The Adages of Erasmus

A collection of 4151 ancient proverbs, each accompanied by Erasmus' commentary explaining its history and possible uses. Many of the adages are still familiar: 'Know thyself,' 'To give someone the finger,' 'Pandora's box,' and others.

And a few, it turns out, were created by Erasmus himself through his occasional misinterpretation of the ancient languages ('Pandora's box', 'To call a spade a spade').This edition replaces the pioneering work by Margaret Mann Phillips, providing more essays and more detailed source and background information for the texts. It is based on the translations and scholarship of the Collected Works of Erasmus - mostly that of Sir Roger Mynors but also the work of Phillips herself.