μέλλω ~ μελλήσω ~ ἐμέλλησα: be about to, be fated
θαυμάζω ~ θαυμάσω ~ ἐθαύμασα: wonder at, admire
τίκτω ~ τέξω ~ ἔτεκον: bear, breed
ἄρχω ~ ἄρξω ~ ἦρξα: begin; rule
τεύχω ~ τεύξω ~ ἔτευξα: make, build
These are the proverbs (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):
Ὅρα τὸ μέλλον.
Χρησμοὺς θαύμαζε.
῾Ηδονὴν φεῦγε, ἥτις λύπην τίκτει.
Ἄρχεσθαι μαθὼν ἄρχειν ἐπιστήσῃ.
Διὸς ἵμερος οὐκ εὐθήρατος ἐτύχθη.
And now, some commentary:
Ὅρα τὸ μέλλον.
See the future.
The verb μέλλω means "about to happen," so the participle, τὸ μέλλον, means that which is about to happen, the future, or destiny. This is one of the so-called Delphic maxims recorded by Stobaeus.
Χρησμοὺς θαύμαζε.
Be amazed at oracles.
Greek χρησμός refers to the oracle itself and also to the response provided by the oracle. It is from the verb χράω, which originally referred to the consultation of oracles and which later came to have the more general meaning of "use, have, possess." The noun χρησμός can remind you of the verb's original menaing. From the root in Greek θαύμ- we get English "thaumaturgy." For more about Greek oracles, see Wikipedia: Oracle.
῾Ηδονὴν φεῦγε, ἥτις λύπην τίκτει.
Flee any pleasure which produces grief.
This is another saying attributed to Solon.
The pronoun ἥτις gives the sense of "whichever, whoever," so that's why I said "any pleasure" in the translation, shifting that sense of "whatever" to the noun instead of the pronoun. From Greek ἡδονή we get English "hedonism."
Ἄρχεσθαι μαθὼν ἄρχειν ἐπιστήσῃ.
Having learned to obey, you will know how to command.
This is a sentence attributed to Solon. You can see the active infinitive, ἄρχειν, "to rule, command," along with the passive ἄρχεσθαι, "to be ruled, commanded" that is "to obey." The basic meaning of ἄρχ- is to be first, both in the sense of "original" (as in English "archaic"), but also first in the sense of "superior," which is how the verb comes to refer to being in command over others, as in "archangel" or "archbishop."
Διὸς ἵμερος οὐκ εὐθήρατος ἐτύχθη.
The desire of Zeus is not easy to catch.
The line is from Aeschylus's Suppliant Women. The verb τεύχω means "make, build," but in the passive, as here, it is another verb of being, in the sense of something that is created, brought into being. The adjective εὐθήρατος is a compound: εὐ-θήρατος, from the root θήρ, meaning a wild beast, a beast of prey, which you can see in English "theriomorphic." The sense of "catch" here is metaphorical, like English "grasp," as when you can grasp a concept or idea, when you "get it."
And here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too :
