Aesopic Proverbs 51-60: Crows, Pigs, and Raw Recruits

~ Erik ~ 2 Comments

51.
“This egg came from that crow.”
Interpretation:
“The fruit of every tree will become a clear reproach when the tree puts forth its nature [shoots?].”
Τοῦτο τὸ ὠὸν ἀπ’ ἐκείνου τοῦ κόρακος.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Δῆλος ἔλεγχος ὁ καρπὸς γενήσεται
Παντὸς δένδρου <φυέντος> ἣν ἔχει φύσιν.

52.
“The sow sees barley in its dreams.”
Interpretation:
“Everyone dreams looking upon those things toward which his mind is inclined.”
῾Η ὗς εἰς τοὺς ὀνείρους κριθὰς βλέπει.
῾Ερμηνεία.
᾿Ονειροπολεῖται ἅπας ἐκεῖνα βλέπων,
Εἰς ἅπερ ἔχει τὴν γνῶσιν κεκλιμένην.

53.
“When the rustic man eats, he rages at the fish.”
Interpretation:
“The inexperienced hedonist, if he ever gets hold of pleasure, loses his mind and grows excessively insolent.”
Χωρικὸς φαγὼν ἰχθὺν ἐμάν<η>.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Τρυφῶν ἄπειρος, ἣν λάχῃ τρυφήν ποτε,
<Τὸν νοῦν ἀπολλὺς> εἰς ἄγαν φρυάττεται.

54.
“The horse runs to its birth.”
Interpretation:
“Subsequent progeny guard the character of their family for those from whom they sprang.”
῞Ιππος εἰς γένος τρέχει.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Πρὸς τοὺς ἐξ ὧν ἐγεννήθησαν οἱ μετέπειτα
Τὸν τρόπον φυλάττουσιν τῆς συγγενείας.

55.
“The raw recruit is a poison to the ship.”
Interpretation:
“Inexperience is a hard thing, and even more so when the wave of the sea tyrannizes over the ship.”
᾿Ιδιώτης εἰς πλοῖον φάρμακον.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Χαλεπὸν ἀπειρία κἀκεῖσε μᾶλλον,
῎Ενθα κῦμα θαλάσσης τυραννεῖ σκάφος.
56.
“A well-born horse does not kick.”
Interpretation:
“The one who receives the good-breeding of nature will maintain it by the gentleness of manners.”
῞Ιππος εὐγενὴς οὐ λακτίζει.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Εὐγένειαν ὁ λαχὼν τὴν τῆς φύσεως
Ταύτην φυλάττει πραότητι τῶν τρόπων.

57.
“Tell the truth to your doctor and your lawyer.”
Interpretation:
“It is not wise to hide either an affliction of the body or the presence of an illness in one’s vitals.”

᾿Ιατρῷ καὶ νομικῷ τὴν ἀλήθειαν λέγε.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Κρύπτειν οὐ πρέπει οὔτε πάθος σώματος
Οὔτε κτῆσιν <τὴν οὖσ>αν ἐν καιρῷ νόσου.

58.
“Of moderate… < >”
Interpretation:
“Those who honor wealth and have many possessions say farewell to poverty forever.”
Μετρίου φί< >
῾Ερμηνεία.
Πλοῦτον τιμῶντες οἱ χρημάτων ἔμπλεοι
Τῇ πενίᾳ λέγουσιν χαίρειν <εἰς> ἀεί.
59.
“The one not looking through a sieve is blind.”
Interpretation
“The man who has gotten the beginnings of understanding, if he does not think prudently, will be reproached with blindness.”
῾Ο μὴ βλέπων διὰ κοσκίνου τυφλός ἐστιν.
῾Ερμηνεία.
᾿Αφορμὰς εἰς σύνεσιν εἰληφὼς ἀνήρ,
Εἰ μὴ φρονοίη, τυφλώττειν ἐλέγχεται.

60.
“The lyre string laughs just once.”
Interpretation:
“Sallies of wit can only delight stupidity for a while. When they linger, they cause pain.”
Χορδὴ ἅπαξ γελᾶται.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Χαριεντισμοῦ λόγος ἀπαιδευσίαν
Πρὸς ὀλίγον τέρπει· εἰ δ’ ἐπιμένει λυπεῖ.

