Greek Proverbs: Jan. 27

Here are today's Greek proverbs with LOLCats! These are repeats of previous proverbs, but now with illustrations (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Δικτύῳ ἄνεμον θηρᾶς.

You're hunting the wind with a net.
This is a proverbial fool's errand, because you cannot catch the wind in a net!

Λαγὼς καθεύδων.

The sleeping hare.

This saying also appears in Erasmus, who explains that it refers to a deception: the hare sleeps with its eyes open, or so the ancient Greeks and Romans supposed, fooling people into thinking it was awake. More about this folk tradition: Lagophthalmos or Hare Eye: An Etymologic Eye Opener.

Καρδία ἐλάφου.

The heart of a deer.

This is a saying indicating cowardice, and the words were famously used by Achilles when he taunted Agamemnon in the opening book of the Iliad: "οἰνοβαρές, κυνὸς ὄμματ᾽ ἔχων, κραδίην δ᾽ ἐλάφοιο," "weighed down with wine, having the face of a dog but the heart of a deer," where κραδίη ἐλάφοιο is the Homeric form of καρδία ἐλάφου. Here is the meter marked:

"οἰνοβα~ρές, κυνὸς ὄμματ᾽ ἔ~χων, κραδί~ην δ᾽ ἐλά~φοιο

There is an Aesop's fable about the proverbial cowardice of the deer.

ᾨὸν τίλλεις.

You're plucking an egg.

In other words: you are wasting your time! Unlike a bird, which can be plucked, a bird's egg is completely smooth; there is nothing to pluck. This is another proverbial adynaton (impossibility).

Τα παθήματα μαθήματα.

Sufferings (are) lessons.

The play on words in the Greek is lost in the English, alas, but it can be replicated in Latin: "Nocumentum, documentum." Both the words πάθημα and μάθημα are nouns formed from verbs: πάσχω, experience or suffer, and μανθάνω, learn, the idea being that to undergo some experience, especially a negative experience, teaches you a lesson. From the Greek root in πάθημα we get the English word empathy and from μάθημα, mathematics.

And to finish up, here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too:

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Greek Proverbs: January 22

Here are today's Greek proverbs with LOLCats! These are repeats of previous proverbs, but now with illustrations (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Μίδου χρήματα.

The wealth of Midas.

King Midas was legendary for his wealth, but the "touch of gold" came at a terrible price; you can read the story at Wikipedia: Midas. Erasmus cites some other Greek sayings about the proverbially wealthy Midas: Μίδου πλοῦτος, "the riches of Midas" and Μίδου πλουσιώτερος, "richer than Midas."

Εἰς κόρακας.

To the crows.

Compare the English saying, "Go hang yourself" or just "Go hang." Why crows? The idea is that you want the person to die and for their corpse to be left unburied, a feast for crows. Unlike other prepositions which take different cases with different meanings, εἰς takes only the accusative case. Even so, the preposition still covers a huge range of meaning, as you can see at Logeion.

Ἐν οἴνῳ ἀλήθεια.

In wine (there is) truth.

Wine loosens people's tongues and, under the influence of the wine, they speak the truth, saying things they would not admit when they are sober. Compare the famous Latin saying, "In vino veritas."

Ἔγνω δὲ θὴρ θῆρα.

One beast recognized another.

This is a proverb cited by Aristotle in his Rhetoric, referring to how two wicked persons ally themselves to one another, and this saying is cited in the LSJ dictionary entry for θήρ. Aristotle quotes the saying using the aorist, ἔγνω, while Erasmus quotes a version using the perfect, ἔγνωκε: "One beast knows another;" compare the use of οἶδα, a perfect verb with present meaning.

Πίθηκος ἐν πορφύραι.

A monkey in royal robes.

The saying refers to someone putting on airs and making a ridiculous impression. Literally, the robes are purple, referring to Tyrian purple, a dye that was extremely expensive and eventually became associated with royalty, so much so that "the purple" could refer to the kingship itself, and the word "porphyrogeniture" referred to the way that sons born after their father became king would inherit the throne, even over the claims of older siblings. You can find out more at Wikipedia: Born in the purple.

And to finish up, here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too:

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Greek Proverbs: Jan 20

Here are today's Greek proverbs with LOLCats! These are repeats of previous proverbs, but now with illustrations (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

 

Γονεῖς αἰδοῦ.

Respect your parents.

This is one of the maxims of the Seven Sages as recorded by Stobaeus: Delphic Maxims. About the middle imperative αἰδοῦ, see this post: Σεαυτὸν αἰδοῦ. The noun γονεύς is derived from the root of the verb γίγνομαι, which is the middle form means "be born" (compare Latin gigno).

Ὅρα τὸ μέλλον.

See the future.

The verb μέλλω means "about to happen," so the participle, τὸ μέλλον, means that which is about to happen, the future, or destiny. This is another of the so-called Delphic maxims recorded by Stobaeus.

