Greek Vocabulary Challenge: May 10

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 165. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

κακόν ~ κακοῦ (adj. neut.): bad, evil (thing) 

φίλος ~ φίλου (adj. masc.): dear, friend 

ἴσον  ~ ἴσου (adj. neut.): equal, fair

μηδέν ~ μηδενός (adj. neut.): none, nothing (μη) 

οἷος ~ οἵου (adj. masc.): such as, kind 

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

Λέρνη κακῶν.

Φίλοις βοήθει.

Μηδὲ θεοῖσιν ἶσ' ἔθελε φρονέειν.

Ὁ μηδὲν ἀδικῶν οὐδενὸς δεῖται νόμου.

Πρὸς δύο οὐδ' ὁ Ἡρακλῆς οἷός τε εἶναι.

And now, some commentary:

Λέρνη κακῶν.

A Lerna of evils.

As one of his Labors, Heracles had to kill the Hydra that lived in the Lake of Lerna, but that monster was not its only evil. It was, among other things, a gateway to the underworld, and many swimmers had drowned in its depths. You can read more about the Lake of Lerna at Wikipedia. 

Φίλοις βοήθει.

Help your friends.

This is one of the so-called Delphic maxims recorded by Stobaeus. Notice that the verb βοηθέω takes a dative complement: φίλοις.

Μηδὲ θεοῖσιν ἶσ' ἔθελε φρονέειν.

Do not think to match yourself with the gods.

Literally: "Don't wish to suppose equal to the gods." The words are from Homer's Iliad: the god Apollo is doing battle with Diomedes, and with these words he warns him to back off: a mortal cannot match a god in battle. 

Ὁ μηδὲν ἀδικῶν οὐδενὸς δεῖται νόμου.

The man who does no wrong has need of no law.

Notice the contrast between the μη and οὐ. The οὐ is for the indicative verb: that person actually has no need of any law, while the μη is about a bigger statement, beyond a specific moment — the person who would do no wrong (not now, not ever) has no need in the here and now of any law.

Πρὸς δύο λέγεται οὐδ᾽ ὁ Ἡρακλῆς οἷός τε εἶναι.

Not even Heracles is said to be able to go against two.

This saying is widely cited in Greek literature, including in Plato's Phaedo. The idiom οἷός τε εἶναι has the sense of "being able" ("being such a person who is able..."), and the τε is part of the idiom, not a conjunction; you can see more in the LSJ entry for οἷος. You've seen a shorter version of this saying already in a previous blog post: Οὐδὲ Ἡρακλῆς πρὸς δύο.

Heracles battling Antaeus

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

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