Monday, February 24, 2025

Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Feb. 25

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 146. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

ὅσιον ~ ὁσίου (adj. neut.): holy, sacred, pure 
πλῆρες ~ πλήρους (adj. neut.): full, full of 
θρασύς ~ θρασέος (adj. masc.): bold, rash 
ἀσθενεστέρα ~ ἀσθενεστέρας (adj. fem.): weaker 
ταχύ ~ ταχέος (adj. neut.): swift, sudden, quick 

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

Ὅσια κρῖνε.

Πάντα πλήρη θεῶν.

Μὴ γίνου θρασὺς ἐν γλώσσῃ σου.

Τέχνη δ' ἀνάγκης ἀσθενεστέρα μακρῷ.

Ὑπὸ τῆς ἀνάγκης πάντα δουλοῦται ταχύ.


And now, some commentary:

Ὅσια κρῖνε.
Choose the things that are holy.
This is another of the Delphic maxims recorded by Stobaeus. The verb κρίνω has a wide range of meaning; often it means "decide," but here, with a direct object, it means something more like "pick out, choose." Note also the circumflex accent for this imperative form: κρῖνε.

Πάντα πλήρη θεῶν.
All things are full of the gods.
This is a saying attributed to Thales and which is cited by both Plato and Aristotle among others. You can read more about Thales at Wikipedia.

Μὴ γίνου θρασὺς ἐν γλώσσῃ σου.
Don't be rash in your tongue.
This is a saying from the Biblical Book of Sirach. The tongue stands here for speech, i.e. don't speak rashly. The whole verse pairs up words and deeds: μὴ γίνου θρασὺς ἐν γλώσσῃ σου καὶ νωθρὸς καὶ παρειμένος ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις σου, "and don't be lazy and slack in your deeds."

Τέχνη δ' ἀνάγκης ἀσθενεστέρα μακρῷ.
Skill is weaker by far than Necessity.
The words come from Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound. Prometheus is speaking to the Chorus, and he goes on to explain that Necessity is the work of the Fates (Moirai), Μοῖραι, and the Furies (Erinyes), Ἐρινύες, which is why I have chosen to use a capital N in the English: she is Necessity.

Ὑπὸ τῆς ἀνάγκης πάντα δουλοῦται ταχύ.
By Necessity all things are soon enslaved.
As often, the neuter ταχύ is being used adverbially, "quickly, soon." You can read more about the Greek goddess Necessity at Wikipedia: Ananke. This saying is one of Menander's monostixoi (one-liners). The meter is iambic:
Ὑπὸ τῆς ἀνάγ||κης πάντα δου||λοῦται ταχύ.

 

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




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