'List of Greek Phrases/Proverbs'

Contents
★ Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ Η Θ Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν Ξ Ο Π Ρ Σ Τ Υ Φ Χ Ψ Ω ★ See also

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Contents

Αα

Ββ

Γγ

Δδ

Εε

Ζζ

Ηη

Θθ

Ιι

Κκ

Λλ

Μμ

Νν

Ξξ

Οο

Ππ

Ρρ

Σσ

Ττ

Υυ

Φφ

Χχ

Ψψ

Ωω

See also

Notes

External links

Αα

'''(h)a'''
''
:''Ageōmetrētos mēdeis eisitō''.
:"Let no-one without knowledge of geometry enter". Motto over the entrance to Plato's Academy (quoted in Elias' commentary on Aristotle's ''Categories'').
''
:''Aei Libyē pherei ti kakon / kainon''.
:"Libya always bears something evil / new", Aristotle, ''Historia Animalium''. (Cf. Latin ''Ex Africa semper aliquid novi'', "From Africa always something new".)

''
:''Aei koloios para koloiōi hizanei''.
:"A jackdaw is always found near a jackdaw", i.e. "birds of a feather flock together."
''
:''Aei ho theos geōmetrei''.
:"Always god geometrizes", Plato
''
:''Aei ho theos ho megas geōmetrei to sumpan''.
:"Always the great god applies geometry to everything", A mnemonic for π (pi); =3, =1, =4, =1, =5, =9,=2, =6
''
:''Aëtou gēras, korudou neotēs''.
:"An eagle's old age (is worth) a sparrow's youth".
''
:''Anankāi d'oude theoi machontai''.
:"Even the Gods do not fight necessity", Simonides, 8, 20.
''
:''Anthrōpos metron''.
:"Man the measure (of all things)", motto of Protagoras.
''
:''Hapax legomenon''.
:"Once said", i.e. a word that only occurs once in a text or body of literature.
''
:Apo mēchanēs Theos
:Deus ex machina
''
:''Ariston men hudōr''.
:"Greatest however is water", Pindar, Olymp. 1, 1. Used as the inscription over the Pump Room at Bath.

Ββ

'''b'''
''
:''Brōma theōn''.
:"Food of the gods" — allegedly said by Nero of the poisoned mushrooms with which his mother Agrippina the younger murdered Claudius.

Γγ

'''g'''
''
:''Glauk’ Athēnaze / Glauk’ eis Athēnas''.
:"Owls to Athens", i.e. coals to Newcastle, ice to the Inuits.
''
:''Gnōthi seauton''.
:"Know yourself" — the motto over the entrance to the temple of Apollo at Delphi, as well as the motto of Hamilton College, a small, prestigious liberal arts college in the United States.

Δδ

'''d'''
''
:''Dōs moi pā stō, kai tan gān kināsō''.
:"Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth". Attributed to Archimedes.

Εε

'''(h)e'''
''
:''Eis oiōnos aristos, amunesthai peri patrēs''
:"There is only one omen, that a man should fight for his country" (Homer, Iliad, 12).
''
:''Hen oida hoti ouden oida''
:"I know one thing, that I know nothing", (Socrates, paraphrased from Plato's ''Apology'')
''
:''Epei d' oun pantes hōsoi te peripolousin phanerōs kai hōsoi phainontai kath' hōson an ethelōsin theoi genesin eschon, legei pros autous ho tode to pan gennēsas tade''
:"When all of them, those gods who appear in their revolutions, as well as those other gods who appear at will had come into being, the creator of the universe addressed them the following" (Plato, Timaios on gods and the creator of the universe)

Ζζ

Ηη

'''(h)ē'''
''
:''Ē tan ē epi tas''
"Either with it, or on it", "Either with your shield, or upon it " - meaning "either you will win the battle, or you will die and then be carried back home on your shield". It was said by Spartan mothers to their sons before they went out to battle to remind them of their bravery and duty to sparta and greece. A hoplite could not escape the field of battle unless he tossed away the heavy and cumbersome shield. Therefore losing one's shield meant desertion.

