Greek Stories and Proverbs: 11: chop, bring, teach, give, flee

Here are today's vocabulary words; they are verbs with the present, future, and aorist stems, plus a brief definition. (If you are just beginning Greek and have not studied the future or aorist stems yet, you can just focus on the present stem.) Click on the word to learn more at Logeion, and there's also a study tips post.

1. τέμνω ~ τεμῶ ~ ἔτεμον: cut, chop
2. φέρω ~ οἴσω ~ ἤνεγκον: carry, bring
3. διδάσκω ~ διδάξω ~ ἐδίδαξα: teach, instruct
4. δίδωμι ~ δώσω ~ ἔδωκα: give
5. φεύγω ~ φεύξομαι ~ ἔφυγον: flee, escape

Here are the proverbs and sayings:

Ὕδραν τέμνεις.

Αἰὼν πάντα φέρει.

Γῆρας διδάσκει πάντα.

Δός μοι ποῦ στῶ, καὶ κινῶ τὴν γῆν.

Φεῦγ' ἡδονὴν φέρουσαν ὕστερον βλάβην.

Listen at SoundCloud:

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 011

Plus some commentary:

Ὕδραν τέμνεις.

You're chopping a hydra.

This saying refers to one of the labors of Heracles: he had to kill the many-headed Hydra of Lerna, but every time he cut off one of the monster's heads, two heads grew back! So, metaphorically, "chopping a hydra" means making a bad situation worse in the process of trying to fix it. You can find out how Heracles finally defeated the Hydra at Wikipedia: Second Labor.

Αἰὼν πάντα φέρει.

A lifetime brings all things.

The words are found in an epigram from the Greek Anthology, where it is attributed to Plato: "Time brings everything; length of years can change names, forms, nature, and fortune." The Greek word αἰών can refer to any long period of time, even to eternity, and it gives us the English word "eon." In particular, however, the word αἰών can refer to a human lifetime, and the idea that anything can happen in the course of a human lifetime.

Γῆρας διδάσκει πάντα.

Old age teaches all things.

From the root of the Greek word διδάσκω, we get the English word didactic. The saying is a fragment of a lost Sophocles play. For another saying about old age, see this earlier post: Τιθωνοῦ γῆρας.

Δός μοι ποῦ στῶ, καὶ κινῶ τὴν γῆν.

Give me a place where I can stand, and I'll move the world.

The words are attributed to Archimedes, speaking about the power of the lever; you can find out more at Wikipedia: Archimedes and the Law of the Lever. This saying is a great way to remember that δός is the imperative of δίδωμι. From the Greek verb κινέω we get English words like kinetic, and also cinema.

Φεῦγ' ἡδονὴν φέρουσαν ὕστερον βλάβην.

Avoid any pleasure that later brings harm.

The imperative φεῦγε loses its final epsilon before the following vowel: Φεῦγ' ἡδονὴν. The participle φέρουσαν agrees with ἡδονὴν, with βλάβην as its object, while ὕστερον is an adverb here: the sweetness now that brings harm later. This is another one of the monostichs of Menander. Most of his work was lost, but the sayings he used in his many plays live on!

A vase painting of Hercules and the Hydra: