κλαίω ~ κλαιήσω ~ ἔκλαυσα (verb): weep, lament
ἀρχή ~ ἀρχῆς (noun f.): beginning
βίος ~ βίου (noun m.): life, lifestyle
ἡδονή ~ ἡδονῆς (noun f.): pleasure
μῦθος ~ μύθου (noun m.): story, word
These are the proverbs (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):
Αἵματι κλαίειν.
Πάσα ἀρχὴ δύσκολος.
Προβατίου βίον λέγεις.
κακὸς κακῷ δὲ συντέτηκεν ἡδονῇ.
Ἐν παντί μύθῳ καὶ τὸ Δαιδάλου μύσος.
And now, some commentary:
Αἵματι κλαίειν.
To weep blood.
This phrase refers to when you go to the most dramatic measures possible, weeping blood, to persuade someone of something, but to no effect. Erasmus also cites a variant: Αἴματι στένειν, "to groan blood."
Πάσα ἀρχὴ δύσκολος.
Every beginning is difficult.
As someone who is a beginning the study of Japanese, I can attest to the truth of this saying! Note that like so many compound adjectives, δύσκολος does not have a distinctive feminine form: it is both masculine and feminine.
Προβατίου βίον λέγεις.
You're talking about the life of a little lamb.
The words come from Aristophanes' Pluto, when one character praises the quiet life, doing nothing, and is then rebuked. Just as in English, being "sheepish" means being shy and retiring, daring nothing, accomplishing nothing. And this is not just a sheep, but a diminutive sheep, προβάτιον. For more about Greek sheep stereotypes, see Erasmus's commentary on a related saying: Προβάτων ἦθος.
κακὸς κακῷ δὲ συντέτηκεν ἡδονῇ.
The wicked man sticks to the wicked man through pleasure.
The words come from Aristotle's Eudemian Ethics, where he identifies this as a saying: λέγεται, "it is said." Aristotle is talking about how the pleasures of friendship apply to everyone: even animals and children and wicked people.
Ἐν παντί μύθῳ καὶ τὸ Δαιδάλου μύσος.
In every story there is also the corruption of Daedalus.
This odd little saying is found in the Suda. We're used to thinking of Daedalus as the hero who made wings and escaped from King Minos, but Daedalus was also the one who built the wooden cow for Pasiphae, thus spawning the Minotaur. It is the invention of that wooden cow which is the μύσος, "corruption."
And here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too:
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