Greek Stories and Proverbs: October 2024

Thursday, October 31, 2024

Daily Greek Proverb Review: Oct. 31

Here are today's proverbs to review from the past 6 weeks; each proverb is linked to the blog post where it first appeared so that you can consult the English translation and commentary as needed, and also listen to the audio if you like. Plus you can find all 500 proverbs and all the audio at the blog, along with all the review Padlets that display the proverbs at random week by week, including the translation and commentary.

King Midas

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Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Daily Greek Proverb Review: Oct. 30

Aesop's fable about the frog physician

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Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Daily Greek Proverb Review: Oct. 29

Zuckerberg's Greek T-Shirt (NYTimes)

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Sunday, October 27, 2024

Daily Greek Proverb Review: Oct. 28

Aesop's fable about "burning daylight"

Λύχνον ἐν μεσημβρίᾳ ἅπτειν.

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Friday, October 25, 2024

Daily Greek Proverb Review: Oct. 25

map of the world according to Herodotus

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Thursday, October 24, 2024

Daily Greek Proverb Review: Oct. 24

early Christian inscription: "ΙΧΘΥΣ"

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Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Daily Greek Proverb Review: Oct. 23

Hephaestus binds Aphrodite and Ares

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Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Daily Greek Proverb Review: Oct. 22

Zeno the Stoic philosopher

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Monday, October 21, 2024

Daily Greek Proverb Review: Oct. 21

I don't know about everybody else, but these last weeks leading into the election and what is likely to be a tumultuous aftermath to the election has me kind of distracted! So, since we just reached 500 proverbs, I thought it might be a good occasion to switch to a more intermittent review system, reviewing the proverbs each time we hit a nice round number like that. So, for the next 3 weeks, I'll be doing a review of the new 150 proverbs added since the last big review. Each day will feature a random selection of 10 proverbs, and those proverbs will be linked to the blog post where they first appeared so that you can consult the English translation and commentary as needed, and also listen to the audio if you like.

Here then are today's proverbs to review, plus you can find all 500 proverbs and all the audio at the blog, along with all the review Padlets which display the proverbs at random week by week including the translation and commentary.

bronze mirror

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Friday, October 18, 2024

Week 28: Proverb and Vocabulary Review

Review Padlet. Here's the Proverb Padlet that contains the contents of the week's posts... and it displays at random each time you load the Padlet! That way you can use it as a randomizing-reviewer for the week. Here's a screenshot of this week's Padlet: Greek Proverbs Week 28. Here's the Padlet embedded, but the embedded version may not appear in the email.

And remember: you can put a Padlet on your phone so you can pop up a proverb at random whenever. There's a free Padlet app you can download if you want, but you don't need the app; you can just save the URL to your phone home screen (that's what I do). I hope you will enjoy this review option; random is a great way to review!

Audio. I've now added audio to all the posts for the past week; see the playlist below, and the audio is also embedded in each post:

Below is a playlist with all the audio, but that playlist won't appear in the email; to access the playlist from the email, use this link: Proverbs Audio.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Vocabulary with Proverbs

Alphabetical Index. Finally, here is the list of all of this week's proverbs, alphabetized and linked back to the blog post so that you can access the English translation and commentary as needed. I've also updated the complete list of proverbs (there are now 500!)

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Thursday, October 17, 2024

Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 18

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 100! Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

μηδείς ~ μηδενός (adj. masc.): no one, nobody

βέλτιον ~ βελτίονος (adj. neut.): better

καινόν ~ καινοῦ (adj. neut.): new, strange

κρεῖσσον ~ κρείσσονος (adj. neut.): stronger, better

μικρά ~ μικρᾶς (adj. fem.): small, little

These are the proverbs (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Ψέγε μηδένα.

Ἀεὶ τὰ πέρυσι βελτίω.

Ἀεὶ Λιβύη φέρει τι καινόν.

Κρεῖττον σιωπᾶν ἐστιν ἢ λαλεῖν μάτην.

