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

And here's a random proverb too:

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