Θθ

'''th'''
''
:''Thalassa kai pūr kai gunē, kaka tria''.
:"Sea and fire and woman, three evils."

Ιι

'''(h)i'''

''
:''Iēsous Christos Theou Huios Sōtēr''
:"Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour." As an acronym: ΙΧΘΥΣ (Ichthys) — "fish".

Κκ

'''k, c'''

''
:''Kai sū teknon.''
:Et tu, Brute?
:On March 15, 44 BC, Julius Caesar was attacked by a group of senators, including Marcus Junius Brutus, a senator and Caesar's close friend. Caesar initially resisted his attackers, but when he saw Brutus, he supposedly spoke those words and resigned himself to his fate. It is almost certain that Caesar did not actually say these exact words. Ancient sources report that he either died wordlessly or said "" (''Kai su, teknon?''), Greek for "You too, my child?" (Suetonius, ''De Vita Caesarum'', LXXXII [1]). This Latin version was made famous by William Shakespeare, who used it in his play, ''Julius Caesar'' (act 3, scene 1,85).
''
:''Kakou korakos kakon ōön''.
:"From a bad crow, a bad egg", i.e. like father, like son.
''
:''Kakos anēr makrobios''
:"A bad man lives long"
''
:''Kallistēi''
:"For the prettiest one", "To the most beautiful", from the myth of the Golden Apple of Discord.
''
:''Katthane, Diagora, ou kai es Olympon anabēsē''.
:"Die, Diagoras, for ascend Olympus (''i.e. join the gods'') you cannot" — A Spartan spectator to Diagoras of Rhodes, a former Olympic champion himself, during the 79th Olympiad, when his two sons became Olympic champions and carried him around the stadium on their shoulders.
''
:ktema es aei
:"everlasting possession" (Thucydides)
''
:''Kurie eleēson''.
:"Lord have mercy" — a very common phrase in Greek Orthodox liturgies, and also used in Greek (but transliterated as ''kyrie eleison'') in the Roman Catholic Mass.

Λλ

'''l'''
''
:''Lathe biōsas''
:"Live in obscurity", an Epicurean phrase.

Μμ

'''m'''
'' or ''
:''Métron áriston'' or ''Pan métron áriston''
:"Moderation is the best thing", literally: "there is a perfect measure for everything" Cleobulus
''
:''Mē genoito''.
:"Let it not be!" / "Heaven forbid!" — phrase used by St Paul.
''
:''Mē cheíron véltiston''.
:"The least bad [choice] is the best", when there is no good option, one should pick the one that does the least harm.
''
:''Mēden agan''.
:"Nothing in excess" — a carving from the temple of Apollo at Delphi.
'
:''Mēketi hudropotei, all' oinōi oligōi chrō dia ton stomachon sou kai tas puknas sou astheneias''
:Drink no longer water, but take a little wine for thy stomach's sake, and thine often infirmities.
:— I Timothy 5:23
''
:''Molōn labe!''
:"Come take them!" — King Leonidas of Sparta, in response to King Xerxes of Persia's demand that the Greek army lay down their arms before the battle of Thermopylae.

Νν

'''n'''
''
:''Nipson anomēmata mē monan opsin''
:"Wash the sins not only the face"
:A palindrome inscription on fountains of Asclepieia, later inscribed in Hagia Sophia^[1]

Ξξ

'''x'''

Οο

'''(h)o'''
''
:''Ou phrontis Hippokleidēi''.
:"Hippocleides doesn't care." From a story in Herodotus (6.129), in which Hippocleides loses the chance to marry Cleisthenes' daughter after getting drunk and dancing on his head. Herodotus says the phrase was a common expression in his own day.
''
:''Outis emoi g' onoma''.
:"My name is Nobody". Odysseus to Polyphemus when asked what his name was. (Homer, Odyssey).