Μικρά γε πρόφασίς ἐστι τοῦ πρᾶξαι κακῶς.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 100

And now, some commentary:

Ψέγε μηδένα.

Blame no one.

This is another one of the maxims attributed to the Seven Sages by Stobaeus. The word μηδείς is a compound of μη and εἷς, no-one, parallel to οὐδείς. The οὐ form is used for indicative statements, while the μη form is used for imperatives (as here), subjunctives, etc.

Ἀεὶ τὰ πέρυσι βελτίω.

The things of yesteryear (are) always better.

The word βελτίω is neuter plural, although you can also find the expected form βελτίονα; the dictionary form (masculine singular) is βελτίων, and it is used as the comparative form of ἀγαθός: better.

Ἀεὶ Λιβύη φέρει τι καινόν.

Always Libya brings something new.

The words come from Aristotle's History of Animals, and Aristotle labels the saying a παροιμία, a proverb: λέγεται δέ τις παροιμία, ὅτι “ἀεὶ Λιβύη φέρει τι καινόν.” Aristotle cites the saying in the context of exotic animals from beyond Europe; the word Λιβύη referred to the entire northern part of Africa west of the Nile; you can find out more at Wikipedia: Ancient Libya. The Latin version of this saying is widely used: Ex Africa semper aliquid novi, "There is always something new out of Africa."

Κρεῖττον σιωπᾶν ἐστιν ἢ λαλεῖν μάτην.

To be silent is more powerful than to speak foolishly.

The Greek infinitive is a neuter noun, hence the neuter adjective: κρεῖττον. This is the Attic form of κρεῖσσον, and it is the comparative of κρατύ, powerful. The adverb μάτην is formed from the noun μάτη, which means "folly, foolishness." This is one of the monostichs (one-liners) of Menander; here is the meter marked:

Κρεῖττον | σιω||πᾶν ἐσ|τιν ἢ || λαλεῖν μάτην.

Μικρά γε πρόφασίς ἐστι τοῦ πρᾶξαι κακῶς.

Small indeed is the excuse for doing evil.

Note the article τοῦ with the infinitive; the Greek infinitive is a neuter noun but it does not decline, so the article provides the grammatical information you need to understand its role in the sentence: doing evil has only a small excuses, needs only a small excuse, etc. From the root in μικρ- we get all the micro words in English like microscope and microphone.

map of the world according to Herodotus

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Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 17

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 99. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

ὕβρις ~ ὕβρεως (noun f.): violence, insolence

ὕδωρ ~ ὕδατος (noun n.): water

φάρμακον ~ φαρμάκου (noun n.): drug, remedy

μαθητής ~ μαθητοῦ (noun m.): student, pupil

καιρός ~ καιρoῦ (noun m.): moment, opportunity

These are the proverbs (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Ὕβριν μίσει.

Κοσκίνῳ ὕδωρ ἀντλεῖς.

Ψυχῆς νοσούσης ἐστὶ φάρμακον λόγος.

Πολλοὶ μαθηταὶ κρείττονες διδασκάλων.

Μηδὲν ἄγαν, καιρῷ πάντα πρόσεστι καλά.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 099

And now, some commentary:

Ὕβριν μίσει.

Hate violence.

This is another of the maxims attributed to the Seven Sages by Stobaeus. The word μίσει is an imperative from the contract verb μισέω. The word ὕβρις is sometimes used in English: hubris. It means violence in Greek, but with particular connotations of insolence and pride, and it also has sexual connotations. You can find out more at Wikipedia: Hubris.

Κοσκίνῳ ὕδωρ ἀντλεῖς.

You're drawing water with a sieve.

This is a fool's errand: you can scoop all you want, but the sieve is not going to hold the water. Compare a similar saying you saw last month: Κοσκίνῳ ὕδωρ φέρει, "He's carrying water in a sieve." The original meaning of the verb ἀντλέω is to bale bilgewater; the noun ἄντλος means bilgewater.

Ψυχῆς νοσούσης ἐστὶ φάρμακον λόγος.

