"Between Friends All is Common": The Erasmian Adage and Tradition

Journal of the History of Ideas

Volumn 59, Issue 3, 1998, Pages 405-418

  Eden, Kathy ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0346967384     PISSN: 00225037     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/3653894     Document Type: Article

References (66)

1. For the letters of Erasmus, see P. S. Allen, H. M. Allen, and H. W. Garrod (eds.), Opus epistolarum Des. Erasmi Roterodami (11 vols.; Oxford, 1906-47). Following the Collected Works of Erasmus (Toronto, 1974-), hereafter CWE, I refer to letter number only from the Allen edition. For the Latin text of the prolegomena, Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami Opera Omnia, ed. J. LeClerc (Leiden, 1703), II, hereafter LB, and for the English, CWE, 31, 3-28. See also Opera Omnia Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami (Amsterdam, 1993), II (I), 45-83. In general see Margaret Mann Phillips, The "Adages" of Erasmus (Cambridge, 1964), esp. Part I, "The Character and Growth of the Adages," 3-165.
2. For the letters of Erasmus, see P. S. Allen, H. M. Allen, and H. W. Garrod (eds.), Opus epistolarum Des. Erasmi Roterodami (11 vols.; Oxford, 1906-47). Following the Collected Works of Erasmus (Toronto, 1974-), hereafter CWE, I refer to letter number only from the Allen edition. For the Latin text of the prolegomena, Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami Opera Omnia, ed. J. LeClerc (Leiden, 1703), II, hereafter LB, and for the English, CWE, 31, 3-28. See also Opera Omnia Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami (Amsterdam, 1993), II (I), 45-83. In general see Margaret Mann Phillips, The "Adages" of Erasmus (Cambridge, 1964), esp. Part I, "The Character and Growth of the Adages," 3-165.
3. For the letters of Erasmus, see P. S. Allen, H. M. Allen, and H. W. Garrod (eds.), Opus epistolarum Des. Erasmi Roterodami (11 vols.; Oxford, 1906-47). Following the Collected Works of Erasmus (Toronto, 1974-), hereafter CWE, I refer to letter number only from the Allen edition. For the Latin text of the prolegomena, Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami Opera Omnia, ed. J. LeClerc (Leiden, 1703), II, hereafter LB, and for the English, CWE, 31, 3-28. See also Opera Omnia Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami (Amsterdam, 1993), II (I), 45-83. In general see Margaret Mann Phillips, The "Adages" of Erasmus (Cambridge, 1964), esp. Part I, "The Character and Growth of the Adages," 3-165.
4. For the letters of Erasmus, see P. S. Allen, H. M. Allen, and H. W. Garrod (eds.), Opus epistolarum Des. Erasmi Roterodami (11 vols.; Oxford, 1906-47). Following the Collected Works of Erasmus (Toronto, 1974-), hereafter CWE, I refer to letter number only from the Allen edition. For the Latin text of the prolegomena, Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami Opera Omnia, ed. J. LeClerc (Leiden, 1703), II, hereafter LB, and for the English, CWE, 31, 3-28. See also Opera Omnia Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami (Amsterdam, 1993), II (I), 45-83. In general see Margaret Mann Phillips, The "Adages" of Erasmus (Cambridge, 1964), esp. Part I, "The Character and Growth of the Adages," 3-165.
5. For the letters of Erasmus, see P. S. Allen, H. M. Allen, and H. W. Garrod (eds.), Opus epistolarum Des. Erasmi Roterodami (11 vols.; Oxford, 1906-47). Following the Collected Works of Erasmus (Toronto, 1974-), hereafter CWE, I refer to letter number only from the Allen edition. For the Latin text of the prolegomena, Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami Opera Omnia, ed. J. LeClerc (Leiden, 1703), II, hereafter LB, and for the English, CWE, 31, 3-28. See also Opera Omnia Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami (Amsterdam, 1993), II (I), 45-83. In general see Margaret Mann Phillips, The "Adages" of Erasmus (Cambridge, 1964), esp. Part I, "The Character and Growth of the Adages," 3-165.
