What is Paremiology

Almost every culture has its unique proverbs or traditional sayings that express a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Although the wisdom that traditional sayings convey is not necessarily a trustworthy guide to the cultural values of a specific culture, they may, to some extent, reflect those values. If a link between cultural values and proverbs is acknowledged, old proverbs might illustrate past values, while a new proverb repertoire probably reflects the mores and values of modern times. When examining such proverbs and sayings, an underlying cultural portrait may be outlined. Has this cultural portrait changed over time? In order to answer this question, the chapter will present an overview of Portuguese proverbs concerning women as they are presented by dictionaries published from the 17th to the 21st century; the analysis of these sayings allows for an assessment of how the image of the female figure in the Portuguese society has evolved across time.