59: holiday, health, judgment, penalty, woman

Here are today's vocabulary words; they are feminine nouns shown in the nominative and genitive, along with a brief definition. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion, and there's also a study tips post.

1. ἑορτή ~ ἑορτῆς  (noun f.): festival, holiday 

2. ὑγίεια ~ ὑγιείας (noun f.): health 

3. κρίσις ~ κρίσεως (noun f.): decision, judgment 

4. ζημία ~ ζημίας (noun f.): penalty, damage 

5. γυνή ~ γυναικός (noun f.): woman, wife 

Here are the proverbs and sayings:

Ἄγουσιν ἑορτὴν οἱ κλέπται.

Ὑγίεια καὶ νοῦς ἀγαθὰ τῷ βίῳ δύο.

Ἡ κακὴ κρίσις παντὸς κακοῦ αἰτίον.

Γλώσσῃ ματαίᾳ ζημία προστρίβεται.

Eἶπεν ἡ γυνή, "ὁ ὄφις ἠπάτησέν με καὶ ἔφαγον."

 

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Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 059

Plus some commentary:

Ἄγουσιν ἑορτὴν οἱ κλέπται.

The thieves are having a holiday.

The saying refers to people who are able to steal with impunity; it's a fragment of Cratinus, a comic poet who flourished in the 5th century B.C.E. He was one of the most famous comic playwrights, but only fragments of his plays survive.

Ὑγίεια καὶ νοῦς ἀγαθὰ τῷ βίῳ δύο.

Health and sense are the two good things in life.

This is another one of the "monostichs" of Menander. The Greek word ὑγίεια shares a root with English "hygiene." For more about the Greek goddess of health, see Wikipedia: Hygieia.

Ἡ κακὴ κρίσις παντὸς κακοῦ αἰτίον.

Bad judgment is the cause of every bad thing.

This saying is attributed to Iamblichus, a Neoplatonic philosopher who wrote a Life of Pythagoras; you can find out more at Wikipedia: Iamblichus. The noun κρίσις shares a root with the English word "critic."

Γλώσσῃ ματαίᾳ ζημία προστρίβεται.

A penalty is inflicted on a babbling tongue.

The words are from Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound; Oceanus is trying to persuade Prometheus to restrain his speech so that he will not bring further disaster upon himself. You can find out more about the play at Wikipedia: Prometheus Bound.

Eἶπεν ἡ γυνή, "ὁ ὄφις ἠπάτησέν με καὶ ἔφαγον."

The woman said, "The snake deceived me, and I ate."

The words come from the story of Eve and Adam in the Biblical Book of Genesis. You can read more about the story at Wikipedia: Eve. Biblical Greek is traditionally printed without quotation marks to indicate direct speech, but I have added the quotation marks here. You can see the Greek γυνή in words like gynecology, misogyny, etc.

Here is an Ethiopian depiction of the serpent, Eve, and Adam (photo by Adam Jones at Flickr).

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