A Survey of Greco-Egyptian Ethics

There are a great many challenges for those of us who practice a Greco-Egyptian religion in the modern world.

First, of course, is the fact that our numbers are pretty small at this time. As a minority within a minority within a minority most of us end up worshiping the gods alone, or if we’re lucky alongside a few family members and friends. While having a huge crowd and lavish celebrations isn’t necessary, it’d certainly be nice from time to time!

Part of what may contribute to a feeling of isolation is that our path is not always well understood or respected within the broader Hellenic and Kemetic communities. Things have improved somewhat over the last couple years but one still encounters a vocal minority from time to time who are opposed to mixing pantheons, combining practices, and are woefully ignorant of the history of contacts between these two great civilizations in antiquity. Many eventually grow tired of the constant need to argue for the legitimacy of their approach or defend themselves from vitriolic personal attacks and drift away. Unfortunately the decision to have nothing to do with these more established groups diminishes one’s opportunity to meet new people and potentially find kindred spirits.

And that doesn’t even begin to account for the challenges of the religion itself: balancing the different demands and personalities of the various deities (which sometimes conflict), learning the complex religious and philosophical terminologies of the two systems, familiarizing one’s self with the mythology, history, literature and general worldviews of these cultures, mastering two very different forms of worship, figuring out how, when, and why to combine certain things (and what happens when the diverse elements don’t fit together quite as well as one might have expected) and so on and so forth. Many of us are just starting out on this path as well, so there isn’t really a whole lot of helpful material to draw upon when figuring things out.

No, Greco-Egyptian polytheism is definitely not without its difficulties. However, I am happy to say that there is one area that is remarkably simple and that’s finding common ethical ground between Greece and Egypt. Both cultures placed a strong emphasis on moral rectitude, temperance, fortitude, charity, piety, participation in society, honoring one’s ancestors and family and the like. Furthermore, they advocated such things in remarkably similar language so that it seems almost that one is dealing with a single, continuous tradition instead of trying to reconcile disparate ideologies as one would have to if they were drawn to both Buddhism and Heathenry, for instance.

These similarities may not be accidental. As far back as the Minoan period there were extensive contacts between Greece and Egypt, with a great deal of mutual influence in the fields of art, technology, religion, science, politics, commerce, etc. It would be surprising if ethics was not included in this category as well, particularly in light of the fact that many of Greece’s greatest thinkers traveled to Egypt to study with the native priests and sages:

“But now that we have examined these matters we must enumerate what Greeks, who have won fame for their wisdom and learning, visited Egypt in ancient times in order to become acquainted with its customs and learning. For the priests of Egypt recount from the records of their sacred books that they were visited in early times by Orpheus, Musaeus, Melampos, and Daidalos, also by the poet Homer and Lycurgos of Sparta, later by Solon of Athens and the philosopher Plato, and that there came also Pythagoras of Samos and the mathematician Eudoxos, as well as Demokritos of Abdera and Oinopides of Khios. As evidence for the visits of all these men they point in some cases to their statues and in others to places or buildings which bear their names, and they offer proofs from the branch of learning which each one of these men pursued, arguing that all the things for which they were admired among the Greeks were borrowed from Egypt.” – Diodoros Sikeliotes, Library of History 1.96

This intercultural dialogue continued through the Hellenistic and Roman eras, increasing substantially under the Ptolemies who sought to weld the two together. In fact, Alexandria was particularly famed for its ethical philosophers with some of the most prominent Platonists, Peripatetics, Stoics, Cynics, and Cyrenaics of the age taking up residence in the capital. It was during this time that a number of important Demotic Egyptian ethical texts were composed, such as the Instructions of Ankhsheshonq and The Book of Thoth. (This is significant since most of the standard Egyptian texts that we think of had been composed centuries and even millennia before that, with few works produced during the Late and Persian periods.) There was an even greater degree of diffusion in the khora or Egyptian countryside where wandering sages, school teachers, priests, etc. advocated a popular ethical system that incorporated elements from the different philosophical schools, quotations from the Greek playwrights, as well as traditional, homey precepts drawn from Egyptian sources. People memorized these ethical tags, which were easier to digest than the sort of long-winded digressions one finds in Plato and Aristotle, full of arcane terminology and abstract concepts as they are. We have several examples of these compendiums (including schoolbooks that students had to copy out by hand) as well as the names and brief descriptions of numerous more that have not come down to us but were used by many authors of late antiquity.