Demosthenes on Courage and Virtue

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Epitaphios: A speech performed annually in honor of those who have died in war. The most famous that remains is Thucydides’ version of Perikles’ funeral oration (2.35-46).Earlier today, we posted the beginnings of Epitaphioi ascribed to Lysias and Perikles’ companion Aspasia. Here’s one from Demosthenes:

Demosthenes, Epitaphios (speech 60)

“Since it seems right to the state to bury those lying in this grave publicly because they proved themselves noble in war and it has been assigned to me to deliver the customary speech on their behalf, I immediately began to examine how others have crafted the appropriate praise. But while I was considering and examining this, I realized that speaking worthily of the dead is one of those things that is impossible for men. For because they have abandoned that desire to live that is natural to all men and they have decided to die well rather than continue living and watch Greece fare badly, how have they not left behind an accomplishment beyond the expression of any speech?

But, nevertheless, it seems right to me to speak the way those who have spoken here before. How serious our city is about those who have died in war is can be seen from other affairs and especially from this law by which someone is selected who will speak over the public burial. For, since we know that among noble men the possession of money and the acquisition of pleasures in life are dismissed and that they have a great desire for virtue and praise, so that they might gain these things especially, we have thought it right to honor them so that what good repute they acquired while living, might also be granted to them even now that they are dead.

If I saw that courage alone was sufficient of those traits that lead to virtue, I would praise that and forget the rest of my speech. But because it is true that they were born nobly, educated prudently, and lived honorably—all reasons they were eager to act rightly—I would be ashamed if I moved on without saying something about these things. So I will start from the beginning of their ancestry.”

᾿Επειδὴ τοὺς ἐν τῷδε τῷ τάφῳ κειμένους, ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ γεγονότας, ἔδοξεν τῇ πόλει δημοσίᾳ θάπτειν καὶ προσέταξεν ἐμοὶ τὸν νομιζόμενον λόγον εἰπεῖν ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς, ἐσκόπουν μὲν εὐθὺς ὅπως τοῦ προσήκοντος ἐπαίνου τεύξονται, ἐξετάζων δὲ καὶ σκοπῶν ἀξίως εἰπεῖν τῶν τετελευτηκότων ἕν τι τῶν ἀδυνάτων ηὕρισκον ὄν. οἳ γὰρ τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν πᾶσιν ἔμφυτον τοῦ ζῆν ὑπερεῖδον ἐπιθυμίαν, καὶ τελευτῆσαι καλῶς μᾶλλον ἠβουλήθησαν ἢ ζῶντες τὴν ῾Ελλάδ’ ἰδεῖν ἀτυχοῦσαν, πῶς οὐκ ἀνυπέρβλητον παντὶ λόγῳ τὴν αὑτῶν ἀρετὴν καταλελοίπασιν;

ὁμοίως μέντοι διαλεχθῆναι τοῖς πρότερόν ποτ’ εἰρηκόσιν ἐνθάδ’ εἶναι μοι δοκεῖ. ὡς μὲν οὖν ἡ πόλις σπουδάζει περὶ τοὺς ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ τελευτῶντας, ἔκ τε τῶν ἄλλων ἔστιν ἰδεῖν καὶ μάλιστ’ ἐκ τοῦδε τοῦ νόμου, καθ’ ὃν αἱρεῖται τὸν ἐροῦντ’ ἐπὶ ταῖς δημοσίαις ταφαῖς· εἰδυῖα γὰρ παρὰ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἀνδράσιν τὰς μὲν τῶν χρημάτων κτήσεις καὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον ἡδονῶν ἀπολαύσεις ὑπερεωραμένας, τῆς δ’ ἀρετῆς καὶ τῶν ἐπαίνων πᾶσαν τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν οὖσαν, ἐξ ὧν ταῦτ’ ἂν αὐτοῖς μάλιστα γένοιτο λόγων, τούτοις ᾠήθησαν δεῖν αὐτοὺς τιμᾶν, ἵν’ ἣν ζῶντες ἐκτήσαντ’ εὐδοξίαν, αὕτη καὶ τετελευτηκόσιν αὐτοῖς ἀποδοθείη.

εἰ μὲν οὖν τὴν ἀνδρείαν μόνον αὐτοῖς τῶν εἰς ἀρετὴν ἀνηκόντων ὑπάρχουσαν ἑώρων, ταύτην ἂν ἐπαινέσας ἀπηλλαττόμην τῶν λοιπῶν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ  καὶ γεγενῆσθαι καλῶς καὶ πεπαιδεῦσθαι σωφρόνως καὶ βεβιωκέναι φιλοτίμως συμβέβηκεν αὐτοῖς, ἐξ ὧν εἰκότως ἦσαν σπουδαῖοι, αἰσχυνοίμην ἂν εἴ τι τούτων φανείην παραλιπών. ἄρξομαι δ’ ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ γένους αὐτῶν ἀρχῆς.

