Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge

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.

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. 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:

And here's a random proverb too:

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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.

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:

And here's a random proverb too:

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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.

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:

• Group #91
• Group #92
• Group #93
• Group #94
• Group #95

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 (all 475 so far!).

• Ἄνθρωπος ἀνθρώπῳ δαιμόνιον.
  
• Ἄριστον μὲν ὕδωρ.
  
• Γυμνὸς ὡς ἐκ μήτρας.
  
• Δακρυόεν γελάσασα.
  
• Δίδοτε, καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν.
  
• Δόλον φοβοῦ
  
• Εἰς κόλπον πτύειν.
  
• Ἐν νυκτὶ βουλὴ τοῖς σοφοῖσι γίγνεται.
  
• Ἔριν μίσει.
  
• Ἑρμῆς κοινός.
  
• Ζῇ ἀεὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια.
  
• Ἰχθύων βίος.
  
• Μὴ πῦρ ἐπὶ πυρί.
  
• Μήτε νεῖν, μήτε γράμματα.
  
• Ὁ οἶνος οὐκ ἔχει πηδάλια.
  
• Ὁ φεύγων μύλον ἄλφιτα φεύγει.
  
• Οἶνος ἄνωγε γέροντα καὶ οὐκ ἐθέλοντα χορεύειν.
  
• Ὄνος ἵππον μιμούμενος.
  
• Ὄνου οὐρὰ τηλίαν οὐ ποιεῖ.
  
• Παρὰ κωφῷ διαλέγῃ.
  
• Πονηρός ἐστι πᾶς ἀχάριστος ἄνθρωπος.
  
• Προπέτεια πολλοῖς ἐστιν αἰτία κακῶν.
  
• Τὸν ὑψόθεν σκοπὸν ἐπισκόπει, φύλακα πολυπόνων.
  
• Τύχη εὔριπος.
  
• Ὕπνος τὰ μικρὰ τοῦ θανάτου μυστήρια.
  

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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:

And here's a random proverb too:

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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)

And here's a random proverb too:

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 9

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 93. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

ἰχθύς ~ ἰχθύος (noun m.): fish 

τύχη ~ τύχης (noun f.): luck, chance 

πῦρ ~ πυρός (noun n.): fire 

ἵππος ~ ἵππου (noun c.): horse, mare 

γράμμα ~ γράμματος (noun n.): letter, writing 

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

Ἰχθύων βίος.

Τύχη εὔριπος.

Μὴ πῦρ ἐπὶ πυρί.

Ὄνος ἵππον μιμούμενος.

Μήτε νεῖν, μήτε γράμματα.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 093

And now, some commentary:

Ἰχθύων βίος.

The lifestyle of fish.

This saying is shorthand for when powerful people take advantage of weaker people, just as big fish devour the little fish. It is sometimes called "the Law of Fish" in English, or "the Law of the Jungle." You can see this proverbial usage in Polybius: τὸν λεγόμενον τῶν ἰχθύων βίον, with τὸν λεγόμενον indicating the proverbial status of the phrase. The Greek word ΙΧΘΥΣ was used as a secret sign by the early Christians, with the five letters being interpreted as:

Ἰησοῦς

Χρῑστός

Θεοῦ

Yἱός

Σωτήρ, 

i.e. Jesus-Christ-God's-Son-Savior. You can find out more at Wikipedia: Ichthys.

Μὴ πῦρ ἐπὶ πυρί.

Don't (add) fire upon fire.

The saying is found in Plutarch, who marks it as proverbial with the phrase  ὥς φασι, "as they say." Fire upon fire is like one bad thing after another in English; if there's a fire, don't heap on more fire, i.e. don't make a bad situation worse. From Greek πῦρ we get the pyr- words in English like pyre and pyrotechnics.

Τύχη Εὔριπος.

Luck (is like) the Euripus Strait.

