56: equal, human, black, face, fatherland

Here are today's vocabulary words; they are nouns and adjectives shown in the nominative and genitive 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. ἴσον ~ ἴσου (adj. n.): equal, fair 

2. ἀνθρώπινον ~ ἀνθρωπίνου (adj. n.): human 

3. μέλας ~ μέλανος (adj. m.): black, dark 

4. ὄψις ὄψεως (noun f.): face, vision 

5. πατρίς ~ πατρίδος (noun f.): fatherland, homeland 

Here are the proverbs and sayings:

Ἐξ ἴσου δίδου πᾶσιν.

Κύκλος τὰ ἀνθρώπινα.

Κανθάρου μελάντερος.

Νίψον ἀνομήματα μὴ μόναν ὄψιν.

Οὐδεὶς προφήτης δεκτός ἐστιν ἐν τῇ πατρίδι αὐτοῦ. 

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Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 056

Plus some commentary:

Ἐξ ἴσου δίδου πᾶσιν.

Give to all equally.

Plutarch includes these words in his Sayings of the Spartans, attributing the saying to Agesilaus the Great in the context of wine-drinking: εἰ μὲν πολὺς οἶνός ἐστι’ παρεσκευασμένος, ὅσον ἕκαστος αἰτεῖ: εἰ δὲ ὀλίγος, ἐξ ἴσου δίδου πᾶσιν, "If much wine has been provided, give as much as each one asks, but if there is only a little wine, give to all equally." You can see the Greek root ἴσο- in English isotope and in isosceles triangles.

Κύκλος τὰ ἀνθρώπινα.

Human things (are) a circle.

The words are from Aristotle's Physics, referring to the way that humans are born and then die, and then more humans are born, and then die, and the same is true of all things in time, coming into being and then passing away. Aristotle then goes on to speculate that time itself, ὁ χρόνος αὐτὸς, appears to be, εἶναι δοκεῖ, some sort of circle, κύκλος τις: καὶ γὰρ ὁ χρόνος αὐτὸς εἶναι δοκεῖ κύκλος τις.

Κανθάρου μελάντερος.

Blacker than a dung-beetle.

The word μελάντερος is a comparative form, so it takes a genitive complement: κανθάρου. As Erasmus explains, the dung-beetle was a foul creature held in low regard. The ancient Egyptians, on the other hand, considered the dung-beetle to be sacred; you can find out more at Wikipedia: Dung-beetle. You can see the Greek root μέλαν- in English melanin and melancholy.

Νίψον ἀνομήματα μὴ μόναν ὄψιν.

Wash (my) transgressions, not only (my) face.

The word ὄψις can mean "eyes" and also "seeing, vision," but it can also mean "face," as in this saying. Can you tell what makes this saying remarkable? It's a palindrome in Greek: you can read it both left to right and from right to left. It's even a mirror-ambigram (except for letter N, which is asymmetrical), as you can see in the image below. It's attributed to attributed to the fourth-century Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, and you can find out more at this Wikipedia article.

Οὐδεὶς προφήτης δεκτός ἐστιν ἐν τῇ πατρίδι αὐτοῦ.

No prophet is received in his own fatherland.

The words come from the Gospel of Luke. There is a similar saying in both the Gospels of Mark and Matthew: οὐκ ἔστιν προφήτης ἄτιμος εἰ μὴ ἐν τῇ πατρίδι αὐτοῦ. From Greek προφήτης we get English prophet.

Here is that Greek palindrome in a mosaic at a monastery:

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