Tag: Suda

Large Leo and his Larger Wife

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From the Suda

“Leôn, the son of Leôn. He was a Peripatetic philosopher and sophist, a student of Plato or, as some claim, of Aristotle. He wrote about the time of Philip and Byzantium in 7 books, Teuthrantikos, On Bêsaios, On The Sacred War, Concerning Disagreements, and A History of Alexander.

He was very fat. And when he was on a delegation to Athens he both prompted laughter and secured the embassy’s mission, all while he appeared drinking wine with an enormous belly. When he wasn’t at all troubled by the laughter, he said “Why are you laughing Athenians, because I am this fat? My wife is even fatter! And our bed is large enough when we are in agreement—but when we argue, the house is not.” The Athenians came together, united by Leôn who had acted so wisely at the right time.

Philip slandered Leôn when he was trying to keep him from Byzantium in a letter that went like this: “If I gave as much money to Leôn as he asked for, I could have taken Byzantium at the start!” When the people heard these things, they prepared to Attack Leôn’s home. Because he was afraid that they would stone him, he choked himself to death, a wretch who gained nothing from his wisdom and his words.”

Λέων, Λέοντος, Βυζάντιος, φιλόσοφος Περιπατητικὸς καὶ σοφιστής, μαθητὴς Πλάτωνος ἢ ὥς τινες Ἀριστοτέλους. ἔγραψε τὰ κατὰ Φίλιππον καὶ τὸ Βυζάντιον βιβλίοις ζ#, Τευθραντικόν, Περὶ Βησαίου, Τὸν ἱερὸν πόλεμον, Περὶ στάσεων, Τὰ κατ’ Ἀλέξανδρον. οὗτος ἦν σφόδρα παχύς. καὶ πρεσβεύσας πρὸς Ἀθηναίους γέλωτά τε ἐκίνησε καὶ τῆς πρεσβείας ἐκράτησεν, ἐπειδὴ πίων ἐφαίνετο καὶ περιττὸς τὴν γαστέρα. ταραχθεὶς δὲ οὐδὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ γέλωτος, τί, ἔφη, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι γελᾶτε; ἢ ὅτι παχὺς ἐγὼ καὶ τοσοῦτος; ἔστι μοι καὶ γυνὴ πολλῷ παχυτέρα, καὶ ὁμονοοῦντας μὲν ἡμᾶς χωρεῖ ἡ κλίνη, διαφερομένους δὲ οὐδὲ ἡ οἰκία. καὶ εἰς ἓν ἦλθεν ὁ τῶν Ἀθηναίων δῆμος, ἁρμοσθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ Λέοντος, σαφῶς ἐπισχεδιάσαντος τῷ καιρῷ. οὗτος ὁ Λέων ἀποκρουόμενος τὸν Φίλιππον ἀπὸ τοῦ Βυζαντίου διεβλήθη παρὰ Φιλίππου πρὸς τοὺς Βυζαντίους δι’ ἐπιστολῆς, ἐχούσης οὕτως: εἰ τοσαῦτα χρήματα παρεῖχον Λέοντι, ὁπόσα με ᾐτεῖτο, ἐκ πρώτης ἂν ἔλαβον τὸ Βυζάντιον. ταῦτα ἀκούσαντος τοῦ δήμου καὶ ἐπισυστάντος τῇ οἰκίᾳ τοῦ Λέοντος, φοβηθεὶς μή πως λιθόλευστος παρ’ αὐτῶν γένηται, ἑαυτὸν ἦγξε, μηδὲν ἀπὸ τῆς σοφίας καὶ τῶν λόγων κερδάνας ὁ δείλαιος.

Image result for ancient roman art fat man

The Difference Between Tyrants and Kings

~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 4 Comments

Starting tomorrow a virtual conference “Teaching Leaders and Leadership Through Classics” is going live. (You can participate by registering). Part of the conversation there will be what ancient authors have to say about leadership and how their words resonate today. Over the past year, we have had many reasons to think about what influences our decisions to choose leaders. But that doesn’t mean we are any closer to understanding it.

So, here are some passages about tyranny, for no particular reason.

Why would some one choose an autocrat? Because he is awesome. That’s why.

