Tuesday, October 8, 2024

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.

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.



And here's a random proverb too:



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