Greek Proverb of the Day

Here is today's proverb from the blog with a LOLcat and vocabulary too! This is a repeat of a proverb you've seen before, but the vocabulary list is new. The vocabulary links go to Logeion.

Μῦς δακὼν παῖδ᾿ ἀπέφυγε.

• μῦς.
• δακὼν, from δάκνω.
• παῖδα, from παῖς.
• ἀπέφυγε, from ἀποφεύγω.

Μῦς δακὼν παῖδ᾿ ἀπέφυγε.

A mouse, having bit a child, ran away.

A child is small, but a mouse is even smaller, so the saying is used when someone, small though he may be, attacks an enemy greater than himself and gets away with it. The accusative form is παῖδα, but the final vowel is elided before the following vowel: παῖδ' ἀπέφυγε. From the root of Greek παῖς (παῖδ-), we get English words like pedagogy and pediatric.

And here's a quiz covering the past five cats (answers at the blog only, not in the email):

Ἐκτὸς πηλοῦ ______ ἔχεις.

reveal/hide answer

Ἐκτὸς πηλοῦ πόδας ἔχεις.

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______ δακὼν παῖδ᾿ ἀπέφυγε.

reveal/hide answer

Μῦς δακὼν παῖδ᾿ ἀπέφυγε.

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Καρδία ______.

reveal/hide answer

Καρδία ἐλάφου.

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______ καθεύδων.

reveal/hide answer

Λαγὼς καθεύδων.

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Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐ ______.

reveal/hide answer

Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐ δάκνει.

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And to finish up, here's a random LOLCat too:

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Greek Proverb of the Day: October 25

Here is today's proverb from the blog with a LOLcat and vocabulary too! This is a repeat of a proverb you've seen before, but the vocabulary list is new. The vocabulary links go to Logeion.

Ἐκτὸς πηλοῦ πόδας ἔχεις. 

• ἐκτός
• πηλοῦ, from πηλός.
• πόδας, from πούς.
• ἔχεις, from ἔχω.

Ἐκτὸς πηλοῦ πόδας ἔχεις. 

You've got your feet outside of the mud.

This means you're in a good position, not likely to slip and slide into some kind of disaster. The word ἐκτός can be used as a preposition with the genitive, as here, and it can also be used as an adverb. You can see this root in English "ectoplasm." You can see Greek πούς in English "podium."

And here's a quiz covering the past five cats (answers at the blog only, not in the email):

Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐ ______.

reveal/hide answer

Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐ δάκνει.

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Ἐκτὸς πηλοῦ ______ ἔχεις.

reveal/hide answer

Ἐκτὸς πηλοῦ πόδας ἔχεις.

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______ καθεύδων.

reveal/hide answer

Λαγὼς καθεύδων.

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Καρδία ______.

reveal/hide answer

Καρδία ἐλάφου.

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Σκιὰ ἀντὶ τοῦ ______.

reveal/hide answer

Σκιὰ ἀντὶ τοῦ σώματος.

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And to finish up, here's a random LOLCat too:

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Greek Proverb of the Day: October 24

Here is today's proverb from the blog with a LOLcat and vocabulary too! This is a repeat of a proverb you've seen before, but the vocabulary list is new. The vocabulary links go to Logeion.

Καρδία ἐλάφου.

• καρδία.
• ἐλάφου, from ἔλαφος.

Καρδία ἐλάφου.

The heart of a deer.

This is a saying indicating cowardice, and the words were famously used by Achilles when he taunted Agamemnon in the opening book of the Iliad: "οἰνοβαρές, κυνὸς ὄμματ᾽ ἔχων, κραδίην δ᾽ ἐλάφοιο," "weighed down with wine, having the face of a dog but the heart of a deer," where κραδίη ἐλάφοιο is the Homeric form of καρδία ἐλάφου. There is an Aesop's fable about the proverbial cowardice of the deer.

And here's a quiz covering the past five cats (answers at the blog only, not in the email):

Καρδία ______.

reveal/hide answer

Καρδία ἐλάφου.

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Σκιὰ ἀντὶ τοῦ ______.

reveal/hide answer

Σκιὰ ἀντὶ τοῦ σώματος.

---

Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐ ______.

reveal/hide answer

Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐ δάκνει.

---

______ καθεύδων.

reveal/hide answer

Λαγὼς καθεύδων.

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______, φίλον φῶς.

reveal/hide answer

Χαῖρε, φίλον φῶς.

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And to finish up, here's a random LOLCat too:

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Greek Proverb of the Day: October 23

Here is today's proverb from the blog with a LOLcat and vocabulary too! This is a repeat of a proverb you've seen before, but the vocabulary list is new. The vocabulary links go to Logeion.

Λαγὼς καθεύδων.

• λαγώς
• καθεύδων, from καθεύδω.

Λαγὼς καθεύδων.

The sleeping hare.

This saying also appears in Erasmus, who explains that it refers to a deception: the hare sleeps with its eyes open, or so the ancient Greeks and Romans supposed, fooling people into thinking it was awake. More about this folk tradition: Lagophthalmos or Hare Eye: An Etymologic Eye Opener.

And here's a quiz covering the past five cats (answers at the blog only, not in the email):

Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐ ______.

reveal/hide answer

Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐ δάκνει.

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______, φίλον φῶς.

reveal/hide answer

Χαῖρε, φίλον φῶς.

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______ καθεύδων.

reveal/hide answer

Λαγὼς καθεύδων.

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Σκιὰ ἀντὶ τοῦ ______.

reveal/hide answer

Σκιὰ ἀντὶ τοῦ σώματος.

---

Οὐδὲ Ἡρακλῆς πρὸς ______.

reveal/hide answer

Οὐδὲ Ἡρακλῆς πρὸς δύο.

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And to finish up, here's a random LOLCat too:

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Click here to subscribe/unsubscribe to the email list.

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Greek Proverb of the Day: October 22

Here is today's proverb from the blog with a LOLcat and vocabulary too! This is a repeat of a proverb you've seen before, but the vocabulary list is new. The vocabulary links go to Logeion.

Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐ δάκνει.

• ἐλέφας
• μῦν, from μῦς.
• οὐ
• δάκνει, from δάκνω.

Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐ δάκνει.

An elephant doesn't bite a mouse.

A proverb of incongruity! A mouse is too small to be worthy of the elephant's attention, much less provoke an attack. So, if you're an elephant and you happen to notice a mouse, just let it go; don't sweat the small stuff. You've seen a variation on this saying before in a previous blog post: Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐχ ἁλίσκει. The idea that elephants are afraid of mice is a later legend with no basis in fact. It was not a belief in ancient Greece, although the Roman writer Pliny claimed that elephants hated mice, and the legend seems to have taken shape over the centuries following Pliny. 

And here's a quiz covering the past five cats (answers at the blog only, not in the email):

Οὐδὲ Ἡρακλῆς πρὸς ______.

reveal/hide answer

Οὐδὲ Ἡρακλῆς πρὸς δύο.

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Σκιὰ ἀντὶ τοῦ ______.

reveal/hide answer

Σκιὰ ἀντὶ τοῦ σώματος.

---

Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐ ______.

reveal/hide answer

Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐ δάκνει.

---

_______ φύλαττε.

reveal/hide answer

Φιλίαν φύλαττε.

---

______, φίλον φῶς.

reveal/hide answer

Χαῖρε, φίλον φῶς.

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And to finish up, here's a random LOLCat too:

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Click here to subscribe/unsubscribe to the email list.

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Greek Proverb of the Day: October 21

Here is today's proverb from the blog with a LOLcat and vocabulary too! This is a repeat of a proverb you've seen before, but the vocabulary list is new. The vocabulary links go to Logeion.

Σκιὰ ἀντὶ τοῦ σώματος.

• σκιὰ, from σκιά.
• ἀντί
• τοῦ, from ὁ.
• σώματος, from σῶμα.

Σκιὰ ἀντὶ τοῦ σώματος.

A shadow instead of a body.

This saying was applied to people who might appear to be powerful but who have no power at all, like a shadow. From the root of Greek σῶμα we get English somatic.

And here's a quiz covering the past five cats (answers at the blog only, not in the email):

Σκιὰ ἀντὶ τοῦ ______.

reveal/hide answer

Σκιὰ ἀντὶ τοῦ σώματος.

---

______, φίλον φῶς.

reveal/hide answer

Χαῖρε, φίλον φῶς.

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Οὐδὲ Ἡρακλῆς πρὸς ______.

reveal/hide answer

Οὐδὲ Ἡρακλῆς πρὸς δύο.

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_______ φύλαττε.

reveal/hide answer

Φιλίαν φύλαττε.

---

Γλαῦκας εἰς ______.

reveal/hide answer

Γλαῦκας εἰς Ἀθήνας.

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And to finish up, here's a random LOLCat too:

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Click here to subscribe/unsubscribe to the email list.

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Greek Proverb of the Day: October 20

Here is today's proverb from the blog with a LOLcat and vocabulary too! This is a repeat of a proverb you've seen before, but the vocabulary list is new. The vocabulary links go to Logeion.

Χαῖρε, φίλον φῶς.

• χαῖρε, from χαίρω.
• φίλον, from φίλος.
• φῶς

Χαῖρε, φίλον φῶς.

Farewell, dear light.

This saying was used when extinguishing a lamp or candle. 

As Erasmus explains, these words could be used in all seriousness, as when a character in a tragedy is about to die, but the words could also be used in more risque contexts; for example, he relates a story for teaching purposes (docendi causa) about an old woman who is about to have sex, and who thus speaks to the candle before she puts it out so that her lover will not see her wrinkles.

And here's a quiz covering the past five cats (answers at the blog only, not in the email):

Γλαῦκας εἰς ______.

reveal/hide answer

Γλαῦκας εἰς Ἀθήνας.

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______, φίλον φῶς.

reveal/hide answer

Χαῖρε, φίλον φῶς.

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Οὐδὲ Ἡρακλῆς πρὸς ______.

reveal/hide answer

Οὐδὲ Ἡρακλῆς πρὸς δύο.

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_______ φύλαττε.

reveal/hide answer

Φιλίαν φύλαττε.

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Ἔργου ______ οἱ λόγοι.

reveal/hide answer

Ἔργου σκιὰ οἱ λόγοι.

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And to finish up, here's a random LOLCat too:

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