Greek Proverbs: May 14

Here are today's Greek proverbs with LOLCats! These are repeats of previous proverbs, but now with illustrations... and with a quiz too! See how you do on the questions up top, and then try them again down below after you've read through the proverbs (the quiz results display only at the blog, not in the email):

Εἰς ______ σπείρεις.

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Εἰς ὕδωρ σπείρεις.

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______ τὸν οὐρανόν.

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Ἄτλας τὸν οὐρανόν.

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Μὴ ______ μάχαιραν.

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Μὴ παιδὶ μάχαιραν.

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Οἱ φῶρες τὴν ______.

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Οἱ φῶρες τὴν βοήν.

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Πάντα πλήρη ______.

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Πάντα πλήρη θεῶν.

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Εἰς ὕδωρ σπείρεις.

You're sowing in water.

This is a fool's errand: seed should be planted in the earth, not water. In particular, this refers to someone doing favors for a person who is not going to ever return the favor. Compare a version in Theognis where someone is foolishly sowing seed in the hoar-salt sea: σπείρειν πόντον ἁλὸς πολιῆς.

Ἄτλας τὸν οὐρανόν.

Atlas (holds up) the sky.

In this saying, the Greek can let the nominative and accusative cases convey the meaning, with the verb being implied but not stated; that's harder to do in English.  After the Titanomachy (the war between the Titans and the Olympians, which the Titans lost), Atlas the Titan was condemned to forever hold the heavens upon his shoulders; you can read more at Wikipedia: Atlas. At one point, Atlas did get Heracles to take on the burden instead, promising that if Heracles would hold up the sky, he would retrieve the apples that grew in the garden of the his daughters, the Hesperides. However, when Atlas returned with the apples, Heracles then tricked him into holding up the heavens again, which Atlas is presumably doing unto this day. As Erasmus explains, the proverb thus refers to people who get involved with powerful, dangerous people and thus bring trouble upon themselves, as in the story of Atlas and Heracles. 

It is from the name of this Titan that we get the English word "atlas" as in a collection of maps of the world; more about the etymology of "atlas" in English.

Μὴ παιδὶ μάχαιραν.

Do not (give) a knife to a child.

The verb is implied by the content of the nominative and dative nouns and the negative μή which is used with commands. As with the English word "child," the Greek word παῖς can refer to a girl or a boy; this is known as common gender. Find out more: Gender Diversity in Greek and Latin Grammar.

Οἱ φῶρες τὴν βοήν.

Thieves (fear) the outcry.

As Erasmus explains, the saying can refer not just to thieves but to any guilty person who is acutely aware of their own guilt and fearful of being found out. This is another example of a proverb where the verb is implied by the cases of the nouns. From the noun βοή comes the Greek contract verb βοάω.

Πάντα πλήρη θεῶν.

All things are full of the gods.

This is a saying attributed to Thales and which is cited by both Plato and Aristotle among others. You can read more about Thales at Wikipedia.

Εἰς ______ σπείρεις.

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Εἰς ὕδωρ σπείρεις.

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______ τὸν οὐρανόν.

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Ἄτλας τὸν οὐρανόν.

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Μὴ ______ μάχαιραν.

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Μὴ παιδὶ μάχαιραν.

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Οἱ φῶρες τὴν ______.

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Οἱ φῶρες τὴν βοήν.

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Πάντα πλήρη ______.

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Πάντα πλήρη θεῶν.

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

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Greek Proverbs: May 12

Here are today's Greek proverbs with LOLCats! These are repeats of previous proverbs, but now with illustrations... and with a quiz too! See how you do on the questions up top, and then try them again down below after you've read through the proverbs (the quiz results display only at the blog, not in the email):

Ἄρχε ______.

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Ἄρχε σεαυτοῦ.

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Πρᾶττε ______.

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Πρᾶττε δίκαια.

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______ ἀπίστει.

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Πλούτῳ ἀπίστει.

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______ φοβοῦ.

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Δόλον φοβοῦ.

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______ πόκαι.

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Ὄνου πόκαι.

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Ἄρχε σεαυτοῦ.

Have control over yourself.

The verb ἄρχω takes a genitive complement: σεαυτοῦ. This is one of the maxims of the Seven Sages as recorded by Stobaeus; find out more at Wikipedia: Delphic Maxims.

Πρᾶττε δίκαια.

Do the right things.

This is another one of the maxims that Stobaeus attributes to the Seven Sages. The word πρᾶττε is Attic; you will also see the form πρᾶσσε; the related verbal nouns πρᾶγμα and πρᾶξις give us the English words "pragmatic" and "praxis."

Πλούτῳ ἀπίστει.

Put no faith in wealth.

Yet another one of the so-called Delphic maxims recorded by Stobaeus. The verb ἀπίστει is an alpha-privative: ἀ-πίστει. The noun πλοῦτος is also the name of the god of wealth; find out more at Wikipedia: Plutus.

Δόλον φοβοῦ.

Fear deceit.

Don't let φοβοῦ fool you; it's the imperative form of a contract deponent verb, middle voice (φοβέομαι), and it's also from Stobaeus.

Ὄνου πόκαι.

Wool from a donkey.

This is another one of those proverbial fool's errands: you get wool from a sheep, not from a donkey. The word "wool" is usually masculine, πόκος, but the feminine appears persists in this saying. You've seen a variation on this saying in an earlier post with the masculine form: Ὄνου πόκους ζητεῖς.

