Aesop's Fables 2

Here are some more fables to start your New Year! These also come from Anthon's Greek Reader of 1844. You can click on the title of each story to access the notes in the book for that story, and it has a dictionary in the back.

4. Γεωργὸς καὶ ὄφις

Γεωργὸς χειμῶνος ὥρᾳ ὄφιν εὑρὼν ὑπὸ κρύους πεπηγότα, τοῦτον λαβὼν ὑπὸ κόλπον κατἔθετο. Θερμανθεὶς δὲ ἐκεῖνος καὶ ἀναλαβὼν τὴν ἰδίαν φύσιν, ἔπληξε τὸν εὐεργέτην.

Γεωργὸς 

χειμῶνος ὥρᾳ 

ὄφιν εὑρὼν 

ὑπὸ κρύους πεπηγότα, 

τοῦτον λαβὼν 

ὑπὸ κόλπον κατἔθετο. 

Θερμανθεὶς δὲ ἐκεῖνος 

καὶ ἀναλαβὼν τὴν ἰδίαν φύσιν, 

ἔπληξε τὸν εὐεργέτην.

Χειμῶνος ὥρᾳ  ...  during winter time, 

γεωργὸς  ...  a farmer, 

εὑρὼν ὄφιν  ...  having found a snake 

πεπηγότα ὑπὸ κρύους  ...  stiffened by the frost, 

λαβὼν  ...  [and] having seized him, 

κατἔθετο τοῦτον  ...  put him 

ὑπὸ κόλπον  ...  into the fold [of his cloak]. 

 Ἐκεῖνος δὲ  ...  and he [the snake], 

θερμανθεὶς  ...  having been warmed 

καὶ ἀναλαβὼν  ...  and having recovered 

τὴν ἰδίαν φύσιν  ...  his own nature, 

ἔπληξε τὸν εὐεργέτην  ...  struck his benefactor.

Farmer and Snake

5. Ἀλώπηξ καὶ βότρυες 

Βότρυας πεπείρους ἀλώπηξ κρεμαμένους ἰδοῦσα, τούτους ἐπειρᾶτο καταφαγεῖν. Πολλὰ δὲ καμοῦσα καὶ μὴ δυνηθεῖσα ψαῦσαι, τὴν λύπην παραμυθουμένη ἔλεγεν· Ὄμφακες ἔτι εἰσίν.

Βότρυας πεπείρους 

ἀλώπηξ 

κρεμαμένους ἰδοῦσα, 

τούτους ἐπειρᾶτο καταφαγεῖν. 

Πολλὰ δὲ καμοῦσα 

καὶ μὴ δυνηθεῖσα ψαῦσαι, 

τὴν λύπην παραμυθουμένη 

ἔλεγεν·

"Ὄμφακες ἔτι εἰσίν."

Ἀλώπηξ  ...  a fox, 

ἰδοῦσα   ...  having seen 

βότρυας πεπείρους   ...  some ripe grapes 

κρεμαμένους   ...  hanging down, 

ἐπειρᾶτο τούτους καταφαγεῖν   ...  tried to devour them. 

Καμοῦσα δὲ πολλὰ   ...  But having worked hard 

καὶ μὴ δυνηθεῖσα ψαῦσαι   ...  and not being able to touch [them], 

ἔλεγεν   ...  she said, 

παραμυθουμένη τὴν λύπην   ...  comforting her disappointment, 

"εἰσίν ἔτι όμφακες   ...  they are still unripe."

Fox and Grapes

6. Ἔριφος καὶ λύκος

Ἔριφος ἐπί τινος δώματος ἑστὼς, ἐπειδὴ λύκον παριόντα εἶδεν, ἐλοιδόρει καὶ ἔσκωπτεν αὐτόν. Ὁ δὲ λύκος ἔφη· ὦ οὗτος, οὐ σύ με λοιδορεῖς, ἀλλ᾿ ὁ τόπος.

Ἔριφος
ἐπί τινος δώματος
ἑστὼς,
ἐπειδὴ
λύκον παριόντα
εἶδεν,
ἐλοιδόρει
καὶ ἔσκωπτεν αὐτόν.
Ὁ δὲ λύκος ἔφη·
"ὦ οὗτος,
οὐ σύ με λοιδορεῖς,

ἀλλ᾿ ὁ τόπος."

Ἔριφος ... a kid,
ἑστὼς ἐπί τινος δώματος ... having stood upon a rooftop,
ἐπειδὴ εἶδεν λύκον ... when he saw a wolf
παριόντα ... passing by,
ἐλοιδόρει ... he insulted
καὶ ἔσκωπτεν αὐτόν ... and mocked him.
Ὁ δὲ λύκος ἔφη ... and the wolf said,
"ὦ οὗτος ... you so-and-so;
οὐ σύ με λοιδορεῖς ... it is not you insulting me,
ἀλλ᾿ ὁ τόπος ... but your position."

Kid and Wolf

And here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too :

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Greek Proverb Review: December 31

I hope you enjoyed the little stories yesterday! For today, I've created a new review slideshow for Groups 116, 117, and 118. Here's the post with the details about how the slideshows work, and there's a random cat at the bottom of the post! Plus more cats.

The slideshow is embedded in the blog post, and you can also access today's slideshow directly, full-sized view. And remember: each time you see the English translation on a slide, you can click to access the original blog post with the notes for each proverb.

These are the proverbs, linked back to their blog posts:

• Αἰσώπειον αἷμα.
  
• Ἅπαντα τοῖς σοφοῖσιν εὔκολα.
  
• Ἅπας μὲν αἰθὴρ αἰετῷ περάσιμος.
  
• Ἀπώλεσας τὸν οἶνον ἐπιχέας ὕδωρ.
  
• Ἀρχὴ ἄνδρα δείκνυσιν.
  