You can read about the Euripus Strait at Wikipedia: it is a narrow sea channel between the island of Euboea and mainland Greece, and it has extremely strong currents that change direction, back and forth, four times a day, making the waters extremely dangerous. Those shifting currents are what make the Euripus Strait like luck: sometimes good, sometimes bad, switching back and forth dangerously. The Wheel of Fortune is a similar metaphor, with her wheel that goes up and down. (Latin Fortuna is the equivalent of Greek Tyche, Τύχη.)

Ὄνος ἵππον μιμούμενος.

A donkey imitating a horse.

This saying refers to someone unworthy who claims honors that do not belong to them. Aesop has his own take on this comparison: he tells a fable about a donkey who envied a noble horse... until he saw the horse badly wounded in war. The donkey then decided that being a donkey is maybe not so bad! Here's that fable: The Donkey who Envied the Horse.

Μήτε νεῖν μήτε γράμματα.

Not (knowing how) to swim nor (knowing) letters.

This saying refers to someone who is completely ignorant: they have no practical skills, and they cannot read or write. From the root of Greek γράμμα we get gram- words in English like grammar and telegram.

Strait of Euripus

And here's a random proverb too:

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 8

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 92. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

κοινός ~ κοινοῦ (adj. neut.): common, shared 

ἄριστον ~ ἀρίστου (adj. neut.): best, finest 

γυμνός ~ γυμνοῦ (adj. masc.): naked, bare 

αἰτία ~ αἰτίας (adj. fem.): responsible, cause of 

πονηρός ~ πονηροῦ (adj. masc.): bad, worthless 

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

Ἑρμῆς κοινός.

Ἄριστον μὲν ὕδωρ.

Γυμνὸς ὡς ἐκ μήτρας.

Προπέτεια πολλοῖς ἐστιν αἰτία κακῶν.

Πονηρός ἐστι πᾶς ἀχάριστος ἄνθρωπος.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 092

And now, some commentary:

Ἑρμῆς κοινός.

Hermes is shared.

The god Hermes, Ἑρμῆς, is invoked here in the meaning of a "windfall," something that is acquired by pure luck, so the saying means that when you have acquired something by luck, it should be shared. The Greek word for "windfall" is ἕρμαιον, like the name of the god; compare the archaic English word godsend. The saying appears in a funny little poem from the Greek Anthology about a woman who finds her daughter with a lover and insists on sharing in her good luck: "Ἑρμῆς κοινός," ἔφη "θύγατερ."

Erasmus cites Lucian and Plutarch, along with a long fable from Aristides, in his commentary on the saying.

Ἄριστον μὲν ὕδωρ.

The best thing is water.

The words are from Pindar in his first Olympian ode:  "Water is best, and gold like a blazing fire in the night stands out supreme of all lordly wealth," ἄριστον μὲν ὕδωρ, ὁ δὲ χρυσὸς αἰθόμενον πῦρ / ἅτε διαπρέπει νυκτὶ μεγάνορος ἔξοχα πλούτου." Aristotle, who had a great interest in proverbs, discusses this saying in his Rhetoric. From the root of Greek ἄριστο- we get English aristocracy.

Γυμνὸς ὡς ἐκ μήτρας.

Naked as from the womb.

Compare the equivalent English saying, "As naked as the day he was born." The Greek phrase was used, metaphorically, to refer to someone who was as helpless as a baby. See also the Biblical Book of Job, αὐτὸς γυμνὸς ἐξῆλθον ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου γυμνὸς καὶ ἀπελεύσομαι ἐκεῖ, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither." From the root in Greek γυμνό- we get English gymnasium.

Προπέτεια πολλοῖς ἐστιν αἰτία κακῶν.

Hastiness often leads to disaster.

Literally: Hastiness for many is to blame for bad things. This is one of Menander's monostichs (one-liners); here is the meter marked:

Προπέτει|α πολ||λοῖς ἐσ|τιν αἰ||τία | κακῶν.

You can read the word αἰτία either as an adjective (feminine form of αἴτιος, which is how I would take it) or as a noun (αἰτία). Both the adjective and the noun are common words in ancient Greek. From αἰτι- we get English aetiology.

Πονηρός ἐστι πᾶς ἀχάριστος ἄνθρωπος.

Every person who shows no gratitude is worthless.

