Greek Proverbs: May 19

Here are today's Greek proverbs with LOLCats! These are repeats of previous proverbs, but now with illustrations... and with a quiz too! See how you do on the questions up top, and then try them again down below after you've read through the proverbs (the quiz results display only at the blog, not in the email):

______ ἐν ῥόδοις.

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Κύων ἐν ῥόδοις.

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Πλούτῳ ______.

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Πλούτῳ ἀπίστει.

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______ ποῖ πορεύῃ;

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Γλῶσσα ποῖ πορεύῃ;

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Ἐκ ______ στόματος.

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Ἐκ λύκου στόματος.

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Ἡφαίστειος ______.

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Ἡφαίστειος δεσμός.

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Κύων ἐν ῥόδοις.

A dog in the roses.

The idea here is incongruity, and also disparaging the dog: not only does a dog have nothing to do with roses, but a dog supposedly has no way to appreciate the roses either. (Dogs don't get a lot of respect in Greek proverbs.)

Πλούτῳ ἀπίστει.

Put no faith in wealth.

This is one of the so-called Delphic maxims recorded by Stobaeus. The verb ἀπίστει is an alpha-privative: ἀ-πίστει. The noun πλοῦτος is also the name of the god of wealth (as in English "plutocracy," like we have now in this country, alas); find out more at Wikipedia: Plutus.

Γλῶσσα ποῖ πορεύῃ;

Tongue, where are you going?

This proverb invokes the idea that the tongue (words, language) can be a force for good or a force for evil. Here is the saying in full as it appears in the Greek proverb collections: γλῶσσα, ποῖ πορεύῃ; πόλιν ἀνορθώσουσα καὶ πόλιν καταστρέψουσα; "Tongue, where are you going? To build the city up or to tear it down?"

Ἐκ λύκου στόματος.

From the mouth of the wolf.

As Erasmus explains, this refers to an unexpectedly good outcome because someone in the mouth of the wolf does not expect to escape alive. Compare the English saying "from the jaws of death." Erasmus cites a similar passage from Horace, hoedus ereptus lupo, "a kid snatched from the wolf," and Erasmus also suggests a connection to the Aesopic fable about the crane (or heron) and the wolf, where the crane kindly but foolishly offers to get a bone out of the wolf's throat and is lucky to escape alive.

Ἡφαίστειος δεσμός.

The Hephaestean bond.

Erasmus provides a very cool-sounding Latin version of the Greek: Vulcanium vinculum (Vulcan was the Roman name for the god Hephaestus). The saying alludes to the famous incident in the Iliad when Hephaestus forged a chain-link net to bind his wife Aphrodite in bed with her lover Ares; you can read about this story at Wikipedia: Hephaestus and Aphrodite.

______ ἐν ῥόδοις.

reveal/hide answer

Κύων ἐν ῥόδοις.

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Πλούτῳ ______.

reveal/hide answer

Πλούτῳ ἀπίστει.

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______ ποῖ πορεύῃ;

reveal/hide answer

Γλῶσσα ποῖ πορεύῃ;

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Ἐκ ______ στόματος.

reveal/hide answer

Ἐκ λύκου στόματος.

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Ἡφαίστειος ______.

reveal/hide answer

Ἡφαίστειος δεσμός.

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

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