• Βοιώτιος νοῦς.
  
• Γλῶτταν ἴσχε.
  
• Δεύτερος πλοῦς.
  
• Δωδωναῖον χαλκεῖον.
  
• Εἰς ὕδωρ σπείρεις.
  
• Ἰσχύς μου ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ λαοῦ.
  
• Νόμος ὁ πάντων βασιλεύς.
  
• Οὐκ ἔστιν εὖ ἄρξειν μὴ ἀρχθέντα.
  
• Τέχνῃ χρῶ.
  
• Φρόνει θνητά.

And here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too :

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Aesop's Fables 1: December 30

For the New Year, I'm reviving a new project here. As you may have noticed, this blog was originally intended for materials from old Greek textbooks for beginning students. I started that project because there is a lack of easy Greek to read. Most contemporary Greek textbooks rush into presenting students with really hard classical authors instead of easy-to-read stories. In the past, however, there was not such a rush. Students began learning Greek at a younger age, which meant they had time to develop their skills over many years, unlike the breakneck pace of college Greek classes nowadays, where students might spend just a few semesters studying Greek.

I got happily sidetracked into the Greek proverb project, but in 2025 I want to get back to the original project of collecting easy-to-read Greek stories from the old textbooks, alternating story posts with proverb posts. So, each week there will be story posts for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and proverb posts on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, with a round-up on Sundays.

I'll start with Aesop's fables, then move on to the jokes from the Philogelos, and then do some mythology. The Aesop's fables are very short, so I'll be able to include 3 of them in each post. 

So, below you will find the first 3 Aesop's fables. These happen to come from Anthon's Greek Reader, published in 1844, which has notes for each story and a complete dictionary in the back of the book. You can use the linked titles below to access the notes for each story.

As you'll see, I present the story in normal Greek prose, then segmented, and then with an interwoven English translation. I hope this will make it easy to use the stories on your own, and without too much recourse to a dictionary, unless of course you are curious about the etymology or the specific meaning of a particular Greek word beyond what I've suggested in my translation. Enjoy!

Λύκος καὶ ποιμένες 

Λύκος, ἰδὼν ποιμένας ἐσθίοντας ἐν σκηνῇ πρόβατον,  ἐγγὺς προσελθὼν, ἡλίκος ἔφη ἂν ἦν θόρυβος, εἰ ἐγὼ τοῦτο ἐποίουν.

Λύκος 

ἰδὼν ποιμένας 

ἐσθίοντας ἐν σκηνῇ πρόβατον, 

ἐγγὺς προσελθὼν 

ἡλίκος (ἔφη) ἂν ἦν θόρυβος, 

εἰ ἐγὼ τοῦτο ἐποίουν.

Λύκος  ...  a wolf, 

ἰδὼν ποιμένας  ...  having seen shepherds 

ἐν σκηνῇ  ...  in their tent 

ἐσθίοντας πρόβατον  ...  eating a sheep, 

προσελθὼν ἐγγὺς  ...  having drawn near, 

ἔφη  ...  said, 

"ἡλίκος θόρυβος  ...  how great an uproar 

ἂν ἦν  ...  there would be 

εἰ ἐγὼ ἐποίουν τοῦτο  ...  if I did that."

The Wolf and the Shepherds

Λέαινα καὶ ἀλώπηξ

Λέαινα, ὀνειδιζομένη ὑπὸ ἀλώπεκος ἐπὶ τὸ διὰ παντὸς ἕνα τίκτειν, ἕνα, ἔφη, ἀλλὰ λέοντα.

Λέαινα, 

ὀνειδιζομένη ὑπὸ ἀλώπεκος

ἐπὶ τὸ ἕνα τίκτειν

διὰ παντὸς [χρόνου],

"ἕνα (ἔφη), ἀλλὰ λέοντα."

Λέαινα  ...  a lioness, 

ὀνειδιζομένη ὑπὸ ἀλώπεκος  ...  chided by a fox 

ἐπὶ τὸ τίκτειν  ...  for giving birth to 

ἕνα  ...  one [cub only] 

διὰ παντὸς  ...  every time, 

ἔφη  ...  said, 

"ἕνα  ...  one, 

ἀλλὰ λέοντα  ...  but [that one is] a lion."

The Lioness and the Fox

Κώνωψ καὶ βοῦς

Κώνωψ επί κέρατος βοὸς εκαθέσθη καὶ ηὔλει· εἶπε δὲ πρὸς τὸν βοῦν, εἰ βαρῶ σου τὸν τένοντα, ἀναχωρήσω. Ὁ δὲ ἔφη, οὔτε ὅτε ἥλθες ἔγνων, οὔτε ἐὰν μένῃς, μελήσει μοι.

Κώνωψ 

επί κέρατος βοὸς 

εκαθέσθη 

καὶ ηὔλει· 

εἶπε δὲ 

πρὸς τὸν βοῦν, 

"εἰ βαρῶ 

σου τὸν τένοντα, 

ἀναχωρήσω."

Ὁ δὲ ἔφη, 

"οὔτε ὅτε ἥλθες 

ἔγνων, 

οὔτε ἐὰν μένῃς, 

μελήσει μοι."

Κώνωψ εκαθέσθη  ...  a gnat settled down 

επί κέρατος βοὸς  ...  on the horn of an ox 

καὶ ηὔλει  ...  and played his pipe; 

εἶπε δὲ πρὸς τὸν βοῦν  ...  then he said to the ox, 

"εἰ βαρῶ  ...  If I am weighing down 

σου τὸν τένοντα  ...  your neck-tendon, 

ἀναχωρήσω  ...  I will go away." 

