ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the memory of the Persian roots of Hellenic wisdom in middle and late Byzantine thought. In Greco-Roman antiquity, there existed a long-standing tradition associating the emergence of Hellenic wisdom with Egyptian, Phoenician, Chaldean and Persian civilisations. The Greeks and Romans particularly believed that Persian wisdom was one of the important sources of their knowledge of the spiritual and physical fabric of the world. One of the main contributions of this study lies in the reconstruction and systematisation of the Greco-Roman views pertaining to the Persian elements in Hellenic wisdom. Ancient practical wisdom, including its 'Persian' elements, never ceased to be present in Byzantine knowledge due to its instrumentality and constant demand in daily activities. The Persian instrumental motifs in Byzantine practical wisdom constituted a specific part of cultural memory, which circulated in Byzantine culture in ever actualised mode needing no special means to be reactivated.
