Saturday, May 4, 2024

31: oath, foot, time, house, father

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

1. ὅρκος ~ ὅρκου (masc.): oath 
2. πούς ~ ποδός (masc.): foot 
3. χρόνος ~ χρόνου (masc.): time 
4. οἶκος ~ οἴκου (masc.): house, household 
5. πατήρ ~ πατρός (masc.): father 

Here are the proverbs and sayings:

Ῥαδαμάνθυος ὅρκος.

Λαγὼν κατὰ πόδας χρὴ διώκειν.

Χρόνος τὰ κρυπτὰ πάντα ἐς φάος ἄγει.  

Ὄντες οἴκοι μὲν λέοντες, ἐν μάχῃ δ᾿ ἀλώπεκες.

Πόλεμος πάντων μὲν πατήρ ἐστι, πάντων δὲ βασιλεύς



Plus some commentary:

Ῥαδαμάνθυος ὅρκος.
A Rhadamanthine oath.
You can read about the Greek god of oaths, Ὅρκος, at Wikipedia: Horkos. Rhadamanthys, the son of Zeus and king of Crete, was renowned for his wisdom, and after his death he became one of the judges in the land of the dead. Rhadamanthys advised people to swear by the gods only in matters of greatest importance; in other matters, they should not invoke the gods. Socrates, for example, swore in this way "by the goose," μὰ τὸν χῆνα, replacing Zeus, Ζῆνα, with goose, χῆνα. These oaths were called "Rhadamanthine oaths" in Greek, and in English they are referred to as minced oaths

Λαγὼν κατὰ πόδας χρὴ διώκειν.
It is necessary to chase the rabbit on foot.
The idea is that you must use the form of pursuit that best suits your object. If you want to catch a rabbit (hare), you better be prepared to run after him! From Greek πούς (stem: ποδ-) we get all kinds of words in English, including tripod and antipodes.

Χρόνος τὰ κρυπτὰ πάντα ἐς φάος ἄγει.
Time brings all the things that are hidden into the light.
We get many words in English from Greek χρόνος, including chronology and chronicle. Be careful not to mix up the name of the Titan god, Kronos, and the personification of time, Khronos.

Ὄντες οἴκοι μὲν λέοντες, ἐν μάχῃ δ᾿ ἀλώπεκες.
Being at home, (they are) lions, but in battle, (they are) foxes.
The words are from Aristophanes' play, Peace, and they are a double rebuke: it is not good to be a lion — i.e. to act in a savage and domineering way — at home, and it is also not good to be a fox in battle, when it is necessary to stand and fight rather than to sneak away and avoid the fight. From Greek οἶκος, we get all the eco- words in English like economy and ecology.

Πόλεμος πάντων μὲν πατήρ ἐστι, πάντων δὲ βασιλεύς.
War is the father of all, and the king of all.
The words are attributed to the pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus, for whom "war" — i.e. strife, struggle, conflict — was the way in which the world came into being. The Greek term πατήρ is related to English "father," and you can see a handy table of Indo-European kinship terms at Wikipedia


Here you can see the three Judges of the Underworld, Rhadamanthys standing (photo by Egisto Sani).







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