1. ὅμοιος ~ ὁμοίου (adj. masc.): the same, like
Ὅμοιος ὁμοίῳ.
Τὸ μὴ χεῖρον βέλτιστον.
Δόσις δ᾿ ὀλίγη τε φίλη τε.
Πρότερον χελώνη παραδραμεῖται δασύποδα.
Οὐκ ἔστιν προφήτης ἄτιμος εἰ μὴ ἐν τῇ πατρίδι αὐτοῦ.
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Plus some commentary:
Here is an illustration for Aesop's fable about that foolish rabbit:
Ὅμοιος ὁμοίῳ.
Like to like.
This is a widely used ancient Greek saying; in Plato's Gorgias, Socrates calls it an old and wise saying. An expanded version including a verb is: Ὅμοιος ὁμοίῳ ἀεὶ πελάζει, "Like always approaches to like." Compare the English saying "birds of a feather (stick together)" or "a man is known by the company he keeps." The Greek root ὁμοιο- shows up in English words like homeostasis and homeopathic.
Τὸ μὴ χεῖρον βέλτιστον.
Whatever (is) not worse (is) best.
This is the ancient Greek version of "the lesser of two evils," i.e. the best choice, βέλτιστον, is the option that is not the worse one, μὴ χεῖρον... even if it is bad, that's okay, as long as the other choice is the worse one. The μὴ gives it a hypothetical sense: what(ever) is not worse, μὴ χεῖρον. The adjective χεῖρον is a comparative ("worse"), while βέλτιστον is a superlative ("best").
Δόσις δ᾿ ὀλίγη τε φίλη τε.
A gift, small (but) welcome.
The words appear twice in Homer's Odyssey. First, in Book 6, when Nausicaa offers hospitality to Odysseus, and again in Book 14, when Eumaeus welcomes Odysseus in Ithaca. The saying offers an apology for not having a bigger gift to offer; the idea is that a gift, although small, is given gladly and should be welcome. You can see the Greek root ὀλίγ- in oligopoly and oligarchy.
Πρότερον χελώνη παραδραμεῖται δασύποδα.
A tortoise would sooner outrun a rabbit.
The rabbit is proverbially fast and the tortoise is proverbially slow, so the saying refers to an impossible event, something that is even more unlikely than the tortoise beating the rabbit in a race; compare the English saying, "when hell freezes over." Of course, there is an Aesop's fable in which the tortoise does beat the rabbit in a race... but that is all the fault of the foolish rabbit who stopped to take a nap; the tortoise was not going any faster than usual! The neuter adjective πρότερον is being used adverbially, as often in Greek.
Οὐκ ἔστιν προφήτης ἄτιμος εἰ μὴ ἐν τῇ πατρίδι αὐτοῦ.
A prophet is not without honor except in his own homeland.
The words come from the Gospel of Mark; the full statement is: οὐκ ἔστιν προφήτης ἄτιμος εἰ μὴ ἐν τῇ πατρίδι αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν τοῖς συγγενεῦσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ αὐτοῦ, adding "and among his relatives and in his own house" at the end. The Gospel of Matthew features a similar saying: οὐκ ἔστιν προφήτης ἄτιμος εἰ μὴ ἐν τῇ πατρίδι καὶ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ αὐτοῦ. You saw the version in the Gospel of Luke in an earlier blog post: Οὐδεὶς προφήτης δεκτός ἐστιν ἐν τῇ πατρίδι αὐτοῦ.
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