Greek Stories and Proverbs: 57: other, this, free, willing, righteous

Here are today's vocabulary words; they are adjectives shown in 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. ἄλλη ~ ἄλλης (adj. fem.): other, another

2. οὗτος ~ τούτου (adj. masc.): this

3. ἐλευθέρα ~ ἐλευθέρας (adj. fem.): free

4. πρόθυμον ~ προθύμου (adj. fem.): willing, eager

5. δίκαιος ~ δικαίου (adj. masc.): righteous, lawful

Here are the proverbs and sayings:

Ἄλλην δρῦν βαλάνιζε.

Ἄλλος οὗτος Ἡρακλῆς.

Ἐλεύθεραι αἶγες ἀρότρων.

Τὸ μὲν πνεῦμα πρόθυμον ἡ δὲ σὰρξ ἀσθενής.

Μὴ γίνου δίκαιος πολὺ καὶ μὴ σοφίζου περισσά.

Listen at SoundCloud.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 057

Plus some commentary:

Ἄλλην δρῦν βαλάνιζε.

Shake down acorns from some other oak.

In other words: stop borrowing money from me; go borrow from somebody else! The verb βαλανίζω is from the noun βάλανος, meaning "acorn," i.e. "acorn-ize." From the Greek root ἄλλ-, we get English words like allograph, which is a signature that someone makes for another person.

Ἄλλος οὗτος Ἡρακλῆς.

This man (is) another Heracles.

As Erasmus explains, the words refer to someone who is tireless and willing to carry out enormous tasks, just as Heracles was; it can also refer to an exceptionally strong man. You can find out more about the ancient hero Heracles, called Hercules by the Romans, at Wikipedia: Heracles.

Ἐλεύθεραι αἶγες ἀρότρων.

The goats are free from the plow.

In other words, unlike oxen, who are exploited by people to work for them, goats are not exploited in this way. The saying applies to people who are, for some reason, exempt from some kind of work that others must do or some kind of trouble that others must endure. You can read about the personified goddess of freedom at Wikipedia: Eleutheria.

Τὸ μὲν πνεῦμα πρόθυμον ἡ δὲ σὰρξ ἀσθενής.

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

The words are from the Gospel of Mark, when Jesus rebukes Peter for falling asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane. The words also appear in the Gospel of Matthew. In the adjective πρόθυμον, you can see the word θυμός, which has a wide range of meaning in Greek: spirit, desire, will, courage, anger; see Logeion for more.

Μὴ γίνου δίκαιος πολὺ καὶ μὴ σοφίζου περισσά.

Do not be too righteous and do not be overly clever.

This advice comes from the Biblical Book of Ecclesiastes. Both πολὺ and περισσά are neuter adjectives (singular and plural) being used adverbially. You can see the adjective σοφός in the verb σοφίζω: "wise-ify," i.e. to be clever. You can see the root of δίκαιος in Δίκη, the goddess of justice; find out more at Wikipedia: Dike.

Here's a mosaic with the labors of Heracles: