38: write, come, see, raise, despise

Here are today's vocabulary words; they are verbs again today, 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. γράφω ~ γράψω ~ ἔγραψα: write, draw 
2. ἔρχομαι ~ ἐλεύσομαι ~ ἧλθον: come, go 

3. ὁράω ~ ὄψομαι ~ εἶδον: see, look at 

4. τρέφω ~ θρέψω ~ ἔθρεψα: bring up, raise 

5. καταφρονέω ~ καταφρονήσω ~ κατεφρόνησα: despise 

Here are the proverbs and sayings:

Εἰς τέφραν γράφειν.

Εἰς θεῶν ὦτα ἦλθεν.

Ἀετὸς θρίπας ὁρῶν.

Μία λόχμη δύο ἐριθακοὺς οὐ τρέφει.

Μὴ καταφρόνει θανάτου, ἀλλὰ εὐαρέστει αὐτῷ. 

Listen at SoundCloud.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 038

Plus some commentary:

Εἰς τέφραν γράφειν.

To write in the ashes.

This means to do something that will not last. You need to write in stone if you want something to last, not in ashes which will soon blow away. Compare a similar saying: εἰς ὕδωρ γράφειν, "to write in the water." From the same Greek verb γράφειν comes the Greek noun γράμμα, plus all the English "graph" words.

Εἰς θεῶν ὦτα ἦλθεν.

It came to the ears of the gods.

As Erasmus explains, this phrase means that what is done rightly or wrongly, once it finally reaches the ears of the gods, will be rewarded or punished accordingly. The verb ἧλθον is used as the aorist of the verb ἔρχομαι; it's another example of an irregular verb paradigm, or suppletion.

Ἀετὸς θρίπας ὁρῶν.

An eagle seeing a woodworm.

The mighty eagle sees the puny woodworm, and then ignores it; something so small is not worth the eagle's attention. Compare a similar saying about another mighty animal that you saw in a previous blog post: Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐχ ἁλίσκει.

Μία λόχμη δύο ἐριθακοὺς οὐ τρέφει.

One thicket does not nourish two robins.

The Byzantine historian John Skylitzes expanded on this saying (source online), adding a human application of the saying: οὔτε μία χώρα εὐοδωθήσεται ὑπὸ δύο κυβερνωμένη ἀρχηγῶν, "nor will one country prosper governed by two rulers."

Μὴ καταφρόνει θανάτου, ἀλλὰ εὐαρέστει αὐτῷ.

Do not despise death, but welcome it.

The words are from Marcus Aurelius (source online), the Roman emperor who was also a Stoic philosopher. He goes on to explain: ὡς καὶ τούτου ἑνὸς ὄντος ὧν ἡ φύσις ἐθέλει, "as death is also one of the things which nature wills." You can find out more at Wikipedia: Marcus Aurelius.

Coin with the head of Marcus Aurelius and his equestrian statue on the obverse:

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