Ὁ δὲ ἔφη  ...  and the ox said, 

"οὔτε ἔγνων  ...  I didn't notice 

ὅτε ἥλθες  ...  when you arived, 

οὔτε μελήσει μοι  ...  nor will it matter to me 

ἐὰν μένῃς  ...  if you stay."

The Gnat and the Ox

And here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too :

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Daily Greek Proverb Review: Dec. 28

I've created a new review slideshow for Groups 113, 114, and 115. Here's the post with the details about how the slideshows work. And I've created some more LOLCats; there are now 87 of them! More about the cats.

The slideshow is embedded in the blog post, and you can also access today's slideshow directly, full-sized view. I hope you will enjoy this method of reviewing the proverbs. And remember: each time you see the English translation on a slide, you can click to access the original blog post with the notes for each proverb.

These are the proverbs, linked back to their blog posts:

• Ἀετὸς μυίας οὐ θηρεύει.
  
• Ἀντὶ πέρκης σκορπίον.
  
• Ἁπλῶς διαλέγου.
  
• Εἰδὼς σίγα.
  
• Ἔρρει τὰ καλά.
  
• Ἡδύ γε σιωπᾶν ἢ λαλεῖν, ἃ μὴ πρέπει.
  
• Κακὰ κέρδεα ἶσ' ἀάτῃσιν.
  
• Κατόπιν ἑορτῆς ἥκεις.
  
• Κενὰ κενοὶ βουλεύονται.
  
• Νόμῳ πείθου.
  
• Ὃ ἂν μὴ ἴδῃς μὴ λέγε.
  
• Οὖτις ἐμοί γ' ὄνομα.
  
• Πόνος ὁ μὴ φοβῶν κράτιστος.
  
• Ταῦτα θεῶν ἐν γούνασι κεῖται.
  
• Φίλοις εὐνόει.
  

And here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too :

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Daily Greek Proverb Review: Dec. 27

Continuing this two-week review, I'm creating slideshows for self-paced review; today's slideshow is for Groups 110, 111, and 112. Here's the post with the details about how the slideshows work.

The slideshow is embedded in the blog post, and you can also access today's slideshow directly, full-sized view. I hope you will enjoy this method of reviewing the proverbs. And remember: each time you see the English translation on a slide, you can click to access the original blog post with the notes for each proverb.

These are the proverbs, linked back to their blog posts:

• Ἀδύνατα θηρᾷς.
  
• Αἰγιαλῷ λαλεῖς.
  
• Ἄιδεις ὥσπερ εἰς Δῆλον πλέων.
  
• Ἁπλῶς διαλέγου.
  
• Γῆρας λέοντος κρεῖττον ἀκμαίων νεβρῶν.
  
• Δίκαιος εἶναι μᾶλλον ἢ δοκεῖν θέλε.
  
• Εἰδὼς σίγα.
  
• Ἕπου χώρας τρόποις.
  
• Ἔρρει τὰ καλά.
  
• Καρδία ἐλάφου.
  
• Νίκη δ᾽ ἐπαμείβεται ἄνδρας.
  
• Πᾶς γὰρ τὸ οἰκεῖον ἔργον ἀγαπᾷ.
  
• Πολλοὶ βουκένται, παῦροι δέ τε γῆς ἀροτῆρες.
  
• Πρᾶττε δίκαια.
  
• Ψυχῆς εἴδωλον ὁ λόγος.
  

And here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too :

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Daily Greek Proverb Review: Dec. 26

Continuing this two-week review, I'm creating slideshows for self-paced review; today's slideshow is for Groups 107, 108, and 109. Here's the post with the details about how the slideshows work.

The slideshow is embedded in the blog post, and you can also access today's slideshow directly, full-sized view. I hope you will enjoy this method of reviewing the proverbs. And remember: each time you see the English translation on a slide, you can click to access the original blog post with the notes for each proverb.

These are the proverbs, linked back to their blog posts:

• Ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν.
  
• Ἀγέλαστος πέτρα.
  
• Δῶρα πείθειν καὶ θεοὺς λόγος.
  
• Εἰ μὴ δύναιο βοῦν, ἔλαυνε ὄνον.
  
• Εὔχου δυνατά.
  
• Καιρὸς ψυχὴ πράγματος.
  
• Κύριε, ἐλέησον.
  
• Μᾶλλον ὁ Φρύξ.
  
• Μὴ κρίνετε, καὶ οὐ μὴ κριθῆτε.
  
• Ὃ γέγραφα γέγραφα.
  
• Οὐδὲν γλύκιον ἧς πατρίδος.
  
• Πλούτει δικαίως.
  
• Σοφίαν ζήλου.
  
• Τίς γὰρ κατόπτρῳ καὶ τυφλῷ κοινωνία;
  
• Χρόνου φείδου.
  

And here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too :

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Merry Christmas: Greek LOLCats

Here is a Christmas present for all of you learning Greek: Greek LOLCats! I've never made Greek LOLCats before, but I was making Latin LOLCats for the new Latin course, and I decided to try making some Greek LOLCats... and it worked! 

So, below you will see a random Greek LOLCat; the cats appear at random each time the page loads. There is also a random LOLCat in the sidebar of every blog post. There are over 70 cats in there right now, and each cat is linked to the blog post where that Greek saying appears with the English translation and notes. Enjoy! And Merry Christmas, everybody!

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This javascript will work in a blog or website that allows you to add javascript (like Blogger); you will need 400 pixels width for the images to display properly.

<div align="center"><script type="text/javascript"> var display = " " </script><script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.lauragibbs.net/audio/greek/widgets/greekcats.js"></script></div>

Daily Greek Proverb Review: Dec. 24

As part of this two-week review, I'm creating slideshows to use for self-paced review; today's slideshow is for Groups 104, 105, and 106. Here's the post with the details about how the slideshows work.

