Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Nov. 14

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 104. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

σεαυτοῦ (pronoun): yourself (gen.) 

σεαυτόν (pronoun): yourself (acc.) 

ἀεὶ (adverb): always 

ἐπὶ (prep.+dat.): on, upon 

εἰς (prep.+acc.): to, into 

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

Ἄρχε σεαυτοῦ.

Σεαυτὸν αἰδοῦ.

Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται.

Ἐπὶ δυοῖν ἀγκυραῖν ὁρμεῖ.

Μὴ εἰς τὴν αὔριον ἀναβάλλου.

And now, some commentary:

Ἄρχε σεαυτοῦ.

Have control over yourself.

The verb ἄρχω takes a genitive complement: σεαυτοῦ. This is one of the maxims of the Seven Sages as recorded by Stobaeus; find out more at Wikipedia: Delphic Maxims.

Σεαυτὸν αἰδοῦ.

Have respect for yourself.

Here you see the pronoun in accusative form; compare the genitive form in the previous item (as a reflexive pronoun agreeing with the subject of the main verb, it has no nominative case). The form αἰδοῦ is a middle imperative from the verb αἰδέομαι. It can mean "feel shame," but especially when it takes a direct object, as here, it has the sense of "feel fear, awe," and thus to venerate or respect. The noun αἰδώς also covers that same range of meaning, from shame and fear to awe and respect.

Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται.

Cretans are always liars. 

From the same root in Greek ψεῦστ- we get the pseud- words in English, like pseudonym. This saying is related to the famous paradox associated with the philosopher Epimenides: Epimenides was a Cretan who said: "All Cretans are liars." You can find out more at Wikipedia: Epimenides Paradox. The fact that the statement uses a noun, ψεῦσται, instead of a verb offers one way to escape the paradox: even if Cretans are always liars, i.e. they do tell lies, it does not mean they are always lying, i.e. telling a lie whenever they speak.

Ἐπὶ δυοῖν ἀγκυραῖν ὁρμεῖ.

He is moored upon two anchors.

You can see the dual number here: δυοῖν ἀγκυραῖν; the plural would be ἀγκύραις. As Erasmus explains, this saying refers to something especially stable and secure because you have cast one anchor from the prow and one from the stern. Note these two similar verbs with quite opposite meanings: ὁρμέω, to be moored or lie at anchor, as in this saying, from the noun ὅρμος, a chain or collar, also a harbor or haven, as opposed to ὁρμάω, to set in motion or rush, from the noun ὁρμή, an assault or rush, also violence, appetite (which gives us English hormone). And yes, we get English anchor from the Greek ἄγκυρα.

Μὴ εἰς τὴν αὔριον ἀναβάλλου.

Don't postpone until tomorrow.

Like αἰδοῦ above, ἀναβάλλου here is a middle imperative (hence the negating μή). The word αὔριον, which means "tomorrow" (more specifically, at dawn tomorrow) is technically an adverb but it often functions like a feminine noun (i.e. ἡμέρα), hence the prepositional phrase: εἰς τὴν αὔριον.

Epimenides of Crete

And here's a random proverb too:

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