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)

And here's a random proverb too:

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