The slideshow is embedded in the blog post, and you can also access today's slideshow directly, full-sized view. I hope you will enjoy this method of reviewing the proverbs. And remember: each time you see the English translation on a slide, you can click to access the original blog post with the notes for each proverb.

These are the proverbs, linked back to their blog posts:

• Ἀλύπως βίου.
  
• Ἄμμον μετρεῖς.
  
• Βουλῆς γὰρ ὀρθῆς οὐδὲν ἀσφαλέστερον.
  
• Ἐπὶ δυοῖν ἀγκυραῖν ὁρμεῖ.
  
• Ζεὺς πάντων ἐφορᾷ τέλος.
  
• Κακίαν μίσει.
  
• Κακὸν δῶρον ἴσον ζημίᾳ.
  
• Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται.
  
• Κρῖνε δίκαια.
  
• Μὴ εἰς τὴν αὔριον ἀναβάλλου.
  
• Νοῦν ἡγεμόνα ποιοῦ.
  
• Οἶκος φίλος, οἶκος ἄριστος.
  
• Σεαυτὸν αἰδοῦ.
  
• Στιγμὴ χρόνου πᾶς ἐστιν ὁ βίος.
  
• Τέλος ὅρα μακροῦ βίου.

And here's a random proverb too:

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Daily Greek Proverb Review: Dec. 23

Someone filled out the Latin email subscription form with the email field blank, which means I can't send you the Latin emails. So, if you didn't get a Latin email yesterday or today, that means you are not on the list; just use the form again. I edited the form so an email address is required. Hopefully that will prevent this email snafu in future. :-)

For the next two weeks, we'll be reviewing the vocabulary and proverbs from the past 6 weeks. A friend asked me to find a way to integrate practicing the actual vocabulary forms and English definitions into the review, and I think I have found a way to do that. I'm using a Slideshow! Slideshows are a great way to quiz because it gives you control, allowing you to move forward or backwards based on what you need to repeat.

So, I've made a slideshow which reviews 15 of the proverbs, and the vocabulary is part of the review. The 15 proverbs are divided into 3 sets. Each set starts with 5 slides to read and review... and remember: READ OUT LOUD. Reading out loud is the only way to learn the Greek stress patterns! Then, there are slides with blanks you can use to quiz yourself. You quiz yourself by writing down your answers or filling in the blanks orally. Each proverb has two slides with blanks so you can quiz yourself on both halves of each proverb. 

I hope this Slideshow will help you to do the kind of review that is best for you:

• You can quiz yourself just on the vocabulary.
• You can quiz yourself just on the proverbs.
• Or you can quiz yourself on both!

Also, I'm a big believer in flashcards. You could use this slideshow to prompt you to make flashcards for the proverbs if you have not done that already.

• For vocabulary cards, put the dictionary form and part of speech on one side, and then put the additional forms of the word and English definition on the other side; that way you can quiz yourself both on the forms and on the definitions.
• For proverb cards, divide the proverb in half (almost every proverb has a good halfway point), and write one half on one side and the other half on the other side; that way you can quiz yourself without any English — just Greek!

There are some more tips and suggestions in the Slideshow; here is a link to the Slideshow, and here is a link so you can make a copy of the Slideshow for yourself. If you have your own copy, you can delete cards as you complete them, creating new decks of the proverbs you like best, want to review, etc. etc.

And here's a random proverb too:

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Week 37 Proverb and Vocabulary Review

Review Padlet. Here's a link to 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.

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. You can also access all the Padlets here: Padlet-of-Padlets.

Alphabetical Index. Plus 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 (there are now 640 total).

• Ἄδακρυς πόλεμος.
  
• Ἀδελφὸς ἀνδρὶ παρείη.
  
• Ἀεὶ γὰρ εὖ πίπτουσιν οἱ Διὸς κύβοι.
  
• Ἀνδρῶν ἡρώων τέκνα πήματα.
  
• Ἄνευ ξύλου μὴ βάδιζε.
  
• Ἀνεῳγμέναι Μουσῶν θύραι.
  
• Ἄνω κάτω πάντα.
  
• Ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός.
  
• Ἀφ' Ἑστίας ἀρχόμενοι.
  
• Δικαίως κτῶ.
  
• Ἐπ' ἀμφότερα καθεύδεις τὰ ὦτα.
  
• Ἐπαίνει ἀρετήν.
  
• Θάλαττα, θάλαττα.
  
• Κακὰ πλεῖστα πόλει δυσνομία παρέχει.
  
• Μὴ ἴσθι ὡς λέων ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ σου.
  
• Ὅν οἱ θεοὶ φιλοῦσιν ἀποθνῄσκει νέος.
  
• Οὐδὲν γίγνεται ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος.
  
• Πενία δὲ τὴν σοφίαν ἔλαχε.
  
• Ῥήματα ἀντί ἀλφίτων.
  
• Σίδηρον πλεῖν διδάσκεις.
  
• Σύροι πρὸς Φοίνικας.
  
• Τὸ Ἱππάρχου τειχίον.
  
• Τύχην νόμιζε.
  
• Ὑφορῶ μηδένα.
  
• Χρυσὸς ὁ ἀφανὴς τύραννος.
  

Audio. If you would like to do some listening, there is audio for Proverbs 1-500.

And here's a random proverb too:

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Dec. 20

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 130. These are proverbs you may have seen before (weeks ago), but this time I am featuring different vocabulary items. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

μηχανή ~ μηχανῆς (noun f.): device, machine 

σίδηρος ~ σιδήρου (noun m.): iron; sword 

τύραννος ~ τυράννου (noun m.): tyrant, despot

θύρα ~ θύρας (noun f.): door 

τέκνον ~ τέκνου (noun n.): child 

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

Ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός.

Σίδηρον πλεῖν διδάσκεις. 