Speech is a remedy for an ailing spirit.

The saying is one of Menander's monostichs (one-liners) in iambic verse:

Ψυχῆς | νοσού || σης ἐσ|τὶ φάρ || μακον | λόγος.

From the root in Greek φάρμακ- we get English words like pharmacy.

Πολλοὶ μαθηταὶ κρείττονες διδασκάλων.

Many students are greater than (their) teachers.

This Greek proverb actually appears in Henry Fielding's Tom Jones: "I remember my old schoolmaster, who was a prodigious great scholar, used often to say, Polly matete cry town is my daskalon. The English of which, he told us, was, That a child may sometimes teach his grandmother to suck eggs." Thanks to Michael Gilleland for that citation!

Μηδὲν ἄγαν, καιρῷ πάντα πρόσεστι καλά.

Nothing in excess; all things are good in the right measure.

Diogenes Laertius attributes these words to Chilon of Sparta; you can find out more about Chilon at Wikipedia; he was considered to be one of the Seven Sages of ancient Greece. The word καιρός often means the right time or the critical moment, but it can also refer to measure or proportion, which best suits the context of this saying.

The Seven Sages

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Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 16

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 98. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

διώκω ~ διώξω ~ ἐδίωξα: chase, pursue

λαμβάνω ~ λήψομαι ~ ἔλαβον: take, seize

σῴζω ~ σώσω ~ ἔσωσα: save, rescue, keep

βλέπω ~ βλέψομαι ~ ἔβλεψα: look at, see

κλύω ~ (no fut.) ~ ἔκλυον: hear, perceive

These are the proverbs (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Δόξαν δίωκε.

Δός τι καὶ λάβε τι.

Ἡ εὐλάβεια σῴζει πάντα.

Ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντες, οὐ βλέπετε;

Κλύει δὲ καὶ πρόσωθεν ὢν θεός.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 098

And now, some commentary:

Δόξαν δίωκε.

Pursue glory.

This is one of the maxims attributed to the Seven Sages as recorded by Stobaeus. The word δόξα has a wide range of meaning in Greek; the specific meaning of "glory" became important for Christianity, as in English doxology.

Δός τι καὶ λάβε τι.

Give something and receive something.

Compare the English saying, "Give and take." The Greek phrase appears in a dialogue formerly attributed to Plato but now considered spurious; you can find out more at Wikipedia: Axiochus. In that dialogue, it is paired with a similar saying you saw last month in this blog post: Ἁ δὲ χεὶρ τὰν χεῖρα νίζει, "One hand washes another."

Ἡ εὐλάβεια σῴζει πάντα.

Caution saves all things.

The saying appears in Aristophanes' Birds. The saying also appears in the LSJ dictionary entry for the word εὐλάβεια. From the Greek verb σῴζω comes the noun σωτήρ, "savior," as in the English word soteriology, the study of salvation.

Ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντες, οὐ βλέπετε;

Having eyes, do you not see?

The words come from the Gospel of Mark when Jesus is rebuking his followers for their lack of faith and understanding. You saw a related passage from Mark last month in this blog post: Ὦτα ἔχοντες, οὐκ ἀκούετε; "Having ears, do you not hear?"

Κλύει καὶ πρόσωθεν ὢν Θεός.

Being a goddess, she hears, even from afar.

The noun Θεός is common gender, both masculine and feminine, but here it is feminine: goddess, based on the context. The words come from Aeschylus' Eumenides; Orestes is speaking of Athena. The word καὶ is being used adverbially here: even from afar, καὶ πρόσωθεν.

Athena

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Monday, October 14, 2024

Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 15

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 97. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

κάρα ~ κάρατος (noun n.): head

δάκρυον ~ δακρύου (noun n.): tear, teardrop

ἱμάτιον ~ ἱματίου (noun n.): cloak; clothes

σῶμα ~ σώματος (noun n.): body

εἶδος ~ εἴδους (noun n.): shape, form

These are the proverbs (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Ὑπὲρ κάρα πτύεις.

