Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Nov. 25

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 111. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

σοφία ~ σοφίας (noun f.): wisdom 

καρδία ~ καρδίας (noun f.): heart, mind 

χώρα ~ χώρᾱς (noun f.): land, country 

ψυχή ~ ψυχῆς (noun f.): soul, life 

νίκη ~ νίκης (noun f.): victory 

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

Σοφίαν ζήλου.

Καρδία ἐλάφου.

Ἕπου χώρας τρόποις.

Ψυχῆς εἴδωλον ὁ λόγος.

Νίκη δ᾽ ἐπαμείβεται ἄνδρας.

And now, some commentary:

Σοφίαν ζήλου.

Strive for wisdom.

This is one of the sayings attributed by Stobaeus to the Seven Sages. The verb ζήλου is a middle imperative from the verb ζηλόω, and like many middle verbs it can take a direct object: σοφίαν. From that same root we get both English zealous and jealous. For more about the goddess of wisdom, see Wikipedia: Sophia.

Καρδία ἐλάφου.

The heart of a deer.

This is a saying indicating cowardice, and the words were famously used by Achilles when he taunted Agamemnon in the opening book of the Iliad: "οἰνοβαρές, κυνὸς ὄμματ᾽ ἔχων, κραδίην δ᾽ ἐλάφοιο," "weighed down with wine, having the face of a dog but the heart of a deer," where κραδίη ἐλάφοιο is the Homeric form of καρδία ἐλάφου. Here is the meter marked:

"οἰνοβα~ρές, κυνὸς ὄμματ᾽ ἔ~χων, κραδί~ην δ᾽ ἐλά~φοιο

There is an Aesop's fable about the proverbial cowardice of the deer.

Ἕπου χώρας τρόποις.

Follow the customs of the country.

Compare the English saying "when in Rome, do as the Romans do." The verb ἕπου is another middle imperative, and the verb takes a dative complement: τρόποις. Greek τρόπος gives us English "trope." The Greek word χώρα has an uncertain etymology; the "chor-" words in English like chorus and choreography come from Greek χορός, "dance" (note the omicron), not χώρα (omega).

Ψυχῆς εἴδωλον ὁ λόγος.

Speech is the image of the soul.

The word εἴδωλον can mean a phantom, but it also means any sort of insubstantial image, like an image reflected in a mirror, which is the idea here. The word is derived from the noun εἶδος, which means an image or form (Platonic "form"), from the IE root weyd- meaning "see" (as also in Latin video). From Greek ψυχή we get "psychology" and all the other "psych-" words, and from εἴδωλον we get the word "idol."

Νίκη δ᾽ ἐπαμείβεται ἄνδρας.

Victory alternates between men.

This is another saying from Homer's Iliad. Paris speaks the words to Hector when Hector rebukes him for being a coward. Literally, Nike, the goddess of victory, "barters" men, exchanging one for another; see the uncompounded verb ἀμείβω in the LSJ for the range of meaning. For more about the goddess of Victory, see Wikipedia: Nike.

Nike

And here's a random proverb too:

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