Demosthenes

Aesopic Proverbs 41-50: Love, Squinting, and the Sufferings of the Soul

~ Erik ~ 1 Comment

41.
“Love without purpose, and do not hate without reason.”
Interpretation:
“Treat those whom you meet, if it is necessary, as friends. Do not indulge your enemies in their hate against you.”
Εἰκῇ φιλοῦ, μάτην μὴ μισοῦ.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Καὶ τοὺς τυχόντας, εἰ δέοι, φίλους ἔχε·
᾿Εχθροῖς δὲ μὴ χαρίζου τὸ πρὸς σὲ μῖσος.

42.
“Sought, and not hated.”
Interpretation:
“By not wanting to visit with your friends frequently, you will become loved but not hated.”
Ζητούμενος καὶ μὴ μισούμενος.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Θαμινὰ φοιτᾶν τοῖς φίλοις οὐκ ἐθέλων
᾿Αγαπητός, ἀλλ’ οὐ μισητὸς γενήσῃ.

43.
“The one who conceals an itch simply doubles it.”
Interpretation:
“Often, an imprudent mind has worsened its symptoms by wishing to escape them.”
῾Ο κρύβων τὴν ψώραν αὐτοῦ διπλῆν αὐτὴν ποιεῖ.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Πολλοῖς ἐμεγάλυνε τὰ συμπτώματα
Νοῦς ἄφρων <μάτην> τὸ λαθεῖν ἐθελήσας.

44.
“The birthday of one’s eyes begins the suffering of one’s soul.”
<Interpretation>
“The enjoyment of the various amusements afforded to the idea give the soul pain and many laments.”
᾿Οφθαλμῶν γενέσια ψυχῆς ὀδύνη.
<῾Ερμηνεία.>
Τέρψις ὀφθαλμῶν ἀλλοτρίας ἑορτῆς
Λύπας φέρει τῇ ψυχῇ καὶ θρήνους πολλούς.

45.
“Hey Squinty, where is your little ear?”
Interpretation:
“A malicious man, imagining that nothing is well-wrought, fights even with the noble at every turn.”
Στρεβλέ, ποῦ ἐστι τὸ ὠτίον σου;
῾Ερμηνεία.
Οὐδὲν εὐθὲς ἐννοῶν δυσμενὴς ἀνὴρ
Καὶ τοῖς φανεροῖς μάχεται παντὶ τρόπῳ.

46.
“May you fall asleep and walk about your ship.”
Interpretation:
“Fortune decrees wealth to sleeping mortals with a wakeful providence.”
Σὺ ὑπνοῖς καὶ τὸ πλοῖόν σου περιπατεῖ.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Καθεύδουσιν ἡ Τύχη ἀνθρώποις πλοῦτον
Διαπεραίνει ἀγρύπνῳ τῇ προνοίᾳ.

47.
“Watch over your son, so that he does not fall into a well while you say that God willed it so.”
Interpretation:
“God has granted your reason as a guard, so that you can guard yourself against those things which must be watched out for.”
Τήρει τὸν υἱόν σου, ἵνα μὴ πέσῃ εἰς τὸ φρέαρ καὶ εἴπῃς
ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἤθελεν.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Τὸν νοῦν σου φύλακα δέδωκεν ὁ θεός,
῞Ινα σαυτῷ φυλάσσῃς ἃ φρουρεῖν πρέπει.

48.
“Swiftness has its charm.”
Interpretation:
“Those gift-givers become most pleasing, who crown every gift with the blessing of swiftness.”
Τὸ ταχὺ χάριν ἔχει.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Εὐχάριστοι γίνονται οἱ φιλόδωροι
Ταχυτῆτι στέφοντες ἅπασαν δόσιν.

49.
“Grapes ripen when looking on other grapes.”
Interpretation:
“Those engaged in some labor will accomplish what must be done when they look upon each other with a zealous mind.”
Σταφυλὴ σταφυλὴν βλέπουσα πεπαίνεται.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Εἰς ἀλλήλους βλέποντες οἱ μοχθοῦντές τι
Προθύμῳ γνώμῃ τὰ πρακτέα τελοῦσιν.

