Greek Proverbs

Here are today's Greek proverbs; it's Group 204. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

θάνατος ~ θανάτου (noun m.): death 

πόλεμος ~ πολέμου (noun m.): war, battle 

Ἄρτεμις ~ Ἀρτέμιδος (noun f.): Artemis 

οὐδέν ~ οὐδενός (adj. neut.): none, nothing (οὐ) 

ὅπου (adverb): where, wherever 

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

Ὄνου θανάτους.

Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ πολέμου.

Ποῦ γὰρ ἡ Ἄρτεμις οὐκ ἐχόρευσεν;

Λιμῷ γὰρ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἀντειπεῖν ἔπος.

Ὅπου βία πάρεστιν, οὐδὲν ἰσχύει νόμος.

And now, some commentary:

Ὄνου θανάτους.

(To narrate) the deaths of a donkey.

This saying is recorded in Erasmus's Adagia, where he explains that the accusative plural θανάτους is the object of an implied verb: to tell or narrate. This a mocking proverb, making fun of someone who is telling a serious story about an unworthy hero, i.e. the story of some heroic death-defying donkey, as if a donkey were the equal of a hero like Odysseus. 

Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ πολέμου.

War brings many strange things.

Bentley includes this Greek saying in his Dissertation upon the Epistles of Phalaris, applying the saying quite wittily to the strange anachronistic contradictions he discovers in the process of debunking the letters and attributing them not to the 6th century B.C.E. but to the 2nd century C.E.

Ποῦ γὰρ ἡ Ἄρτεμις οὐκ ἐχόρευσεν;

Where indeed has Artemis not danced?

This is one of the sayings from the collection of proverbs attributed to Aesop. It is a hyperbolic phrase that refers to anything that is ubiquitous: Artemis was so famed for her dancing and her worship was so widespread that Artemis had danced... everywhere. So the proverb is a byword for something can be found everywhere. For more about the Artemis cult, see Wikipedia: Cult of Artemis at Brauron.

Λιμῷ γὰρ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἀντειπεῖν ἔπος.

There is no word that can refute hunger.

In other words, mere words will never persuade something that their empty belly is really full; instead of making things better, words will be just make things worse — the hunger remains. No argument can dismiss it. This is one of Menander's monostichs, so it is in iambic meter:

Λιμῷ | γὰρ οὐ||δέν ἐσ|τιν ἀν||τειπεῖν | ἔπος.

Ὅπου βία πάρεστιν, οὐδὲν ἰσχύει νόμος.

Wherever there is violence, law has no power.

Note that οὐδὲν here has the force of an adverb; neuter nouns and adjectives often have adverbial force in Greek. And, sad to say, this is very much a saying for our times, especially here in the United States these days. Compare the English saying, "Might prevails over right."

girls dancing to honor Artemis

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

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