χρησμός ~ χρησμοῦ (noun m.): oracle
ἐνιαυτός ~ ἐνιαυτοῦ (noun m.): year, anniversary
σωτηρία ~ σωτηρίας (noun f.): safety, well-being
σκοπός ~ σκοποῦ (noun m.): watcher, guardian
θηρίον ~ θηρίου (noun n.): wild animal, beast
Χρησμοὺς θαύμαζε.
Μέγα στόμα τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ.
Ὕπνος πέφυκε σωμάτων σωτηρία.
Τὸν ὑψόθεν σκοπὸν ἐπισκόπει, φύλακα πολυπόνων.
Ὁ δὲ ὄφις ἦν φρονιμώτατος πάντων τῶν θηρίων τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.
And now, some commentary:
Χρησμοὺς θαύμαζε.
Be amazed at oracles.
The idea is to be amazed and thus to respect and honor the oracles. Greek χρησμός refers to the oracle itself and also to the response provided by the oracle. It is from the verb χράω, which originally referred to the consultation of oracles and which later came to have the more general meaning of "use, have, possess." The noun χρησμός can remind you of the verb's original meaning. From the root in Greek θαύμ- we get English "thaumaturgy." For more about Greek oracles, see Wikipedia: Oracle.
Μέγα στόμα τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ.
The year's mouth is big.
This saying might not make much sense at first sight, but the word ἐνιαυτός can refer not just to a year but specifically to the culmination of the seasonal cycle. The idea, then, is that farmers, looking at the year's harvest, feel encouraged by their prosperity and talk "big," full of confidence and even boastful, as if the next year will surely come to a similar conclusion. There are many English words formed from Greek μεγα.
Ὕπνος πέφυκε σωμάτων σωτηρία.
Sleep is the body's well-being.
The word σωτηρία normally means "preservation" or "safety," but in this context it means something like "well-being," literally, "the well-being of bodies" (plural). The verb φύω is one of many Greek verbs that express the idea of "being" or "becoming" in English. The root of φύω conveys the idea of "being (by nature)" as in the word φύσις, "nature" (and from this root we get the English word "physical"). This is another of Menander's "monostichs" in iambic meter:
Ὕπνος - πέφυ—κε σω-μάτων — σωτη-ρία.
Τὸν ὑψόθεν σκοπὸν ἐπισκόπει, φύλακα πολυπόνων.
Consider the one who watches from on high, the protector of long-suffering people.
The words are from Aeschylus's Suppliant Women. The chorus of Danaids is speaking to King Pelasgus, invoking Zeus as they urge him to help them; Zeus is the watcher, σκοπός, who is on high.
Ὁ δὲ ὄφις ἦν φρονιμώτατος πάντων τῶν θηρίων τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.
And the snake was more wise than all the animals on the earth.
The words come from the Book of Genesis; this is the snake who is going to tempt Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. The adjective φρονιμώτατος is the superlative form of φρόνιμος, but it is being used here in Septuagint Greek as a comparative adjective, "more wise," with a genitive complement: "more wise than all the animals." You can see the Greek θηρίον in English "theriomorphic."
This is Michelangelo's depiction of the serpent with Adam and Eve:
And here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too :
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