Οὐδὲ Ἡρακλῆς πρὸς δύο.

Not even Heracles (fights) against two.

In other words: don't pick a fight where your enemies outnumber you. The saying appears in a fragment of the archaic poet Archilochus. Meanwhile, you can read about the exploits of the hero Hercules at Wikipedia: Heracles.

Ἑστίαν τίμα.

Honor Hestia / the hearth-fire.

Yet another one of the so-called Delphic maxims recorded by Stobaeus. As usual, the maxim takes the form of an imperative: τίμα (uncontracted form: τίμαε).  Compare another saying about the goddess of the hearth that you saw in a previous post: Ἀφ' Ἑστίας ἀρχόμενοι. You can read about both Hestia and Vesta (Roman hearth-goddess) at Wikipedia.

Γλυκὺς ἀπείρῳ πόλεμος.

War (is) sweet to the inexperienced (person).

By implication, the person with experience of war knows that it is anything but sweet. From the root of γλυκύς, we get medical terms like hypoglycemia, "low blood sugar," in English.

And to finish up, here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too:

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Greek Proverbs: January 15

Here are today's Greek proverbs with LOLCats! These are repeats of previous proverbs, but now with illustrations (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Χυτρεοῦς θεός.

A clay god.

This proverbial phrase refers to a god who is useless, not worthy of worship and unable to come to your aid. The adjective χυτρεοῦς is from the noun, χύτρα, a clay pot used for cooking. 

Μανθάνων μὴ κάμνε.

Don't get tired of learning.

The negative μή is used moods other than the indicative, which means the imperative as here, the subjunctive, etc. Literally, "as you are learning (participle), don't get tired (imperative)." The root of the verb μανθάνω is μαθ- as in English words like polymath and mathematics.

Ἐξ ἴσου δίδου πᾶσιν.

Give to all equally.

Plutarch includes these words in his Sayings of the Spartans, attributing the saying to Agesilaus the Great in the context of wine-drinking: εἰ μὲν πολὺς οἶνός ἐστι’ παρεσκευασμένος, ὅσον ἕκαστος αἰτεῖ: εἰ δὲ ὀλίγος, ἐξ ἴσου δίδου πᾶσιν, "If much wine has been provided, give as much as each one asks, but if there is only a little wine, give to all equally." You can see the Greek root ἴσο- in English isotope and in isosceles triangles.

Κύκνειον μέλος.

Swan song.

The legend of the song that the swan (supposedly) sings just before it dies, having spent the rest of its life in silence, has its own article at Wikipedia: Swan song. (I'll just mention here in passing a wonderful community organization here in Austin where I live: Swan Song: Musical Last Wishes brings musicians to the homes of hospice patients in order to perform for them; I learned about it because a jazz trio came and did a performance for my father.)

Ἡ εὐλάβεια σῴζει πάντα.

Caution saves all things.

The saying appears in Aristophanes' Birds. The saying also appears in the LSJ dictionary entry for the word εὐλάβεια. From the Greek verb σῴζω comes the noun σωτήρ, "savior," as in the English word soteriology, the study of salvation.

And to finish up, here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too:

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Greek Proverbs: January 13

Here are today's Greek proverbs with LOLCats! These are repeats of previous proverbs, but now with illustrations (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Γαλῇ χιτών.
A gown for a weasel.
More specifically, this means a wedding gown, and the proverb thus refers to something that is useless or absurdly inappropriate: the weasel was supposed to be an old maid in ancient Greece, a spinster who never married, and so she had no need for a wedding gown.

Μῶρα γὰρ μῶρος λέγει.
For a fool speaks foolish things.
The words are spoken by Teiresias who, together with Kadmos, is rebuking Pentheus (Kadmos's grandson), in Euripides' Bacchae. Erasmus includes this saying in his Adagia: Stultus stulta loquitur.

 

Νοῦν ἡγεμόνα ποιοῦ.
Make your mind your leader.
These words are attributed to Solon by Diogenes Laertius; you can read more about Solon at Wikipedia.
The verb ποιοῦ here is also a middle imperative, and from the Greek ἡγεμὼν, we get English hegemony. This always reminds me of the opening lines of the Buddha's Dhammapada: "Mind precedes thoughts, mind is their chief, their quality is made by mind..."

Πᾶς τις τὰ ἑαυτοῦ ἀγαπᾷ.
Each person loves the things that are theirs.
Compare the English saying "To each his own," which renders the Latin cuique suum, "to each their own." The inclusion of ἀγαπᾷ here aligns it with cuique suum placet, "to each their own is pleasing."

Γλυκὺς ὕπνος τοῦ δούλου.
Sweet is the sleep of the slave.
The words come from the Biblical Book of Ecclesiastes. Here is the full verse in the King James version: The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. From the Greek root γλυκ- we get all the scientific terms formed with glyc- in English like hypoglycemia or nitroglycerin.

