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
Ζῇ ἀεὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια.
Δακρυόεν γελάσασα.
Παρὰ κωφῷ διαλέγῃ.
Ὄνου οὐρὰ τηλίαν οὐ ποιεῖ.
Ὁ φεύγων μύλον ἄλφιτα φεύγει.
And now, some commentary:
Andromache and Hector
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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