50.
“A lion inside, a fox without.”
Interpretation:
“By mixing boldness with villainy, you appear to demonstrate who you are not, and to hide what you are.”
῎Εσω λέων καὶ ἔξω ἀλώπηξ.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Κακουργίαν θρασύτητι μίξας φαίνῃ
Δεικνὺς ὃ μὴ εἷς, καὶ κρύπτων ὃ τυγχάνεις.

Faith Restored: Greek Verbs for Flatulence

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The Greek verb for farting, perdesthai, is cognate with Latin podex (“anus”) and the English verb fart. Greek has several synonyms on a sliding scale of politeness. This restores my faith in the expressive range of Ancient Greek so shaken by the absence of words for “sleep-walking” or “sleep-talking”.

 

Bdennusthai: This means to evacuate one’s stomach, not to fart. This is also used locally in our time, for we say “he farts” (bdei)

Βδέννυσθαι: ἐκκενοῦσθαι τὴν κοιλίαν σημαίνει, οὐ τὸ πέρδεσθαι. ὃ καὶ ἐπιχωριάζει μέχρι τοῦ νῦν: βδέει γὰρ λέγομεν.

Illuminated MSS

 

“Skordinâsthai: This means to stretch ones limbs beyond the limits of nature nwhile yawning from weariness. Aristophanes says in the Acharnians: “I groan, I yawn, I stretch, I fart.” Some people use this verb for people waking from sleep, when they yawn and stretch their limbs. This is also used of people who twist their timbs and test them in every direction”

Σκορδινᾶσθαι: τὸ παρὰ φύσιν ἀποτείνειν τὰ μέλη μετὰ τοῦ χασμᾶσθαι διακλώμενον. Ἀριστοφάνης Ἀχαρνεῦσι: στένω, κέχηνα, σκορδινῶμαι, πέρδομαι. τινὲς δὲ περὶ τοὺς ἐγειρομένους ἐξ ὕπνου, ὅταν χασμώδεις ὄντες ἐκτείνουσι τὰ μέλη: ὅπερ συμβαίνει καὶ περὶ τοὺς ἄλλως πως βασανιζομένους καὶ διαστρεφομένους τὰ μέλη.

 

“Apopnein and diapnein: “breathing out” and “releasing air”. These words mean to fart, but they are more polite than apopsophein (“breaking wind”).

Ἀποπνέω: γενικῇ. Ἀποπνεῖν καὶ διαπνεῖν τὸ πέρδεσθαι, εὐσχημονέστερον τοῦ ἀποψοφεῖν.

 

Apopsophiein: This means “to fart”, but it is more respectable. Even more polite are the words diapnein and apopnein.

᾿Αποψοφιεῖν: τὸ πέρδεσθαι, εὐσχήμως λέγων. εὐσχημονέστερον δὲ διαπνεῖν καὶ ἀποπνεῖν.

Gibbon on the Decline of Literature and Science

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“The love of letters, almost inseparable from peace and refinement, was fashionable among the subjects of Hadrian and the Antonines, who were themselves men of learning and curiosity. It was diffused over the whole extent of their empire; the most northern tribes of Britons had acquired a taste for rhetoric; Homer as well as Virgil were transcribed and studied on the banks of the Rhine and Danube; and the most liberal rewards sought out the faintest glimmerings of literary merit. 110 The sciences of physic and astronomy were successfully cultivated by the Greeks; the observations of Ptolemy and the writings of Galen are studied by those who have improved their discoveries and corrected their errors; but if we except the inimitable Lucian, this age of indolence passed away without having produced a single writer of original genius, or who excelled in the arts of elegant composition. The authority of Plato and Aristotle, of Zeno and Epicurus, still reigned in the schools; and their systems, transmitted with blind deference from one generation of disciples to another, precluded every generous attempt to exercise the powers, or enlarge the limits, of the human mind. The beauties of the poets and orators, instead of kindling a fire like their own, inspired only cold and servile mitations: or if any ventured to deviate from those models, they deviated at the same time from good sense and propriety. On the revival of letters, the youthful vigor of the imagination, after a long repose, national emulation, a new religion, new languages, and a new world, called forth the genius of Europe. But the provincials of Rome, trained by a uniform artificial foreign education, were engaged in a very unequal competition with those bold ancients, who, by expressing their genuine feelings in their native tongue, had already occupied every place of honor. The name of Poet was almost forgotten; that of Orator was usurped by the sophists. A cloud of critics, of compilers, of commentators, darkened the face of learning, and the decline of genius was soon followed by the corruption of taste.1101

