Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Dec. 3

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 117. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

θνητός ~ θνητοῦ (adj. masc.): mortal 

δεύτερος ~ δευτέρου (adj. masc.): second, next 

χάλκεον ~ χαλκέου (adj. neut.): copper, bronze 

ἅπαν ~ ἅπαντος (adj. neut.): all, every 

ἅπας ~ ἅπαντος (adj. masc.): all, every 

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

Φρόνει θνητά.

Δεύτερος πλοῦς.

Δωδωναῖον χαλκεῖον.

Ἅπαντα τοῖς σοφοῖσιν εὔκολα.

Ἅπας μὲν αἰθὴρ αἰετῷ περάσιμος.

And now, some commentary:

Φρόνει θνητά.

Think mortal thoughts.

This is a kind of "memento mori" but in Greek, the idea being that you should think in mortal terms, taking the certainty of your own death into account. It is another one of the maxims recorded by Stobaeus; more at Wikipedia: Delphic maxims. You can see the root of Greek θνητ- in the verb θνῄσκω and the noun θάνατος. The root also shows up in the English word euthanasia.

Δεύτερος πλοῦς.

The second (way of) sailing.

This referred to sailing by the power of rowing, rather than with the wind. Obviously, it's more work — but you still get there, so the saying refers to a next-best route to success, one that might take more effort on your part. You can see the Greek root of δεύτερος in Deuteronomy, the "second book of the law" in the Hebrew Bible; see Wikipedia: Deuteronomy.

Δωδωναῖον χαλκεῖον.

A bronze (bell) of Dodona.

This saying referred to a noisy person, as if they were as loud as the famous bronze bell or cymbal of Dodona (an oracle site in northern Greece) that rang out whenever the wind blew; another source tells us that the oracle spoke through a series of interconnected kettle drums made of bronze, such that when any one of them was struck, they all resounded. In any case, something noisy was going on at the oracle of Dodona! Find out more at Wikipedia: Dodona.

Ἅπαντα τοῖς σοφοῖσιν εὔκολα.

All things are easy for those who are wise.

The adjective εὔκολα is a compound: εὔ-κολα. It is clear that εὔ means "well" or "good," but it is not clear what the κολ- part of the adjective refers to. In any case, the word means easy: easy-going, easily satisfied, easy to understand, etc. Erasmus points out that if you add " Ἔστιν δ᾿" to the beginning, the result is an iambic senarius: 

Ἔστιν | δ᾿ ἅπαν||τα τοῖς | σοφοῖ||σιν εὔ|κολα.

Ἅπας μὲν αἰθὴρ αἰετῷ περάσιμος.

All the sky is open to the eagle.

This is a fragment from the Phaethon of Euripides, and the following line of the fragment reads: ἅπασα δὲ χθὼν ἀνδρὶ γενναίῳ πατρίς, "all the earth is a fatherland for a noble man," which is a saying discussed in an earlier blog post. These lines are also in iambic meter:

Ἅπας | μὲν αἰ||θὴρ αἰ|ετῷ || περά|σιμος,

ἅπα|σα δὲ || χθὼν ἀν|δρὶ γεν||ναίῳ | πατρίς.

the ruins of Dodona

And here's a random proverb too:

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