1: knot, night, god, sleep, justice

These are today's vocabulary words; they are nouns with the nominative and genitive singular plus gender, along with a brief definition. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion. (Study tips here.)

1. δεσμός ~ δεσμοῦ (m.): bond, knot.

2. νύξ ~ νυκτός (f.): night.

3. θεός ~ θεοῦ (c.): god, goddess.

4. ὕπνος ~ ὕπνου (f.): sleep.

5. δίκη ~ δίκης (f.): justice.

Here are the proverbs and sayings:

Γόρδιος δεσμός.

Ἐν νυκτὶ βουλή.

Ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός.

Ὕπνος δὲ πάσης ἐστὶν ὑγιεία νόσου.

Δίκη δίκην τίκτει, καὶ βλάβη βλάβην.

Listen at SoundCloud:

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 001

Plus some commentary:

Γόρδιος δεσμός.
The Gordian knot.
You can read about Alexander the Great and the "knot of Gordium" at Wikipedia: Gordian Knot. The word δεσμός refers to any kind of bond or tie, literal and metaphorical; it can also mean a binding spell or charm.

Ἐν νυκτὶ βουλή.
In night (comes) counsel.
In other words: sleep on it; the decision will be clear to you in the morning.
The Greek root νυκτ-, like English night, is from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts.

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 θεός we get English theology, the name Theo, and many other words.

Ὕπνος δὲ πάσης ἐστὶν ὑγιεία νόσου. 
Sleep is a cure for every illness.
Literally: Sleep is the health of every illness. This is one of the monostichs of Menander. You can read about the god of sleep at Wikipedia: Hypnos.

Δίκη δίκην τίκτει, καὶ βλάβη βλάβην. 
Justice breeds justice, and harm (breeds) harm. 
You can read about the goddess of justice at Wikipedia: Dike.

You can see the word δίκη in the Greek name Eurydice, the wife of Orpheus.

Here's Alexander cutting the Gordian knot in a fresco by Domenico Creti:

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