It is very much in that spirit that I have put together this brief survey of Greco-Egyptian ethical thought. (Though technically I’ve also included a number of precepts from Roman authors, but these men – Stoics for the most part – were great admirers of Greek culture and some even wrote in Greek, so I figure it’s appropriate to include them.) And a survey is all that it is intended to be: there is an incredible amount of relevant Greek, Roman and Egyptian ethical writing that has come down to us, hardly surprising since these cultures were highly literate and we’re dealing with several thousand years of history. I do not intend to provide exhaustive commentary on the authors or the issues discussed. Hopefully, however, this will give the reader a taste of what these authors are like and encouragement to seek them out in their fullness. Rather, my intention is to present a handful of texts on various topics so that the uniformity of the Greek and Egyptian view will become apparent and the reader will gain a better understanding of the values that were considered a fundamental part of their culture. These values are just as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago; indeed, considering the stresses and dangers of modern existence, I believe that they have become even more essential if we are to live life well.

We will begin our survey with the most important of all the Greco-Egyptian values, piety:

“Pray to the gods; power rests in the gods. Nothing good or bad happens to men without the gods.” – Theognis, Frag. 199

“Piety toward the gods, to be sure, consists chiefly in thinking rightly concerning them—that they are, and that they govern the universe with goodness and justice; and that thou thyself art appointed to obey them, and to submit under all circumstances that arise; acquiescing cheerfully in whatever may happen, sure it is brought to pass and accomplished by the most perfect understanding. Thus thou wilt never find fault with the gods, nor charge them with neglecting thee.” – Epictetus, Golden Sayings 163

“Serve your god, that he may guard you.” – The Instructions of Ankhsheshonq 6.1

“Construct fine monuments to god for it means the perpetuation of the name of whoever does it, and a man should do what is profitable to his soul, namely monthly service as priest and the wearing of white sandals. Enrich the fane, be discreet concerning the mysteries, enter into the sanctuary, eat bread in the temple, richly provide the altars, increase the revenues, add to the daily offerings, for it is a profitable matter for whoever does it; maintain your monuments in proportion to your wealth, for a single day gives to eternity, an hour does good for the future, and god is aware of him who serves him.” –  The Teaching for Merikare

“How much more reverent and better it is to accept the teaching of our elders as the priest of truth; to maintain the religions handed down to us; to adore the gods, whom from the cradle you were taught to know, not to dogmatize about the divinities, but accept the council of our wise elders.” – Caecillius, quoted by Saint Augustine

Which shows that after the gods it is important to honor the ancestors and the traditions handed down to us from antiquity:

“O my son! pour out thy wine on the tombs of the just.” – The Teachings of Ahiqar 2.13

“Crown your ancestors.” – The Delphic Maxims

“The immortal gods have so designed things that good and true principles have been established by the wisdom and deliberations of eminent, wise and upright men. It is wrong to oppose these principles or desert the ancient religion for some new one, for it is the height of criminality to try and revise doctrines that were settled once and for all by the ancients, and whose position is fixed and acknowledged.” – Diocletian, Fontes Iuris Romani Anteiustiniani, II 544-89

“Copy your forefathers, for work is carried out through knowledge; see, their words endure in writing.” – The Teaching for Merikare

“The soul comes to the place which it knows, and it will not overstep the ways of the past.” – The Teaching for Merikare

“It is good to act on behalf of posterity.” – The Teaching for Merikare

“Is there one here like Hardedef? Is another like Imhotep? No one has come in our time like Neferti or Khety, their best. I will let you know the name of Ptahemdjedhuti and Khakheperseneb. Is another like Ptahhotep, or Kaires?…They are gone, their names forgotten, but writings make them remembered.” – The Students’ Miscellany

