εὖ (adverb): well
γάρ (conj.): for, as
ὑμεῖς ὑμῶν (pronoun): you (plural)
πρό (prep.+gen.): before, in front of
πρός (prep.+acc.): towards, beside
These are the proverbs (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):
Σεαυτὸν εὖ ποίει.
Μῶρα γὰρ μῶρος λέγει.
Νυμφίου βίον ὑμεῖς ζῆτε.
Πρὸ τῆς νίκης τὸ ἐγκώμιον ᾄδεις.
Οὐδὲν πρὸς τὴν Παρμένοντος ὗν.
And now, some commentary:
Σεαυτὸν εὖ ποίει.
Treat yourself well.
This is a tricky one to translate; just look at the dictionary entry for ποιέω to get a sense of the range of making and doing. The idea is that in your dealings with yourself, you should do what is good for you. Sometimes εὖ - ποίει is written as a single word: εὐποιέω (compare the Latin bene facio, sometimes written as benefacio). Note also the accent: that's what lets you know that it's an imperative, ποίει.
Μῶρα γὰρ μῶρος λέγει.
For a fool speaks foolish things.
The words are spoken by Teiresias who, together with Kadmos, is rebuking Pentheus (Kadmos's grandson), in Euripides' Bacchae. Erasmus includes this saying in his Adagia: Stultus stulta loquitur.
Νυμφίου βίον ὑμεῖς ζῆτε.
You are leading the life of the newlywed.
The proverbial "life of the newlywed" is a happy time, full of food and drink and without having to work. This saying appears in Aristophanes' Birds in this form, with the plural: νυμφίων, newlyweds: ὑμεῖς μὲν ἆρα ζῆτε νυμφίων βίον. The line is iambic:
ὑμεῖς μὲν ἆ||ρα ζῆτε νυμ||φίων βίον.
Πρὸ τῆς νίκης τὸ ἐγκώμιον ᾄδεις.
Before the victory, you are singing the victory-song.
Compare the English saying, "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched." This was also a saying in Latin: Antequam viceris, triumphum paras, "Before having won, you are getting the triumph ready." You can read about the tradition of the encomium at Wikipedia.
Οὐδὲν πρὸς τὴν Παρμένοντος ὗν.
Nothing (compared) to Parmenon's pig.
This saying is related to a popular anecdote about an entertainer named Parmenon as reported by Plutarch. Parmenon did pig imitations on stage, and when someone in the audience smuggled a real pig into the show letting it squeal in response to Parmenon, the audience shouted, "That's nothing compared to Parmenon's pig." The man with the pig then rebuked the audience as fools who didn't know the sound of a real pig when they heard one. The Roman poet Phaedrus included the anecdote in his Aesop's fables in verse. This is from an illustrated Phaedrus published in 1667:
And here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too :
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