6. For the letters of Erasmus, see P. S. Allen, H. M. Allen, and H. W. Garrod (eds.), Opus epistolarum Des. Erasmi Roterodami (11 vols.; Oxford, 1906-47). Following the Collected Works of Erasmus (Toronto, 1974-), hereafter CWE, I refer to letter number only from the Allen edition. For the Latin text of the prolegomena, Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami Opera Omnia, ed. J. LeClerc (Leiden, 1703), II, hereafter LB, and for the English, CWE, 31, 3-28. See also Opera Omnia Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami (Amsterdam, 1993), II (I), 45-83. In general see Margaret Mann Phillips, The "Adages" of Erasmus (Cambridge, 1964), esp. Part I, "The Character and Growth of the Adages," 3-165.
7. For the letters of Erasmus, see P. S. Allen, H. M. Allen, and H. W. Garrod (eds.), Opus epistolarum Des. Erasmi Roterodami (11 vols.; Oxford, 1906-47). Following the Collected Works of Erasmus (Toronto, 1974-), hereafter CWE, I refer to letter number only from the Allen edition. For the Latin text of the prolegomena, Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami Opera Omnia, ed. J. LeClerc (Leiden, 1703), II, hereafter LB, and for the English, CWE, 31, 3-28. See also Opera Omnia Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami (Amsterdam, 1993), II (I), 45-83. In general see Margaret Mann Phillips, The "Adages" of Erasmus (Cambridge, 1964), esp. Part I, "The Character and Growth of the Adages," 3-165.
8. Phillips, The "Adages" of Erasmus, 12-13, 111-12; also T. C. Appelt, Studies in the Contents and Sources of Erasmus' "Adagia" (Chicago, 1942), 43-44; Daniel Kinney, "Erasmus' Adagia: Midwife to the Rebirth of Learning," Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 11 (1981), 169-92; Margaret Mann Phillips, "Ways with Adages," Essays on the Works of Erasmus, ed. Richard L. DeMolen (New Haven, 1978), 51-60, and "Comment s'est-on servi des Adages?," in Actes du Colloque International Erasme, ed. Jacques Chomarat, André Godin, and Jean-Claude Margolin (Geneva, 1990), 325-36; John C. Olin, "Erasmus' Adagia and More's Utopia," in Miscellanea Moreana: Essays for Germain Marc'hadour, ed. Clare M. Murphy, Henry Gibaud, and Mario A. DiCesare (Binghamton, N.Y., 1989), 127-36.
9. Phillips, The "Adages" of Erasmus, 12-13, 111-12; also T. C. Appelt, Studies in the Contents and Sources of Erasmus' "Adagia" (Chicago, 1942), 43-44; Daniel Kinney, "Erasmus' Adagia: Midwife to the Rebirth of Learning," Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 11 (1981), 169-92; Margaret Mann Phillips, "Ways with Adages," Essays on the Works of Erasmus, ed. Richard L. DeMolen (New Haven, 1978), 51-60, and "Comment s'est-on servi des Adages?," in Actes du Colloque International Erasme, ed. Jacques Chomarat, André Godin, and Jean-Claude Margolin (Geneva, 1990), 325-36; John C. Olin, "Erasmus' Adagia and More's Utopia," in Miscellanea Moreana: Essays for Germain Marc'hadour, ed. Clare M. Murphy, Henry Gibaud, and Mario A. DiCesare (Binghamton, N.Y., 1989), 127-36.
10. Phillips, The "Adages" of Erasmus, 12-13, 111-12; also T. C. Appelt, Studies in the Contents and Sources of Erasmus' "Adagia" (Chicago, 1942), 43-44; Daniel Kinney, "Erasmus' Adagia: Midwife to the Rebirth of Learning," Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 11 (1981), 169-92; Margaret Mann Phillips, "Ways with Adages," Essays on the Works of Erasmus, ed. Richard L. DeMolen (New Haven, 1978), 51-60, and "Comment s'est-on servi des Adages?," in Actes du Colloque International Erasme, ed. Jacques Chomarat, André Godin, and Jean-Claude Margolin (Geneva, 1990), 325-36; John C. Olin, "Erasmus' Adagia and More's Utopia," in Miscellanea Moreana: Essays for Germain Marc'hadour, ed. Clare M. Murphy, Henry Gibaud, and Mario A. DiCesare (Binghamton, N.Y., 1989), 127-36.