Then honor belongs to the family:

“First honor the gods, then your parents. Give to each one its due.” – Pseudo-Phocylides, the Sentences 4

“Do not say ‘young man’ to one who is old. Do not belittle an old man in your heart.” – The Instructions of Ankhsheshonq 7.21-22

“Father is he who rears, not he who begets.” – Anonymous, 4th century schoolbook

“Respect your parents. Respect the elder. Educate your sons.” – The Delphic Maxims

“Honour your father and mother who have placed you on the path of the living.” – The Instructions of Khety

“From parents we have received the beginning of life and the most benefits, and it is the greatest impiety not only to sin against them but also not to spend one’s life benefiting them.” – Lycurgos, Against Leocrates 94

“If you are wise, look after your house; love your wife without alloy. Fill her stomach, clothe her back; these are the cares to be bestowed on her person. Caress her, fulfil her desires during the time of her existence; it is a kindness which does honor to its possessor. Be not brutal; tact will influence her better than violence; behold to what she aspires, at what she aims, what she regards. It is that which fixes her in your house; if you repel her, it is an abyss. Open your arms for her, respond to her arms; call her, display to her your love.” – The Instructions of Ptah-hotep

“No better thing befalls a man than a good wife, no worse thing than a bad one.” – Semonides of Amorgos

Dearest after the gods and one’s family is the bond of friendship:

“Do not go to your brother when you are in distress; go to your friend.” – The Instructions of Ankhsheshonq 16.4

“To the dinners of friends go slowly, but to their misfortunes quickly.” – Chilon Frag. 5

“Help your friends. Love friendship. Guard friendship.” – The Delphic Maxims

“O my son! When thou hast got thee a comrade or a friend, try him, and afterwards make him a comrade and a friend; and do not praise him without a trial; and do not spoil thy speech with a man who lacks wisdom.” – The Teachings of Ahiqar 2.15

“He who never betrays one he has made a friend shall be given high exaltation among people and gods. Such is my own belief.” – Ancient Greek proverb

“If a man be lacking in good fellowship, no speech has any influence upon him. He is sour of face to the glad-hearted who are kindly to him. He is a grief to his mother and his friends.” – The Instructions of Kagemni

“Do not associate with bad men, but always hold fast to the good.” – Theognis, Frag. 31b-32

The chief of our social virtues is hospitality and particularly acts of kindness to strangers:

“Have respect for suppliants. Find fault with no one. Give what you have. Speak well of everyone. Give back what you have received. Deal kindly with everyone. Share the load of the unfortunate.” – The Delphic Maxims

“Only a dog barks guests away from his own door.” – Ancient Greek proverb

“Whether he who comes to thy house be of the highest or the the lowest rank, he is to be treated with respect: for of all men thy guest is the superior.” – The Hitopadesa

“Antinous, it was dishonorable to strike an unfortunate wanderer; thou wilt come to a bad end, if there is a god in heaven. Indeed, the gods, in the likeness of strangers from far countries, put on all manner of shapes and visit the cities of men, beholding their violence and their righteousness.” – Homer, Odyssey 17.483

“If you are among the persons seated at meat in the house of a greater man than yourself, take that which he gives you, bowing to the ground. Regard that which is placed before you, but point not at it; regard it not frequently; he is a blameworthy person who departs from this rule. Speak not to the great man more than he requires, for one knows not what may be displeasing to him. Speak when he invites you and your worth will be pleasing.” – The Instructions of Ptah-hotep

“I gave to the poor man, I cherished the orphan, I caused him who had nothing to attain to wealth like him who was wealthy.” – The Instruction of Amenemhat

“Beware of stealing from a miserable man and of raging against the cripple. Do not stretch out your hand to touch an old man, nor snip at the words of an elder.” – The Instruction of Amenemope 2

“If you find a large debt against a poor man, make it into three parts; forgive two, let one stand.” – The Instruction of Amenemope

“Remember also that every rational animal is your kinsman, and that to care for all men is according to man’s nature.” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 3.4

“This man, inconsiderable, mean, yes, a slave, this man is loved, and is lord of another’s soul.” – Bianor