Ἄρχε ______.

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Ἄρχε σεαυτοῦ.

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Πρᾶττε ______.

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Πρᾶττε δίκαια.

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______ ἀπίστει.

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Πλούτῳ ἀπίστει.

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______ φοβοῦ.

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Δόλον φοβοῦ.

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______ πόκαι.

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Ὄνου πόκαι.

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

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Greek Proverbs: May 7

Here are today's Greek proverbs with LOLCats! These are repeats of previous proverbs, but now with illustrations... and with a quiz too! See how you do on the questions up top, and then try them again down below after you've read through the proverbs (the quiz results display only at the blog, not in the email):

_____ αἰδοῦ.

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Ἱκέτας αἰδοῦ.

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_____ φύλαττε.

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Ἴδια φύλαττε.

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_____ χαρίζου.

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Φίλῳ χαρίζου.

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Φρόνει _____.

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Φρόνει θνητά.

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_____ διάλυε.

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Ἔχθρας διάλυε.

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Ἱκέτας αἰδοῦ.

Respect suppliants.

This is one of the so-called sayings recorded by Stobaeus; more information at Wikipedia: Delphic maxims. These maxims are a great way to practice imperatives, especially those sneaky middle imperatives: αἰδοῦ, from the deponent verb αἰδέομαι, which takes a direct object: ἱκέτας, from the noun ἱκέτης.

Ἴδια φύλαττε.

Protect what is yours.

This is another one of the Delphic maxims recorded by Stobaeus. The form φύλαττε is Attic; the dictionary form of the verb is φυλάσσω. And yes, English "idiot" is from Greek ἴδιος; details at the Wiktionary.

Φίλῳ χαρίζου.

Do a favor for your friend.

This is yet another one of those Delphic maxims.

The verb χαρίζου (from the root  χάρις) is a middle imperative.

Φρόνει θνητά.

Think mortal thoughts.

This is a kind of "memento mori" but in Greek, the idea being that you should think in mortal terms, taking the certainty of your own death into account. And yes, it is another one of the maxims recorded by Stobaeus. You can see the root of Greek θνητ- in the verb θνῄσκω and the noun θάνατος. The root also shows up in the English word euthanasia.

Ἔχθρας διάλυε.

Dissolve hatreds.

In other words, put a stop to them, break them up, let them go. This is one of the maxims attributed to the Seven Sages as reported in Stobaeus; all of today's little sayings come from that source! The Greek verb διαλύω is at the root of the English word dialysis.

_____ αἰδοῦ.

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Ἱκέτας αἰδοῦ.

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_____ φύλαττε.

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Ἴδια φύλαττε.

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_____ χαρίζου.

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Φίλῳ χαρίζου.

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Φρόνει _____.

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Φρόνει θνητά.

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_____ διάλυε.

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Ἔχθρας διάλυε.

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

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Greek Proverbs: May 5

Here are today's Greek proverbs with LOLCats! These are repeats of previous proverbs, but now with illustrations... and with a quiz too! See how you do on the questions up top, and then try them again down below after you've read through the proverbs (the quiz results display only at the blog, not in the email):

Ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, ______.

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Ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, Σατανᾶ.

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Γνοὺς ______.

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Γνοὺς πρᾶττε.

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______ νόει.

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Ἀκούσας νόει.

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Ἄνω κάτω ______.

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Ἄνω κάτω πάντα.

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______ ὀρνίθων.

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Γάλα ὀρνίθων.

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Ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, Σατανᾶ.

Get behind me, Satan.

The words are from the Gospel of Mark, when Jesus rebukes Peter, a scene that is repeated in the Gospel of Matthew. The phrase later became part of the Catholic ritual of exorcism; see Wikipedia: Get Behind Me, Satan and also Wikipedia; Vade Retro, Satana.

Γνοὺς πρᾶττε.

Act on your knowledge.

I haven't translated the aorist participle literally, replacing it instead with a prepositional phrase. It's hard to know what to do those aorist participles in English! There's also a case to be made for rendering it as a verb in the same mood as the main verb: Learn, and act! This is one of the Delphic maxims recorded by Stobaeus. You can find out more at Wikipedia.

Ἀκούσας νόει.

After having listened, think.

This is another one of those maxims from Stobaeus. Note that it is the accent which tells you this is the imperative of a contract verb, νοέω: νόει. The 3rd-person indicate is νοεῖ. The verb in turn is from the noun νοῦς, "mind." You can see this root in English "noetic."

Ἄνω κάτω πάντα.

Everything is topsy-turvy.

You have two adverbs here: ἄνω, meaning "upwards," and κάτω, meaning "downwards." Those words are already familiar to you from their prepositional forms, ἀνά and κατά. This was a popular phrase in ancient Greek; you can see it used here in Demosthenes's speech Against Aristogiton.

Γάλα ὀρνίθων.

The milk of birds.

This is something that only a fool would seek: you can't get milk from a bird. Compare donkey's wool in a proverb you saw in an earlier blog post: Ὄνου πόκους ζητεῖς. From Greek ὄρνις we get ornithology, and from γάλα we get galaxy, as in the Milky Way Galaxy.

Ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, ______.

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Ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, Σατανᾶ.

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Γνοὺς ______.

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Γνοὺς πρᾶττε.

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______ νόει.

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Ἀκούσας νόει.

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Ἄνω κάτω ______.

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Ἄνω κάτω πάντα.

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______ ὀρνίθων.

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Γάλα ὀρνίθων.

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

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