This is another one of Menander's monostichs, and it is also reported in this form: Πονηρός ἐστ’ ἄνθρωπος πᾶς τις ἀχάριστος. The word ἀχάριστος is an alpha-privative: ἀ-χάριστος, un-grateful.

Hermes

And here's a random proverb too:

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 7

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 91. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

ζήω ~ ζήσω ~ ἔζησα: be alive, live 

γελάω ~ γελάσω ~ ἐγέλασα: laugh 

διαλέγομαι ~ διαλέξομαι ~ διελεξάμην: speak with, talk 

ποιέω ~ ποιήσω ~ ἐποίησα: make, do 

φεύγω ~ φεύξομαι ~ ἔφυγον: flee, escape 

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

Ζῇ ἀεὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια.

Δακρυόεν γελάσασα.

Παρὰ κωφῷ διαλέγῃ.

Ὄνου οὐρὰ τηλίαν οὐ ποιεῖ.

Ὁ φεύγων μύλον ἄλφιτα φεύγει.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 091

And now, some commentary:

Ζῇ ἀεὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια.

The truth lives forever.

Compare the words of Socrates in Plato's Meno: ἀεὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια ἡμῖν τῶν ὄντων ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ, "the truth of those things that are is forever in our soul." The verb is ζήω or ζάω in its uncontracted form; its contracted form is ζῶ, and that is how it appears in the LSJ dictionary. From this root we get the zo- words in English like zoology and zodiac.

Παρὰ κωφῷ διαλέγῃ. 

You're discoursing with a deaf man.

The idea is that you are wasting your time; a deaf man cannot hear what you are saying. Compare this humorous variation reported by Erasmus: παρὰ κωφῷ ἀποπαρδεῖν, to let loose a fart in the presence of a deaf man. The idea here is that you are wasting your time in a similar way: you are insulting someone (the fart) but your insults are having no effect because he cannot hear you (the olfactory dimension presumably remains ha ha). From the same root in διαλέγω we get English words like dialogue and dialect.

Δακρυόεν γελάσασα.

In tears, smiling.

This proverbial phrase appears in Homer's Iliad, referring to Andromache; hence the feminine participle, γελάσασα. Hector has just placed their baby in Andromache's arms, and she smiles at him, but she is crying too. The word δακρυόεν is a neuter adjective being used adverbially: tearfully, in tears, through tears, etc. Hector then leaves for battle; he will not return alive. The Greek word δάκρυ is cognate with Latin lacrima and also with the English tear; the Indo-European root is dáḱru.

 

Ὄνου οὐρὰ τηλίαν οὐ ποιεῖ.

A donkey's tail can't make a sieve.

The Greek word τηλία has a wide range of meanings; I have translated it as sieve, following Erasmus, who explains that this saying has an implied comparison to the nobler horse: the hairs from a horse's tail could be used to make a sieve, but not the hairs from a donkey's tail. Thanks to Erasmus, this saying also made its way into English and also in German: "You cannot make a sieve of an ass's tail," Aus des Esels Wedel wird kein Sieb. Sieves continue to be made of horse-hair even now (just Google, and you'll see). From the root in Greek ποιέω we get English words like poetry and onomatopoeia.

Ὁ φεύγων μύλον ἄλφιτα φεύγει.

He who flees the mill, flees the flour.

There is an English equivalent of this saying: "No mill, no meal." As Erasmus explains, mills were noisy places, but you had to put up with the noise if you wanted your grain; in this case, it is barley flour. Erasmus then provides this misogynistic parallel: "Likewise, some men cannot stand their wives, although they do want children." Flour is the child of the mill! The Greek root μύλ- is cognate with English "meal,"

both coming from the Indo-European root melh₂-, meaning to grind or crush.

Andromache and Hector

And here's a random proverb too:

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Week 26: 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 25. I'm going to try embedding it here and see what happens; 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:

• Group #86
• Group #87
• Group #88
• Group #89
• Group #90

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 (all 450 so far!).

• Ἅλας ἄγων καθεύδεις.
  
