Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 17

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 99. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

ὕβρις ~ ὕβρεως (noun f.): violence, insolence 

ὕδωρ ~ ὕδατος (noun n.): water 

φάρμακον ~ φαρμάκου (noun n.): drug, remedy 

μαθητής ~ μαθητοῦ (noun m.): student, pupil 

καιρός ~ καιρoῦ (noun m.): moment, opportunity 

These are the proverbs (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Ὕβριν μίσει.

Κοσκινῳ ὕδωρ ἀντλεῖς.

Ψυχῆς νοσούσης ἐστὶ φάρμακον λόγος.

Πολλοὶ μαθηταὶ κρείττονες διδασκάλων.

Μηδὲν ἄγαν, καιρῷ πάντα πρόσεστι καλά.

And now, some commentary:

Ὕβριν μίσει.

Hate violence.

This is another of the maxims attributed to the Seven Sages by Stobaeus. The word μίσει is an imperative from the contract verb μισέω. The word ὕβρις is sometimes used in English: hubris. It means violence in Greek, but with particular connotations of insolence and pride, and it also has sexual connotations. You can find out more at Wikipedia: Hubris.

Κοσκινῳ ὕδωρ ἀντλεῖς.

You're drawing water with a sieve.

This is a fool's errand: you can scoop all you want, but the sieve is not going to hold the water. Compare a similar saying you saw last month: Κοσκίνῳ ὕδωρ φέρει, "He's carrying water in a sieve." The original meaning of the verb ἀντλέω is to bale bilgewater; the noun ἄντλος means bilgewater.

Ψυχῆς νοσούσης ἐστὶ φάρμακον λόγος.

Speech is a remedy for an ailing spirit.

The saying is one of Menander's monostichs (one-liners) in iambic verse:

Ψυχῆς | νοσού || σης ἐσ|τὶ φάρ || μακον | λόγος.

From the root in Greek φάρμακ- we get English words like pharmacy.

Πολλοὶ μαθηταὶ κρείττονες διδασκάλων.

Many students are greater than (their) teachers.

This Greek proverb actually appears in Henry Fielding's Tom Jones: "I remember my old schoolmaster, who was a prodigious great scholar, used often to say, Polly matete cry town is my daskalon. The English of which, he told us, was, That a child may sometimes teach his grandmother to suck eggs." Thanks to Michael Gilleland for that citation!

Μηδὲν ἄγαν, καιρῷ πάντα πρόσεστι καλά.

Nothing in excess; all things are good in the right measure.

Diogenes Laertius attributes these words to Chilon of Sparta; you can find out more about Chilon at Wikipedia; he was considered to be one of the Seven Sages of ancient Greece. The word καιρός often means the right time or the critical moment, but it can also refer to measure or proportion, which best suits the context of this saying.

The Seven Sages

And here's a random proverb too:

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 16

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 98. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

διώκω ~ διώξω ~ ἐδίωξα: chase, pursue 

λαμβάνω ~ λήψομαι ~ ἔλαβον: take, seize 

σῴζω ~ σώσω ~ ἔσωσα: save, rescue, keep 

βλέπω ~ βλέψομαι ~ ἔβλεψα: look at, see 

κλύω ~ (no fut.) ~ ἔκλυον: hear, perceive 

These are the proverbs (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Δόξαν δίωκε.

Δός τι καὶ λάβε τι.

Ἡ εὐλάβεια σῴζει πάντα.

Ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντες, οὐ βλέπετε;

Κλύει δὲ καὶ πρόσωθεν ὢν θεός.

And now, some commentary:

Δόξαν δίωκε.

Pursue glory.

This is one of the maxims attributed to the Seven Sages as recorded by Stobaeus. The word δόξα has a wide range of meaning in Greek; the specific meaning of "glory" became important for Christianity, as in English doxology.

Δός τι καὶ λάβε τι.

Give something and receive something.

Compare the English saying, "Give and take." The Greek phrase appears in a dialogue formerly attributed to Plato but now considered spurious; you can find out more at Wikipedia: Axiochus. In that dialogue, it is paired with a similar saying you saw last month in this blog post: Ἁ δὲ χεὶρ τὰν χεῖρα νίζει, "One hand washes another."

Ἡ εὐλάβεια σῴζει πάντα.

Caution saves all things.

The saying appears in Aristophanes' Birds. The saying also appears in the LSJ dictionary entry for the word εὐλάβεια. From the Greek verb σῴζω comes the noun σωτήρ, "savior," as in the English word soteriology, the study of salvation.

Ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντες, οὐ βλέπετε;

Having eyes, do you not see?

The words come from the Gospel of Mark when Jesus is rebuking his followers for their lack of faith and understanding. You saw a related passage from Mark last month in this blog post: Ὦτα ἔχοντες, οὐκ ἀκούετε; "Having ears, do you not hear?"

Κλύει καὶ πρόσωθεν ὢν Θεός.

Being a goddess, she hears, even from afar.

The noun Θεός is common gender, both masculine and feminine, but here it is feminine: goddess, based on the context. The words come from Aeschylus' Eumenides; Orestes is speaking of Athena. The word καὶ is being used adverbially here: even from afar, καὶ πρόσωθεν.

Athena

And here's a random proverb too:

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 15

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 97. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

κάρα ~ κάρατος (noun n.): head 

δάκρυον ~ δακρύου (noun n.): tear, teardrop 

ἱμάτιον ~ ἱματίου (noun n.): cloak; clothes 

σῶμα ~ σώματος (noun n.): body 

εἶδος ~ εἴδους (noun n.): shape, form 

These are the proverbs (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Ὑπὲρ κάρα πτύεις.