Aristotle, Politics 1284b25-34

“But in the best state, there is an important question: what should be done when a man is conspicuous not for some other quality such as strength, wealth or networks of friends but for virtue? For, indeed, no one would claim it is right to exile or disenfranchise a man like this. Nor could you say that we should rule him. For if would be the same as if they should think it right to split up the duties and rule over Zeus. What is left, and what seems natural, is for everyone to obey a man like this happily in order to make this type of king revered in their cities.”

ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρίστης πολιτείας ἔχει πολλὴν ἀπορίαν, οὐ κατὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἀγαθῶν τὴν ὑπεροχήν, οἷον ἰσχύος καὶ πλούτου καὶ πολυφιλίας, ἀλλὰ ἄν τις γένηται διαφέρων κατ’ ἀρετήν, τί χρὴ ποιεῖν; οὐ  γὰρ δὴ φαῖεν ἂν δεῖν ἐκβάλλειν καὶ μεθιστάναι τὸν τοιοῦτον· ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδ’ ἄρχειν γε τοῦ τοιούτου· παραπλήσιον γὰρ κἂν εἰ τοῦ Διὸς ἄρχειν ἀξιοῖεν, μερίζοντες τὰς ἀρχάς. λείπεται τοίνυν, ὅπερ ἔοικε πεφυκέναι, πείθεσθαι τῷ τοιούτῳ πάντας ἀσμένως, ὥστε βασιλέας εἶναι τοὺς τοιούτους ἀιδίους ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν.

Plato uses lycanthropy to describe a man’s transformation into a tyrant.

From Plato’s Republic, Book 8 (565d)

“What is the beginning of the change from guardian to tyrant? Isn’t clear when the guardian begins to do that very thing which myth says happened at the shrine of Lykaion Zeus in Arcadia?

Which is? He said.

That once someone tastes a bit of human innards mixed up with the other sacrifices he becomes a wolf by necessity? Haven’t you heard this tale?

I have.

Is it not something the same with a protector of the people? Once he controls a mob that obeys him, he cannot restrain himself from tribal blood, but he prosecutes unjustly, the sorts of things men love to do, and brings a man into court for murder, eliminating the life of a man—and with tongue and unholy mouth that have tasted the murder of his kind, he exiles, kills, and promises the cutting of debts and the redistribution of land. Is it not by necessity that such a man is fated either to be killed by his enemies or to become a tyrant, to turn into a wolf from a man?”

Τίς ἀρχὴ οὖν μεταβολῆς ἐκ προστάτου ἐπὶ τύραννον; ἢ δῆλον ὅτι ἐπειδὰν ταὐτὸν ἄρξηται δρᾶν ὁ προστάτης τῷ ἐν τῷ μύθῳ ὃς περὶ τὸ ἐν ᾿Αρκαδίᾳ τὸ τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ Λυκαίου ἱερὸν λέγεται;

Τίς; ἔφη.

῾Ως ἄρα ὁ γευσάμενος τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου σπλάγχνου, ἐν ἄλλοις ἄλλων ἱερείων ἑνὸς ἐγκατατετμημένου, ἀνάγκη δὴ τούτῳ λύκῳ γενέσθαι. ἢ οὐκ ἀκήκοας τὸν λόγον;

῎Εγωγε.

῏Αρ’ οὖν οὕτω καὶ ὃς ἂν δήμου προεστώς, λαβὼν σφόδρα πειθόμενον ὄχλον, μὴ ἀπόσχηται ἐμφυλίου αἵματος, ἀλλ’ ἀδίκως ἐπαιτιώμενος, οἷα δὴ φιλοῦσιν, εἰς δικαστήρια ἄγων μιαιφονῇ, βίον ἀνδρὸς ἀφανίζων, γλώττῃ τε καὶ στόματι ἀνοσίῳ γευόμενος φόνου συγγενοῦς, καὶ ἀνδρηλατῇ καὶ ἀποκτεινύῃ καὶ ὑποσημαίνῃ χρεῶν τε ἀποκοπὰς καὶ γῆς ἀναδασμόν, ἆρα τῷ τοιούτῳ ἀνάγκη δὴ τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο καὶ εἵμαρται ἢ ἀπολωλέναι ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἢ τυραννεῖν καὶ λύκῳ ἐξ ἀνθρώπου γενέσθαι;

In ancient Greek myth, Lykaon (Lycaon, related to lúkos, “wolf”) was a king of Arcadia. According to Pausanias (8.31-5) , Lykaon sacrificed a newborn child to Zeus. In other sources he offers the infant mixed up with other food to test Zeus’ divinity (although some attribute the deed to his sons, see Apollodorus, 3.8.1). Zeus killed the sons with lightning; Lykaon was transformed into a wolf.

