The “Poetic Itch” and Numerical Maxims in the Talmud – an Inquiry into Factors of Knowledge Construction

Amsler, Monika (2023). The “Poetic Itch” and Numerical Maxims in the Talmud – an Inquiry into Factors of Knowledge Construction. In: Amsler, Monika (ed.) Knowledge Construction in Late Antiquity. Trends in Classics - Supplementary Volumes: Vol. 142 (pp. 189-218). Berlin: De Gruyter 10.1515/9783111010311-008

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This paper explores possible factors responsible for knowledge pre- sented as numerical maxims found in the Babylonian Talmud. Written in a late Hebrew, the maxims follow the pattern “X ‘things’ do/are...” and have previous- ly been analyzed in the context of mnemotechnical strategies and pedagogy. Yet the sheer number of these maxims — 54 sayings alone on “threes” — appears to contradict at least a straightforward connection with pedagogy. Indeed, the circumstances that produce a certain stock of knowledge are not necessarily identical with its future use. To trace the maxim’s possible origins, Ausonius’s “poetic itch,” according to himself responsible for his Riddle of the Number Three, will serve as a starting point for an investigation into social and intellec- tual factors involved in the construction of this condensed form of knowledge: poetic contests, numerology, and the concept and place of pastimes in late- antique society. The paper will thereby show that incentives for accumulating knowledge were as multi-faceted as occasions to implement knowledge.

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