Ἐλέφας ______ οὐ δάκνει.
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Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐ δάκνει.Γλυκὺς ἀπείρῳ ______.
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Γλυκὺς ἀπείρῳ πόλεμος.______ ἄγγος οὐ κλᾶται.
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Κακὸν ἄγγος οὐ κλᾶται.Ὄλος ὁ ______ ἐλλύχνιον.
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Ὄλος ὁ βίος ἐλλύχνιον.Ἐν ______ κυνομαχεῖν.
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Ἐν φρέατι κυνομαχεῖν.Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐ δάκνει.
An elephant doesn't bite a mouse.
A proverb of incongruity! A mouse is too small to be worthy of the elephant's attention, much less provoke an attack. So, if you're an elephant and you happen to notice a mouse, just let it go; don't sweat the small stuff. You've seen a variation on this saying before in a previous blog post: Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐχ ἁλίσκει.
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. The adjective ἄπειρος is an alpha-privative: ἄ-πειρος, and you can see the root πειρ- in English "empirical." From the root of γλυκύς, we get medical terms like hypoglycemia, "low blood sugar," in English.
Κακὸν ἄγγος οὐ κλᾶται.
A bad pitcher doesn't break.
The idea is that goodness is fragile, while something bad might turn out to be more durable: it is the bad pitcher that doesn't break, while the good one shatters. It's a very pessimistic proverb! Compare the English saying "Ill weeds grow apace."
῞Ολος ὁ βίος ἐλλύχνιον.
A whole life is a lamp wick.
In a world of candles and lamps, the action of the wick was something familiar: the wick draws up candle wax or lamp oil to the flame, much as we draw breath... so long as we are alive. But like the wick, our lives come to an end — and while an entire lifetime might seem long, this saying wants to remind us that it lasts no longer than a lamp wick. When the fuel runs out, we're done.
Ἐν φρέατι κυνομαχεῖν.
To fight with dogs in a well.
This is definitely something you want to avoid! A dog-fight is bad enough, but it is even more violent and dangerous if it is happening in a confined space like a well. You can also read more about this Greek saying in Erasmus.
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Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐ δάκνει.Γλυκὺς ἀπείρῳ ______.
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Γλυκὺς ἀπείρῳ πόλεμος.______ ἄγγος οὐ κλᾶται.
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Κακὸν ἄγγος οὐ κλᾶται.Ὄλος ὁ ______ ἐλλύχνιον.
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Ὄλος ὁ βίος ἐλλύχνιον.Ἐν ______ κυνομαχεῖν.
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Ἐν φρέατι κυνομαχεῖν.
And to finish up, here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too:
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