The tale of the riddle-contest between the Pharaoh Amasis and the king
of
Ethiopia (Plut. CSS 151A-E) was based on an Egyptian story about a
contest of wits between Amasis and the king of Kush. The Egyptian story was
taken over by Greek narrators, who incorporated it into the cycle of the
Seven Sages, casting Bias in the role of Amasis’ consultant. The story about
the tongue being the best and the worst part of an animal (CSS 146E-F) grew
out of a well-known maxim and was widely disseminated. In the legend of
Amasis and
Bias it functioned as a prelude to the main riddle-contest, testing Bias’
aptitude for the role of the Pharaoh’s consultant. This twofold pattern (a
first, testing problem as a preliminary for a more serious contest of wits)
occurs in many stories, both in the Greek (Glaukos and Polyidos, Kroisos’
diapeira of the oracles) and in other traditions (Sanskrit, Norse,
ancient Egyptian). The legend of Amasis and Bias was structured on this
pattern by Greek storytellers before Plutarch; the latter found the story so
developed in a written source (probably a work about the Seven Sages). An
appendix examines various types of riddles and problems which occur in the
stories here discussed (adynaton, riddle of the superlative, simile-
riddle, games based on a climactic sequence, the relation of oracles and
omens with riddles).
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