What is I-E wisdom literature?
Like I said in a previous post, I'm trying to put together a list of primary sources that could count as "widom literature" from Indo-European cultures. I took the question to the ADF-Scholars list, but most seemed rather confused by my question, and only suggested Marcus Aurelius, as if he (and perhaps by extension Greco-Roman philosophy) were the extent of Indo-European wisdom literature. So it looks like I'm gonna have to do a bit more research into what wisdom literature is (and how to explain it) before I can accomplish my goal.
An exciting aspect is that apparently not many in ADF have looked into this question before, so there is a need, a gap waiting to be filled.
Some people in paganism prefer to err on the vague side, being reluctant to talk about what is uncertain or easily confused. There is definitely virtue in this, especially with regard to ethics, which can be an inflammatory topic. It will take some care and sensitivity to achieve this goal.
So onto the question...
What is widom literature?
"Wisdom literature" is a well-known term (Hebrew: chochma) in Old Testament studies, where it refers to a genre including Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and sometimes the Song of Songs. The apocryphal books Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon are also included. Sometimes a few others are named. Even within OT studies it has been somewhat difficult to nail down precisely what these books have in common, so it makes sense that outside OT studies it may be still more difficult. Neverthless...
The genre is characterized by sayings intended to teach about God and about virtue. (wikipedia: wisdom literature)
It is implicitly defined in contrast to other books in the OT, which tend to focus more on history, laws, miracles, cosmogony, or ritual.
The term wisdom literature has also been applied in Mesopotamian literary studies. There it refers to a broad range of works that are predominantly moralistic and didactic, ranging from proverbs and stories to animal fables and dialogues.
A comparison has often been made to Hesiod's advice poetry, such as in his Works and Days, and naturally to Greek philosophical works of ethical nature. A contrast has been made in that OT literature ultimately roots its moral judgments in God, whereas Greek literature tends to put more faith in man's ability to make his own moral judgments.
What makes wisom literature so difficult to define I think is that one word "wisdom", which is extremely rich (read: vague) in meaning. It can mean common sense, practical know-how, intellectual illumination, enlightenment, spiritual insight, encyclopedic lore, sagacity, and even wit. By one person's reading "wisdom literature" might include mainly works with ethical content, while by another's it might include any lore at all.
What would an I-E wisdom literature look like?
Starting with the OT studies term, we can arrive at a view that makes sense for I-E studies. We might have comparison with Mesopotamian literary studies as one example of how the term can be exported beyond the realm of OT studies.
We've already seen a contrast of OT and Greek literature: the Greek tends to put more faith in man's own capacity for moral judgment. Thus, if for OT studies wisdom lit is characterized by teachings about God and virtue, then for I-E studies we might say:
The genre is characterized by sayings intended to teach about virtue.
A confusion might arise with a genre of hymn called aretology, wherein the "virtues" (arete) of a deity are ennumerated, such as the aretologies of Isis from Cyme, Thessalonica, etc. These are not specifically moral attributes but rather characteristics and even deeds of the deity. Here the translation "excellences" may be more fitting. To avoid such confusion, and focus specifically on ethical and/or moral content, we might say:
The genre is characterized by sayings intended to teach about virtue as relevant to ways of life for humans.
Would it then make more intuitive sense to speak of "virtue literature"? Perhaps that would be too specific, suggesting only Plato, Aristotle, and others who spoke specifically and systematically of arete or virtue.
There is also a problem with determining an author's "intention," especially with I-E texts where the "author" is in fact a tradition made up of numberless generations of sages, poets, and bards.
Finally there is a problem with the word "sayings" insofar as it suggests short, aphoristic phrases. While these are particularly common in wisdom literature, they are not universal. Even in OT studies it is hard to see it as so: the wisdom in Job comes out through its narrative, not through its individual phrases.
So perhaps we can say of I-E wisdom literature:
The genre is characterized by text predominantly concerned with virtue as relevant to ways of life for humans.
Now, we can test this definition by comparing it to other non-wisdom I-E texts.
We've already seen that Hesiod's Works and Days has been considered wisdom literature. Let's contrast it then with Hesiod's Cosmogony. Works and Days exhorts virtues such as industriousness and piety, whereas the Cosmogony does not exhort any particular virtues. Works and Days concerns itself with the way of life for humans, whereas the Cosmogony barely mentions humans at all. Works and Days contains advice that can be applied broadly in practical ways to human moral development, whereas the Cosmogony contains lore that can be taken as an object of contemplation.