The sublime Longinus, who, in somewhat a later period, and in the court of a Syrian queen, preserved the spirit of ancient Athens, observes and laments this degeneracy of his contemporaries, which debased their sentiments, enervated their courage, and depressed their talents. “In the same manner,” says he, “as some children always remain pygmies, whose infant limbs have been too closely confined, thus our tender minds, fettered by the prejudices and habits of a just servitude, are unable to expand themselves, or to attain that well-proportioned greatness which we admire in the ancients; who, living under a popular government, wrote with the same freedom as they acted.” 111 This diminutive stature of mankind, if we pursue the metaphor, was daily sinking below the old standard, and the Roman world was indeed peopled by a race of pygmies; when the fierce giants of the north broke in, and mended the puny breed. They restored a manly spirit of freedom; and after the revolution of ten centuries, freedom became the happy parent of taste and science.”

-Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol. 1 Chp. 2 Pt. 4

Too Early: Sleep-Compounds from Ancient Greek

~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 3 Comments

Sleep

My four-year old son talks in his sleep. And I don’t mean that he merely makes sounds–he holds entire conversations with himself. Sometimes there are arguments. As I discovered this morning, however, there is no Ancient Greek word for “sleeping-talkng” or “sleep walking”.

Based on the compound “walking on air” (ἀεροβατεῖν) I propose ὑπνολέγειν (“sleep-talking”) and ὑπνοβατεῖν (“sleep-talking”). But I must admit that my faith is a bit rattled. So, here are some sleep-compounds from ancient Greek.

 

ὑπνομαχέω: (hupnomakheô) “fight against sleep”

ὑπνοποιός: (hupnopoios) “sleep-making”

ὑπνάπατης: (hupnapatês) “cheating of sleep”

ὑπνοφόβης: (hupnophobês) “frightening in sleep”

ὑπνοφόρος: (hupnophoros) “sleep-bringing”

ὑπνοδεσμήτος: (hupnodesmêtos) “bound-by-sleep”

ὑπνοτραπἑζος: (hupnotrapezos) “table-sleeper” (an epithet for a parasite)

 

Gorgias on Sleep and His Brother (Aelian, Varia Historiia 2.30)

“When Gorgias of Leontini was at the end of his life and, extremely old, he was over taken by a certain weakness, he stretched out in his bed slipping off to sleep. When one of his attendants who was looking over him asked how he was doing, Gorgias replied “Sleep is now starting to hand me over to his brother.””

Γοργίας ὁ Λεοντῖνος ἐπὶ τέρματι ὢν τοῦ βίου καὶ γεγηρακὼς εὖ μάλα ὑπό τινος ἀσθενείας καταληφθείς, κατ’ ὀλίγον ἐς ὕπνον ὑπολισθάνων ἔκειτο. ἐπεὶ δέ τις αὐτὸν παρῆλθε τῶν ἐπιτηδείων ἐπισκοπούμενος καὶ ἤρετο ὅ τι πράττοι, ὁ Γοργίας ἀπεκρίνατο ‘ἤδη με ὁ ὕπνος ἄρχεται παρακατατίθεσθαι τἀδελφῷ.’

Gorgias of Leontini was an orator who lived nearly one hundred years. In Greek myth, Sleep (Hypnos) and Death (Thanatos) are brothers. Here’s the Euphronios Krater that shows the pair carrying off the mortally wounded Sarpedon.

Euphronios_krater_side_A_MET_L.2006.10

New – Facebook Updates

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Classicism does not always favor the most progressive approach to technology; I am happy to say that Facebook has become sufficiently passé that we here at SententiaeAntiquae feel comfortable adopting it in order to further our mission of posting all of the finest retrograde notions. Res novae vitandae sunt etc. etc.

If you are so inclined, send us a friend request or like us on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100012618494276

What the World Needs Now: Two Ears, One Mouth

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On using twitter and the internet to trace the history of a cherished proverb; or, on the birth of a t-shirt.

Last fall, I noticed the Paul Holdengraber‘s 7-word autobiography from brainpickings.org.: “Mother always said: Two Ears, One mouth.” The phrase bounced around in my head a bit–it has that aphoristic perfection of brevity and familiarity. So, I reached out to Paul over twitter and told him it sounded like something from a Greek philosopher like Heraclitus.