11. Phillips, The "Adages" of Erasmus, 12-13, 111-12; also T. C. Appelt, Studies in the Contents and Sources of Erasmus' "Adagia" (Chicago, 1942), 43-44; Daniel Kinney, "Erasmus' Adagia: Midwife to the Rebirth of Learning," Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 11 (1981), 169-92; Margaret Mann Phillips, "Ways with Adages," Essays on the Works of Erasmus, ed. Richard L. DeMolen (New Haven, 1978), 51-60, and "Comment s'est-on servi des Adages?," in Actes du Colloque International Erasme, ed. Jacques Chomarat, André Godin, and Jean-Claude Margolin (Geneva, 1990), 325-36; John C. Olin, "Erasmus' Adagia and More's Utopia," in Miscellanea Moreana: Essays for Germain Marc'hadour, ed. Clare M. Murphy, Henry Gibaud, and Mario A. DiCesare (Binghamton, N.Y., 1989), 127-36.
12. Phillips, The "Adages" of Erasmus, 12-13, 111-12; also T. C. Appelt, Studies in the Contents and Sources of Erasmus' "Adagia" (Chicago, 1942), 43-44; Daniel Kinney, "Erasmus' Adagia: Midwife to the Rebirth of Learning," Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 11 (1981), 169-92; Margaret Mann Phillips, "Ways with Adages," Essays on the Works of Erasmus, ed. Richard L. DeMolen (New Haven, 1978), 51-60, and "Comment s'est-on servi des Adages?," in Actes du Colloque International Erasme, ed. Jacques Chomarat, André Godin, and Jean-Claude Margolin (Geneva, 1990), 325-36; John C. Olin, "Erasmus' Adagia and More's Utopia," in Miscellanea Moreana: Essays for Germain Marc'hadour, ed. Clare M. Murphy, Henry Gibaud, and Mario A. DiCesare (Binghamton, N.Y., 1989), 127-36.
13. Phillips, The "Adages" of Erasmus, 12-13, 111-12; also T. C. Appelt, Studies in the Contents and Sources of Erasmus' "Adagia" (Chicago, 1942), 43-44; Daniel Kinney, "Erasmus' Adagia: Midwife to the Rebirth of Learning," Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 11 (1981), 169-92; Margaret Mann Phillips, "Ways with Adages," Essays on the Works of Erasmus, ed. Richard L. DeMolen (New Haven, 1978), 51-60, and "Comment s'est-on servi des Adages?," in Actes du Colloque International Erasme, ed. Jacques Chomarat, André Godin, and Jean-Claude Margolin (Geneva, 1990), 325-36; John C. Olin, "Erasmus' Adagia and More's Utopia," in Miscellanea Moreana: Essays for Germain Marc'hadour, ed. Clare M. Murphy, Henry Gibaud, and Mario A. DiCesare (Binghamton, N.Y., 1989), 127-36.
14. On Erasmus's use of the spoiliatum Aegyptorum see Antibarbari, LB, X, 1732B-1733A; CWE, 23, 97-98; also Charles Béné, Erasme et Saint Augustin (Geneva, 1969), 59-95 and my "Intellectual Property and the Adages of Erasmus: Coenobium v. Ercto non cito," in Rhetoric and Law in Early Modern Europe, ed. Lorna Hutson and Victoria Kahn (New Haven, Conn., forthcoming).
15. On Erasmus's use of the spoiliatum Aegyptorum see Antibarbari, LB, X, 1732B-1733A; CWE, 23, 97-98; also Charles Béné, Erasme et Saint Augustin (Geneva, 1969), 59-95 and my "Intellectual Property and the Adages of Erasmus: Coenobium v. Ercto non cito," in Rhetoric and Law in Early Modern Europe, ed. Lorna Hutson and Victoria Kahn (New Haven, Conn., forthcoming).
16. On Erasmus's use of the spoiliatum Aegyptorum see Antibarbari, LB, X, 1732B-1733A; CWE, 23, 97-98; also Charles Béné, Erasme et Saint Augustin (Geneva, 1969), 59-95 and my "Intellectual Property and the Adages of Erasmus: Coenobium v. Ercto non cito," in Rhetoric and Law in Early Modern Europe, ed. Lorna Hutson and Victoria Kahn (New Haven, Conn., forthcoming).
17. On Erasmus's use of the spoiliatum Aegyptorum see Antibarbari, LB, X, 1732B-1733A; CWE, 23, 97-98; also Charles Béné, Erasme et Saint Augustin (Geneva, 1969), 59-95 and my "Intellectual Property and the Adages of Erasmus: Coenobium v. Ercto non cito," in Rhetoric and Law in Early Modern Europe, ed. Lorna Hutson and Victoria Kahn (New Haven, Conn., forthcoming).
