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):

Ὁ _____ οὐκ ἔχει πηδάλια.

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Ὁ οἶνος οὐκ ἔχει πηδάλια.

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_____ ὁ ἀφανὴς τύραννος.

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Χρυσὸς ὁ ἀφανὴς τύραννος.

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Ἁ δὲ _____ την χεῖρα νίζει.

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Ἁ δὲ χεὶρ την χεῖρα νίζει.

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Τὴν αὑτοῦ _____ δέδοικεν.

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Τὴν αὑτοῦ σκιὰν δέδοικεν.

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Φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ _____.

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Φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ.

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Ὁ οἶνος οὐκ ἔχει πηδάλια.

Wine has no oars.

In other words, when you drink, you lose control of yourself, just as you cannot control a ship without oars. Metaphorically, the word πηδάλια could also be used to mean the reins of a horse: ἱππικὰ πηδάλια. From Greek οἶνος we get the words oenophile and oenology.

Χρυσὸς ὁ ἀφανὴς τύραννος.

Gold is the invisible tyrant.

The adjective ἀφανὴς is an alpha-privative: ἀ-φανὴς, in-visible. From Greek τύραννος, we get English "tyrant." The etymology of the Greek word is obscure; here are some possible etymologies.

Ἁ δὲ χεὶρ την χεῖρα νίζει.

The hand washes the hand.

Compare the English saying, "One hand washes the other." The saying appears in a fragment of the comic writer Epicharmus. The complete verse line explains the meaning of the saying: Ἡ δὲ χεὶρ τὴν χεῖρα κνίζει, δός τι καὶ λάβοις τι, "give something and you'll get something." Another version of the saying in Greek cited by Erasmus is Χεὶρ χεῖρα νίπτει, δάκτυλός τε δάκτυλον, "Hand washes hand, and finger (washes) finger." From the Greek word χείρ we get the English word "chiropractor."

Τὴν αὑτοῦ σκιὰν δέδοικεν.

He fears his own shadow.

The words are from a fragment of Aristophanes, and of course we use the same phrase in English, "to be afraid of your own shadow." Erasmus cites the phrase with a different verb: Τὴν αὑτοῦ σκιὰν φοβεῖσθαι (φοβέω is also one of today's verbs). Plato uses the phrase in the Phaedo, where he labels it as a saying: τὸ λεγόμενον.

Φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ.

The voice of one shouting in the desert.

These words appear in all four Gospels — Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John — referring to John the Baptist, echoing the prophet Isaiah. The word φωνὴ (as in English telephone, etc.) is a feminine noun of the first declension, while the word ἔρημος (as in English hermit, etc.) is a feminine noun of the second declension.

Ὁ _____ οὐκ ἔχει πηδάλια.

reveal/hide answer

Ὁ οἶνος οὐκ ἔχει πηδάλια.

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_____ ὁ ἀφανὴς τύραννος.

reveal/hide answer

Χρυσὸς ὁ ἀφανὴς τύραννος.

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Ἁ δὲ _____ την χεῖρα νίζει.

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Ἁ δὲ χεὶρ την χεῖρα νίζει.

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Τὴν αὑτοῦ _____ δέδοικεν.

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Τὴν αὑτοῦ σκιὰν δέδοικεν.

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Φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ _____.

reveal/hide answer

Φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ.

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

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