Greek Vocabulary Challenge: April 17

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 159. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

βοῦς ~ βοός (noun c.): ox, cow 

πούς ~ ποδός (noun m.): foot 

πῦρ ~ πυρός (noun n.): fire 

γέρων ~ γέροντος (noun m.): old; old man 

ἀδελφός~ ἀδελφοῦ (noun m.): brother 

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

Βοῦς ἐφ' ἑαυτῷ κονιεῖται.

Ἐκτὸς πηλοῦ πόδας ἔχεις. 

Εἰς τὸ πῦρ ἐκ τοῦ κάπνου.

Γέρων δὲ καὶ μῦς οὐχ ἁλισκεται πάγῃ.

Τίς ἐστιν ἡ μήτηρ μου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί;

And now, some commentary:

Βοῦς ἐφ' ἑαυτῷ κονιεῖται.

The ox kicks up dust upon himself.

The saying refers to someone who in anger or stubbornness only manages to bring trouble upon himself. The noun βοῦς is common gender, but the pronoun ἑαυτῷ marks this instance as masculine. The verb κονίω is from the noun κόνις, "dust," which is cognate with Latin cinis, from which we get "incinerate."

Ἐκτὸς πηλοῦ πόδας ἔχεις. 

You've got your feet outside of the mud.

This means you're in a good position, not likely to slip and slide into some kind of disaster. The word ἐκτός can be used as a preposition with the genitive, as here, and it can also be used as an adverb. You can see this root in English "ectoplasm." You can see Greek πούς in English "podium."

Εἰς τὸ πῦρ ἐκ τοῦ κάπνου.

Into the fire from the smoke.

Compare the English saying, "Out of the frying pan and into the fire." You can see Greek πῦρ in English "pyre" (with the -y- as a clue to its Greek origin).

Γέρων δὲ καὶ μῦς οὐχ ἁλισκεται πάγῃ.

Someone old, even a mouse, is not caught in a trap.

The idea is that experience, which comes with age, teaches animals, even mice, to beware of traps set for them. You can see Greek γέρων in English "gerontology."

Τίς ἐστιν ἡ μήτηρ μου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί;

Who is my mother and who are my brothers?

The words are spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of Mark when his mother and brothers have come to find him. Answering his own question, he then says that his fellow believers are his mother and brothers:  ἴδε ἡ μήτηρ μου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί μου, "Behold my mother and my brothers." The story is also told in the Gospel of Matthew and in the Gospel of Luke. For more information, see Wikipedia: Jesus' true relatives, which is the source for this 14th-century Orthodox illustration:

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

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