Les arrels clàssiques de tres parèmies catalanes entorn de l’amistat

Resumen

Classical roots of three Catalan proverbs about friendship

This paper aims to examine three Catalan proverbs about the concept of friendship, which are included in Sebastià Farnés’ volume entitled Paremiologia catalana comparada. These proverbs bear witness to their classical tradition and they are related to philosophical and literary passages that can be considered as previous samples of this tradition. These Greek and Latin passages are compiled, presented in chronological order and compared, so as to 1 determine the different ways the ideas included in those proverbs were expressed throughout the time; and, more specifically, 2 in order to clarify how these Catalan proverbs ended up being formulated the way they were. I conclude that the considerations about friendship presented by these proverbs are embedded into a long textual tradition which refers, ultimately, to Pythagoras, although Judeo-Christian tradition was involved in their final configuration as well.