Μεγαρέων δάκρυα.

Ἱματίῳ πῦρ περιστέλλεις.

Λάβετε, τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ σῶμά μου.

Κάτοπτρον εἴδους χαλκός ἐστ'· οἶνος δὲ νοῦ.

And now, some commentary:

Μεγαρέων δάκρυα.

The tears of the Megareans.

This is like the phrase "crocodile tears," referring to feigned tears; see this earlier post. As Erasmus reports, ancient sources provide different explanations for the origin of the saying about Megarean tears. For example, supposedly Megara abounded in garlic, and people wept when cooking with raw garlic. In another story, there was a funeral for a princess of Megara at which there were many hired mourners, weeping theatrically but not from any real grief. Regardless of the origin of the saying, its meaning is the same: tears without sadness. 

Ὑπὲρ κάρα πτύεις.

You're spitting over your head.

Needless to say, spitting up over your own head is not a good idea; that spit is going to come right back at you. Compare the English saying: "spitting into the wind." From the word κάρα comes the diminutive κρανίον, meaning the upper part of the head or skull, which gives us the English word cranium.

Ἱματίῳ πῦρ περιστέλλεις.

You're wrapping fire in your cloak.

As Erasmus explains, this is like "nursing a viper in your bosom," i.e. you are keeping something close to you (fire) that will lead to your own destruction. The word himation is sometimes used in English when writing about ancient Greek clothing.

Λάβετε, τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ σῶμά μου.

Take: this is my body.

These words come from The Gospel of Mark; see similar versions in Luke and Matthew.  Jesus is offering bread to his disciples at the Last Supper; you can find out more at Wikipedia: Last Supper. From Greek σῶμα, we get English somatic.

Κάτοπτρον εἴδους χαλκός ἐστ'· οἶνος δὲ νοῦ.

Bronze is a mirror of the face, wine of the mind.

This is an unattributed fragment of Aeschylus that is recorded in Athenaeus' Deipnosophistae. You can read about bronze mirrors at Wikipedia. (The earliest glass mirrors made with silver-mercury amalgams date to around 500 C.E.) Here's an Etruscan bronze mirror showing the Judgment of Paris:

And here's a random proverb too:

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 14

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 96. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

σοφός ~ σοφοῦ adj. masc.): wise, skilled 

ὅμοιον ~ ὁμοίου adj. neut.): the same, like 

μικρός ~ μικροῦ adj. neut.): small, little 

γέρων ~ γέροντος adj. fem.): old, elderly 

ἕκαστος ~ ἑκάστου adj. masc.): each, all 

These are the proverbs (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Σοφοῖς χρῶ.

Ὅμοιον ὁμοίῳ φίλον.

Μικρὸς ἡλίκος Μόλων.

Γέρων ἀλώπηξ οὐχ ἁλίσχεται.

Ὁ νοῦς γὰρ ἡμῶν ἐστιν ἐν ἑκάστῳ θεός.

And now, some commentary:

Σοφοῖς χρῶ.

Make use of those who are wise.

The form χρῶ is the second-person imperative of χράομαι (those middle imperatives can look sneaky, especially for contract verbs). The adjective σοφός is being used substantively as a noun: (a) wise (man). This is one of the maxims that Stobaeus attributes to the Seven Sages of Greece. From the Greek root σοφ- we get all the soph- words in English philosopher and sophistication.

Ὅμοιον ὁμοίῳ φίλον.

Like likes like.

In Greek, it is literally "a (similar) thing is friendly to a similar thing." The saying appears in Plato's Lysis (τὸ ὅμοιον τῷ ὁμοίῳ φίλον εἶναι) in a debate about whether friendship is more likely among people who are similar or whether people who are similar are prone to envy and resentment, with friendship more naturally occurring between people who are dissimilar. From the Greek root ὁμο- we get the homo- words in English like homogeneous and homonym.

Μικρὸς ἡλίκος Μόλων.

As small as Molon.

Here μικρός means small in stature, i.e. short. The words come from Aristophanes' Frogs. According to the ancient commentators, the words are ironic; Molon was actually a very tall actor, so the speaker — Dionysus — is joking when he invokes Molon in this way: παίζει· ἔστι γὰρ μεγαλόσωμος ὁ Μόλων, "he's joking, for Molon is a big man." However, the commentaries also note that there was a notorious thief named Molon who was, in fact, very short. So, we would need to talk to Aristophanes himself to be sure just how this one works!

Γέρων ἀλώπηξ οὐχ ἁλίσχεται.

An old fox can't be trapped.

Of course, foxes are sly and hard to catch at any age; the force of this proverb is that a fox who has lived to enjoy her old age has no doubt escaped many a trap and is not likely to fall into a trap now. Compare a similar saying about the old mouse: Γέρων δὲ καὶ μῦς οὐχ ἁλισκεται πάγῃ. From the root in Greek γέρων we get English gerontology.

Ὁ νοῦς γὰρ ἡμῶν ἐστιν ἐν ἑκάστῳ θεός.

The mind (is) a god in each of us.

This is a fragment from a lost play by Euripides, and the idea is invoked by the Emperor Julian in his essay addressed To the Uneducated Cynics, who refers both to the mind and to λόγος as a god in each of us, something that links us to the divine. This Julian is known both as Julian the Apostate (as he renounced Christianity and was the last pagan emperor), but also as Julian the Philosopher. He was a prolific author, and you can see a list of his works at Wikipedia: Julian.

Here is Julian on a coin:

And here's a random proverb too:

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