1. πρόφασις ~ προφάσεως (fem.) excuse, cause
2. θάλασσα ~ θαλάσσης (fem.) sea
3. παιδεία ~ παιδείας (fem.) education, learning
4. πενία ~ πενίας (fem.) poverty
5. μεταβολή ~ μεταβολῆς (fem.) change
5. μεταβολή ~ μεταβολῆς (fem.) change
Here are the proverbs and sayings:
Πάτροκλος πρόφασις.
Ποταμὸς θάλασσαν ἐρίζει.
Ἀρχὴ τῆς σοφίας ἡ παιδεία.
Πενία γάρ ἐστιν ἡ τρόπων διδάσκαλος.
Τόπων μεταβολαὶ οὔτε φρόνησιν διδάσκουσιν οὔτε ἀφροσύνην ἀφαιροῦνται.
Plus some commentary:
Πάτροκλος πρόφασις.
Patroclus (as an) excuse.
The words come from Homer's Iliad, Book 19, and they refer to mourners who, like the captive women of Troy in the Greek camp, cannot in their captivity grieve for their own dead, so they mourn their dead enemy — Patroclus in this case — using his death as a pretext to weep for their own losses.
Ποταμὸς θάλασσαν ἐρίζει.
A river is contending with the sea.
In other words, someone is pretending to be much greater than he is, as if any river could rival a sea. Erasmus cites a version in the second person: Ποταμὸς θαλάττῃ ἐρίζεις, "You, a river, are contending with the sea." The verb ἐρίζει is from the noun ἔρις, meaning "strife" or "contention." For the personified Goddess of Strife, see Wikipedia: Eris.
Ἀρχὴ τῆς σοφίας ἡ παιδεία.
Education (is) the beginning of wisdom.
All three of the nouns in this sentence are feminine! The root of the word παιδεία is παῖς, "child," which also gives us English words like pediatric and pedagogy.
Πενία γάρ ἐστιν ἡ τρόπων διδάσκαλος.
Poverty is the teacher of character.
In other words, it is from the deficiencies and challenges that you face, even literal poverty itself, that you become who you are. Note that because πενία is a feminine noun, it is therefore a feminine teacher, as you can see from the definite article: ἡ διδάσκαλος. The word τρόπων is genitive plural; the singular τρόπος means a "turn" or "way," while the plural τρόποι refers to someone's character, their "ways" or "habits."
Τόπων μεταβολαὶ οὔτε φρόνησιν διδάσκουσιν οὔτε ἀφροσύνην ἀφαιροῦνται.
Changes of place(s) do not teach wisdom nor do they remove folly.
In other words, you can't just run away from who you are. The words φρόνησιν and ἀφροσύνην share the same root; ἀφροσύνη is from ἄ-φρον-, "not-wise," i.e. folly. From Greek μεταβολή we get the English word metabolism, i.e. the changes and alterations in body chemistry that sustain life.
The funeral of Patroclus as painted by David (detail showing the women):
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