Greek Proverbs: Jan 20

Here are today's Greek proverbs with LOLCats! These are repeats of previous proverbs, but now with illustrations (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

 

Γονεῖς αἰδοῦ.

Respect your parents.

This is one of the maxims of the Seven Sages as recorded by Stobaeus: Delphic Maxims. About the middle imperative αἰδοῦ, see this post: Σεαυτὸν αἰδοῦ. The noun γονεύς is derived from the root of the verb γίγνομαι, which is the middle form means "be born" (compare Latin gigno).

Ὅρα τὸ μέλλον.

See the future.

The verb μέλλω means "about to happen," so the participle, τὸ μέλλον, means that which is about to happen, the future, or destiny. This is another of the so-called Delphic maxims recorded by Stobaeus.

Οὐδὲ Ἡρακλῆς πρὸς δύο.

Not even Heracles (fights) against two.

In other words: don't pick a fight where your enemies outnumber you. The saying appears in a fragment of the archaic poet Archilochus. Meanwhile, you can read about the exploits of the hero Hercules at Wikipedia: Heracles.

Ἑστίαν τίμα.

Honor Hestia / the hearth-fire.

Yet another one of the so-called Delphic maxims recorded by Stobaeus. As usual, the maxim takes the form of an imperative: τίμα (uncontracted form: τίμαε).  Compare another saying about the goddess of the hearth that you saw in a previous post: Ἀφ' Ἑστίας ἀρχόμενοι. You can read about both Hestia and Vesta (Roman hearth-goddess) at Wikipedia.

Γλυκὺς ἀπείρῳ πόλεμος.

War (is) sweet to the inexperienced (person).

By implication, the person with experience of war knows that it is anything but sweet. From the root of γλυκύς, we get medical terms like hypoglycemia, "low blood sugar," in English.

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

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Greek Proverbs: January 15

Here are today's Greek proverbs with LOLCats! These are repeats of previous proverbs, but now with illustrations (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Χυτρεοῦς θεός.

A clay god.

This proverbial phrase refers to a god who is useless, not worthy of worship and unable to come to your aid. The adjective χυτρεοῦς is from the noun, χύτρα, a clay pot used for cooking. 

Μανθάνων μὴ κάμνε.

Don't get tired of learning.

The negative μή is used moods other than the indicative, which means the imperative as here, the subjunctive, etc. Literally, "as you are learning (participle), don't get tired (imperative)." The root of the verb μανθάνω is μαθ- as in English words like polymath and mathematics.

Ἐξ ἴσου δίδου πᾶσιν.

Give to all equally.

Plutarch includes these words in his Sayings of the Spartans, attributing the saying to Agesilaus the Great in the context of wine-drinking: εἰ μὲν πολὺς οἶνός ἐστι’ παρεσκευασμένος, ὅσον ἕκαστος αἰτεῖ: εἰ δὲ ὀλίγος, ἐξ ἴσου δίδου πᾶσιν, "If much wine has been provided, give as much as each one asks, but if there is only a little wine, give to all equally." You can see the Greek root ἴσο- in English isotope and in isosceles triangles.

Κύκνειον μέλος.

Swan song.

The legend of the song that the swan (supposedly) sings just before it dies, having spent the rest of its life in silence, has its own article at Wikipedia: Swan song. (I'll just mention here in passing a wonderful community organization here in Austin where I live: Swan Song: Musical Last Wishes brings musicians to the homes of hospice patients in order to perform for them; I learned about it because a jazz trio came and did a performance for my father.)

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.

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

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Greek Proverbs: January 13

Here are today's Greek proverbs with LOLCats! These are repeats of previous proverbs, but now with illustrations (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Γαλῇ χιτών.
A gown for a weasel.
More specifically, this means a wedding gown, and the proverb thus refers to something that is useless or absurdly inappropriate: the weasel was supposed to be an old maid in ancient Greece, a spinster who never married, and so she had no need for a wedding gown.

Μῶρα γὰρ μῶρος λέγει.
For a fool speaks foolish things.
The words are spoken by Teiresias who, together with Kadmos, is rebuking Pentheus (Kadmos's grandson), in Euripides' Bacchae. Erasmus includes this saying in his Adagia: Stultus stulta loquitur.

 

Νοῦν ἡγεμόνα ποιοῦ.
Make your mind your leader.
These words are attributed to Solon by Diogenes Laertius; you can read more about Solon at Wikipedia.
The verb ποιοῦ here is also a middle imperative, and from the Greek ἡγεμὼν, we get English hegemony. This always reminds me of the opening lines of the Buddha's Dhammapada: "Mind precedes thoughts, mind is their chief, their quality is made by mind..."

Πᾶς τις τὰ ἑαυτοῦ ἀγαπᾷ.
Each person loves the things that are theirs.
Compare the English saying "To each his own," which renders the Latin cuique suum, "to each their own." The inclusion of ἀγαπᾷ here aligns it with cuique suum placet, "to each their own is pleasing."

Γλυκὺς ὕπνος τοῦ δούλου.
Sweet is the sleep of the slave.
The words come from the Biblical Book of Ecclesiastes. Here is the full verse in the King James version: The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. From the Greek root γλυκ- we get all the scientific terms formed with glyc- in English like hypoglycemia or nitroglycerin.

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

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Greek Proverbs: January 8

Here are today's Greek proverbs with LOLCats! These are repeats of previous proverbs, but now with illustrations (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός.
God from the machine.
This is better known in its Latin form: Deus ex machina. The machine in question is the crane used in ancient Greek theater to lower a god onto the stage, and the phrase refers to some unexpected event; find out more at Wikipedia: Deus ex machina. From Greek μηχανή we get English mechanical, and also (via Latin) machine.

Κινδύνευε φρονίμως.
Take risks wisely.
This is one of those maxims attributed by Stobaeus to the Seven Sages. The adverb φρονίμως is from the adjective φρόνιμος, which is in turn from the noun φρήν, often found in the plural φρένες, which gives rise to a range of important words in Greek; you can see a list of derived words at the Wiktionary.

Κατόπιν ἑορτῆς ἥκεις.
You have come late to the festival.
This saying is used to mock anyone who has arrived late for a business matter or some other serious purpose. There are also variants of this saying referring to popular Greek festivals: Παναθηναίων κατόπιν ... Πυθίων ὕστερον ἧκες. You can read about the Panthenaean festival and the Pythian games at Wikipedia.

Ἅπας ἐχῖνος τραχύς.
The whole hedgehog is prickly.
As Erasmus explains, this saying refers to a person who is "prickly" by analogy to the prickly hedgehog. In the same way that there is no un-prickly part of a hedgehog that allows you to safely pick it up, so too there are some people who are impossible to deal with no matter what you try to do: they are completely prickly. From the same root in Greek τραχύς we get English trachea, so-called because of the windpipe's bumpy cartilage.

Μηδὲν ἄγαν.
Nothing to excess.
Note the specific form of "nothing" used here: μηδέν as opposed to οὐδέν. The word μή is used for negative imperatives, which gives this proverb the force of a negative imperative even though no verb is expressed: don't talk too much, don't eat too much, don't sleep too much, etc. etc. — μηδὲν ἄγαν.

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

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