There may actually be physical evidence of human sacrifice in Arcadia now.

Where does the word tyrant come from?

Continue reading “The Difference Between Tyrants and Kings” →

Breakfast of Champions (NSFW)?

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This is probably not safe for work.

Aristophanes, Wealth 295

“You’re following with your dicks out; and you will eat breakfast [like] goats”

ἕπεσθ’ ἀπεψωλημένοι· τράγοι δ’ ἀκρατιεῖσθε.

From the Suda

“You will breakfast”: Aristophanes in Wealth has “You will breakfast like goats”. This means you will breakfast with an exposed penis: you will do wild things like goats, since after sex, goats lick the penis. [So this means] you will lick the end of a dick like a goat.”

Ἀκρατιεῖσθε: Ἀριστοφάνης Πλούτῳ: τράγοι δ’ ἀκρατιεῖσθε. τουτέστιν ἀπεψωλημένοι ἀκρατιεῖσθε: ἀντὶ τοῦ ὡς τράγοι ἀκρατῆ πράξετε, ἐπεὶ μετὰ τὴν συνουσίαν οἱ τράγοι λείχουσι τὸ αἰδοῖον. τὸ ἄκρον λείξετε ὡς τράγοι.

The scholia to this passage have a few different interpretations:
Scholia ad. Arist. Plut.

“[They used to thing it means] “You are licking your balls like goats”. Clearly, this means: you are licking genitals.”

ἤγουν δίκην τράγων τοὺς ὄρχεις λείχετε. P. λείχετε τὰ αἰδοῖα δηλονότι. Br.

Scholia recentiora Tzetzae

“akratieisthe” stands in for “you would eat”. For akratismos means eating first thing in the morning. Or, “you will do wild things”, since after intercourse, goats lick their own genitals.”

τὸ δ’ “ἀκρατιεῖσθε” ἀντὶ τοῦ “φάγοιτε”· ἀκρατισμὸς γὰρ λέγεται τὸ πρωϊνὸν φαγεῖν. ἢ “ἀκρατῆ πράσσετε”, ἐπειδὴ μετὰ συνουσίαν οἱ τράγοι λείχουσι τὰ αἰδοῖα ἑαυτῶν.

Image result for Ancient Greek goat

Guns on Campus? Here’s ‘Dildo’ in Ancient Greek

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In a long-running response to guns on campus and after a federal judge denied faculty arguments to keep guns from classrooms, students at UT Austin today are protesting the recently enacted ‘Campus Carry’ law by carrying dildos strapped to their backpacks (because, according to obscenity laws, dildos are forbidden).

In support of these efforts in my former state, here’s how to say ‘dildo’ in Ancient Greek.

From the Suda

Olisbos: Genitals made from leather which the Milesian women used to use as tribades(!) and shameful people do. Widowed women also use them. Aristophanes writes “I did not see an eight-fingered dildo*/ which might be our leathered aid.”** This second part is drawn from the proverb “fig-wood aid” applied to weak people.

῎Ολισβος: αἰδοῖον δερμάτινον, ᾧ ἐχρῶντο αἱ Μιλήσιαι γυναῖκες, ὡς τριβάδες καὶ αἰσχρουργοί· ἐχρῶντο δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ αἱ χῆραι γυναῖκες. ᾿Αριστοφάνης· οὐκ εἶδον οὐδ’ ὄλισβον ὀκταδάκτυλον, ὃς ἂν ἡμῖν σκυτίνη ‘πικουρία. παρὰ τὴν παροιμίαν, συκίνη ἐπικουρία. ἐπὶ τῶν ἀσθενῶν.

Another proverb from the Suda, s.v. misêtê:

“And Kratinus said somewhere: “hated women use dildoes.”