• Ἄλλων ἰατρός, αὐτὸς ἕλκεσιν βρύων.
  
• Ἄνθρακες ὁ θησαυρός.
  
• Ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου μετάστηθι.
  
• Βουλὴ πονηρὰ χρηστὸν οὐκ ἔχει τέλος.
  
• Δίκαιος εἶναι μᾶλλον ἢ χρηστὸς θέλε.
  
• Ἐξ ἑνὸς πάνθ᾽ ὁρᾷν.
  
• Ἡ γλῶσσα πολλοὺς εἰς ὄλεθρον ἤγαγεν.
  
• Ἡφαίστειος δεσμός.
  
• Ἰδίας νόμιζε τῶν φίλων τὰς συμφοράς.
  
• Ἰχθὺν νήχεσθαι διδάσκεις.
  
• Κακὸν ἀναγκαῖον τὸ πείθεσθαι γαστρί.
  
• Κακοῦ κόρακος, κακὸν ᾠόν.
  
• Λῦπαι νόσους τίκτουσιν.
  
• Μὴ κίνει Καμάριναν.
  
• Νεκρὸν μυρίζεις.
  
• Νοῦς ἐστι πάντων ἡγεμὼν τῶν χρησίμων.
  
• Ὁ ἄφρων πληθύνει λόγους.
  
• Οἱ γὰρ κακοί, κακίους ἐπαινούμενοι.
  
• Οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ θεός.
  
• Πενίας βαρύτερον οὐδέν ἐστι φορτίον.
  
• Πρεσβύτερον σέβου.
  
• Σίδηρον πλεῖν διδάσκεις.
  
• Τὸ τεχνίον πᾶσα γαῖα τρέφει.
  
• Τὸν ἕτερον πόδα ἐν τῃ σορῷ ἔχων.
  

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 4

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 90. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

νεκρός ~ νεκροῦ (noun m.): corpse, dead man 

δεσμός ~ δεσμοῦ (noun m.): bond, knot

θησαυρός ~ θησαυροῦ (noun m.): treasure, store 

ἥλιος ~ ἡλίου (noun m.): sun 

λόγος ~ λόγου (noun m.): word, speech 

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

Νεκρὸν μυρίζεις.

Ἡφαίστειος δεσμός.

Ἄνθρακες ὁ θησαυρός.

Ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου μετάστηθι.

Ὁ ἄφρων πληθύνει λόγους.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 090

And now, some commentary:

Νεκρὸν μυρίζεις.

You're putting perfume on a corpse.

As Eramus explains, this saying refers to bestowing favors on someone who will never pay them back (the dead person cannot pay you back!). It can also be used when doing a favor too late (you should have done it to the live person!). From this Greek root, we get the necro- verbs in English, like necromancy.

Ἡφαίστειος δεσμός.

The Hephaestean bond.

Erasmus provides a very cool Latin version of the Greek: Vulcanium vinculum (Vulcan was the Roman name for the god Hephaestus). The saying alludes to the famous incident in the Iliad when Hephaestus forged a chain-link net to bind his wife Aphrodite in bed with her lover Ares; you can read about this story at Wikipedia: Hephaestus and Aphrodite.

Ἄνθρακες ὁ θησαυρός.

The treasure (turned out to be) charcoal.

The proverb refers to a supposed treasure that turned out to be worthless, and it's a shortened version of a saying you saw in an earlier blog post: Ἄνθρακες ὁ θησαυρὸς πέφηνεν. The word θησαυρός gives us English treasure and, yes, Greek ἄνθραξ does give us the English word anthrax, because one of the meanings of the Greek word is an abscess or boil that is dark or dark-red, like charcoal.

Ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου μετάστηθι.

Move out of the sunshine.

These are the words famously spoken by the Cynic philosopher Diogenes to Alexander the Great, as reported by Plutarch in his Life of Alexander. Alexander was curious to meet Diogenes and was eager to do him a favor. He found Diogenes lying in the sunshine; all Diogenes wanted from Alexander was for him to stop blocking his sunshine. This famous anecdote has its own Wikipedia article: Diogenes and Alexander.