Μεγαρέων δάκρυα.

Ἱματίῳ πῦρ περιστέλλεις.

Λάβετε, τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ σῶμά μου.

Κάτοπτρον εἴδους χαλκός ἐστ'· οἶνος δὲ νοῦ.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 097

And now, some commentary:

Μεγαρέων δάκρυα.

The tears of the Megareans.

This is like the phrase "crocodile tears," referring to feigned tears; see this earlier post. As Erasmus reports, ancient sources provide different explanations for the origin of the saying about Megarean tears. For example, supposedly Megara abounded in garlic, and people wept when cooking with raw garlic. In another story, there was a funeral for a princess of Megara at which there were many hired mourners, weeping theatrically but not from any real grief. Regardless of the origin of the saying, its meaning is the same: tears without sadness.

Ὑπὲρ κάρα πτύεις.

You're spitting over your head.

Needless to say, spitting up over your own head is not a good idea; that spit is going to come right back at you. Compare the English saying: "spitting into the wind." From the word κάρα comes the diminutive κρανίον, meaning the upper part of the head or skull, which gives us the English word cranium.

Ἱματίῳ πῦρ περιστέλλεις.

You're wrapping fire in your cloak.

As Erasmus explains, this is like "nursing a viper in your bosom," i.e. you are keeping something close to you (fire) that will lead to your own destruction. The word himation is sometimes used in English when writing about ancient Greek clothing.

Λάβετε, τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ σῶμά μου.

Take: this is my body.

These words come from The Gospel of Mark; see similar versions in Luke and Matthew. Jesus is offering bread to his disciples at the Last Supper; you can find out more at Wikipedia: Last Supper. From Greek σῶμα, we get English somatic.

Κάτοπτρον εἴδους χαλκός ἐστ'· οἶνος δὲ νοῦ.

Bronze is a mirror of the face, wine of the mind.

This is an unattributed fragment of Aeschylus that is recorded in Athenaeus' Deipnosophistae. You can read about bronze mirrors at Wikipedia. (The earliest glass mirrors made with silver-mercury amalgams date to around 500 C.E.) Here's an Etruscan bronze mirror showing the Judgment of Paris:

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 14

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 96. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

σοφός ~ σοφοῦ adj. masc.): wise, skilled

ὅμοιον ~ ὁμοίου adj. neut.): the same, like

μικρός ~ μικροῦ adj. neut.): small, little

γέρων ~ γέροντος adj. fem.): old, elderly

ἕκαστος ~ ἑκάστου adj. masc.): each, all

These are the proverbs (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Σοφοῖς χρῶ.

Ὅμοιον ὁμοίῳ φίλον.

Μικρὸς ἡλίκος Μόλων.

Γέρων ἀλώπηξ οὐχ ἁλίσχεται.

Ὁ νοῦς γὰρ ἡμῶν ἐστιν ἐν ἑκάστῳ θεός.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 096

And now, some commentary:

Σοφοῖς χρῶ.

Make use of those who are wise.

The form χρῶ is the second-person imperative of χράομαι (those middle imperatives can look sneaky, especially for contract verbs). The adjective σοφός is being used substantively as a noun: (a) wise (man). This is one of the maxims that Stobaeus attributes to the Seven Sages of Greece. From the Greek root σοφ- we get all the soph- words in English philosopher and sophistication.

Ὅμοιον ὁμοίῳ φίλον.

Like likes like.

In Greek, it is literally "a (similar) thing is friendly to a similar thing." The saying appears in Plato's Lysis (τὸ ὅμοιον τῷ ὁμοίῳ φίλον εἶναι) in a debate about whether friendship is more likely among people who are similar or whether people who are similar are prone to envy and resentment, with friendship more naturally occurring between people who are dissimilar. From the Greek root ὁμο- we get the homo- words in English like homogeneous and homonym.

Μικρὸς ἡλίκος Μόλων.

As small as Molon.

