Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Feb. 13

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 143. These are sayings you may have seen before (if you've been around here a while!), but with an emphasis on a different word this time. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

πήγη ~ πήγης (noun f.): stream, source 

πληγή ~ πληγῆς (noun f.): strike, blow 

βάθος ~ βάθους (noun n.): depth 

πένης ~ πένητος (noun m.): poor man, laborer 

μάρτυς ~ μάρτυρος (noun m.): witness 

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

Ἡ σοφίας πήγη διὰ βιβλίων ῥεῖ.

Πολλαῖς πληγαῖς δρῦς δαμάζεται.

Σιγηροῦ ποταμοῦ τὰ βάθη γυρεύει.

Τῶν γὰρ πενήτων εἰσὶν οἱ λόγοι κενοί.

Ὀφθαλμοὶ τῶν ὤτων ἀκριβέστεροι μάρτυρες.

And now, some commentary:

Ἡ σοφίας πηγὴ διὰ βιβλίων ῥεῖ.

The spring of wisdom flows through books.

You can also see this proverb with the uncontracted form of the verb: Ἡ σοφίας πήγη διὰ βιβλίων ῥέει. From the Greek word βιβλίον, we get English words like bible and bibliography... and bibliophile of course! (I am one.) A folk etymology for the flying horse Pegasus involves the word πηγὴ; you can read more at Wikipedia: Pegasus - Etymology.

Πολλαῖς πληγαῖς δρῦς δαμάζεται.

By many blows (of the axe), the oak tree is toppled.

In other words: if you have a big task in front of you, be persistent! You are not going to get the job done all at once. This is a good saying for language learners too: Greek is learned one word at a time. You can see the root πληγή in English "apoplexy."

Σιγηροῦ ποταμοῦ τὰ βάθη γυρεύει.

The depths of a silent river are swirling.

Compare the English saying, "Still waters run deep." The idea is that while a river may appear to be calm and still on the surface, down below its currents are spinning and swirling; so too with people: someone might be silent, but their innermost emotions can be rushing and raging. Note a peculiar feature of the Greek language here: the neuter plural subject, τὰ βάθη, takes a singular verb, γυρεύει. You can see this root in English "bathometer."

Τῶν γὰρ πενήτων εἰσὶν οἱ λόγοι κενοί.

The words of poor people are disregarded.

Literally, the words are "empty," i.e. empty of weight, empty of importance. Compare the English saying, "Money talks," i.e. the words of rich people have weight, unlike the words of poor people. From Greek κενός we get the word kenosis, an important word in Christian theology; see Wikipedia: Kenosis. This seemed like a good saying to include in our plutocracy of the moment.

Ὀφθαλμοὶ τῶν ὤτων ἀκριβέστεροι μάρτυρες.

The eyes are more accurate witnesses than the ears.

In other words, you can believe what you see for yourself; you cannot always believe what others tell you, a.k.a. hearsay. The adjective ἀκριβέστεροι is comparative, so it takes a genitive complement: "than the ears," τῶν ὤτων. Greek μάρτυρες gives us English "martyrs."

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

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