Ὁ ἄφρων πληθύνει λόγους.

The fool multiplies his words. 

This is a saying from the Biblical Book of Ecclesiastes. This is just one of many sayings in Ecclesiastes denouncing the wordiness of fools; the Greek ἄφρων is an alpha-private compound: ἄ-φρων, without-mind, "witless, foolish." The wide range of meanings of λόγος in Greek gives his kind of saying an ironic undertone: the fools has plenty of words, but not necessarily of the logical persuasion. (And yes, I know, I sometimes write too much about these proverbs, but it's from enthusiasm, not foolishness, I promise!)

Diogenes and Alexander

And here's a random proverb too:

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 3

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 89. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

οὐδείς ~ οὐδενός (adj. masc.): nobody, no one 

ἕτερος ~  ἑτέρου (adj. masc.): other, another 

ἄλλος ~ ἄλλου (adj. masc.): other, another 

κακίων ~ κακίονος (adj. masc.): worse 

χρηστός ~ χρηστοῦ (adj. masc.): useful, good 

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

Οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ θεός.

Τὸν ἕτερον πόδα ἐν τῃ σορῷ ἔχων.

Ἄλλων ἰατρός, αὐτὸς ἕλκεσιν βρύων.

Οἱ γὰρ κακοί, κακίους ἐπαινούμενοι.

Δίκαιος εἶναι μᾶλλον ἢ χρηστὸς θέλε.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 089

And now, some commentary:

Οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ θεός.

No one is good except one, God.

The words are from the Gospel of Mark; it comes from a dialogue when someone has petitioned Jesus, addressing him as διδάσκαλε ἀγαθέ, "good teacher," and Jesus rebukes him with these words, saying that God alone is good. Notice the nice pairing of words which works the same in both Greek and English: οὐδ-εὶς, "no-one" and εἷς, "one."

Τὸν ἕτερον πόδα ἐν τῃ σορῷ ἔχων.

Having the other foot in the coffin.

In other words, one foot is still here among the living, but the other foot is already in the coffin; i.e. someone is as good as dead already. Compare the English saying, "having one foot in the grave." The phrase appears in Lucian, who marks it as proverbial with the word φασίν ("they say"): τὸν ἕτερον πόδα, φασίν, ἐν τῇ σορῷ ἔχων. Erasmus cites another variation on this saying, also from Lucian: τὸν ἕτερον πόδα ἐν τῷ πορθμείῳ ἔχοντα, "having the other foot already in the ferry-boat" (i.e. the ferry-boat of Charon, crossing the river Styx).

Ἄλλων ἰατρός, αὐτὸς ἕλκεσιν βρύων.

A doctor for others, himself covered with festering sores.

This is a "physician, heal thyself!" type of saying. Specifically, it is the punchline of an Aesop's fable in which the fox mocks the frog for claiming to be a doctor when the frog cannot cure his own skin disease. In some versions the fox mocks the frog not just for his skin but also for his hobbled way of walking, as you can see in these different English versions of the fable.

Οἱ γὰρ κακοί κακίους ἐπαινούμενοι.

Wicked people when praised become even more wicked.

The phrase comes from Philostratus's Life of Apollonius. A similar saying also appears in the so-called Sentences of Sextus, a Hellenistic collection of Greek aphorisms that was popular among Christian writers: κακοὶ κολακευόμενοι κακίους γίνονται, "the wicked, when flattered, become more wicked."

Δίκαιος εἶναι μᾶλλον ἢ χρηστὸς θέλε.

Strive to be righteous rather than useful.

Δίκαιος εἶναι μᾶλλον ἢ δοκεῖν θέλε.

Strive to be righteous rather than to seem (to be righteous).

