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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Greek Proverbs: April 30

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 answers display only at the blog, not in the email):

Μέτρον ______.

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Μέτρον ἄριστον.

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______ ἕψεις.

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Πέτρας ἕψεις.

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______ μετανόει.

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Ἁμαρτάνων μετανόει.

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Ἡ γὰρ τυραννὶς ἀδικίας ______ ἔφυ.

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Ἡ γὰρ τυραννὶς ἀδικίας μήτηρ ἔφυ.

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Βατράχῳ ______.

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Βατράχῳ ὕδωρ.

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Μέτρον ἄριστον.

Moderation (is) best.

The words are attributed to Cleobulus, one of the Seven Sages of ancient Greece. For more on this concept in Greek culture, see Wikipedia: Golden Mean.

Πέτρας ἕψεις.

You're boiling rocks.

In other words: you're wasting your time. No matter how long you boil a stone, it stays a stone. From the Greek πέτρα, we get English words like petrify, along with the name Peter. See this earlier blog post for a similar saying: Λίθον ἕψεις.

Ἁμαρτάνων μετανόει.

When you make a mistake, change your mind.

In other words: when you make a mistake, learn from your mistake! This is another one of the Delphic maxims, although both of these words went on to have somewhat different meanings in Christianity, where ἁμαρτάνω became a "sin" rather than just a mistake or error, and μετανόει became "repentance," rather than just changing your mind.

Ἡ γὰρ τυραννὶς ἀδικίας μήτηρ ἔφυ.

Tyranny is the mother of injustice.

The words come from Plutarch writing about Alexander the Great, quoting a line from a tragedy, "The Ransom of Hector," by Dionysius. Here is the iambic meter marked:

Ἡ γὰρ τυραν||νὶς ἀδ-(ι)κίας || μήτηρ ἔφυ.

From Greek τυραννίς, we get English "tyranny."

Βατράχῳ ὕδωρ.

Water for a frog.

This saying refers to making someone happy by giving them exactly what they want and/or need: frogs like water, so when you give water to frogs, they rejoice. A similar saying is Γαλῇ στέαρ, "Fat for a weasel." If you give a weasel some fat to eat, the weasel will be happy. From the root in Greek ὕδωρ, we get English words like hydrate, hydrant, etc.

Μέτρον ______.

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Μέτρον ἄριστον.

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______ ἕψεις.

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Πέτρας ἕψεις.

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______ μετανόει.

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Ἁμαρτάνων μετανόει.

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Ἡ γὰρ τυραννὶς ἀδικίας ______ ἔφυ.

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Ἡ γὰρ τυραννὶς ἀδικίας μήτηρ ἔφυ.

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Βατράχῳ ______.

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Βατράχῳ ὕδωρ.

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

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Greek Proverbs: April 28

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)... 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:

Ξυρεῖς ______.

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λέοντα

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Κρῖνε ______.

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δίκαια

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______ βραδέως.

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Σπεῦδε

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Εὔχου ______.

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δυνατά

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______ χαρίζου.

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Ἔχων

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Ξυρεῖς λέοντα.

You are shaving the lion.

This is a proverbial expression to warn someone that they are doing something that is dangerous. In Plato's Republic it appears in this form: ξυρεῖν ἐπιχειρεῖν λέοντα, "to attempt to shave the lion," literally putting your hand (ἐπι-χειρεῖν) to the task of shaving the lion. Compare the English saying, "to beard the lion in his own den," which similarly refers to a dangerous undertaking.

Κρῖνε δίκαια.

Discern what is right.

Notice that the Greek uses the plural adjective as a noun: (the things that are) right. You can also render this as an adverb in English: Judge justly. This is one of the maxims that Stobaeus attributes to the Seven Sages; find out more at Wikipedia: Delphic maxims. You can also find out more about the goddess of justice, Wikipedia: Dike.

Σπεῦδε βραδέως.

Hurry up slowly.

In other words: don't be slow, but don't be too fast either! This phrase became popular as a Latin saying, which has its own Wikipedia article: Festina lente. Compare a similarly paradoxical English saying: "More haste, less speed."

Εὔχου δυνατά.

Pray for things that are possible.

The verb εὔχου is a middle imperative from the deponent verb εὔχομαι; like many middle verbs it can still take a direct object: δυνατά, an adjective being used here as a noun, "possible (things)." This is another of the maxims attributed by Stobaeus to the Seven Sages.

Ἔχων χαρίζου.

If you have something, give it cheerfully.

Of course, Greek has managed to say all that with a participle and a verb; these so-called Delphic maxims are always pithy! The verb χαρίζου is one of those middle imperatives.

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Ξυρεῖς ______.

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λέοντα

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Κρῖνε ______.

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δίκαια

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______ βραδέως.

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Σπεῦδε

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Εὔχου ______.

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δυνατά

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______ χαρίζου.

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Ἔχων

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

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Greek Proverbs: April 25

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)... 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:

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Αἲξ ______.

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θάλασσαν

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Ὑφορῶ ______.

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μηδένα

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Γλυκὺ τὸ ______.

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φῶς

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Εὐτυχία ______.

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πολύφιλος

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Ἕνα ἀλλὰ ______.

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λέοντα

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Αἲξ θάλασσαν.

The goat (sees) the sea.

The idea is that the goat is amazed by the sea, and looks at it with fascination because it is something entirely new. Goats live in mountains and valleys; they do not often get to see the sea, so the saying is used to refer to someone who is staring in amazement at something they have not seen before.

Ὑφορῶ μηδένα.

Do not regard anyone with suspicion.

The verb ὑφοράω is a compound of οράω: ὑπο+ὁράω (the vowel drops, and the aspiration changes the pi to phi). Literally, it means to look at from below, but metaphorically it means to look at someone with suspicion or jealousy, which is the meaning here. Because it is an imperative, it takes the form μηδένα rather than the form οὐδένα that is used with indicative verbs. This is one of the maxims attributed by Stobaeus to the Seven Sages.

Γλυκὺ τὸ φῶς.

Sweet is the light.

The words come from the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes. The full verse reads: γλυκὺ τὸ φῶς καὶ ἀγαθὸν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς βλέπειν σὺν τὸν ἥλιον, "and it is good for the eyes together to behold the sun." From the root of Greek γλυκ- we get the glyc- words in English like glycerine, and also gluc- words like glucose.

Εὐτυχία πολύφιλος.

Good luck has many friends.

In other words: when you're rich, successful, etc., you have many friends, but if you lose your good fortune, you will lose your friends too. The word εὐτυχία is a compound: εὐ-τυχία. You can read about the goddess of fortune at Wikipedia: Tyche. Like many compound adjectives, πολύφιλος is both feminine and masculine; it does not have a distinct feminine form.

Ἕνα ἀλλὰ λέοντα.

One, but a lion.

This is the punchline to an Aesop's fable: when the fox rebukes the lioness for having only one cub, this is the lioness's reply. That's why the words are in the accusative: "(I have only) one (cub), but (he is) a lion." In other words, all the offspring of the fox could never equal a single lion. Here are some English versions of the Aesop's fable, and this was one of the first Greek fables I shared here: Λέαινα καὶ ἀλώπηξ.

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Αἲξ ______.

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θάλασσαν

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Ὑφορῶ ______.

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μηδένα

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Γλυκὺ τὸ ______.

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φῶς

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Εὐτυχία ______.

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πολύφιλος

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Ἕνα ἀλλὰ ______.

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λέοντα

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

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