Greek Proverbs: August 27

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):

Ἐλέφαντα ἐκ _____ ποιεῖς.

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Ἐλέφαντα ἐκ μυίας ποιεῖς.

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_____ ἔχοντες οὐκ ἀκούετε;

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Ὦτα ἔχοντες οὐκ ἀκούετε;

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Πάταξον μέν, _____ δέ.

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Πάταξον μέν, ἄκουσον δέ.

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Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ _____.

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Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ πολέμου.

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Μητὲ _____, μητὲ μελίσσας.

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Μητὲ μέλι, μητὲ μελίσσας.

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Ἐλέφαντα ἐκ μυίας ποιεῖς.

You're making an elephant out of a fly.

Compare the English saying: "You're making a mountain out of a molehill." This Greek saying appears in Erasmus's Adagia.

Ὦτα ἔχοντες οὐκ ἀκούετε;

Having ears, do you not hear?

The words come from the Gospel of Mark when Jesus is rebuking his disciples for their lack of understanding. He also invokes the eyes and sight: ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντες οὐ βλέπετε; καὶ ὦτα ἔχοντες οὐκ ἀκούετε; "Having eyes, do you not see?"

Πάταξον μέν, ἄκουσον δέ.

Hit me, but listen!

The words are from Plutarch's Life of Themistocles. The situation is that Eurybiades is about to hit Themistocles with his staff while they are arguing about whether the navy should retreat or stay to fight the Persians; Themistocles wins the argument. You can read about the career of Themistocles at Wikipedia, and you can also read about Eurybiades.

Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ πολέμου.

War brings many strange things.

Bentley includes this Greek saying in his Dissertation upon the Epistles of Phalaris, applying the saying quite wittily to the strange anachronistic contradictions he discovers in the process of debunking the letters and attributing them not to the 6th century B.C.E. but to the 2nd century C.E.

Μητὲ μέλι, μητὲ μελίσσας.

Neither the honey, nor the bees.

From the Greek μέλισσα we get the name Melissa. The words are adapted from the poet Sappho: Μήτ᾿ ἐμοὶ μέλι, μήτε μέλιττα, "for me neither the honey, nor the bee." For Sappho, no doubt, the sweetness and sting referred to the sweetness and sting of love. You can read about her at Wikipedia: Sappho.

Ἐλέφαντα ἐκ _____ ποιεῖς.

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Ἐλέφαντα ἐκ μυίας ποιεῖς.

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_____ ἔχοντες οὐκ ἀκούετε;

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Ὦτα ἔχοντες οὐκ ἀκούετε;

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Πάταξον μέν, _____ δέ.

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Πάταξον μέν, ἄκουσον δέ.

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Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ _____.

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Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ πολέμου.

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Μητὲ _____, μητὲ μελίσσας.

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Μητὲ μέλι, μητὲ μελίσσας.

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

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