Greek Stories and Proverbs: 35: dear, common, swift, stronger, safe

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

1. φίλον ~ φίλου (neut.): dear, friend
2. κοινόν ~ κοινοῦ (neut.): common, shared
3. ταχύς ~ ταχέος (masc.): swift, sudden
4. κρεῖσσον ~ κρείσσονος (neut.): stronger, better
5. ἀσφαλής ~ ἀσφαλοῦς (fem.): safe, trustworthy

Here are the proverbs and sayings:

Χαῖρε, φίλον φῶς.

Κοινὰ τὰ τῶν φίλων.

Πηγάσου ταχύτερος.

Κρείσσων ἡ πρόνοια τῆς μεταμελείας.

Γνώμη γερόντων ἀσφαλεστέρα νέων.

Listen at SoundCloud.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 035

Plus some commentary:

Χαῖρε, φίλον φῶς.

Farewell, dear light.

This saying was used when extinguishing a lamp or candle.

As Erasmus explains, these words could be used in all seriousness, as when a character in a tragedy is about to die, but the words could also be used in more risque contexts; for example, he relates a story for teaching purposes (docendi causa) about an old woman who is about to have sex, and who thus speaks to the candle before she puts it out so that her lover will not see her wrinkles.

Κοινὰ τὰ τῶν φίλων.

Things are shared among friends.

The saying appears in Euripides' Orestes. The Greek uses the genitive, φίλων, to express the idea of possession in common, or sharing. From the adjective κοιν-, we get the word Koine, the "common" dialect of Greece which began to spread during the time of the Roman Empire and was a forerunner of modern Greek today. You can read more at Wikipedia: Koine Greek. Compare the word "vulgate" which comes to English from a similar Latin word.

Πηγάσου ταχύτερος.

Swifter than Pegasus.

The adjective ταχύτερος is a comparative form of ταχύς, meaning swift, so it takes a genitive complement: Πηγάσου. For more about the famous winged horse, see Wikipedia: Pegasus.

Κρείσσων ἡ πρόνοια τῆς μεταμελείας.

Foresight is more powerful than repentance.

The adjective κρείσσων is also a comparative form of κρατύς, so taking a genitive complement: "more powerful than repentance." From the root κρατ- in Greek, we get all the -cracy words in English, like democracy, plutocracy, etc.

Γνώμη γερόντων ἀσφαλεστέρα νέων.

The opinion of old people is more reliable than that of young people.

The adjective ἀσφαλεστέρα is also a comparative form; it comes ἀσφαλής, which is an alpha-privative: ἀ-σφαλής, un-throwable, i.e. stable. And yes, this Greek word is what gives us English asphalt. From the Greek noun γνώμη we get English gnomic, but not English gnomes; for the fascinating etymology of gnome, see Wikitionary: gnomus.

Here is Pegasus on a coin; note the triskelion also!