of playful apophthegms “relaxes tired spirits,” “cheers and enlivens the minds of the young, make life more civilized, our speaking more attractive.” These are the same rationales offered in modern quotation collections, which add another: they enable people to locate sources for famous quotations. Yet Erasmus was already suspicious of sources. Often enough he provides them, while recognizing that even in antiquity it was common practice to attribute a quotation to whomever it seemed most suited. “We find the same remark attributed to different speakers in different authorities” (37.12). His Apophthegmata proves the point. A saying attributed to Archidamus is also attributed to Lysander (37.79 and 135); a remark of Agis is also attributed to Theopompus and Panthoidas (37.61, 98, and 140); an anecdote of Philip of Macedon is identical to one of Hadrian (37.346 and 38.627); a saying of Demosthenes is said also by Zeno (37.453 and 38.844); and so on. Despite its original purpose, his collection can hardly be expected to show up in current curricula. Instead, it has aged into an artefact of the late Renaissance, [End Page 1248] testifying to its appetite for classical learning. It played some role in the rediscovery of Plutarch and built another bridge between Renaissance Latin and classical Greek. It was a project Erasmus could complete while working on Ecclesiastes, his book on preaching, and on new editions of his Adagia and Novum Testamentum. He was in his sixties, infirm, battling adversaries, defending his reputation as the Prince of Humanists, and still hard at work keeping printers busy. His Apophthegmata was a publishing opportunity. Erasmus met it with his usual haste, publishing three editions with Froben in Basel in 1531, 1532, and 1535. The first edition was promptly reprinted in Paris, Venice, and Lyons; nearly fifty reprints followed in the 16th century. The first edition included only six books. Following its success, Erasmus added two more books for the 1532 edition. He amplified the text in 1535 and moved some apophthegms from one book to another. Although most of his apophthegms were taken from Plutarch, Erasmus made them his own. “My own policy has been, for several reasons, to take my cue from Plutarch rather than translate him.” His apophthegms combine details from other classical sources and...