Χρυσὸς ὁ ἀφανὴς τύραννος.

Ἀνεῳγμέναι Μουσῶν θύραι.

Ἀνδρῶν ἡρώων τέκνα πήματα.

And now, some commentary:

Ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός.
God from the machine.
This is better known in its Latin form: Deus ex machina. The machine in question is the crane used in ancient Greek theater to lower a god onto the stage, and the phrase refers to some unexpected event; find out more at Wikipedia: Deus ex machina. From Greek μηχανή we get English mechanical, and also (via Latin) machine.

Σίδηρον πλεῖν διδάσκεις.
You're teaching iron to float.
This is a proverbial fool's errand: iron is never going to float. At least, that's what the Greeks thought about iron. Later on, of course, iron did learn to float! You can read about the history of iron-hulled sailing ships at Wikipedia.

Χρυσὸς ὁ ἀφανὴς τύραννος.
Gold is the invisible tyrant.
The adjective ἀφανὴς is an alpha-privative: ἀ-φανὴς, in-visible. From Greek τύραννος, we get English "tyrant." The etymology of the Greek word is obscure; here are some possible etymologies.

Ἀνεῳγμέναι Μουσῶν θύραι.
The doors of the Muses (are) open.
In other words: everyone has access to the arts; it is not a private privilege. The Greek θύρα is from the Indo-European root dʰwer, making it cognate with English "door." From Greek Μοῦσα we get English museum and music. You can find out more about the Μοῦσαι at Wikipedia: Muses.

Ἄνδρῶν ἡρώων τέκνα πήματα.
The children of heroes (are) calamities.
In other words, you cannot predict the quality of a person based on who their fathers are; heroes' children do not always turn out to be heroes — sometimes just the opposite. Erasmus includes this saying in his Adagia.

Muses

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Dec. 19

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 129. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

δικαίως (adverb): lawfully, justly 

κάτω (adverb): downards, below 

πρός (prep.+acc.): towards, beside 

τό ~ τοῦ (article): the 

ἀπό (prep.+gen.): from 

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

Δικαίως κτῶ.

Ἄνω κάτω πάντα.

Σύροι πρὸς Φοίνικας.

Τὸ Ἱππάρχου τειχίον.

Ἀφ' Ἑστίας ἀρχόμενοι.

And now, some commentary:

Δικαίως κτῶ.

Acquire possessions rightfully.

The word κτῶ is a middle imperative from the verb κτάομαι (it looks especially weird because the word has only one syllable; hence the circumflex). The adverb δικαίως is formed from the adjective δίκαιος which is in turn formed from the noun δίκη meaning order or justice. For the goddess of Justice, see Wikipedia: Dike.

Ἄνω κάτω πάντα.

Everything is topsy-turvy.

You have two adverbs here: ἄνω, meaning "upwards," and κάτω, meaning "downwards." Those words are already familiar to you from their prepositional forms, ἀνά and κατά. This was a popular phrase in ancient Greek; you can see it used here in Demosthenes's speech Against Aristogiton.

Σύροι πρὸς Φοίνικας.

Syrians versus Phoenicians.

As ethnic stereotypes in ancient Greece, both Syrians and Phoenicians had the reputation of being cheats and swindlers, so this saying referred to one gang of swindlers trying to cheat another gang. The preposition πρὸς plus the accusative can mean simply direction "towards" but it can also have the hostile sense of "against," which is the meaning here.

Τὸ Ἱππάρχου τειχίον.

The wall of Hipparchus.

Hipparchus, one of the tyrants of Athens (he was the son of Pisistratus), built a wall and a public gymnasium on the Academy grounds in Athens at great cost, and then forced the Athenians to reimburse him. This saying thus referred to any lavish or expensive project. For more about the tyrant Hipparchus, see Wikipedia: Hipparchus. (Note: this is not Hipparchus the mathematician.) Probably the most famous story about Hipparchus is his assassination by the lovers Harmodius and Aristogeiton.

Ἀφ' Ἑστίας ἀρχόμενοι.

Beginning with Hestia.

The preposition ἀπό drops its final vowel before the following vowel, and the aspiration of Ἑστία changes the pi to phi. This saying refers to the appropriate order in which to do things (compare English "begin at the beginning"), based on the fact that sacrifices to the gods began with a sacrifice to Hestia, the goddess of the hearth; honoring Hestia was honoring the fire of the sacrifice itself. You can find out more about Hestia at Wikipedia.

Hestia

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Dec. 18

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 128. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

μηδείς ~ μηδενός (adj. masc.): none, nothing (μη) 

ἀμφότερον ~ ἀμφοτέρου (adj. neut.): both of two; either 

οὐδέν ~ οὐδενός (adj. neut.): none, nothing

νέος ~ νέου (adj. masc.): young, new 

πλεῖστον ~ πλείστου (adj. neut.): the most, very many 

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

Ὑφορῶ μηδένα.

Ἐπ' ἀμφότερα καθεύδεις τὰ ὦτα.

Οὐδὲν γίγνεται ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος.

Ὅν οἱ θεοὶ φιλοῦσιν ἀποθνῄσκει νέος.

Κακὰ πλεῖστα πόλει δυσνομία παρέχει.

And now, some commentary:

Ὑφορῶ μηδένα.

Do not regard anyone with suspicion.

The verb ὑφοράω is a compound of οράω: ὑπο+ὁράω (the vowel drops, and the aspiration changes the pi to phi). Literally, it means to look at from below, but metaphorically it means to look at someone with suspicion or jealousy, which is the meaning here. Because it is an imperative, it takes the form μηδένα rather than the form οὐδένα that is used with indicative verbs. This is another of the maxims attributed by Stobaeus to the Seven Sages.

Ἐπ' ἀμφότερα καθεύδεις τὰ ὦτα.