18. LB, II, 14F; CWE, 31, 30.
19. See C. J. De Vogel, Pythagoras and Early Pythagoreanism (Assen, 1966);
20. and my "Koinōnia and the Friendship between Rhetoric and Religion," in Rhetoric and Religion in our Time, ed. Walter Jost and Wendy Olmsted (New Haven, forthcoming).
21. For Budé on this same homology between Christianity and Pythagoreanism see his letter to Thomas Lupset appended to the 1518 Utopia in The Complete Works of St. Thomas More, ed. Edward Surtz and J. H. Hexter (15 vols.; New Haven, 1965), IV, 9-10: "This happens, of course, in those generations, those institutions, those customs, in those nations which have pronounced it lawful that every man should have reputation and power in proportion to the resources by which he has built up his own family fortunes - he and his heirs. This process snowballs as great-great-great-grandchildren and their great-great-grandchildren vie in increasing by splendid additions the patrimonies received from their forefathers - which amounts to saying that it snowballs as they oust, far and wide, their neighbors, their kindred by marriage, their relations by blood, and even their brothers and sisters. Yet Christ, the founder and supervisor of possessions [possessionum conditor & moderator], let among His followers a Pythagorean communion and charity [Pythagoricam communionem & charitatem] ratified by significant example when Ananias was condemned to death for breaking the law of communion [communionis legem]. Certainly, by this arrangement, Christ seems to me to have abolished, among His own at least, the whole arrangement set up by the civil and canonical law of fairly recent date in contentious volumes. This law we see today holding the highest position in jurisprudence and controlling our destinies." For Budé on friends holding all things in common see his letter to Erasmus (November, 1516), Ep. 493,
22. CWE, 4, 151: "Consequently I now propose to form a partnership with you, if you concur, in all our friends, the more readily as you have already acquired a title not only to my friends but to myself, so that from now on there is a legal agreement between us for friendship of no ordinary kind expressed in these words in all good faith; and let us enter into this covenant on the understanding that we shall hold all our possessions in common and shall share our friends."
23. LB, II, 6F-7A; CWE, 31, 15. Plato gives the fullest treatment of this principle of community in the Republic.
24. For Aristotle's objections see Politics, 2.1, 1261a1-2.5, 1264b25, and esp. 2.3, 1261b16-20
25. (The Complete Works of Aristotle, ed. Jonathan Barnes [2 vols.; Princeton, 1984], II, 2002): "But, even supposing that it were best for the community to have the greatest degree of unity, this unity is by no means proved to follow from the fact of all men saying 'mine' and 'not mine' at the same instant of time, which, according to Socrates, is the sign of perfect unity in a state." In Dulce bellum inexpertis (1515), Erasmus identifies the distinction between Christian and Aristotelian philosophy on the issue of property (tr. Phillips, 331): "For if Christ has said anything which is not easily fitted to our way of life, it is permitted to interpret it differently; but anyone who dares to oppose the oracular pronouncements of Aristotle is immediately hooted off the stage. From him we have learnt that human felicity cannot be complete without worldly goods - physical or financial. From him we have learnt that a state cannot flourish where all things are held in common. We try to combine all his doctrines with the teaching of Christ, which is like mixing water and fire." For the similar incompatibility between Christianity and Roman law see Phillips, 331; on the other hand, for the compatibility of Christian with Pythagorean philosophy according to this adage, see Phillips 318 and 320, and cf. 111-12.
26. For the impact of developing intellectual property law, especially copyright, on the publication history of the Adages, see my "Intellectual Property and the Adages of Erasmus."
27. See Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, tr. R. D. Hicks (Cambridge, Mass., 1925; rpt. 1979), II, 8.1-50;
28. on the Pythagorae symbola see 8.16-17;
29. Aulus Gellius, The Attic Nights, tr. J. C. Rolfe (Cambridge, Mass., 1927; rpt. 1984), 1.9;
30. Plutarch, Moralia, tr. F. C. Babbitt (Cambridge, Mass., 1927; rpt. 1969), I, 12DF
31. and Iamblichus, On the Pythagorean Life, tr. Gillian Clark (Liverpool, 1989).
32. And see S. K. Heninger, Touches of Sweet Harmony: Pythagorean Cosmology and Renaissance Poetics (San Marino, Calif., 1974), 19-68.
