Greek Animal Vocabulary: July 15

Here are today's animal names; it's Group 182. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

κόραξ ~ κόρακος (noun m.): crow 

λέων ~ λέοντος (noun m.): lion 

πέρδιξ ~ πέρδικος (noun c.): partridge 

βοῦς ~ βοός (noun c.): ox, cow 

δασύπους ~ δασύποδος (noun m.): rabbit, hare

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

Ἐς κόρακας.

Λέοντα νύσσεις.

Ἀφωνότερος πέρδικος.

Τὸν θέλοντα βοῦν ἔλαυνε.

Καρκίνον δασύποδι συγκρίνεις.

And now, some commentary:

Ἐς κόρακας.

To the crows.

This is an insult: the crows are the crows who feed on the corpses at public executions. So, the idea is to "go hang yourself" — and then the crows will come feast. You can see the phrase used in Aristophanes' Peace.

Λέοντα νύσσεις.

You're poking the lion.

More specifically, the verb means to poke something with a sharp stick. Obviously this is NOT something you want to do to a lion. Compare the English saying, "Poke the bear."

Ἀφωνότερος πέρδικος.

More speechless than a partridge.

You can see that the adjective is an alpha-privative: ἄ-φωνος, comparative ἀφωνότερος. The saying appears in an essay in Plutarch's Moralia.

Τὸν θέλοντα βοῦν ἔλαυνε.

Lead the ox that is willing.

In other words: don't lead the ox who is not willing! You can see that idea in a fuller form of the saying which is included in the proverb collection attributed to Aesop: Τὸν θέλοντα βοῦν ἔλαυνε, τὸν μὴ θέλοντα ἔα, "Lead the ox that is willing, leave the unwilling one alone."

Καρκίνον δασύποδι συγκρίνεις.

You're comparing a crab to a rabbit.

Crabs were notorious for their slow and ungainly walk, utterly unlike the fast-running hare or rabbit. So, this saying means you're making a ridiculous comparison, like "apples to oranges" in English. The word δασύπους, "shaggy-foot," was a popular nickname for the hare or rabbit.

Greek statue of a lion, circa 400 BCE

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

---

---

---

Click here to subscribe/unsubscribe to the email list.

---