καὶ ὁ Κρατῖνός που τοῦτο ἔφη: μισῆται δὲ γυναῖκες ὀλίσβωσι χρήσονται

(!) tribades: see the Suda again s.v. Hetairistai:

“Courtesanizers: The women who are called ‘rubbers'” [or ‘grinders’? i.e. Lesbians] Ἑταιρίστριαι: αἱ καλούμεναι τριβάδες. See also Hesychius s.v. dietaristriai: “Women who rub themselves against girls in intercourse the way men do. For example, tribades.”

διεταρίστριαι· γυναῖκες αἱ τετραμμέναι πρὸς τὰς ἑταίρας ἐπὶ συνουσίᾳ, ὡς οἱ ἄνδρες. οἷον τριβάδες (Plat. conv. 191 e).

*this is not an eight-shafted instrument but may instead point to the instrument’s length. See the note on the Suda-online.

**Lysistrata 109-110.

Dildogarden

The Lexicographer Photius repeats only the following definition:

Olisboi: Leather dicks

῎Ολισβοι: δερμάτινα αἰδοῖα.

The Scholia to Aristophanes’ Lysistrata 109-110 basically presents the same information:

Olisbon: A leather penis. And that is for the Milesian women. He is joking that they use dildos. The next part, “leathery aid” plays upon the proverb “fig-tree aid”, used for the weak. He has changed it to “leathery” because dildos are made of leather. They are leather-made penises which widowed women use.”

ὄλισβον: Αἰδοῖον δερμάτινον. καὶ τοῦτο εἰς τὰς Μιλησίας. παίζει δὲ ὡς τοῖς ὀλίσβοις χρωμέναις. σκυτίνη ἐπικουρία: Παρὰ τὴν παροιμίαν, συκίνη ἐπικουρία, ἐπὶ τῶν ἀσθενῶν. ὁ δὲ εἰς τὴν σκυτίνην μετέβαλε. σκύτινοι γὰρ οἱ ὄλισβοι. εἰσὶ δὲ δερμάτινα αἰδοῖα, οἷς χρῶνται αἱ χῆραι γυναῖκες.

And, the chaste H. Liddell could do no better than give this a Latin name:

ὄλισβος , ὁ, A.penis coriaceus, Cratin.316, Ar.Lys.109, Fr.320.13.

A Penetrating Inquiry – The Suda on Kinaidia (NSFW!)

~ Erik ~ 2 Comments

When I was an undergraduate reading Petronius’ Satyricon, I remember being struck by the word cinaedus (the Latinized form of the Greek kinaidos) in the phrase Intrat cinaedus (Satyricon 28).

My professor at the time gleefully shared his preferred translation:

“In walked a fucker…”

The word is somewhat difficult to translate because we have no clear English equivalent, and as delightful as the simple “fucker” may sound, it is not perfect. Most dictionaries try to shroud the meaning somewhat with a veil of circumlocution. (Liddell and Scott give us “a lewd fellow,” and translate kinaidia as “lust.”) This memory occurred to me this afternoon, so I decided to spend a bit of time with that most learned of tracts, the Suda, and see what sort of clarification I could find.

cinaedus2
“Hermadion is a kinaidos.”

Continue reading “A Penetrating Inquiry – The Suda on Kinaidia (NSFW!)” →

Interest, Shameless Gods, and Seven-Layered Tempers–Three Θ Proverbs

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Theta is for Thursday. Three more proverbs from the Suda:

“The interest speeds faster than Heraclitus of Perineum”: This man was a marvel for his speed. For this reason a proverb is used for people who borrow money at interest.”

Θᾶττον ὁ τόκος Ἡρακλείτω Περινέω τρέχει: οὗτος ἐθαυμάσθη ἐπὶ τάχει. εἴρηται οὖν ἡ παροιμία ἐπὶ τῶν δανειζομένων διὰ τὸν τόκον.

 Runner

S.V Theos

“There is a proverb: “Shamelessness is a god.” This is spoken for those who aid someone because of shamelessness. Shamelessness was honored as a god in Athens. She also had a temple there, as Istros records in his 14th book.”