33. See my "Koinōnia and the Friendship between Rhetoric and Religion."
34. See my Hermeneutics and the Rhetorical Tradition: Chapters in the Ancient Legacy and its Humanist Reception (New Haven, Conn., 1997), 64-78.
35. On this complex issue, see, for instance, Gerald L. Bruns, "What is Tradition?" New Literary History, 22 (1991), 1-21; Gerhard Ebeling, The Word of God and Tradition, tr. S. H. Hooke (London, 1968), 144-47; R. P. C. Hanson, Origen's Doctrine of Tradition (London, 1954), esp. ch. 1, "The Meaning of Tradition," 31-39; Alasdair MacIntyre, "Epistemological Crises, Dramatic Narrative and the Philosophy of Science," The Monist, 60 (1977), 453-72.
36. On this complex issue, see, for instance, Gerald L. Bruns, "What is Tradition?" New Literary History, 22 (1991), 1-21; Gerhard Ebeling, The Word of God and Tradition, tr. S. H. Hooke (London, 1968), 144-47; R. P. C. Hanson, Origen's Doctrine of Tradition (London, 1954), esp. ch. 1, "The Meaning of Tradition," 31-39; Alasdair MacIntyre, "Epistemological Crises, Dramatic Narrative and the Philosophy of Science," The Monist, 60 (1977), 453-72.
37. On this complex issue, see, for instance, Gerald L. Bruns, "What is Tradition?" New Literary History, 22 (1991), 1-21; Gerhard Ebeling, The Word of God and Tradition, tr. S. H. Hooke (London, 1968), 144-47; R. P. C. Hanson, Origen's Doctrine of Tradition (London, 1954), esp. ch. 1, "The Meaning of Tradition," 31-39; Alasdair MacIntyre, "Epistemological Crises, Dramatic Narrative and the Philosophy of Science," The Monist, 60 (1977), 453-72.
38. On this complex issue, see, for instance, Gerald L. Bruns, "What is Tradition?" New Literary History, 22 (1991), 1-21; Gerhard Ebeling, The Word of God and Tradition, tr. S. H. Hooke (London, 1968), 144-47; R. P. C. Hanson, Origen's Doctrine of Tradition (London, 1954), esp. ch. 1, "The Meaning of Tradition," 31-39; Alasdair MacIntyre, "Epistemological Crises, Dramatic Narrative and the Philosophy of Science," The Monist, 60 (1977), 453-72.
39. On this complex issue, see, for instance, Gerald L. Bruns, "What is Tradition?" New Literary History, 22 (1991), 1-21; Gerhard Ebeling, The Word of God and Tradition, tr. S. H. Hooke (London, 1968), 144-47; R. P. C. Hanson, Origen's Doctrine of Tradition (London, 1954), esp. ch. 1, "The Meaning of Tradition," 31-39; Alasdair MacIntyre, "Epistemological Crises, Dramatic Narrative and the Philosophy of Science," The Monist, 60 (1977), 453-72.
40. On the multiple themes of the Phaedrus and their interrelation, see G. R. F. Ferrari, Listening to the Cicadas: A Study of Plato's "Phaedrus" (Cambridge, 1987) and Charles L. Griswold, Self-Knowledge in Plato's "Phaedrus" (New Haven, Conn., 1986). For Erasmus's use of Ficino see Maria Cytowska, "Erasme de Rotterdame et Marsile Ficin son Maître," Eos, 63 (1975), 165-79. For Ficino on the Phaedrus, including its early dating and Pythagoreanism, see Michael J. B. Allen, The Platonism of Marsilio Ficino: A Study of his "Phaedrus" Commentary, Its Sources and Genesis (Berkeley, 1984) and Marsilio Ficino and the Phaedrian Charioteer (Berkeley, 1981), 7-14, esp. 13-14: "The Phaedrus, being first, was more closely tied to the pre-Platonic past than were later dialogues; hence Ficino's comment on the description of the soul's loss of flight and its descent through nine degrees: 'Throughout [Socrates/ Plato] uses poetic license and describes Pythagorean notions rather than his own.' Briefly, these Pythagorean notions were centered around the doctrines of reincarnation and transmigration, but the point to be stressed is that Ficino saw Plato resorting to 'poetic license' in order to articulate the wisdom he had inherited (and he treasured the legend that had Plato wandering the length of the Mediterranean world in search of youthful enlightenment until he chose the Pythagorean way as closest to the truth; Aristotle had claimed, by contrast, and with number ontology principally in mind, that the Pythagoreans had influenced Plato only in later life)." For Cicero on Plato's Pythagoreanism, see De re publica, I. 10. 16.