“Remember to immerse him who is in pain when he is sick in his body; show respect because of his god that he may guard the utterance … his children who are witnesses of the surging of the flood.” – The Admonitions of Ipuwer

“How can the man who, while worshipping Zeus the God of Companions, sees his neighbors in need and does not give them a dime – how can he think he is worshipping Zeus properly?” – Emperor Julian, Letter to a Priest

“Be kindly to those who are weak toward you, and satisfy yourself with your own bread and beer. Granite comes to you without hindrance, so do not destroy someone else’s monuments.” – The Teaching for Merikare

“Provide for men, the cattle of god, for he made heaven and earth at their desire. He suppressed the greed of the waters, he gave the breath of life to their noses, for they are likenesses of Him which issued from His flesh. he shines in the sky for the benefit of their hearts; he has made herbs, cattle, and fish to nourish them. he has killed His enemies and destroyed His own children, because they had planned to make rebellion; He makes daylight for the benefit of their hearts, and he sails around in order to see them. he has raised up a shrine behind them, and when they weep, He hears. he has made them rulers even from the egg, a lifter to lift the load from the back of the weak man; He has made for them magic to be weapons to ward off what may happen.” – The Teaching for Merikare

“Do not oppress the poor one wrongfully, do not treat them as you would not wish to be treated. If you judge badly, god will judge you in your turn.” – Pseudo-Phocylides, the Sentences 6

“With your hands lift up what has fallen; save the unfortunate one which cannot find support. Pain is common to all men; life is a wheel, and happiness is not stable.” – Pseudo-Phocylides, the Sentences 14

Hard work is highly valued:

“So plough the fields, and you will find whatever you need, and receive the bread from your own threshing floor: better is the bushel which god gives you than five thousand deceitfully gotten; they do not spend a day in the storehouse or warehouse, they are no use for dough for beer; their stay in the granary is short-lived, when morning comes they will be swept away. Better, then, is poverty in the hand of god than riches in the storehouse; better is bread when the mind is at ease than riches with anxiety.” – The Instruction of Amenemope 6

“Do not pamper your body, lest you become weak.” – The Instructions of Ankhsheshonq 6.18

“Your own hand must rescue you from evil estate.” – Anonymous, 4th century schoolbook

“Cling to discipline. Do what you mean to do. Work for what you can own.” – The Delphic Maxims

“Who would Hercules have been had he loitered at home? No Hercules, but Eurystheus.” – Epictetus, Golden Sayings 71

“It is pointless for a man to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself.” – Epicurus, Gnomologium Vaticanum 65

“Eris (Strife) stirs up even the shiftless to toil; for a man grows eager to work when he considers his neighbour, a rich man who hastens to plough and plant and put his house in good order; and neighbour vies with neighbour as he hurries after wealth. This Strife is wholesome for men.” – Hesiod, Works and Days, 20-24

“How can you propose to render toil useless and ineffectual?” – Homer, Iliad 4.26

“Bad deeds don’t prosper. The slow man for sure overtakes the swift.” – Homer, Odyssey 23.7

“Acquire a good character without transgressing, for laziness on the part of the wise man does not happen. Be a silent just man, obedient and well disposed of mind.” – ‘Instruction of a Man for his Son’

“Without work, nothing is easy to man, nor even with the immortal ones: work still adds to the virtue.” – Pseudo-Phocylides, the Sentences 79

“Be active during the time of your existence, do no more than is commanded. Do not spoil the time of your activity; he is a blameworthy person who makes a bad use of his moments. Do not lose the daily opportunity of increasing that which your house possesses. Activity produces riches, and riches do not endure when it slackens.” – The Instructions of Ptah-hotep

“God does not listen to the prayers of the lazy.” – Xystus

As well as honesty:

“Do not say to a man ‘May you be praised’ when you do not mean it. Do not separate your mind from your tongue or all your plans will fail. God hates one who falsifies words, his great abomination is duplicity.” – The Instruction of Amenemope 10

“There is no one who deceives who is not deceived in turn.” – The Instructions of Ankhsheshonq 21.11