καὶ παροιμία: Θεὸς ἡ Ἀναίδεια. λέγεται κατὰ τῶν δι’ ἀναισχυντίαν τινὰ ὠφελούντων. ἐτιμᾶτο δὲ καὶ Ἀθήνησιν ἡ Ἀναίδεια, καὶ ἱερὸν ἦν αὐτῆς, ὡς Ἴστρος ἐν ιδ#.

 

“A seven-layered temper”: This means a big temper. It comes as a metaphor from Ajax’s shield.  Kreon in Oedipus claims “the temper has no other age but death / and no pain touches the dead.” This means that it is not possible for someone to control a temper when still a human.

Temper’s rawness does not age except when a person exits life. It is impossible for someone not to give into a temper while still alive. This is also reported proverbially: “the temper ages last.” This derives from the fact that the elderly only develop a more robust temper as they age. Alkaios also repeats a version of this.

Θυμὸς ἑπταβόειος: ὁ μέγας. ἀπὸ μεταφορᾶς τῆς ἀσπίδος τοῦ Αἴαντος. Κρέων Οἰδίποδι: θυμοῦ γὰρ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἄλλο γῆρας πλὴν θανεῖν. θανόντων δ’ οὐδὲν ἄλγος ἅπτεται. οἷον οὐκ ἔστι θυμοῦ κρατῆσαι ἄνθρωπον ὄντα. οὐ καταγηράσκει τὸ ὠμὸν τοῦ θυμοῦ, εἰ μὴ ἐξέλθοι τοῦ βίου ὁ ἄνθρωπος: ἀδύνατον γάρ ἐστιν ὄντα ἄνθρωπον μὴ θυμῷ χρήσασθαι. τοῦτο καὶ παροιμιακῶς λέγεται, ὅτι ὁ θυμὸς ἔσχατον γηράσκει. λέγεται δὲ διὰ τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους: ὅσον γηράσκουσι, τὸν θυμὸν ἐρρωμενέστερον ἔχουσι. καὶ Ἀλκαῖος ὡς λεγομένου κατὰ τὸ κοινὸν αὐτοῦ μιμνήσκεται.

Phi is for Friday: Two Proverbs Beginning with Φ

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From the Suda:

 

“You control a lentil’s corner”: A proverb used for weak people. There is also this proverb: “you are chopping a lentil”—something said of things that are endless and imaginary.”

Φακοῦ γωνίαν κρατεῖς• ἐπὶ τῶν ἀδυνάτων. παροιμία• Φακὸν κόπτεις• ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνηνύτων καὶ μὴ ὄντων λέγεται.

 

“Phôkos: A porpoise. But also a proverb: “A Feast of Phôkos.” This is used for those who accrue harm when they prepare a dinner-party. For there was a man named Phôkos who was trying to marry off his daughter. There were many courting here but when he prepared the feast and entertained the suitors he put off the wedding. Because the suitors were angry about this, they killed Phôkos at his own dinner-party”

Φῶκος. καὶ παροιμία• Φώκου ἔρανος• κατὰ τῶν εὐωχίας συναγόντων ἐπὶ τῷ ἑαυτῶν κακῷ• Φῶκος γάρ τις θυγατέρα ἔχων ἐπὶ γάμῳ, πολλῶν αὐτὴν μνηστευομένων, ἐράνους συνῆγε καὶ ἑστιῶν τοὺς μνηστῆρας ἀνεβάλλετο τὸν γάμον. ὀργισθέντες οὖν ἐκεῖνοι ἐν τῷ συμποσίῳ ἀπέκτειναν τὸν Φῶκον.

Kraipale: Ancient Greek For Hangover

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Some necessary information for all those who over-indulge….

 

Suda: Kraipalê: “hangover”: The pounding from excessive wine-consumption. We also find the participle “reveling”, which indicates someone behaving inappropriately because they are drunk. The etymology is that people who are drunk have their heads (karê) pound (pallein). Or it is because they make mistakes (sphallesthai) in the correct time (kairon).

Κραιπάλη: ὁ ἐκ πολλῆς οἰνώσεως παλμός. καὶ Κραιπαλῶν, ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐκ μέθης ἀτακτοῦντα, μεθύοντα. ἀπὸ τοῦ κάρα πάλλειν τοὺς μεθύοντας. ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ σφάλλεσθαι τῶν καιρίων.