41. On the multiple themes of the Phaedrus and their interrelation, see G. R. F. Ferrari, Listening to the Cicadas: A Study of Plato's "Phaedrus" (Cambridge, 1987) and Charles L. Griswold, Self-Knowledge in Plato's "Phaedrus" (New Haven, Conn., 1986). For Erasmus's use of Ficino see Maria Cytowska, "Erasme de Rotterdame et Marsile Ficin son Maître," Eos, 63 (1975), 165-79. For Ficino on the Phaedrus, including its early dating and Pythagoreanism, see Michael J. B. Allen, The Platonism of Marsilio Ficino: A Study of his "Phaedrus" Commentary, Its Sources and Genesis (Berkeley, 1984) and Marsilio Ficino and the Phaedrian Charioteer (Berkeley, 1981), 7-14, esp. 13-14: "The Phaedrus, being first, was more closely tied to the pre-Platonic past than were later dialogues; hence Ficino's comment on the description of the soul's loss of flight and its descent through nine degrees: 'Throughout [Socrates/ Plato] uses poetic license and describes Pythagorean notions rather than his own.' Briefly, these Pythagorean notions were centered around the doctrines of reincarnation and transmigration, but the point to be stressed is that Ficino saw Plato resorting to 'poetic license' in order to articulate the wisdom he had inherited (and he treasured the legend that had Plato wandering the length of the Mediterranean world in search of youthful enlightenment until he chose the Pythagorean way as closest to the truth; Aristotle had claimed, by contrast, and with number ontology principally in mind, that the Pythagoreans had influenced Plato only in later life)." For Cicero on Plato's Pythagoreanism, see De re publica, I. 10. 16.
42. On the multiple themes of the Phaedrus and their interrelation, see G. R. F. Ferrari, Listening to the Cicadas: A Study of Plato's "Phaedrus" (Cambridge, 1987) and Charles L. Griswold, Self-Knowledge in Plato's "Phaedrus" (New Haven, Conn., 1986). For Erasmus's use of Ficino see Maria Cytowska, "Erasme de Rotterdame et Marsile Ficin son Maître," Eos, 63 (1975), 165-79. For Ficino on the Phaedrus, including its early dating and Pythagoreanism, see Michael J. B. Allen, The Platonism of Marsilio Ficino: A Study of his "Phaedrus" Commentary, Its Sources and Genesis (Berkeley, 1984) and Marsilio Ficino and the Phaedrian Charioteer (Berkeley, 1981), 7-14, esp. 13-14: "The Phaedrus, being first, was more closely tied to the pre-Platonic past than were later dialogues; hence Ficino's comment on the description of the soul's loss of flight and its descent through nine degrees: 'Throughout [Socrates/ Plato] uses poetic license and describes Pythagorean notions rather than his own.' Briefly, these Pythagorean notions were centered around the doctrines of reincarnation and transmigration, but the point to be stressed is that Ficino saw Plato resorting to 'poetic license' in order to articulate the wisdom he had inherited (and he treasured the legend that had Plato wandering the length of the Mediterranean world in search of youthful enlightenment until he chose the Pythagorean way as closest to the truth; Aristotle had claimed, by contrast, and with number ontology principally in mind, that the Pythagoreans had influenced Plato only in later life)." For Cicero on Plato's Pythagoreanism, see De re publica, I. 10. 16.