Here μικρός means small in stature, i.e. short. The words come from Aristophanes' Frogs. According to the ancient commentators, the words are ironic; Molon was actually a very tall actor, so the speaker — Dionysus — is joking when he invokes Molon in this way: παίζει· ἔστι γὰρ μεγαλόσωμος ὁ Μόλων, "he's joking, for Molon is a big man." However, the commentaries also note that there was a notorious thief named Molon who was, in fact, very short. So, we would need to talk to Aristophanes himself to be sure just how this one works!

Γέρων ἀλώπηξ οὐχ ἁλίσχεται.

An old fox can't be trapped.

Of course, foxes are sly and hard to catch at any age; the force of this proverb is that a fox who has lived to enjoy her old age has no doubt escaped many a trap and is not likely to fall into a trap now. Compare a similar saying about the old mouse: Γέρων δὲ καὶ μῦς οὐχ ἁλισκεται πάγῃ. From the root in Greek γέρων we get English gerontology.

Ὁ νοῦς γὰρ ἡμῶν ἐστιν ἐν ἑκάστῳ θεός.

The mind (is) a god in each of us.

This is a fragment from a lost play by Euripides, and the idea is invoked by the Emperor Julian in his essay addressed To the Uneducated Cynics, who refers both to the mind and to λόγος as a god in each of us, something that links us to the divine. This Julian is known both as Julian the Apostate (as he renounced Christianity and was the last pagan emperor), but also as Julian the Philosopher. He was a prolific author, and you can see a list of his works at Wikipedia: Julian.

Here is Julian on a coin:

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Saturday, October 12, 2024

Week 27: Proverb and Vocabulary Review

Review Padlet. Here's the Proverb Padlet that contains the contents of the week's posts... and it displays at random each time you load the Padlet! That way you can use it as a randomizing-reviewer for the week. Here's a screenshot of this week's Padlet: Greek Proverbs Week 27. Here's the Padlet embedded, but the embedded version may not appear in the email.

Audio. I've now added audio to all the posts for the past week; see the playlist below, and the audio is also embedded in each post:

Below is a playlist with all the audio, but that playlist won't appear in the email; to access the playlist from the email, use this link: Proverbs Audio.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Vocabulary with Proverbs

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Thursday, October 10, 2024

Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 11

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 95. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

δόλος ~ δόλου (noun m.): trick, craft, cunning

κόλπος ~ κόλπου (noun m.): bosom, lap

οἶνος ~ οἴνου (noun m.): wine

ἄνθρωπος ~ ἀνθρώπου (noun m.): person, human bein

ὕπνος ~ ὕπνου (noun m.): sleep

These are the proverbs (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Δόλον φοβοῦ

Εἰς κόλπον πτύειν.

Ὁ οἶνος οὐκ ἔχει πηδάλια.

Ἄνθρωπος ἀνθρώπῳ δαιμόνιον.

Ὕπνος τὰ μικρὰ τοῦ θανάτου μυστήρια.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 095

And now, some commentary:

Δόλον φοβοῦ.

Fear deceit.

Don't let φοβοῦ fool you; it's the imperative form of a contract deponent verb, middle voice (φοβέομαι). This is one of the maxims that the anthologist Stobaeus attributed to the Seven Sages of Greece; you can find out more at Wikipedia: Seven Sages. You can also find out more about Stobaeus at Wikipedia.

Εἰς κόλπον πτύειν.

To spit into one's cloak.

This was something done to ward off a bad omen or to counteract magic. According to one of the idylls of Theocritus, you had to spit three times: ὡς μὴ βασκανθῶ δὲ τρὶς εἰς ἐμὸν ἔπτυσα κόλπον, "so that I wouldn't be bewitched, I spit three times into my cloak." You can find out more about this idyll at Wikipedia: Theocritus VI.

Ὁ οἶνος οὐκ ἔχει πηδάλια.

Wine has no oars.

In other words, when you drink, you lose control of yourself, just as you cannot control a ship without oars. Metaphorically, the word πηδάλια could also be used to mean the reins of a horse: ἱππικὰ πηδάλια. From Greek οἶνος we get the words oenophile and oenology.

Ἄνθρωπος ἀνθρώπῳ δαιμόνιον.

One person is a divine spirit to another.

The idea here is that one person can help another person in a way that is so valuable that it is as if that person is a god. Translating the Greek word δαιμόνιον is notoriously difficult; the word has its own Wikipedia article, specifically with reference to Socrates's use of δαιμόνιον: Wikipedia: Daimonion. Erasmus renders the saying in Latin as Homo homini deus, Man is a god to man.

Ὕπνος τὰ μικρὰ τοῦ θανάτου μυστήρια.

Sleep is a small mystery of death.

Many cultures have proverbs related to the eerie similarity of sleep and death, and in Greek mythology, the gods Ὕπνος and Θάνατος are brothers, the fatherless sons of Night, Νύξ. You can find out more at Wikipedia: Hypnos and Thanatos. From these Greek roots we get English words like hypnotize and euthanize. From the root in Greek μυστήρι- we get English mystery.

This is Waterhouse's painting of Sleep and His Half-Brother, Death:

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Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 10

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 94. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

μισέω ~ μίσομαι ~ ἐμισήθην: hate

δίδωμι ~ δώσω ~ ἔδωκα: give

γίγνομαι ~ γενήσομαι ~ ἐγενόμην: be, become, happen

ἐθέλω ~ ἐθελήσω ~ ἠθέλησα: be willing, wish

ἐπισκοπέω ~ ἐπισκέψομαι ~ ἐπεσκόπησα: look upon, consider

These are the proverbs (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Ἔριν μίσει.

Δίδοτε, καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν.

Ἐν νυκτὶ βουλὴ τοῖς σοφοῖσι γίγνεται.

Οἶνος ἄνωγε γέροντα καὶ οὐκ ἐθέλοντα χορεύειν.

Τὸν ὑψόθεν σκοπὸν ἐπισκόπει, φύλακα πολυπόνων.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 094

And now, some commentary:

Ἔριν μίσει.

Hate strife.

Don't let μίσει fool you: that's the imperative form of an -εω contract verb! From the Greek root μίσ- we get English words like misanthrope and misogyny. Meanwhile, for more about strife personified as a goddess, Ἔρις, see Wikipedia: Eris.

Δίδοτε, καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν.

Give, and it will be given to you.

The words are from the Gospel of Luke. The verse is sometimes translated into English as "Give, and you will receive." It appears in the so-called "Sermon on the Plain," and you can find out more at Wikipedia.

Ἐν νυκτὶ βουλὴ τοῖς σοφοῖσι γίγνεται.

Council comes to the wise at night.

This saying is also used in a shortened form: Ἐν νυκτὶ βουλὴ. Compare the English saying: "Sleep on it." This is one of the monostichs (one-liners) of Menander; here is the iambic meter marked:

Ἐν νυκ|τὶ βου||λὴ τοῖς | σοφοῖ||σι γίγ|νεται.

Οἶνος ἄνωγε γέροντα καὶ οὐκ ἐθέλοντα χορεύειν.

Wine has made the old man dance, even if he doesn't want to.

The saying is quoted in Athenaeus's Deipnosophistae. Note that καὶ here is not a conjunction but is instead being used adverbially. This portion of Athenaeus is full of proverbial sayings and memorable quotes about drinking and drunkenness; you can find an English translation here.

Τὸν ὑψόθεν σκοπὸν ἐπισκόπει, φύλακα πολυπόνων.

Consider the one who watches from on high, the protector of long-suffering people.

The words are from Aeschylus's Suppliant Women. The chorus of Danaids is speaking to King Pelasgus, invoking Zeus as they urge him to help them; Zeus is the one who watches from on high. Like μίσει above, ἐπισκόπει is the imperative form of a contract verb.

Eris (British Museum)

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Thursday, October 31, 2024

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