And to finish up, here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too:

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Greek Proverbs: January 8

Here are today's Greek proverbs with LOLCats! These are repeats of previous proverbs, but now with illustrations (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός.
God from the machine.
This is better known in its Latin form: Deus ex machina. The machine in question is the crane used in ancient Greek theater to lower a god onto the stage, and the phrase refers to some unexpected event; find out more at Wikipedia: Deus ex machina. From Greek μηχανή we get English mechanical, and also (via Latin) machine.

Κινδύνευε φρονίμως.
Take risks wisely.
This is one of those maxims attributed by Stobaeus to the Seven Sages. The adverb φρονίμως is from the adjective φρόνιμος, which is in turn from the noun φρήν, often found in the plural φρένες, which gives rise to a range of important words in Greek; you can see a list of derived words at the Wiktionary.

Κατόπιν ἑορτῆς ἥκεις.
You have come late to the festival.
This saying is used to mock anyone who has arrived late for a business matter or some other serious purpose. There are also variants of this saying referring to popular Greek festivals: Παναθηναίων κατόπιν ... Πυθίων ὕστερον ἧκες. You can read about the Panthenaean festival and the Pythian games at Wikipedia.

Ἅπας ἐχῖνος τραχύς.
The whole hedgehog is prickly.
As Erasmus explains, this saying refers to a person who is "prickly" by analogy to the prickly hedgehog. In the same way that there is no un-prickly part of a hedgehog that allows you to safely pick it up, so too there are some people who are impossible to deal with no matter what you try to do: they are completely prickly. From the same root in Greek τραχύς we get English trachea, so-called because of the windpipe's bumpy cartilage.

Μηδὲν ἄγαν.
Nothing to excess.
Note the specific form of "nothing" used here: μηδέν as opposed to οὐδέν. The word μή is used for negative imperatives, which gives this proverb the force of a negative imperative even though no verb is expressed: don't talk too much, don't eat too much, don't sleep too much, etc. etc. — μηδὲν ἄγαν.

And to finish up, here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too:

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Greek Proverbs: Jan. 6

I've now got such a big collection of LOLCats at this blog that the "random" feature is not going to show you all of them. So, I'm now going to do a series now of blog posts featuring the LOLCats, and I hope this will be a fun way to start a new year at this blog! Enjoy today's cats, and there are always more proverbs at the blog:

Λίθον ἕψεις.
You're boiling a stone.
In other words: you're wasting your time. No matter how long you boil a stone, it stays a stone. You can see this root in "paleolithic," the Old Stone Age.

Ἀλύπως βίου.
Live without grieving.
The word βίου is a verb here, a middle imperative of the contract verb βιόω. Yes, βίου is also the genitive singular of the noun βίος; the two words are from the same root, but they are not the same word. Just like in English, which abounds in homonyms (both homographs and homophones), there are some Greek words which can have the same spelling and pronunciation but which are different words, and you have to figure it out from context. In this context, βίου as noun does not make sense, but βίου as verb does. More about the many different types of homonyms at Wikipedia.

Ἄριστον μὲν ὕδωρ.
The best thing is water.
The words are from Pindar in his first Olympian ode: "Water is best, and gold like a blazing fire in the night stands out supreme of all lordly wealth," ἄριστον μὲν ὕδωρ, ὁ δὲ χρυσὸς αἰθόμενον πῦρ / ἅτε διαπρέπει νυκτὶ μεγάνορος ἔξοχα πλούτου." Aristotle, who had a great interest in proverbs, discusses this saying in his Rhetoric. From the root of Greek ἄριστο- we get English aristocracy.

Περὶ ὄνου σκιᾶς.
Concerning the shadow of a donkey.
This saying is used to describe something worthless, a trifle of no value whatsoever, and certainly nothing worth arguing about. It was a popular ancient Greek saying as the many citations in Erasmus attest. I especially like the citation from Lucian: Πάντες ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν περὶ ὄνου σκιᾶς μάχονται οἱ φιλοσοφοῦντες, "All the philosophers are fighting, as the saying goes, about the shadow of a donkey." Erasmus also reports Demosthenes telling the fable about the donkey's shadow, which you can read here: The Ass's Shadow.

Μὴ ἐπὶ παντὶ λυποῦ.
Don't grieve at all.
You could also translate this as "Don't grieve over everything" or "over everyone" — but the idea is really not to grieve, and translating it as "Don't grieve at all" saves the trouble of specifying everything (neuter) or everyone (masculine) for Greek παντὶ. Note also the middle imperative: λυποῦ. We have something like that middle sense in English when we say "don't grieve yourself, don't trouble yourself." This is one of the so-called Delphic maxims recorded by Stobaeus.

And to finish up, here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too:

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