Greek Proverbs

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):

Λαγὼν _______.

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Λαγὼν καθεύδων.

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Ἰχθύων _______.

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Ἰχθύων βίος.

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_______ ἐν νεφέλαις.

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Ἀετὸς ἐν νεφέλαις.

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_______ ἀπέχου.

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Ἀλλοτρίων ἀπέχου.

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_______ φύλαττε.

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Φιλίαν φύλαττε.

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Λαγὼν καθεύδων.

A sleeping rabbit.

According to the ancients (see Dio Chrysostom, for example), rabbits slept with their eyes open. So the idea of this proverb is that appearances can be deceiving: the rabbit is sleeping, but you don't realize it because of those wide open eyes.

Ἰχθύων βίος.

The lifestyle of fish.

This saying is shorthand for when powerful people take advantage of weaker people, just as big fish devour the little fish. It is sometimes called "the Law of Fish" in English, or "the Law of the Jungle." You can see this proverbial usage in Polybius: τὸν λεγόμενον τῶν ἰχθύων βίον, with τὸν λεγόμενον indicating the proverbial status of the phrase. 

Ἀετὸς ἐν νεφέλαις.

An eagle in the clouds.

This saying can be applied to several different situations: to something lofty and great, especially if it excels others, and also to something that is difficult or even impossible to obtain. You can see Erasmus's Adagia for a variety of Greek citations.

Ἀλλοτρίων ἀπέχου.

Keep away from other people's things.

Note the middle imperative: "keep (yourself) away." This is another of the so-called Delphic maxims recorded by Stobaeus; find out more here at Wikipedia.

Φιλίαν φύλαττε.

Preserve friendship.

The nice word-play in the Greek doesn't come through in the English, alas. This is another one of the sayings recorded in the Delphic Maxims of Stobaeus. You see the Attic form of the verb φυλάσσ-. You can see the root of this Greek verb in English "prophylactic." For the related noun φύλαξ, see below.

Λαγὼν _______.

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Λαγὼν καθεύδων.

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Ἰχθύων _______.

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Ἰχθύων βίος.

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_______ ἐν νεφέλαις.

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Ἀετὸς ἐν νεφέλαις.

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_______ ἀπέχου.

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Ἀλλοτρίων ἀπέχου.

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_______ φύλαττε.

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Φιλίαν φύλαττε.

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

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