43. On the multiple themes of the Phaedrus and their interrelation, see G. R. F. Ferrari, Listening to the Cicadas: A Study of Plato's "Phaedrus" (Cambridge, 1987) and Charles L. Griswold, Self-Knowledge in Plato's "Phaedrus" (New Haven, Conn., 1986). For Erasmus's use of Ficino see Maria Cytowska, "Erasme de Rotterdame et Marsile Ficin son Maître," Eos, 63 (1975), 165-79. For Ficino on the Phaedrus, including its early dating and Pythagoreanism, see Michael J. B. Allen, The Platonism of Marsilio Ficino: A Study of his "Phaedrus" Commentary, Its Sources and Genesis (Berkeley, 1984) and Marsilio Ficino and the Phaedrian Charioteer (Berkeley, 1981), 7-14, esp. 13-14: "The Phaedrus, being first, was more closely tied to the pre-Platonic past than were later dialogues; hence Ficino's comment on the description of the soul's loss of flight and its descent through nine degrees: 'Throughout [Socrates/ Plato] uses poetic license and describes Pythagorean notions rather than his own.' Briefly, these Pythagorean notions were centered around the doctrines of reincarnation and transmigration, but the point to be stressed is that Ficino saw Plato resorting to 'poetic license' in order to articulate the wisdom he had inherited (and he treasured the legend that had Plato wandering the length of the Mediterranean world in search of youthful enlightenment until he chose the Pythagorean way as closest to the truth; Aristotle had claimed, by contrast, and with number ontology principally in mind, that the Pythagoreans had influenced Plato only in later life)." For Cicero on Plato's Pythagoreanism, see De re publica, I. 10. 16.
44. 239E-240A. Plato's Erotic Dialogues, tr. with commentary William S. Cobb (Albany, 1993), 98. All translations of the Phaedrus are from this edition.
45. See Griswold, Self-Knowledge in Plato's "Phaedrus."
46. LB, I, 672CE; The Colloquies of Erasmus, tr. Craig R. Thompson (Chicago, 1965), 48.
47. LB, I, 689D; Thompson, 78. For a somewhat differently oriented but not incompatible reading of these same details see Dennis Costa, "Domesticating the Divine Economy: Humanist Theology in Erasmus's Convivia," Creative Imitation: New Essays on Renaissance Literature in Honor of Thomas M. Greene, ed. David Quint, Margaret W. Ferguson, G. W. Pigman III, and Wayne A. Rebhorn (Binghamton, 1992), 11-29.
48. For camela saltat or "the camel dances" see II.vii.66;
49. For camela saltat or "the camel dances" see II.vii.66;
50. LB, II, 630A; CWE, 34, 33.
51. For scarabeus aquilam quaerit or "the beetle searches for the eagle"
52. see III.vii.1;
53. LB, II, 869A-883E.
54. For only a few other examples of the many adages in this colloquy, see, for instance, optimum condimentum fames or "hunger is the best sauce" (II. vii. 69;
55. LB, H, 630D-631A; CWE, 34, 34;
56. LB, I, 672F; Thompson, 49), oderint, dum metuant or "let them hate, so long as they fear" (II. ix. 62;
57. LB, II, 676DF; CWE, 34, 113;
58. LB, I, 675D; Thompson, 54) and rem acu tetigisti or "you have touched the issue with a needle-point" (II.iv.93;
59. LB, II, 550D; CWE, 33, 235;
60. LB, I, 678EF; Thompson, 60). It is also worth noting that the first passage singled out for exegesis is Proverbs 21:1-3 (LB, I, 677BC; Thompson, 57), a vellum copy of which constitutes one of the gifts given from host to guest at the end of the meal (LB, I, 687EF; Thompson, 75). On both the role of adages in this colloquy and the role of convivia or banquets in the adages, see Jacques Chomarat, Grammaire et Rhétorique chez Erasme (Paris, 1981), 777.
61. The coincidence itself is of course already traditional. For the analogy between logos and deipnos, see Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae (tr. Charles Burton Gulick [Cambridge, Mass., 1927; 7 vols.]), 1.1: "In short, the plan [oiKovopia] of the discourse reflects the rich bounty [no\vTe\eias] of a feast, and the arrangement of the book the courses of the dinner." For Erasmus's own account of his use of Athenaeus in compiling the Adages, see festina lente, LB, II, 405D and CWE, 33, 14. For the career of Marcus Musurus, who helped Erasmus on the Adages, as chief editor of the Aldine press during this time, see Deno John Geanakoplos, Greek Scholars in Venice: Studies in the Dissemination of Greek Learning from Byzantium to Western Europe (Cambridge, Mass., 1962), 111-66. For the Sybarite protection of intellectual property as recorded in Athenaeus, see 12.521, and note the traditional enmity between Sybaris and its neighbor, Croton. For Croton as a center of health and well-being (in contrast to Sybarite luxury) see II.iv.43 and II.iv.44, LB, II, 536C-537D; CWE, 33, 211-13.