Drunk vase

Aristotle, Problems 873b 17-23

“A hangover is a roiling even as the swelling is dying down. It hurts more than being drunk because the first makes men witless but a hangover brings them pain when they have all their faculties. As those who are overcome by fever often joke instead of experiencing pain, when they are back in their right minds they regain their suffering and feel pain. The same type of thing happens with hangovers and drunkenness.”

ἔστι γὰρ ἡ κραιπάλη ζέσις τις καὶ φλεγμασία λήγουσα. λυπεῖ δὲ μᾶλλον τῆς μέθης, ὅτι ἐκείνη μὲν ἐξίστησιν, ἡ δὲ κραιπάλη ἐν αὑτοῖς οὖσι τὸν πόνον παρέχει· καθάπερ οὖν καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν πυρετῶν οἱ λαμβανόμενοι παίζουσι μᾶλλον ἢ ἀλγοῦσι, παρ’ αὑτοῖς δὲ γενόμενοι οἱ αὐτοί, κουφισθέντες τοῦ πάθους, ἀλγοῦσιν. ταὐτὰ γὰρ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς κραιπάλης καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς μέθης συμβαίνει.

 

Suda: “Headache, hangover: also, drunkenness.”

Καρηβαρία: ἡ μέθη.

 

Hesychius: “to weigh down the head”. When one is drunk from wine and gets a pain in the head.

καρηβαρεῖ· βαρύνεται κεφαλήν. ἐξ οἴνου μεθύει κάρην δὲ κεφαλήν

 

Photius: “Heavy in the head” Weighing down your head from drinking wine.

Καρηβαρῶν: τὴν κεφαλὴν βαρούμενος ἀπὸ μέθης οἴνου.

 

Suda: “Yesterday-talking: bad-talking”

Χθεσιφωνῶν: κακολογῶν.

 

Suda: Apokraipalismos: “Sleeping it off”: Hangover and drunkenness relief.

Ἀποκραιπαλισμός: τῆς κραιπάλης ἀπαλλαγὴ καὶ μέθης.

 

Aristotle, Problems 873a 37

“What’s the reason that cabbage cures a hangover? Is it because its’ fluid is sweet and has purgative effects—which is why doctors apply it to cleanse bowels too—even as it is cool itself?…For those who are hungover, cabbage juice channels drinking’s humors which are bitter and undigested into the bowels while the  fruit left behind in the stomach cools the body…”

Διὰ τί ἡ κράμβη παύει τὴν κραιπάλην; ἢ ὅτι τὸν  μὲν χυλὸν γλυκὺν καὶ ῥυπτικὸν ἔχει (διὸ καὶ κλύζουσιν αὐτῷ τὴν κοιλίαν οἱ ἰατροί), αὐτὴ δ’ ἐστὶ ψυχρά… συμβαίνει δὴ τῶν κραιπαλώντων τὸν μὲν χυλὸν αὐτῆς εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν κατασπᾶν τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς ὑγρά, οἰνηρὰ καὶ ἄπεπτα ὄντα, αὐτὴν δὲ ὑπολειπομένην ἐν τῇ ἄνω κοιλίᾳ ψύχειν τὸ σῶμα.

Drunk vase 2

Frogs, A Singer from Lesbos, and Endless Bread (More Proverbs)

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Three more proverbs from the Suda

“Melei: It means “it seems” and is used this way in Homer. It also appears in a proverb: “None of these things matter more to me than I do to frogs in the marshes.”

Μέλει: ἔοικεν. οὕτω τέθειται παρ’ Ὁμήρῳ. καὶ παροιμία: μέλει μοι τῶν τοιούτων οὐδὲν ἧττον ἢ τῶν ἐν τοῖς τέλμασι βατράχων.

 

“Meta Lesbion ôdon: ‘After the Lesbian singer’. A proverb spoken for those who come in second. For the Spartans used to summon Lesbian citharodes. This is because when the city was divided in conflict their oracle instructed them to send for a singer from Lesbos. They summoned Terpander from Antissa—he was in exile for blood-crime—and listened to him in their mess-halls and were reunited. So, the Spartans, when they were divided in strife, summoned the musician Terpander from Lesbos and he brought harmony to their minds and stopped the conflict. Every time the Spartans heard any singer after that, they said he came [second] “after the Lesbian singer.”

