Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Dec. 2

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 116. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

τέχνη ~ τέχνης (noun f.): art, skill, craft 

νοῦς ~ νοῦ (noun m.): mind, sense 

αἷμα ~ αἵματος (noun n.): blood 

βασιλεύς ~ βασιλέως (noun m.): king, chief 

λαός ~ λαοῦ (noun m.): people, folk 

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

Τέχνῃ χρῶ.

Βοιώτιος νοῦς.

Αἰσώπειον αἷμα.

Νόμος ὁ πάντων βασιλεύς.

Ἰσχύς μου ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ λαοῦ.

And now, some commentary:

Τέχνῃ χρῶ.

Use your skill.

The word χρῶ is a middle imperative from the contract verb χράομαι, which takes a dative complement: τέχνῃ. This is another of the maxims Stobaeus attributes to the Seven Sages. The Greek root τέχν- gives us all the English tech- words. It is related to the word for weaving in Latin, texo (which gives us English words like textile and text).

Βοιώτιος νοῦς.

The mind of a Boeotian.

This proverbial saying referred to someone who was ignorant or stupid; such was the reputation of people from Boeotia, a region in central Greece. You could also find the sentiment expressed in this form: Ἡ Βοιωτία ὗς, a Boeotian pig. The Greek phrase lives on in French, where the insulting term béotien means someone who is a country bumpkin, unsophisticated (compare the English use of "philistine," lower-case p).

Αἰσώπειον αἷμα.

The blood of Aesop.

This refers to someone who is unjustly accused, as Aesop was unjustly accused and executed by the Delphians; the story is told in the "Life of Aesop," an ancient Greek novel about the storyteller Aesop. When Aesop went to Delphi, he insulted the inhabitants, and they got their revenge on him by planting a sacred object from the temple in his baggage and then accusing him of theft. Greek αἷμα gives us the hemo- words in English medicine like hemoglobin and hemorrhage.

Νόμος ὁ πάντων βασιλεύς.

Law is the king of all.

The words are from the poet Pindar and are quoted in Plato's Gorgias. The word πάντων could refer to things or to people (so I chose the ambiguous "all" in English), but the next line of Pindar's ode makes it clear that he referring to "everyone," not "everything" — θνατῶν τε καὶ ἀθανάτων, "both mortals and immortals." From the Greek root of βασιλ- we get English words like basil and basilica.

Ἰσχύς μου ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ λαοῦ.

The people's love is my strength.

This was the royal motto of the Kingdom of Greece in the 19th and 20th centuries, appearing in the coat of arms; you can find out more at Wikipedia: Coat of arms of Greece. See the image page at Wikipedia for a detailed description of the different elements combined here, with the motto appearing at the bottom:

And here's a random proverb too:

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