54: ask, convey, frighten, fear, fall in

Here are today's vocabulary words; they are verbs with 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. αἰτέω ~ αἰτήσω ~ ᾔτησα: ask, beg 

2. κομίζω ~ κομιέω ~ ἐκόμισα: convey, carry 

3. φοβέω ~ φοβήσω ~ ἐφόβησα: frighten, terrify 

4. δείδω ~ δείσω ~ ἔδεισα: fear 

5. ἐμπίπτω ~ ἐμπεσέομαι ~ ἐνέπεσον: fall in, fall upon 

Here are the proverbs and sayings:

Παντὶ αἰτοῦντί σε δίδου.

Κορώνη γράμμα κομίζει.

Μὴ φοβοῦ, μόνον πίστευε.

Τὴν αὑτοῦ σκιὰν δέδοικεν.

Ὁ ὀρύσσων βόθρον ἐν αὐτῷ ἐμπεσεῖται.

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Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 054

Plus some commentary:

Παντὶ αἰτοῦντί σε δίδου.

Give to each person who asks you.

The words come from the Gospel of Luke, and you can find out more at Wikipedia: Sermon on the Plain (not the same as Sermon on the Mount in Matthew).

Κορώνη γράμμα κομίζει.

The crow carries the letter.

This proverbial saying referred to messengers who delivered news promptly. Aelian reports the legend of a certain king of Egypt who had a tame crow that was swifter than any human messenger; as soon as you told the crow where to go, it immediately understood and flew off carrying the letter. When the crow died, the king honored it with a tomb at Crocodopolis.

Μὴ φοβοῦ, μόνον πίστευε.

Do not be afraid; just have faith.

The words are spoken to Jairus by Jesus in the Gospel of Mark when he is told that the daughter of Jairus is dead; he then goes and revives her. You can find out more at Wikipedia: Raising of Jairus's Daughter. From the Greek root φοβ- we get all the -phobia words in English. The word μόνον is used adverbially here; the neuter singular is often used as an adverb.

Τὴν αὑτοῦ σκιὰν δέδοικεν.

He fears his own shadow.

The words are from a fragment of Aristophanes, and of course we use the same phrase in English, "to be afraid of your own shadow." Erasmus cites the phrase with a different verb: Τὴν αὑτοῦ σκιὰν φοβεῖσθαι (φοβέω is also one of today's verbs). Plato uses the phrase in the Phaedo, where he labels it as a saying: τὸ λεγόμενον.

Ὁ ὀρύσσων βόθρον ἐν αὐτῷ ἐμπεσεῖται.

The one digging a hole will fall into it.

The saying comes from the Biblical Book of Ecclesiastes, referring to the notion that someone who plots against another will himself turn out to be the victim. Compare a more literal version of the same idea from Hesiod that you saw earlier this week: Οἷ γ᾽ αὐτῷ κακὰ τεύχει ἀνὴρ ἄλλῳ κακὰ τεύχων, "The man working evil against another works evil against himself."

Here is William Blake's depiction of the raising of Jairus's daughter:

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