Further examples of I-E wisdom literature include the Old Norse Havamal, and the Irish Instructions of Cormac and Testament of Morann. All three of these exhort virtues. They recommend a particular way of life for humans, even when that advice comes from a god (Havamal is ostensibly the sayings of Odin). These may be contrasted in Old Norse with the kennings poems, where characters match their knowledge of encyclopedic lore (no virtue content), or in Irish with the chronicles like the Lebor Gabala, which is predominantly concerned with relating the history of a people.
There are also stories and fables with ethical relevance. In Greek there are the fables of Aesop, which teach some kind of lesson. Many folk tales in various languages do so as well, even if it's as simple as "don't go wandering in the woods alone." The line becomes fuzzy when we move into myths and legends. Some seem to convey an overall lesson of this type as well. The tale of Oedipus, who mistakenly killed his father and married his mother, might convey something like "Things aren't always as they seem" or "mortals can always fail to perceive things correctly." Other stories might not seem to convey any ethical content at all, such as the Old Norse sagas of blood, murder, and revenge. However, this begs the question of our subjective interpretations of "ethical content": would the composers of this text have considered revenge ethical, even if we generally do not? Can we even hope to answer that such questions? The moral of this story: don't take genre definitions too seriously.
A map for the genre might place at the center texts with maxims and aphorisms with clear ethical content, with other text radiating out from the center in varying degrees of ethical ambiguity. The genre should not be taken to have neatly definable edges.
Subdivisions of wisdom literature: wisdom text vs. text with wisdom passages, systematic vs. non-systematic texts, maxim texts vs. human nature texts
We might refine the genre with a few distinctions.
Wisdom text vs. text with wisdom passages - There are many texts with ethical content scattered throughout, but whose predominant concern is not ethics. The Iliad, the Mabinogion, and the Rig Veda come to mind. Thus we may distinguish betwee wisdom texts, where the predominant concern is ethical, and texts with wisdom passages, where it is not but smaller segments of it are.
Systematic texts vs. non-systematic texts - Most philosophical texts discuss their subject in a more or less systematic way. Even if the entire system is not conveyed by the particular text, it falls within a tradition of texts with a system. The system aspires to being comprehensive and rational, such that items within it should not contradict each other. Non-systematic texts by contrast may offer wisdom for particular situations or particular roles or persons, without implying a rational, comprehensive ordering of values. Such texts may offer a range of seemingly ontradictory statements, without nullifying the meaning of the text as a whole. Each statement is a limited expression from a particular perspective that does not deny other perspectives. Compare the "mythopoeic" mode of thinking.
Maxim texts vs. human nature texts - Texts that have themes reducable to maxims such as "Don't ignore the gods" or "value courage" contain clear, direct ethical content. Other texts may depict aspects of human nature with only indirect relevance to human ethics. Many a myth, for example, tells of some mortal who, through no fault of their own, runs afowl of a god or spirit and suffers as a result. There, the comment is on human nature - tragic human ignorance - and can hardly be reduced to a maxim which would have avoided the situation. The best one might do is infer indirectly something like "Never think you can avoid all suffering through your own volition." Such human nature texts traverse the borders of wisdom literature, and might be thought of as a kind of quasi-wisdom.
Why would a list of I-E wisdom literature be useful?
Such a list would be useful to ADF members in several ways.
First, it would be a scholarly way to ground and inspire discussions of the nine virtues. This is of particularly note to DP students.
Second, it would be a way to better understand the mindset and perspective of our I-E ancestors. Through finding common values, and also through finding contrasting values (contrasting between ancient I-E cultures, and also contrasting between ancient and modern cultures).
Third, it would be a stimulus to considering whether ethics deserves a place in our Neopagan religion, and if so what kind of ethics, and with what emphasis.
Fourth, it would be a way for individual members who desire to further ethics in their own lives to do so in a way infomed by their I-E ancestors.
Last, it would be a way to further bring Neopagan culture into full flower, as it seems all major religious movements today must confront ethical dilemmas, even if the final answer is a separation of ethics and religion. This may be a powerful creative stimulus for new work and thought in all branches of our religion.
note for later: I have so far used virtue and ethics interchangeably, but a distinction might prove important.