You can click on the word to learn more at Logeion:
These are the proverbs (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):
And now, some commentary:
ὅλος ~ ὅλου (adj. masc.): whole, entire
ἔξω (adverb): outside
ἀριθμός ~ ἀριθμοῦ (noun m.): number
ῥήτωρ ~ ῥήτορος (noun m.): public speaker
ἀλλοτρία ~ ἀλλοτρίας (adj. fem.): belonging to another
῞Ολος ὁ βίος ἐλλύχνιον.
῎Εσω λέων καὶ ἔξω ἀλώπηξ.
Λύκος ἀπὸ ἀριθμοῦ οὐ φοβεῖται λαβεῖν.
Λόγοι μὲν ῥήτορος, ἔργα δ’ ἀλέκτορος.
Φαγέτω μ' ἡ ἰδία φθεὶρ καὶ μὴ ἡ ἀλλοτρία.
And now, some commentary:
῞Ολος ὁ βίος ἐλλύχνιον.
A whole life is a lamp wick.
In a world of candles and lamps, the action of the wick was something familiar: the wick draws up candle wax or lamp oil to the flame, much as we draw breath... so long as we are alive. But like the wick, our lives come to an end — and while an entire lifetime might seem long, this saying wants to remind us that it lasts no longer than a lamp wick. When the fuel runs out, we're done.
῎Εσω λέων καὶ ἔξω ἀλώπηξ.
Outwardly a lion and inwardly a fox.
The opposition between lion and fox is often found in Greek proverbs, and it is also a character opposition often found in Aesop's fables. The ἑρμηνεία (interpretation) that accompanies this proverb says "Mixing wickedness (fox) with audacity (lion), you seem to show what you are not and to hide what you happen to be." (The inclusion of these little interpretations is one of the distinctive features of the proverb collection attributed to Aesop.)
Λύκος ἀπὸ ἀριθμοῦ οὐ φοβεῖται λαβεῖν.
The wolf is not frightened from taking by the count.
In other words, the shepherd can count his sheep, but the counting of sheep is not going to stop the wolf from taking what he wants. Likewise, a human thief is not going to be deterred by knowing the merchandise has been inventoried. This saying also circulated in Latin, Lupus non curat numerum ovium, "The wolf doesn't care about the number of the sheep."
Λόγοι μὲν ῥήτορος, ἔργα δ’ ἀλέκτορος.
The words are those of an orator, but the deeds are those of a rooster.
Which is to say: the rooster makes a lot of noise as if he were a great and mighty creature, but he doesn't actually get much done; so too the ineffectual orator.
Φαγέτω μ' ἡ ἰδία φθεὶρ καὶ μὴ ἡ ἀλλοτρία.
Let my own louse eat me, and not someone else's.
This is a kind of strange cuique suum: "to each his own," type of saying, where a person prefers their own lice to someone else's. Compare the Aesop's fable about the fox telling the hedgehog not to pluck the flies that are swarming in her fur; in that fable, the reason is that those flies are already full of blood and not sucking much, while newcomers would be more rapacious.
And here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too:
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