You're sleeping on both ears.

This means to be sleeping deeply; compare the English saying "to sleep like a log." The idea is that you are in such a comfortable and secure situation that you don't need to keep an ear open for danger while you sleep. The Greek determiner ἄμφω means "both," and the adjective ἀμφότερος means "each of two, both." You can see this root in amphitheater. 

Οὐδὲν γίγνεται ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος.

Nothing can come from that which is not.

This is a saying of the philosopher Epicurus, who maintained that for creation to take place, there must be pre-existing matter. You can also find the idea stated thus: οὐδὲν ἐξ οὐδενός. For a discussion of this topic, see the Wikipedia articles: Creatio ex materia and the opposing view: Creatio ex nihilo, which affirms that matter did not pre-exist God, who indeed created something from nothing.

Κακὰ πλεῖστα πόλει δυσνομία παρέχει.

Bad laws produce the most evils for a city.

The adjective πλεῖστον is the superlative form of πολύ. The noun δυσνομία is a compound, δυσ-νομία, meaning bad governance, bad laws, or lawlessness. This is one of the sayings attributed to Solon. This line comes from a long elegiac fragment which you can read here: Justice and the City.

Ὅν οἱ θεοὶ φιλοῦσιν ἀποθνῄσκει νέος.

Whom the gods love dies young.

The adjective νέος can mean new or fresh, and with regard to humans or other animals, as here, it means young. You can see this Greek root in many English words, such as neophyte and neolithic. This is one of the lines of the comic poet Menander; here is the meter marked:

Ὅν οἱ | θεοὶ || φιλοῦ|σιν ἀπο||θνῄσκει | νέος.

(You can often read a three-syllable element in an iambic line as syncopated: ἀπ'θνῄσκει.)

(the poet Menander)

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Dec. 17

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 127. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

ἀρετή ~ ἀρετῆς (noun f.): excellence, virtue 

πόλεμος ~ πολέμου (noun m.): war, battle 

θάλασσα ~ θαλάσσης (noun f.): sea 

ῥῆμα ~ ῥήματος (noun n.): word, subject matter 

οἶκος ~ οἴκου (noun m.): house, household 

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

Ἐπαίνει ἀρετήν.

Ἄδακρυς πόλεμος.

Θάλαττα, θάλαττα.

Ῥήματα ἀντί ἀλφίτων.

Μὴ ἴσθι ὡς λέων ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ σου.

And now, some commentary:

Ἐπαίνει ἀρετήν.

Praise excellence.

This is another one of the maxims that Stobaeus attributed to the Seven Sages. The verb ἐπαινέω is a contract verb (ἐπ-αινέω), so ἐπαίνει is an imperative (the 3rd-person indicative would be ἐπαινεῖ, with the same spelling but different accent). There is a word in English, aretology, the study of virtue, derived from Greek ἀρετή.

Ἄδακρυς πόλεμος.

A war without tears.

The word ἄδακρυς is an alphaprivate: ἄ-δακρυς, without-tears. The phrase refers to people who face great danger and risk yet achieve perfect success, victory without tears. From the root of Greek πόλεμος, we get the word polemical. The Greek name Ptolemy also comes from this root; see more at Wikipedia: Ptolemy.

Θάλαττα! θάλαττα! 

The sea! The sea!

This was the cry of Cyrus's army of Greek mercenaries who had been stranded in Persia and finally reached the Black Sea after a two-year, 3000-mile journey; the story is told in Xenophon's Anabasis. It features the Attic pronunciation: θάλαττα instead of θάλασσα. The phrase has its own Wikipedia article: Thalatta! Thalatta!

Ῥήματα ἀντί ἀλφίτων.

Words in place of barley.

The implication is that words cannot fill your stomach the way barley can; talk is a poor substitute for food when you are hungry. Compare the English saying, "Fine words butter no parsnips." The root in Greek ῥῆμα is the same root you see in ῥήτωρ, and thus also in English rhetoric.

Μὴ ἴσθι ὡς λέων ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ σου.

Do not be like a lion in your home.

The idea is to treat your family and other members of your household kindly, not like a wild beast. This saying comes from the Biblical Book of Sirach. The word ἴσθι is the imperative of εἰμί (most forms of this verb are irregular). From the root in Greek οἶκος we get English words like economy and ecology.

(route of the 10,000 Greek mercenaries)

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Dec. 16

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 126. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

νομίζω ~ νομιέω ~ ἐνόμισα: think, consider, regard 

βαδίζω ~ βαδιέομαι ~ ἐβάδισα: walk, go 

πάρειμι ~ παρέσομαι (no aorist): present, stand by, help 

λαγχάνω ~ λήξομαι ~ ἔλαχον: obtain by lot 

πίπτω ~ πεσοῦμαι ~ ἔπεσον: fall, fall down 

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

Τύχην νόμιζε.

Ἄνευ ξύλου μὴ βάδιζε.

Ἀδελφὸς ἀνδρὶ παρείη.

Πενία δὲ τὴν σοφίαν ἔλαχε.

Ἀεὶ γὰρ εὖ πίπτουσιν οἱ Διὸς κύβοι.

And now, some commentary:

Τύχην νόμιζε.

Recognize (your good) luck.

In other words: it's not just enough to be lucky; you need to be aware of luck when it arrives. This is another one of the maxims attributed by Stobaeus to the Seven Sages. For more about the goddess of Luck, Τύχη, see Wikipedia: Tyche.

Πενία δὲ τὴν σοφίαν ἔλαχε.

Poverty brings wisdom.

The idea is that the hardships of poverty teach wisdom, i.e. you learn a lot in the School of Hard Knocks as we say in English. For related sayings in both Greek and Latin, see Erasmus. Here's one that you saw in an earlier blog post: Λιμὸς δὲ πολλῶν γίγνεται διδάσκαλος.