Μετὰ Λέσβιον ᾠδόν: παροιμία λεγομένη ἐπὶ τῶν τὰ δεύτερα φερομένων· οἱ γὰρ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τοὺς Λεσβίους κιθαρῳδοὺς πρώτους προσεκαλοῦντο· ἀκαταστατούσης γὰρ τῆς πόλεως αὐτῶν χρησμὸς ἐγένετο τὸν Λέσβιον ᾠδὸν μεταπέμπεσθαι· οἱ δ’ ἐξ ᾿Αντίσσης Τέρπανδρον ἐφ’ αἵματι φεύγοντα μεταπεμψάμενοι ἤκουον αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς συσσιτίοις καὶ κατεστάλησαν. ὅτι οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι στασιάζοντες μετεπέμψαντο ἐκ Λέσβου τὸν μουσικὸν Τέρπανδρον, ὃς ἥρμοσεν αὐτῶν τὰς ψυχὰς καὶ τὴν στάσιν ἔπαυσεν. εἴποτε οὖν μετὰ ταῦτα μουσικοῦ τινος ἤκουον οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, ἔλεγον μετὰ Λέσβιον ᾠδόν.

 

“Drinking water in moderation, but eating bread without end.”

“This line developed into a proverb from an oracle which the god delivered to the men of Sybaris. For they perished at the hands of the men of Kroton because they were sacrilegious and drunkards. This was the prophecy given to the men who fled.”

Μέτρῳ ὕδωρ πίνοντες, ἀμετρίαν δὲ μᾶζον ἔδοντες:οὗτος ὁ στίχος εἰς παροιμίαν περιέστη ἔκ τινος χρησμοῦ, ὃν ἀνεῖλεν ὁ θεὸς Συβαρίταις· ὑβρισταὶ γὰρ ὄντες καὶ ἀμετροπόται ἀπώλοντο ὑπὸ Κροτωνιατῶν. τοῖς οὖν διαφυγοῦσιν αὐτῶν οὕτως ἐχρήσθη.

 

bread-kneading
Women Kneed Bread, Accompanied by Flute (Thebes, c. 5th Century BCE)

A Centaur, A She-Goat, and an Ox….

~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 1 Comment

Not an opening line from a joke, but more proverbs from the Suda.  As usual, if you want more, check out the impressive Suda-online.

 

“There’s no sense to Centaurs.” A proverb applied to impossible and silly things. There’s another version: “Your hair has no sense—you suppose I can’t think, but I am stupid on purpose.”

Νοῦς οὐκ ἔνι Κενταύροισι: παροιμία ἐπὶ τῶν ἀδυνάτων καὶ ἀνοήτων ταττομένη. καὶ ἄλλως· νοῦς οὐκ ἔνι ταῖς κόμαις ὑμῶν, ὅτε μ’ οὐ φρονεῖν νομίζετ’, ἐγὼ δ’ ἑκὼν ταῦτ’ ἠλιθιάζω.

 

Centaur

 

“Aiks, aigos: also in a proverb: “The she-goat gives the blade”.

For when the Corinthians sacrifice in the temple to Hera Akraia which they say was founded by Medeia, the hired men hid the knife in the ground and pretended they forgot it. But the she-goat uncovered it with her feet.”

Αἴξ, αἰγός. καὶ παροιμία· ῾Η αἲξ δοῦσα τὴν μάχαιραν. Κορινθίων γὰρ ῞Ηρᾳ ᾿Ακραίᾳ θυόντων, ἣν λέγεται ἱδρῦσαι Μήδειαν, οἱ ἐν τῇ παρόχῳ μεμισθωμένοι γῇ κρύψαντες τὴν μάχαιραν ἐσκήπτοντο ἐπιλελῆσθαι. ἡ δὲ αἲξ αὐτὴν τοῖς ποσὶν ἀνεσκάλευσεν.

 

“An ox sits in the yard.”  A proverb concerning useless people.

Βοῦς ἐν αὐλίῳ κάθῃ: παροιμία ἐπὶ τῶν ἀχρήστων.