62. The coincidence itself is of course already traditional. For the analogy between logos and deipnos, see Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae (tr. Charles Burton Gulick [Cambridge, Mass., 1927; 7 vols.]), 1.1: "In short, the plan [oiKovopia] of the discourse reflects the rich bounty [no\vTe\eias] of a feast, and the arrangement of the book the courses of the dinner." For Erasmus's own account of his use of Athenaeus in compiling the Adages, see festina lente, LB, II, 405D and CWE, 33, 14. For the career of Marcus Musurus, who helped Erasmus on the Adages, as chief editor of the Aldine press during this time, see Deno John Geanakoplos, Greek Scholars in Venice: Studies in the Dissemination of Greek Learning from Byzantium to Western Europe (Cambridge, Mass., 1962), 111-66. For the Sybarite protection of intellectual property as recorded in Athenaeus, see 12.521, and note the traditional enmity between Sybaris and its neighbor, Croton. For Croton as a center of health and well-being (in contrast to Sybarite luxury) see II.iv.43 and II.iv.44, LB, II, 536C-537D; CWE, 33, 211-13.
63. The coincidence itself is of course already traditional. For the analogy between logos and deipnos, see Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae (tr. Charles Burton Gulick [Cambridge, Mass., 1927; 7 vols.]), 1.1: "In short, the plan [oiKovopia] of the discourse reflects the rich bounty [no\vTe\eias] of a feast, and the arrangement of the book the courses of the dinner." For Erasmus's own account of his use of Athenaeus in compiling the Adages, see festina lente, LB, II, 405D and CWE, 33, 14. For the career of Marcus Musurus, who helped Erasmus on the Adages, as chief editor of the Aldine press during this time, see Deno John Geanakoplos, Greek Scholars in Venice: Studies in the Dissemination of Greek Learning from Byzantium to Western Europe (Cambridge, Mass., 1962), 111-66. For the Sybarite protection of intellectual property as recorded in Athenaeus, see 12.521, and note the traditional enmity between Sybaris and its neighbor, Croton. For Croton as a center of health and well-being (in contrast to Sybarite luxury) see II.iv.43 and II.iv.44, LB, II, 536C-537D; CWE, 33, 211-13.
64. The coincidence itself is of course already traditional. For the analogy between logos and deipnos, see Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae (tr. Charles Burton Gulick [Cambridge, Mass., 1927; 7 vols.]), 1.1: "In short, the plan [oiKovopia] of the discourse reflects the rich bounty [no\vTe\eias] of a feast, and the arrangement of the book the courses of the dinner." For Erasmus's own account of his use of Athenaeus in compiling the Adages, see festina lente, LB, II, 405D and CWE, 33, 14. For the career of Marcus Musurus, who helped Erasmus on the Adages, as chief editor of the Aldine press during this time, see Deno John Geanakoplos, Greek Scholars in Venice: Studies in the Dissemination of Greek Learning from Byzantium to Western Europe (Cambridge, Mass., 1962), 111-66. For the Sybarite protection of intellectual property as recorded in Athenaeus, see 12.521, and note the traditional enmity between Sybaris and its neighbor, Croton. For Croton as a center of health and well-being (in contrast to Sybarite luxury) see II.iv.43 and II.iv.44, LB, II, 536C-537D; CWE, 33, 211-13.
65. The coincidence itself is of course already traditional. For the analogy between logos and deipnos, see Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae (tr. Charles Burton Gulick [Cambridge, Mass., 1927; 7 vols.]), 1.1: "In short, the plan [oiKovopia] of the discourse reflects the rich bounty [no\vTe\eias] of a feast, and the arrangement of the book the courses of the dinner." For Erasmus's own account of his use of Athenaeus in compiling the Adages, see festina lente, LB, II, 405D and CWE, 33, 14. For the career of Marcus Musurus, who helped Erasmus on the Adages, as chief editor of the Aldine press during this time, see Deno John Geanakoplos, Greek Scholars in Venice: Studies in the Dissemination of Greek Learning from Byzantium to Western Europe (Cambridge, Mass., 1962), 111-66. For the Sybarite protection of intellectual property as recorded in Athenaeus, see 12.521, and note the traditional enmity between Sybaris and its neighbor, Croton. For Croton as a center of health and well-being (in contrast to Sybarite luxury) see II.iv.43 and II.iv.44, LB, II, 536C-537D; CWE, 33, 211-13.
66. See Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, 8.3, 1156b25-30.