Ἄνευ ξύλου μὴ βάδιζε.

Do not walk without a cudgel.

The word ξύλον means wood and things made of wood; the sense here is a club or cudgel. In other words, don't walk about defenseless. The saying is attributed to Cleomenes, one of the Spartan leaders in the war against the Persians.

Ἀδελφὸς ἀνδρὶ παρείη.

Let a brother come to a man's aid.

The words appear in Plato's Republic, and he labels the words a saying: τὸ λεγόμενον. The word πάρειμι can just mean to be present, to be next to something, but it can also have the sense of standing by and helping, which is the meaning here. You can also consult Erasmus for more Greek sayings similar to this one.

Ἀεὶ γὰρ εὖ πίπτουσιν οἱ Διὸς κύβοι.

The dice of Zeus always fall well.

In other words, Zeus is always lucky when gambling at dice. The proverb was used to apply to people who were supernaturally lucky. It's an iambic verse:

Ἀεὶ | γὰρ εὖ || πίπτου|σιν οἱ || Διὸς | κύβοι.

The Greek word κύβος means a cube (yes, it's the origin of English "cube" although the etymology of the Greek word remains mysterious), and in this context it means cubical dice. You can read about the history of dice, including their use in ancient Greece and Rome, at Wikipedia: Dice.

(a Roman die, made of lead)

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Week 36 Proverb and Vocabulary Review

Review Padlet. Here's a link to 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.

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. You can also access all the Padlets here: Padlet-of-Padlets.

Alphabetical Index. Plus 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 (there are now 620 total).

• Ἀγαθοὺς τίμα.
  
• Ἄλλο γλαὺξ, ἄλλο κορώνη φθέγγεται.
  
• Ἀνδρὸς δὲ ψυχὴ πάλιν ἐλθεῖν οὔτε λεϊστὴ οὔθ᾽ ἑλετή.
  
• Ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου μετάστηθι.
  
• Ἄρτι μῦς πίττης γεύεται.
  
• Διὰ Θεῶν πόλιν νεμόμεθ' ἀδάματον.
  
• Ἕκαστον γὰρ δένδρον ἐκ τοῦ ἰδίου καρποῦ γινώσκεται.
  
• Ἐμοὶ ἐχθὲς καί σοὶ σήμερον.
  
• Ἡδύ τοι σωθέντα μεμνῆσθαι πόνων.
  
• Ἰατρὲ, θεράπευσον σεαυτόν.
  
• Κακίας ἀπέχου.
  
• Κολοιὸς παρὰ κολοιόν.
  
• Λέγε εἰδώς.
  
• Νόμος καὶ χώρα.
  
• Νῦν αὖτέ με μοῖρα κιχάνει.
  
• Ὁ ἔχων δύο χιτῶνας μεταδότω τῷ μὴ ἔχοντι.
  
• Παθὼν δέ τε νήπιος ἔγνω.
  
• Πάταξον μέν, ἄκουσον δέ.
  
• Πολλοὶ στρατηγοὶ Καρίαν ἀπώλεσαν.
  
• Σκιὰ ἀντὶ τοῦ σώματος.
  
• Τὰ ἀφανῆ τοῖς φανεροῖς τεκμαίρου.
  
• Τὸ μέλλον οὐδεὶς ἐκφύγοι.
  
• Τὸ φῶς ἡλίῳ δανείζεις.
  
• Ὑφ' ἡδονῆς ὁ φρόνιμος οὐχ ἁλίσκεται.
  
• Φθόνει μηδενί.
  

Audio. If you would like to do some listening, there is audio for Proverbs 1-500.

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Dec. 13

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 125. These are proverbs you may have seen before (weeks ago), but this time I am featuring different vocabulary items. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

δανείζω ~ δανείσω ~ ἐδάνεισα: lend 

μεθίστημι ~ μεταστήσω ~ μετέστην: change, remove 

ἐκφεύγω ~ ἐκφεύξομαι ~ ἐξέφυγον: escape, flee 

θεραπεύω ~ θεραπεύσω ~ ἐθεράπευσα: attend, heal 

μεταδίδωμι ~ μεταδώσω ~ μετέδωκα: distribute, share 

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

Τὸ φῶς ἡλίῳ δανείζεις.

Τὸ μέλλον οὐδεὶς ἐκφύγοι.

Ἰατρὲ, θεράπευσον σεαυτόν.

Ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου μετάστηθι.

Ὁ ἔχων δύο χιτῶνας μεταδότω τῷ μὴ ἔχοντι.

And now, some commentary:

Τὸ φῶς ἡλίῳ δανείζεις.
You're loaning light to the sun.
This is a proverb about acting both foolishly and presumptuously: the sun doesn't need any light from you! From Greek φωτο- we get a huge number of English photo- words, and from ἥλιος we get English helium and also heliotrope. For more about the sun god Ἥλιος, see Wikipedia: Helios.

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.

Τὸ μέλλον οὐδεὶς ἐκφύγοι.
No one can escape what is coming.
The verb ἐκφύγοι is in the optative mood, expressing potential: people might wish to escape what is coming, but nobody can escape, οὐδεὶς ἐκφύγοι. The participial phrase τὸ μέλλον means "that which is coming," i.e. the future, fate, destiny, etc.

Ἰατρὲ, θεράπευσον σεαυτόν.
Physician, heal yourself.
This famous saying has an article of its own at Wikipedia: Physician, heal thyself. It comes from the Gospel of Luke. There is also an Aesop's fable with a similar moral: The Frog Physician. The form θεράπευσον is an aorist imperative.

