14: tear, nature, meat, deed, harm

Here are today's vocabulary words; they are nouns with the nominative and genitive plus gender (feminine and neuter today), along with a brief definition. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion, and there's also a study tips post.

1. δάκρυον ~ δακρύου (n.): tear, teardrop

2. φύσις ~ φύσεως (f.): nature

3. κρέας ~ κρέως (n.): meat, flesh

4. πρᾶγμα ~ πράγματος (n.): deed, act

5. βλάβη ~ βλάβης (f.): harm

Here are the proverbs and sayings:

Κροκοδείλου δάκρυα.

Ἄριστος ἰατρὸς ἡ φύσις.

Δασύπους κρεῶν ἐπιθυμεῖ.

Προμηθεὺς μετὰ τὰ πράγματα.

Φιλεῖν μὲν προδοσίαν, προδότην δὲ μισεῖν.  

Listen at SoundCloud:

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 014

Plus some commentary:

Κροκοδείλου δάκρυα.

Crocodile tears.

This famous saying has its own article at Wikipedia: Crocodile Tears. The idea is that the crocodile is a hypocrite, weeping (or seeming to weep) while he devours his victims. From the Greek κροκόδειλος we get the English word "crocodile," but it's not clear where the Greek word itself comes from: etymology of  κροκόδειλος.
   Compare a similar phrase: Μεγαρέων δάκρυα, "The tears of the Megarians." There are various explanations for why the people of Megara were associated with tears that were not tears of sadness; my favorite is that Megara was famous for its garlic, and the pungency of the garlic made the Megarians shed tears.

Ἄριστος ἰατρὸς ἡ φύσις.

Nature is the best physician.

Compare the English saying: "Nature is the best medicine." You can see the Greek φύσις in the English word physician, expressing the same idea as this saying (the archaic English word physic meant "medicine"). In ancient Greek, the word φύσις has a wide range of meaning; it's worth taking a look at the dictionary definitions. Although this specific saying does not appear in the extant Hippocratic corpus, the idea of "natural" medicine was part of the Hippocratic approach to medicine; more at Wikipedia: Hippocrates.

Δασύπους κρεῶν ἐπιθυμεῖ.

The rabbit craves meat.

On one level, the saying refers to something absurd and inappropriate: rabbits are herbivores, not carnivores. In a more subtle way, however, the saying refers a different absurdity: asking someone else for something that you already possess in abundance. Rabbits are hunted for meat; rabbits are meat, so a rabbit does not need to seek meat elsewhere! The word δασύπους is a nickname for the rabbit or hare: δασυ-πους, hairy-foot.

Προμηθεύς μετὰ τὰ πράγματα.

A Prometheus after the events.

Compare the English saying, "to have 20/20 hindsight." A real Prometheus is able to think wisely about the future, but a would-be Prometheus who is mocked in the proverb is wise only after the fact. The words come from the writer Lucian, quoting from an unknown Greek comedy that has not survived. You can read more about Prometheus at Wikipedia; his name means "forethought," as opposed to the name of his brother Epimetheus, "afterthought."  The Greek word πράγμα gives us English pragmatic, and it is related to the word πρᾶξις which you saw in a post from last week.

Φιλεῖν μὲν προδοσίαν, προδότην δὲ μισεῖν.

To love the treachery and hate the traitor.

You can find the saying in Plutarch's Life of Romulus, and it is also associated in the Byzantine Greek historian Zonaras with the story of the treacherous Tarpeia of Roman legend; you can read more about that famous story at Wikipedia: Tarpeia. Note the AB·BA chiastic arrangement: verb-object and then object-verb, organized with the Greek μὲν...δὲ. From the verb μισεῖν, "to hate," we get English words like misogynist and misanthrope.

This Roman coin shows the Sabine king's soldiers crushing Tarpeia with their shields:

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