1. ἀγαθόν ~ ἀγαθοῦ (adj. n.): good
2. χάλκεον ~ χαλκέου (adj. n.): copper, bronze
3. γλυκεῖα ~ γλυκείας (adj. f.): sweet, delightful
4. πρῶτος ~ πρώτου (adj. m.): first, foremost
5. κοῦφος ~ κούφου (adj. m.): nimble, swift
Here are the proverbs and sayings:
Θᾶσος ἀγαθῶν.
Χρύσεα χαλκείων.
Ὠκεῖαι χάριτες γλυκερώτεραι.
Πολλοὶ δὲ ἔσονται πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι καὶ ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι.
Οὐ τοῖς κούφοις ὁ δρόμος καὶ οὐ τοῖς δυνατοῖς ὁ πόλεμος.
Plus some commentary:
Θᾶσος ἀγαθῶν.
A Thasos of good (things).
Thasos is a Greek island, and it became proverbial for abundance and prosperity. You can read more about the actual island of Thasos at Wikipedia. The island was especially known for wine production and, in mythology, it was the home to Staphylos, one of the sons of Ariadne and Dionysus, the god of wine.
Χρύσεα χαλκείων.
Golden things (in exchange for) bronze.
The spelling χαλκείων is epic, and comes from an episode in Homer's Iliad, when Glaucus foolishly traded his golden armor for the bronze armor of Diomedes. But it's not really Glaucus's fault; Zeus made him lose his mind: φρένας ἐξέλετο Ζεύς, "Zeus took away his wits." You can read more at Wikipedia: Glaucus, and Plato invokes this as a proverbial saying in The Symposium. For the Greek root χρυσ- in English, see "chrysanthemum," golden-flower.
Ὠκεῖαι χάριτες γλυκερώτεραι.
Swifts thanks (are) sweetest.
This is a line from an elegant little epigram in the Greek Anthology: "Swift thanks are sweetest, and when slow, every thank-you is empty and should not be called thanks." In Greek, χάρις means both grace (as in the famous mythological Graces) but also gratitude; compare the way we "say grace" in English, i.e. "say thanks," as also in Spanish gracias.
Important note: despite the "ch" in the spelling, English "charity" does not come from Greek χάρις. Instead, it comes from Latin caritas, which was used to render Greek ἀγάπη in 1 Corinthians 13: πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη, i.e. "faith, hope, love (charity)." English inherited the "ch" in the spelling of "charity" from the French charité (compare French charme from Latin carmen).
Πολλοὶ δὲ ἔσονται πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι καὶ ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι.
Many (who are) first will be last, and last will be first.
This paradoxical pronouncement by Jesus comes from the Gospel of Mark, and it can be found also in Luke, and in Matthew (twice in Matthew, in fact). You can see Greek πρῶτ- in a multitude of English words like proton and prototype.
Οὐ τοῖς κούφοις ὁ δρόμος καὶ οὐ τοῖς δυνατοῖς ὁ πόλεμος.
The race (is) not to the swift and the battle (is) not to the mighty.
This saying comes from the Biblical Book of Ecclesiastes, and here is the entire verse as rendered in the King James version:
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
You can see Greek δρόμ- in English words like palindrome and hippodrome.
Here are Glaucus and Diomedes exchanging armor; Glaucus is on the right:
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