“Never value anything as profitable to thyself which shall compel thee to break thy promise, to lose thy self-respect, to hate any man, to suspect, to curse, to act the hypocrite, to desire anything which needs walls and curtains.” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 3.7

“If it is not right, do not do it: if it is not true, do not say it.” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.17

“I hate like the gates of hell that man who says one thing and has another in his mind.” – Homer, Iliad 9.308

And justice:

“When Pre is angry with a land he makes justice cease in it.” – The Instructions of Ankhsheshonq 5.5

“O Zeus, our father Zeus, for you control the sky, you oversee the works of men, the right acts and the wrong they do; so yours to judge the crimes and punishments of all creatures.” – Archilochos fragment.

“It is better to suffer an injustice than to do an injustice.” – Cicero, Tusculanae disputationes

“Be overcome by justice. Practice what is just. Be impartial. Gain possessions justly. Despise strife. Make just judgements.” – The Delphic Maxims

“The people must fight for its law as for its walls.” – Herakleitos Frag. 100

“Attend thou with eye and ear, and make judgements straight with righteousness.” – Hesiod, Works and Days, 10

“Decide no suit until you have heard both sides speak.” – Hesiod, Precepts of Chiron, frag. 2

“Do justice, that you may live long upon earth. Calm the weeper, do not oppress the widow, do not oust a man from his father’s property, do not degrade magnates from their seats. Beware of punishing wrongfully; do not kill, for it will not profit you, but punish with beatings and with imprisonment, for  thus the land will be set in order, excepting only the rebel who has conspired, for God knows those who are disaffected, and God will smite down his evil doing with blood.” – The Teaching for Merikare

“If you have, as leader, to decide on the conduct of a great number of men, seek the most perfect manner of doing so that your own conduct may be without reproach. Justice is great, invariable, and assured; it has not been disturbed since the age of Ptah. To throw obstacles in the way of the laws is to open the way before violence. Shall that which is below gain the upper hand, if the unjust does not attain to the place of justice? Even he who says: I take for myself, of my own free-will; but says not: I take by virtue of my authority. The limitations of justice are invariable; such is the instruction which every man receives from his father.” – The Instructions of Ptah-hotep

All of which leads nicely into the virtues of temperance and self-control:

“Nothing to excess.” – The Delphic Maxims

“Do not take by violence the shares of the temple, do not be grasping, and you will find overabundance; do not take away a temple servant in order to acquire the property of another man.” – The Instruction of Amenemope 5

“I might even engage with you in controversy over the word poverty, urging that no man is poor who rejects the superfluous and has at his command all the necessities of life, which nature has ordained should be exceedingly small. For he who desires least will possess most, inasmuch as he who wants but little will have all he wants. The measure of wealth ought therefore not to be the possession of lands and investments, but the very soul of man. For if avarice make him continually in need of some fresh acquisition and insatiable in his lust for gain, not even mountains of gold will bring him satisfaction, but he will always be begging for more that he may increase what he already possesses. That is the genuine admission of poverty. For every desire for fresh acquisition springs from the consciousness of want, and it matters little how large your possessions are if they are too small for you.” – Apuleius, Apologia 20

“Moral qualities are so constituted as to be destroyed by excess or by deficiency.” – Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 77

“Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break, but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it.”- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.49

“To you, all you have seems small: to me, all I have seems great. Your desire is insatiable, mine is satisfied. See children thrusting their hands into a narrow-necked jar, and striving to pull out the nuts and figs it contains: if they fill the hand, they cannot pull it out again, and then they fall to tears. ‘Let go a few of them, and then you can draw out the rest!’You, too, let your desire go! covet not many things, and you will obtain.” – Epictetus, Golden Sayings 95

“Exceed due measure, and the most delightful things become the least delightful.” – Epictetus, Attributed

“Take what relates to the body as far as the bare use warrants—as meat, drink, raiment, house and servants. But all that makes for show and luxury reject.” – Epictetus, Golden Sayings 168

“No pleasure is a bad thing in itself, but the things which produce certain pleasures entail disturbances many times greater than the pleasures themselves.” – Epicurus, Principal Doctrines 8