Ὁ ἔχων δύο χιτῶνας μεταδότω τῷ μὴ ἔχοντι.
Let the one who has two garments give to the one who has none.
The words also come from the Gospel of Luke. The second part of the verse urges the same with regard to food: καὶ ὁ ἔχων βρώματα ὁμοίως ποιείτω, "and let the one who has food do the same." Note the third-person imperatives: μεταδότω and ποιείτω.

Diogenes and Alexander

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Dec. 12

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 124. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

παρά (prep.+acc.): beside, near, by 

ἄρτι (adverb): just now 

μέν (particle): on the one hand... (but we all know particles are really untranslatable, right?)

σήμερον (adverb): today 

πάλιν (adverb): back, again 

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

Κολοιὸς παρὰ κολοιόν.

Ἄρτι μῦς πίττης γεύεται.

Πάταξον μέν, ἄκουσον δέ.

Ἐμοὶ ἐχθὲς καί σοὶ σήμερον.

Ἀνδρὸς δὲ ψυχὴ πάλιν ἐλθεῖν οὔτε λεϊστὴ οὔθ᾽ ἑλετή.

And now, some commentary:

Κολοιὸς παρὰ κολοιόν.

Jackdaw (sits) next to jackdaw.

Compare the English saying, "Birds of a feather flock together." The LSJ entry for κολοιός cites this proverb, along with several other sayings about jackdaws.

Ἄρτι μῦς πίττης γεύεται.

The mouse is now tasting the pitch.

The verb γεύεται takes a genitive complement (have a taste "of"): πίττης. The saying is used by Demosthenes, and it alludes to a mousetrap in which the mouse is lured and trapped in sticky pitch. In other words: someone has just made a fatal mistake, one from which they cannot escape. The proverb appears in the LSJ entry for μῦς.

Πάταξον μέν, ἄκουσον δέ.

Hit me, but listen!

The words are from Plutarch's Life of Themistocles. The situation is that Eurybiades is about to hit Themistocles with his staff while they are arguing about whether the navy should retreat or stay to fight the Persians; Themistocles wins the argument. You can read about the career of Themistocles at Wikipedia, and you can also read about Eurybiades.

Ἐμοὶ ἐχθὲς καί σοὶ σήμερον.

Yesterday (it came) for me, and today for you.

The saying comes from the Biblical Book of Sirach, and the "it" implied here is death, as if the dead were speaking to the living: death came for me already, and it is coming for you today. You can also find the saying in Latin, Mihi heri, et tibi hodie ("For me yesterday, and for you today"), and this Latin variation was a common funerary inscription: Hodie mihi, cras tibi ("For me today, for you tomorrow").

Ἀνδρὸς δὲ ψυχὴ πάλιν ἐλθεῖν οὔτε λεϊστὴ οὔθ᾽ ἑλετή.

The soul of a man cannot return again either by snatching or grabbing.

The words are from Homer's Iliad; Achilles is reflecting on his own mortality. For thoughts about "οὔτε λεϊστὴ οὔθ᾽ ἑλετή," see Gregory Nagy's essay on The Hesiodic Suitors of Helen. Even better: you can hear Nagy reading this passage in Greek here: Homer, Iliad 9.307–429 (this verse is at 8:39 in the recording).

Hodie michi, cras tibi (medieval Latin spelling)

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Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Dec. 11

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 123. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

ἀγαθός ~ ἀγαθοῦ (adj. masc.): good 

μηδείς ~ μηδενός (adj. masc.): no one, nobody 

ἀφανές ~ ἀφανοῦς (adj. neut.): invisible, unseen 

φρόνιμος ~ φρονίμου (adj. masc.): sensible, wise 

ἕκαστον ~ ἑκάστου (adj. neut.): each, all 

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

Ἀγαθοὺς τίμα.

Φθόνει μηδενί.

Τὰ ἀφανῆ τοῖς φανεροῖς τεκμαίρου.

Ὑφ' ἡδονῆς ὁ φρόνιμος οὐχ ἁλίσκεται.

Ἕκαστον γὰρ δένδρον ἐκ τοῦ ἰδίου καρποῦ γινώσκεται.

And now, some commentary:

Ἀγαθοὺς τίμα.

Honor good (men).

This is one of the sayings attributed by Stobaeus to the Seven Sages; more at Wikipedia: Delphic maxims. From the root in Greek ἀγαθ- we get the English name Agatha. 

Φθόνει μηδενί.

Envy no one.

Note the use of μηδείς with the imperative φθόνει, corresponding to the use of οὐδείς in the indicative. The verb φθονέω takes a dative complement, μηδενί. The verb This is another one of the Delphic maxims.

Τὰ ἀφανῆ τοῖς φανεροῖς τεκμαίρου.

Infer unseen things by means of visible things.

The word τεκμαίρου is a middle imperative, and it takes a direct object: ἀφανῆ, the neuter plural of ἀφανές, an alpha-privative adjective (ἀ-φανές). This is one of the sayings attributed to Solon; you can read more about Solon at Wikipedia.

Ὑφ' ἡδονῆς ὁ φρόνιμος οὐχ ἁλίσκεται.

The wise man is not ensnared by pleasure.

This is one of the one-liners (monostichs) of Menander. The word ὑπό loses its vowel before the following vowel, and the aspiration of ἡδονῆς turns the pi to a phi: ὑφ' ἡδονῆς. Likewise the οὐ becomes οὐκ before the following vowel, and the aspiration of ἁλίσκεται changes the kappa to a chi: οὐχ ἁλίσκεται.

Ἕκαστον γὰρ δένδρον ἐκ τοῦ ἰδίου καρποῦ γινώσκεται.

Each tree is known by its own fruit.

The words come from the Gospel of Luke. You can find out more about this part of Luke at Wikipedia: Sermon on the Plain. In addition, this saying has an article of its own at Wikipedia: The Tree and its Fruits.

Solon in an Islamic miniature (13th century)

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