Proverbs have a special place in language and society cross-culturally–they strike a promise of insight that demands  contemplation or explanation. They also have an air of authority and antiquity, even when they actually possess neither. And, unlike longer, less anonymized forms of language, they are repeated, borrowed, and stolen without end.

My late father was a great aphorist–perhaps missing him is part of why Paul’s tweet stuck with me. Most of my father’s words, however, were far more Archie Bunker than Aristotle. Those I can repeat were likely taken from his own father, a Master Sargent in WW2 who died a decade before I was born. The tendency to inherit and pass down proverbs is something I only really noticed when I had children and found myself ‘quoting’ (or becoming?) my father (“if you take care of your equipment it will take care of you”) or my grandmother (cribbing Oscar Wilde: “Only boring people get bored”).

So, when Paul thought it would be a gas if we actually translated his mother’s words into ancient Greek (and eventually Latin), I was ready. I got help from some great Classicists too. We came up with a few versions.

First, I went with classical rhetoric, a close antithesis: μήτηρ ἀεὶ ἔφη ὦτα μὲν δύο, ἕν δὲ στόμα. But our friend the Fantastic Festus argued that Heraclitus or Hesiod would not use use μὲν and δὲ so, so he suggested losing them for something like this:

μήτηρ ἀεὶ ἔφη ὦτα δύο, ἕν στόμα [“mother always used to say two ears, one mouth”]

This gave us Paul’s mother’s advice in seven Greek words and his mother’s advice. But this didn’t get us out of trouble. The critic, author and Classicist Daniel Mendelsohn suggested hexameters and from across the Atlantic the extraordinary Armand D’Angour obliged with a composition of his own:

ῥᾴδιόν ἐστι Λόγον τε νοεῖν ξυνετόν τε ποιῆσαι·
τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι βροτῶν, ἓν στόμα τ᾽, ὦτα δύο.

[Literally, this is “it is easy to know the Logos and make it understood: Mortals have this [character]: one mouth and two ears” Go to the full post for all the compositional glory and an appearance from Salman Rushdie].

At this point, I felt like I had entertained myself on a Saturday morning, involved my internet friends in a silly, though somewhat academic caper, and done a favor for a new friend to please the spirits of parents no longer with us. But the world wide web had a a plot twist I should have thought of.

Ancient Greek and Roman authors and scholars loved proverbs. Writers like Zenobius and Photius made collections and interpretations of them. The Byzantine Encyclopedia, the Suda, uses the word for proverb (in Greek paroimia) over 600 times and presents nearly as many distinct proverbs. (Many of which are wonderful.) And in the modern world, we have an entire academic field dedicated to the study of proverbial sayings: paroemiology. Let me tell you, we could have used en expert last fall.

While we were playing around with translations, one of our ‘players’, the grand Gerrit Kloss, let us know we were, to use a proverbial saying, reinventing the wheel. Zeno, the Cynic philosopher, was credited with this saying over two thousand years ago:

Continue reading “What the World Needs Now: Two Ears, One Mouth” →

Aesopic Proverbs 31-40: Old Wolves, Missing Proverbs

~ Erik ~ 2 Comments

: 31.
“An aged wolf lays down the laws.”
Interpretation:
“An aged evildoer, when he arrives at old age, will ordain laws to flee the young who do the same things which he himself did.”
Λύκος γηράσας νόμους ὁρίζει.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Νουθετήσει κακοῦργος εἰς γῆρας μολὼν
Φεύγειν τοὺς νέους ἅπερ αὐτὸς ἔπραξεν.

32.
“A wolf is not scared to take from the multitude.”
Interpretation:
“Neither votes, nor decrees, nor even the barring of doors will check the thieving mind.”

Λύκος ἀπὸ ἀριθμοῦ οὐ φοβεῖται λαβεῖν.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Τὸ κλεπτικὸν φρόνημα παύσει οὐδέπω
Οὐ ψῆφος, οὐ σφραγῖδες, οὐ κλείθρων θέσις.

33.
“When the ape sees its own children, it says ‘These are not beautiful.’”
Interpretation:
“Even when a mindless being is brought to perception, it recognizes that it has committed injustice in the things which it has done.”
Πίθηκος ἰδὼν τὰ ἑαυτοῦ τέκνα ἔφη “ταῦτα οὐ καλά.”
῾Ερμηνεία.
Εἰς αἴσθησιν καὶ ἄφρων ἐλάσας ποτὲ
῎Εγνωσεν ἀδικήσας ἐν οἷς ἔπραξεν.