“The wealth required by nature is limited and is easy to procure; but the wealth required by vain ideals extends to infinity.” – Epicurus, Principal Doctrines 15

“Of our desires some are natural and necessary, others are natural but not necessary; and others are neither natural nor necessary, but are due to groundless opinion.” – Epicurus, Principal Doctrines 29

“Reprove yourself in your own eyes, take care that another man does not reprove you.” – The Maxims of Hordjedef

“Do not only praise good people but imitate them as well.” – Isocrates, Nicocles 61

“If you sit with a company of people, desire not the food, even if you want it; it takes only a brief moment to restrain the heart, and it is disgraceful to be greedy. A handful of water quenches the thirst, and a mouthful of melon supports the heart. A good thing takes the place of what is good, and just a little takes the place of much. If you sit with a glutton, eat when he is finished; if you sit with a drunkard accept a drink, and his heart will be satisfied. Rage not against the meat in the presence of a glutton; take what he gives you and refuse it not, thinking it will be a courteous thing.” – The Instructions of Kagemni

“If you desire to excite respect within the house you enter, for example the house of a superior, a friend, or any person of consideration, in short everywhere where you enter, keep yourself from making advances to a woman, for there is nothing good in so doing. There is no prudence in taking part in it, and thousands of men destroy themselves in order to enjoy a moment, brief as a dream, while they gain death, so as to know it. It is a villainous intention, that of a man who thus excites himself; if he goes on to carry it out, his mind abandons him. For as for him who is without repugnance for such an act, there is no good sense at all in him.” – The Instructions of Ptah-hotep

“Be not of an irritable temper as regards that which happens at your side; grumble not over your own affairs. Be not of an irritable temper in regard to your neighbors; better is a compliment to that which displeases than rudeness. It is wrong to get into a passion with one’s neighbors, to be no longer master of one’s words. When there is only a little irritation, one creates for oneself an affliction for the time when one will again be cool.” – The Instructions of Ptah-hotep

In keeping with this, one should avoid conflict and especially heated words:

“O my son! If thou hearest a word, let it die in thy heart, and reveal it not to another, lest it become a live coal and burn thy tongue and cause a pain in thy body, and thou gain a reproach, and art shamed before God and man.” – The Teachings of Ahiqar 2.2

“O my son! Let not a word issue from thy mouth till thou hast taken counsel with thy heart. And stand not betwixt persons quarrelling, because from a bad word there comes a quarrel, and from a quarrel there comes war, and from war there comes fighting, and thou wilt be forced to bear witness; but run from thence and rest thyself.” – The Teachings of Ahiqar 2.54

“Something else of value in the heart of God is to stop and think before speaking.” – The Instruction of Amenemope 2

“Do not get into a quarrel with the argumentative man nor incite him with words; proceed cautiously before an opponent, and give way to an adversary; sleep on it before speaking, for a storm come forth like fire in hay is the hot-headed man in his appointed time. May you be restrained before him; leave him to himself, and God will know how to answer him.” – The Instruction of Amenemope 3

“Do not fraternize with the hot-tempered man, nor approach him to converse. Safeguard your tongue from answering your superior, and take care not to speak against him. Do not allow him to cast words only to entrap you, and be not too free in your reply; with a man of your own station discuss the reply; and take care of speaking thoughtlessly; when a man’s heart is upset, words travel faster than wind and rain.” – The Instruction of Amenemope 9

“Be gentle and patient, then your heart will be beautiful.” – The Instructions of Ankhsheshonq 6.8

“A small man with great wrath makes much stench. A great man with small wrath gets much praise.” – The Instructions of Ankhsheshonq 7.19-20

“Just as a good man studiously avoids the repetition of a sin once committed, so men of depraved character repeat their past offence with increased confidence, and, I may add, the more often they do so, the more openly they display their impudence.” – Apuleius, Apologia 3

“It is in our power to have no opinion about a thing, and not to be disturbed in our soul; for things themselves have no natural power to form our judgments.” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.52

“When one of the helots behaved rather insolently towards him, he said, ‘Were I not angry, I would have killed you.’” – Charillus, quoted by Plutarch

“Control yourself. Control anger. Exercise prudence. Despise insolence. Restrain the tongue.” – The Delphic Maxims

“It was the first and most striking characteristic of Socrates never to become heated in discourse, never to utter an injurious or insulting word—on the contrary, he persistently bore insult from others and thus put an end to the fray. If you care to know the extent of his power in this direction, read Xenophon’s Banquet, and you will see how many quarrels he put an end to. This is why the Poets are right in so highly commending this faculty, Quickly and wisely withal even bitter feuds would he settle.” – Epictetus, Golden Sayings 64

“Nature hath given men one tongue but two ears, that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak” – Epictetus, Attributed

“The humble man flourishes, and he who deals uprightly is praised. The innermost chamber is opened to the man of silence. Wide is the seat of the man cautious of speech, but the knife is sharp against the one who forces a path, that he advance not, save in due season.” – The Instructions of Kagemni

“I will also tell you another matter to teach you what you should know at the station of your debating. Do not come close to where there is a dispute. If a man reproves you, and you do not know how to oppose his anger, make your reply cautiously in the presence of listeners.” – The Instructions of Khety

“Be not arrogant because of that which you know; deal with the ignorant as with the learned; for the barriers of art are not closed, no artist being in possession of the perfection to which he should aspire. But good words are more difficult to find than the emerald, for it is by slaves that that is discovered among the rocks of pegmatite.” – The Instructions of Ptah-hotep

“If you find a disputant while he is hot, do not despise him because you are not of the same opinion. Be not angry against him when he is wrong; away with such a thing. He fights against himself; require him not further to flatter your feelings. Do not amuse yourself with the spectacle which you have before you; it is odious, it is mean, it is the part of a despicable soul so to do. As soon as you let yourself be moved by your feelings, combat this desire as a thing that is reproved by the great.” – The Instructions of Ptah-hotep

“If you are powerful, respect knowledge and calmness of language. Command only to direct; to be absolute is to run into evil. Let not your heart be haughty, neither let it be mean. Do not let your orders remain unsaid and cause your answers to penetrate; but speak without heat, assume a serious countenance. As for the vivacity of an ardent heart, temper it; the gentle man penetrates all obstacles. He who agitates himself all the day long has not a good moment; and he who amuses himself all the day long keeps not his fortune. Aim at fullness like pilots; once one is seated another works, and seeks to obey one’s orders.” – The Instructions of Ptah-hotep

“Be neither guileless nor malicious.” – Bias Frag. 5

“If you are told that someone speaks ill of you, make no defense against what was said, but answer, He surely knew not my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these only!” – Epictetus, Golden Sayings 169

“Do not waste the remainder of thy life in thoughts about others, when thou dost not refer thy thoughts to some object of common utility. For thou losest the opportunity of doing something else when thou hast such thoughts as these,–What is such a person doing, and why, and what is he saying, and what is he thinking of, and what is he contriving, and whatever else of the kind makes us wander away from the observation of our own ruling power. We ought then to check in the series of our thoughts everything that is without a purpose and useless, but most of all the over-curious feeling and the malignant; and a man should use himself to think of those things only about which if one should suddenly ask, What hast thou now in thy thoughts? with perfect openness thou mightest immediately answer, This or That; so that from thy words it should be plain that everything in thee is simple and benevolent, and such as befits a social animal, and one that cares not for thoughts about pleasure or sensual enjoyments at all, nor has any rivalry or envy and suspicion, or anything else for which thou wouldst blush if thou shouldst say that thou hadst it in thy mind.” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 3.4

“How much trouble he avoids who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks, but only to what he does himself, that it may be just and pure; or, as Agathon says, look not round at the depraved morals of others, but run straight along the line without deviating from it.”- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.18

“The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like the wrong-doer.” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.6

“Do not speak hastily, lest you give offense. Do not say right away what comes out of your heart.” – The Instructions of Ankhsheshonq 7.23-24

But the most quintessentially Greco-Egyptian virtue would have to be wisdom and learning:

“Letters are the first and foremost guide to understanding. Our mind is our greatest god of divination.” – Anonymous, 4th century schoolbook

“If any man is able to convince me and show me that I do not think or act rightly, I will gladly change; for I seek the truth, by which no man was ever injured. But he is injured who abides in his error and ignorance.” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.21

“Law is good, but not better than philosophy; for while the former compels one not to act unjustly, the latter instructs one not to do so.” – Pseudo-Crates, Epistle 5.6-7

“If a man would pursue Philosophy, his first task is to throw away conceit. For it is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he has a conceit that he already knows.” – Epictetus, Golden Sayings 72

“Who does not admire what Lycurgus the Spartan did? A young citizen had put out his eye and been handed over to him by the people to be punished at his own discretion. Lycurgus abstained from all vengeance, but on the contrary instructed and made a good man of him. Producing him in public in the theatre, he said to the astonished Spartans: ‘I received this young man at your hands full of violence and wanton insolence; I restore him to you in his right mind and fit to serve his country.’” – Epictetus, Golden Sayings 88

“Never call yourself a philosopher nor talk much among the unlearned about principles, but do that which follows from them. Thus at a banquet, do not discuss how people ought to eat; but eat as you ought. Remember that Socrates thus entirely avoided ostentation. Men would come to him desiring to be recommended to philosophers, and he would conduct them thither himself so well did he bear being overlooked. Accordingly if any talk concerning principles should arise among the unlearned, be you for the most part silent. For you run great risk of spewing up what you have ill digested. And when a man tells you that you know nothing and you are not nettled at it, then you may be sure that you have begun the work.” – Epictetus, Golden Sayings 175

“In a philosophical dispute, he gains most who is defeated, since he learns the most.” – Epicurus, Gnomologium Vaticanum 74

“The learning of many things teaches not understanding, else would it have taught Hesiod and Pythagoras, and again Xenophanes and Hekataios.” – Herakleitos Frag. 16

“Believe that many precepts are better than much wealth; for wealth quickly fails us, but precepts abide through all time; for wisdom alone of all possessions is imperishable.” – Pseudo-Isocrates, Ad Demonicum 19

“The vizier had his sons and daughters called, when he completed his writings on the ways of mankind and on their character as encountered by him. And he said to them: ‘All that is in this book hearken to it as if I said it.’ Then they placed themselves upon their bellies. They read it as it stood in writing, and it was better in their heart than anything that was in the entire land.” – The Instructions of Kagemni

“But if you understand writings, then it will be better for you than the professions which I have set before you.” – The Instructions of Khety

“When you come forth from school after midday recess has been announced to you, go into the courtyard and discuss the last part of your lesson book.” – The Instructions of Khety

“‘Shall we then call all these, and the others which study such things, and those who apply themselves to the meaner arts, philosophers?’ ‘By no means,’ I said, ‘but like philosophers.’ ‘And whom,’ said he, ‘do you call true?’ ‘Those,’ said I, ‘who delight in the contemplation of truth. For philosophy is not in geometry, with its postulates and hypotheses; nor in music, which is conjectural; nor in astronomy, crammed full of physical, fluid, and probable causes. But the knowledge of the good and truth itself are requisite, what is good being one thing, and the ways to the good another.’” – Plato, The Republic 19.20

“If you are a wise man, sitting in the council of your lord, direct your thought toward that which is wise. Be silent rather than scatter your words. When you speak, know that which can be brought against you. To speak in the council is an art, and speech is criticized more than any other labor; it is contradiction which puts it to the proof.” – The Instructions of Ptah-hotep

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates, Plato’s Apology 38a

“What matters the path by which one seeks the truth? One road alone does not suffice to attain so great a mystery!” – Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, Oration on the Altar of Victory 3

“The gods have not revealed all things to people from the beginning, but by seeking they find in time what is better.” – Xenophanes, Frag. 18

And thus ends our survey. He who makes these precepts his own and follows what they say all the days of his life shall prosper and meet with universal acclaim from gods and men alike.

© 2010 H. Jeremiah Lewis