This is one of the monostichs (one-liners) of Menander, and I am presenting it in two versions here because I am convinced that the second version, with δοκεῖν, is the correct version, even though it appears in none of the extant manuscripts. The usual version with χρηστὸς does not make a lot of sense, and it also has no elegance to it. The version with δοκεῖν is a more profound statement, contrasting being with seeming to be, and it also has a nice sound quality with δίκαιος ~ δοκεῖν. You can read an argument in defense of the emendation here: Further Thoughts on Menandri Sententiae by Vayos Liapis, who argues that χρηστὸς was originally a marginal gloss which then insinuated itself into the text itself, displacing δοκεῖν. So, the version you will find in all the modern editions of Menander does say "Δίκαιος εἶναι μᾶλλον ἢ χρηστὸς θέλε" — but I'm pretty sure if we could ask Menander he would say instead: Δίκαιος εἶναι μᾶλλον ἢ δοκεῖν θέλε.

Aesop's fable of the fox and the frog

And here's a random proverb too:

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 2

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 88. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

πρεσβύτερος ~ πρεσβυτέρου (adj. masc.): older, elder

κακός ~ κακοῦ (adj. masc.): bad, evil, wicked 

βαρύτερον ~ βαρυτέρου (adj. neut.): heavier 

ἰδία ~ ἰδίας (adj. fem.): one's own, private; peculiar 

χρήσιμον ~ χρησίμου (adj. neut.): useful 

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

Πρεσβύτερον σέβου.

Κακοῦ κόρακος, κακὸν ᾠόν.

Πενίας βαρύτερον οὐδέν ἐστι φορτίον.

Ἰδίας νόμιζε τῶν φίλων τὰς συμφοράς.

Νοῦς ἐστι πάντων ἡγεμὼν τῶν χρησίμων.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 088

And now, some commentary:

Πρεσβύτερον σέβου.

Respect the elder.

This admonition is attributed to Chilon of Sparta, one of the Seven Sages of ancient Greece, and it is included among the so-called Delphic maxims; you can find out more at Wikipedia. The word πρεσβύτερος is the comparative form of πρέσβυς, "old." You can see this Greek root in the English word "presbyterian," and it is also the origin of the word "priest."

Κακοῦ κόρακος κακὸν ᾠόν.

Bad egg of a bad crow.

Compare the English saying, "A chip off the old block," but with negative connotations. At Wikipedia, you can read a funny anecdote about the rhetorician Corax of Syracuse, whose name Κόραξ means crow; when Corax and a student who refused to pay his tuition got involved in a lawsuit, the judge got so angry at both of them that he threw them out of court, proclaiming "Κακοῦ κόρακος κακὸν ᾠόν," with Corax being the bad crow, κακός κόραξ, and his pupil being the bad egg, κακὸν ᾠόν. In his Natural History, Aelian reports the proverb, claiming that crow-fathers were notorious for eating their offspring.

Πενίας βαρύτερον οὐδέν ἐστι φορτίον.

No load is heavier than poverty.

The word βαρύτερον is a comparative form of the word βαρύ, "heavy," hence the genitive form πενίας: heavier than poverty. The noun φορτίον, a "load" or something you carry, is from the verb φέρω, "carry." From the Greek root in βαρύ we get words like baritone and barometer.

Ἰδίας νόμιζε τῶν φίλων τὰς συμφοράς.

Consider your friends' misfortunes as your own.

This is one of Menander's monostichs (one-liners):

Ἰδίας | νόμι||ζε τῶν | φίλων || τὰς συμ|φοράς.

From the Greek root ἰδί- we get the English word idiot; here's how that happened: ἴδιος, "personal, private, one's own," gave rise to the Greek word ἰδιώτης, meaning "a private citizen, layman, non-professional," i.e. someone without skilled knowledge, and hence English "idiot." For more about this etymology, see Wikipedia: Idiot. You can also see the same root in words like idiom and idiosyncrasy.

Νοῦς ἐστι πάντων ἡγεμὼν τῶν χρησίμων.

The mind is chief among all useful things.

In other words, the mind is the most useful thing of all! This is yet another of Menander's one-liners:

Νοῦς ἐσ|τι πάν||των ἡ|γεμὼν || τῶν χρη|σίμων.

The adjective χρήσιμον, "useful," is related to the verb χράομαι, to use, to make use of. From Greek ἡγεμὼν we get the English word hegemony.

The Seven Sages

And here's a random proverb too:

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