Ππ

'''p'''
''
:''Papai, Mardonie, koious ep' andras ēgages machēsomenous hēmeas hoi ou peri chrēmatōn ton agōna poieuntai alla peri aretēs''
:"Good heavens! Mardonius, what kind of men are these against whom you have brought us to fight? men who do not compete for money, but for honour. — Spontaneous response of Tritantaechmes, a Persian general while Xerxes was interrogating some locals at Thermopylae. Xerxes asked why there were so few Greek fighters at Thermopylae. The answer was "All the others are participating in the Olympic Games". And when asked "what is the prize for the winner?", "An olive-wreath" came the answer.
''
:''pempe de min Lukiēn de, poren d' ho ge sēmata lugra grapsas en pinaki ptuktōi thumophthora polla''
:"so he sent him to Lycia with lying letters written on a folded tablet, containing much ill against the bearer." Homer, Iliad - This passage shows that Homer actually knew the verb ''γράφειν'' (write).
''
:''Pistis, elpis, agapē''
:"Faith, hope, (and) love." (''1 Corinthians'', 13, 13.)

Ρρ

'''r(h)'''
''
:''Rhododaktulos Ēōs''
:"Rosy-fingered dawn." Occurs frequently in the Homeric poems.

Σσ

'''s'''
''
:''Speude bradeōs''.
:"Hasten slowly" (cf. Latin ''festina lente''), "less haste, more speed".
'
:''Sun Athena kai cheira kinei''.
:"With Athena, and move your hands", or "Goddess Athena supports you, but you yourself must act too."

Ττ

'''t'''
''
:''Ta panta rhei kai ouden menei.
:"Everything flows, nothing stands still." Heraclitus
''
:''Tēn de megalēn ēpeiron huph' hēs hē megalē periechetai kuklō thalatta, tōn men allōn elatton apechei, tēs d' Ōgugias peri pentakischilious stadious.
:"The great continent which is surrounded on all sides by the great sea, they say, lies less distant from the others, but about five thousand stadia from Ogygia." Plutarch on the great continent west of the Atlantic Ocean
''
:''Ti duskolon? To eautōn gnōnai.
:"What is hard? To know yourself." Thales
''
:''Ti eukolon? To allo hupotithestai.
:"What is easy? To advise others." Thales
''
:''Ti koinotaton? Elpis. Kai gar hois allo mēden, autē parestē.
:"What is quite common? Hope. When all is gone, there is still hope." Thales
''
:''Ti tachiston? Nous. Dia pantos gar trechei.''
:"What is the fastest? Nous (mind). It travels through all media." Thales
''
:''To gar hēdu, ean polu, ou ti ge hēdu''.
:"A sweet thing tasted too often is no longer sweet."
''
:''To dis examartein ouk andros sophou.''
:"To commit the same sin twice is not a sign of a wise man."
''
:''To peprōmenon phugein adunaton.''
:"It's impossible to escape from what is destined."

Υυ

'''(h)u, (h)y'''
''
:''Husteron proteron''
:"The latter one first".

Φφ

'''ph'''

''
:''Phobou tous Danaous kai dōra pherontas''.
:"Beware of the Danaans (Greeks), even bearing gifts." Well known as a verse from the Aeneid written by Virgil, reading ''(Quidquid id est) timeo Danaos et dona ferentes''.

Χχ

'''kh, ch'''
''
:''Chalepa ta kala''.
:"The good/beautiful/fine/honorable things are hard [to attain]." [cf Plato, Republic 4, 435c.]

Ψψ

'''ps'''

Ωω

'''(h)ō'''
''
:''Ō xein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti tēde keimetha tois keinōn rhēmasi peithomenoi.''.
:"Oh stranger, tell the Spartans that here we lie, obedient to their laws." (Epigram by Simonides at Thermopylae)''.

See also

★ English words of Greek origin

★ Greek language

★ List of Greek words with English derivatives

★ List of Latin phrases

Notes

External links

★ Greek proverbs on Wikiquote

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