Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Jan. 16

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 135, containing familiar proverbs but with a focus on different words this time around. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

ἔαρ ~ ἔαρος (noun n.): spring (season) 

συμμαχία ~ συμμαχίας (noun f.): alliance, allies 

ζῷον ~ ζῴου (noun n.): animal, living being 

ξύλον ~ ξύλου (noun n.): wood, tree 

καρπός ~ καρποῦ (noun m.): fruit 

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

Μία χελιδὼν ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ.

Μετὰ πόλεμον, ἡ συμμαχία.

Πολιτικὸν ζῷον ὁ ἄνθρωπος.

Ξύλον ἀγκύλον ουδέποτ' ὀρθόν.

Ἐκ τοῦ καρποῦ τὸ δένδρον γιγνώσκω.

And now, some commentary:

Μία χελιδὼν ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ.

One swallow does not make a spring.

Compare the English saying: "One swallow does not make a summer." Aristotle cites the Greek saying in his Nicomachean Ethics, and it also provides the subject of an Aesop's fable: The Young Man and the Swallow.

Μετὰ πόλεμον, ἡ συμμαχία.

After the battle (is over), the allies (arrive).

In other words, you need allied forces to show up before the battle, not afterwards when it's too late to do any good. Compare the English saying: "Closing the barn door after the horse has bolted."

Πολιτικὸν ζῷον ὁ ἄνθρωπος.

A person (is) a political animal.

The saying is adapted from Aristotle's Politics. The word πολιτικός is from the word πόλις, meaning "city," so πολιτικός describes someone who lives in a city or state or some other community. In his History of Animals, Aristotle explains that there are other animals besides humans who are "political," i.e. living in communities; they are the bee, the wasp, the ant, and the crane.

Ξύλον ἀγκύλον ουδέποτ' ὀρθόν.

A crooked piece of wood never (will be) straight.

The word οὐδέποτε loses its final -ε before the following vowel: ουδέποτ' ὀρθόν. From the root in Greek ξύλον we get the English word xylophone, and from ὀρθόν we get all the ortho- words: orthodoxy, orthopedic, and on and on. Compare a saying in the Book of Ecclesiastes: That which is crooked cannot be made straight. (If you are following my little Latin course: Pravum lignum numquam rectum.)

Ἐκ τοῦ καρποῦ τὸ δένδρον γινώσκω.

From the fruit, I know the tree.

Compare a similar saying in the Gospel of Matthew: Ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιγνώσεσθε αὐτούς, "Ye shall know them by their fruits." You can find out more at Wikipedia: The Tree and its Fruits. From Greek δένδρον we get the English term dendrochronology. 

the fable of the swallow

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

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