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):

Παθὼν δέ τε ______ ἔγνω.

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Παθὼν δέ τε νήπιος ἔγνω.

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Δειλότερος εἶ τῶν ______.

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Δειλότερος εἶ τῶν λαγωῶν.

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______ θάλασσαν ἐρίζει.

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Ποταμὸς θάλασσαν ἐρίζει.

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Φάρμακον ὀργῆς ὁ ______.

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Φάρμακον ὀργῆς ὁ χρόνος.

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Ἐκτὸς πηλοῦ ______ ἔχεις.

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Ἐκτὸς πηλοῦ πόδας ἔχεις.

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Παθὼν δέ τε νήπιος ἔγνω.

Even the fool learns by experience.

The words come from Hesiod's Works and Days. Compare Homer's Iliad: Ρεχθέν δε τε νήπιος έγνω. The word νήπιος can mean a child, someone young, but it can also mean childish, foolish, silly, etc., as in this saying. The idea here is that a more wise person might use reasoning instead without suffering "the school of hard knocks" as we say in English; that English saying even has its own Wikipedia article: School of Hard Knocks.

Δειλότερος εἶ τῶν λαγωῶν.

You are more cowardly than the rabbits.

There is an Aesop's fable about the proverbial cowardice of rabbits, but in the Aesop's fable, the rabbits are comforted by the fact that the frogs are even more scared than they are; here's that fable in Greek: Λαγωοὶ καὶ βάτραχοι.

Ποταμὸς θάλασσαν ἐρίζει.

A river is contending with the sea.

In other words, someone is pretending to be much greater than he is, as if any river could rival a sea. Erasmus cites a version in the second person: Ποταμὸς θαλάττῃ ἐρίζεις, "You, a river, are contending with the sea." The verb ἐρίζει is from the noun ἔρις, meaning "strife" or "contention." For the personified Goddess of Strife, see Wikipedia: Eris.

Φάρμακον ὀργῆς ὁ χρόνος.

Time is a remedy for anger.

From Greek φάρμακον we get the English word pharmacy. This Greek word was also made famous in modern times thanks to its use by the French philosopher Derrida; see more at Wikipedia: Pharmakon.

Ἐκτὸς πηλοῦ πόδας ἔχεις. 

You've got your feet outside of the mud.

This means you're in a good position, not likely to slip and slide into some kind of disaster. The word ἐκτός can be used as a preposition with the genitive, as here, and it can also be used as an adverb. You can see this root in English "ectoplasm." You can see Greek πούς in English "podium."

Παθὼν δέ τε ______ ἔγνω.

reveal/hide answer

Παθὼν δέ τε νήπιος ἔγνω.

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Δειλότερος εἶ τῶν ______.

reveal/hide answer

Δειλότερος εἶ τῶν λαγωῶν.

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______ θάλασσαν ἐρίζει.

reveal/hide answer

Ποταμὸς θάλασσαν ἐρίζει.

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Φάρμακον ὀργῆς ὁ ______.

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Φάρμακον ὀργῆς ὁ χρόνος.

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Ἐκτὸς πηλοῦ ______ ἔχεις.

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Ἐκτὸς πηλοῦ πόδας ἔχεις.

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

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