Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Greek Vocabulary Challenge: June 12

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 173. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

ἐν (prep.+dat.): in, at 
οὐκέτι (adverb): no longer, no more 
ἑαυτοῦ (pronoun): -self 
δέ (particle): indicates a transition or explanation 
πέλας (adverb): near, neighboring 

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

Ἀετὸς ἐν νεφέλαις.

Ἐπεὶ οὐκέτι πιστὰ γυναιξίν.

Τὶ δύσκολον; Τὸ ἑαυτὸν γνῶναι.

Πάντες δὲ θεῶν χατέουσ' ἄνθρωποι.

Ὁ συκοφάντης ἐστὶ τοῖς πέλας λύκος.

And now, some commentary:

Ἀετὸς ἐν νεφέλαις.
An eagle in the clouds.
This saying can be applied to several different situations: to something lofty and great, especially if it excels others, and also to something that is difficult or even impossible to obtain. You can see Erasmus's Adagia for a variety of Greek citations.

Ἐπεὶ οὐκέτι πιστὰ γυναιξίν.
No longer can trust (be placed) in women.
The words are from Homer's Odyssey. The context is Odysseus's journey to the underworld and his conversation with the ghost of Agamemnon. Given how his own wife plotted against him, it's not surprising that Agamemnon would express this low opinion of women.

Τὶ δύσκολον; Τὸ ἑαυτὸν γνῶναι.
What is difficult? To know oneself.
The saying is attributed to Thales by Diogenes Laertius, and it is part of a series of question-and-answer statements by Thales. For example, the next question is τί δὲ εὔκολον; τὸ ἄλλῳ ὑποθέσθαι: "what is easy? to give advice to another."

Πάντες δὲ θεῶν χατέουσ' ἄνθρωποι.
All humans have need of gods.
This is also from the Odyssey; the context this time is Nestor's son welcoming strangers (Telemachus and Athena/Mentor) to the feast of Poseidon, urging them to drink in honor of the gods.

Ὁ συκοφάντης ἐστὶ τοῖς πέλας λύκος.
The informer is a wolf to his neighbors.
The phrase τοῖς πέλας means, literally, "those nearby," i.e. "neighbors." The saying is from the monostichs (one-liners) of Menander, and there is also a variant version: Ὁ συκοφάντης ἐστὶν ἐν πόλει λύκος, "The informer is a wolf in the city."
Both scan as iambic verse:
Ὁ συκοφάν||της ἐστὶ τοῖς || πέλας λύκος.
Ὁ συκοφάν||της ἐστὶν ἐν || πόλει λύκος


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




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