34.
<Proverb Missing in Text>
Interpretation:
“The labors of lament [lead] to the ruin of tears, but the wailing of hunger does not seize the whip.”
< >
<῾Ερμηνεία.>
Θρήνων μὲν πόνοι εἰς δακρύων <τὴν> φοράν,
Λιμοῦ δὲ κλαυθμὸς οὐκ αἴρει τὴν μάστιγα.

35.
“A silent river runs deep below the earth.”
Interpretation:
“A wicked man, though he seems gentle to those near him, holds them as slaves to his hidden evil.”

Σιγηρὸς ποταμὸς κατὰ γῆν βαθύς.
῾Ερμηνεία.
᾿Ανὴρ κακοῦργος πρᾶος τοῖς πέλας φανεὶς
Κεκρυμμένῃ κακίᾳ τοὺς δόλους ἔχει.

36.
“Move even your hands with god.”
Interpretation:
“Don’t sleep while you look upon chance; good fortune consists of being active in deeds.”
Σὺν θεῷ καὶ τὰς χεῖρας κίνει.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Τὴν τύχην βλέπων μὴ καθεύδειν ἔθελε·
Εὐτυχία γὰρ ἀνδρὶ τὸ ἐν ἔργοις εἶναι.

37.
“God is the avenger of a silent mouth.”
Interpretation:
“He who honors fairness with his mind will have help against his enemies from the gods.”
Στόματος σιγῶντος θεὸς ἔκδικος.
῾Ερμηνεία.
᾿Επιείκειαν ὁ τῇ φρονήσει τιμῶν
Θεόθεν ἔξει τὴν κατ’ ἐχθρῶν βοήθειαν.

38.
“I honor you and you do not perceive it; I dishonor you, so that you may perceive.”
Interpretation:
“If senseless men do not rejoice in noble things, change their ungrateful minds with bad ones.”
Τιμῶ σε καὶ οὐκ αἰσθάνῃ· ἀτιμάζω σε, ἵνα αἴσθησιν λάβῃς.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Καλοῖς εἰ μὴ χαίρουσιν ἄνδρες ἄφρονες,
Κακοῖς ἀμείβου τὴν ἀχάριστον γνώμην.

39.
“A needy spirit has come near in the assembly.”
Interpretation:
“Whoever wanders in the market without money will grieve at heart as he looks upon all in vain.”
῎Ακερμος ἐν πανηγύρει δαίμων πελαζόμενος.
῾Ερμηνεία.
῞Οστις ἐν ἀγορᾷ χρημάτων δίχα φοιτᾷ,
Νοσεῖ τὴν φρένα μάτην τοὺς πάντας ὁρῶν.

40.
“From a bad money-lender a chickpea.”
Interpretation:
“When there is clear loss among all, consider it a windfall if you receive even the smallest portion.”
᾿Απὸ κακοῦ δανειστοῦ κἂν ὀρόβια
῾Ερμηνεία.
Ζημίας δήλης ἐν ἅπασι κειμένης,
Τοὐλάχιστον εἰ λάβοις ἕρμαιον κάλει.

There’s No Trusting Those in Power (Phaedrus)

~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 3 Comments

Phaedrus, Fabulae 1.5:  The Cow, Goat, Sheep and Lion

“There can be no true friendship with those in power.
This story is the proof of my assertion:
A cow, goat, and innocent sheep
Were allies to a lion in groves of trees.
Together they captured a humungous deer.
When the portions were made the lion said:
‘Because I am a lion I take the first part as mine.
Because I am brave, you yield to me the second too.
Then, the third as well, because I am stronger than you.
Should any of you touch the third, he’ll be killed.’
And so the lion stole all the spoils without guilt.”

Numquam est fidelis cum potente societas:
Testatur haec fabella propositum meum.
Vacca et capella et patiens ovis iniuriae
Socii fuere cum leone in saltibus.
Hi cum cepissent cervum vasti corporis,
Sic est locutus, partibus factis, leo:
Ego primam tollo, †nominor quia leo;
Secundam, quia sum fortis, tribuetis mihi;
Tum, quia plus valeo, me sequetur tertia;
Malo afficietur si quis quartam tetigerit.
Sic totam praedam sola improbitas abstulit.

This cannot end well: