Motto over the entrance toPlato's Academy (quoted inElias' commentary on Aristotle'sCategories:Eliae in Porphyrii Isagogen et Aristotelis categorias commentaria,CAG XVIII.1, Berlin 1900, p.118.13–19).[1]
Plutarch elaborated on this phrase in his essay Πῶς Πλάτων ἔλεγε τὸν θεὸν ἀεί γεωμετρεῖν "What is Plato's meaning when he says that God always applies geometry".[2] Based on the phrase of Plato, above, a present-day mnemonic forπ (pi) was derived:
Ἀεὶ ὁ θεὸς ὁ μέγας γεωμετρεῖ τὸ σύμπαν.
Aeì ho theòs ho mégas geōmetreî tò súmpan.
Always the great God applies geometry to the universe.
π = 3.1415926...
ἀεὶ
ὁ
θεὸς
ὁ
μέγας
γεωμετρεῖ
τὸ
σύμπαν
3 letters
1 letter
4 letters
1 letter
5 letters
9 letters
2 letters
6 letters
Ἀετοῦ γῆρας, κορυδοῦ νεότης.
Aetoû gêras, korydoû neótēs.
"An eagle's old age (is worth) a sparrow's youth."
Aἰὲν ἀριστεύειν motto, Depicted on engraving at theBoston College
"Hippolocus begat me. I claim to be his son, and he sent me to Troy with strict instructions: Ever to excel, to do better than others, and to bring glory to your forebears, who indeed were very great ... This is my ancestry; this is the blood I am proud to inherit."
Αἴκα.
Aíka.
"If."
Plutarch reports thatPhilip II of Macedon sent word to the Spartans, saying that "if I should invadeLaconia, I shall drive you out" (ἂν ἐμβάλω εἰς τὴν Λακωνικήν, ἀναστάτους ὑμᾶς ποιήσω). The Spartanslaconically responded with "if."[3]
Ἀνάγκᾳ δ’ οὐδὲ θεοὶ μάχονται.
Anánkāi d' oudè theoì mákhontai.
"Not even the gods fight against necessity." —Simonides, 8, 20.
Ἀλλὰ τὶ ἦ μοι ταῦτα περὶ δρῦν ἢ περὶ πέτρην;
Allà tì êi moi taûta perì drûn ḕ perì pétrēn?
"But why all this about oak or stone?"
English : Why waste time on trivial subjects, or "Why make a mountain out of a mole hill?"
"Heaven" is a foundational theological concept in Christianity and Judaism.
"God's Kingdom" (Βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ,Basileia tou Theou), or the "Kingdom of [the] Heaven[s]" was the main point of Jesus Christ's preaching on earth. The phrase occurs more than a hundred times in theNew Testament.
From a ca 500 BC vase depicting writing with stylus and folding wax tablet
Βελλεροφόντης τὰ γράμματα
Bellerophóntēs tà grámmata
"Bellerophontic letter"
KingProetus dared not to kill a guest, so he sentBellerophon to KingIobates, his father-in-law, bearing a sealed message in a folded tablet: "Pray remove the bearer from this world: he attempted to violatemy wife, your daughter."
WhenDarius was informed thatSardis had been captured and burnt by the Athenians he was furious. He placed an arrow on his bow and shot it into the sky, praying to the deities to grant him vengeance on the Athenians. He then ordered one of his servants to say three times a day the above phrase in order to remind him that he should punish the Athenians.[10]
"There is only oneomen, to fight for one's country."
TheTrojan princeHector to his friend and lieutenantPolydamas when the latter was superstitious about a bird omen. The omen was an eagle that flew with a snake in its talons, still alive and struggling to escape. The snake twisted backward until it struck the bird on the neck, forcing the eagle to let the snake fall.[11]
Epeì d' oûn pántes hósoi te peripoloûsin phanerôs kaì hósoi phaínontai kath' hóson àn ethélōsin theoì génesin éskhon, légei pròs autoùs ho tóde tò pân gennḗsas táde.́sas t
"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,Timaeus, 41a, on gods and the creator of the universe.
WhileArchimedes was taking a bath, he noticed that the level of the water rose as he got in, and he realized that thevolume of waterdisplaced must be equal to the volume of the part of his body he had submerged. This meant that the volume of irregular objects could be measured with precision, a previously intractable problem. He was so excited that he ran through the streets naked and still wet from his bath, crying "I have found it!".
Maniot flag:Νίκη ἢ Θάνατος —ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς "Victory or Death : Either With Your Shield or On It"
Ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς.
Ḕ tàn ḕ epì tâs.
"Either [with] it [your shield], or on it."
Meaning "either you will win the battle, or you will die and then be carried back home on your shield; but you will not throw your shield away to flee."
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.
Ahoplite could not escape the field of battle unless he tossed away the heavy and cumbersome shield. Therefore, "losing one's shield" meant desertion. (Plutarch,Moralia, 241)
Thalatta! Thalatta! fromXenophon'sAnabasis. It was the shouting of joy when the roaming10,000 Greeks saw Euxeinos Pontos (the Black Sea) from Mount Theches (Θήχης) in Armenia after participating in Cyrus the Younger's failed march against Persian Empire in the year 401 BC.
An injunction urging physicians to care for and heal themselves first before dealing with patients. It was made famous in the Latin translation of the Bible, theVulgate. The proverb was quoted by Jesus, recorded in theGospel of Luke chapter 4:23.Luke the Evangelist was a physician.
ΙΧΘΥΣ:Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς Θεοῦ Υἱὸς Σωτήρ
Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς Θεοῦ Υἱὸς Σωτήρ
Iēsoûs Khristòs Theoû Huiòs Sōtḗr
"Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour." As anacronym: ΙΧΘΥΣ (Ichthys) — "fish".
Greek equivalent of the English phrase "A fish rots from the head down"; attested in fifteenth century CEParoemiae ofMichael Apostolius Paroemiographus.[18]
On March 15, 44 BC, Julius Caesar was attacked by a group ofsenators, includingMarcus Junius Brutus, a senator and Caesar's adopted son.Suetonius (inDe Vita Caesarum, LXXXII)[19] reported that some people thought that, when Caesar saw Brutus, he spoke those words and resigned himself to his fate. Among English speakers, much better known are the Latin wordsEt tu, Brute?, whichWilliam Shakespeare gave to Caesar in his play,Julius Caesar (act 3, scene 1,85). This means simply "You too, Brutus?"
A Spartan spectator to Diagoras of Rhodes, a former Olympic champion himself, during the 79thOlympiad, when his two sons became Olympic champions and carried him around the stadium on their shoulders.
Κοινὰ τὰ φίλων.
Koinà tà phílōn.
"The things of friends are common"
The proverb is mentioned in theRepublic ofPlato (424A and 449C) as a principle to be applied to marriage and procreation.Diogenes Laertius (VIII.10) reports the assertion ofTimaeus thatPythagoras was first to use the saying, along withφιλία ἰσότης (filía isótēs) "Friendship is equality."
Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται.
Krêtes aeì pseûstai.
"Cretans always lie" — One of the earliestlogical paradoxes attributed toEpimenides ofKnossos known as theEpimenides paradox. As Epimenides is a Cretan himself, it leads to the conclusion that the above statement is not true, hence theparadox.
AnEpicurean phrase, because of his belief that politics troubles men and doesn't allow them to reach inner peace. So Epicurus suggested that everybody should live "Hidden" far from cities, not even considering a political career.Cicero criticized this idea because, as astoic, he had a completely different opinion of politics, but the sentiment is echoed byOvid's statementbene qui latuit bene vixit ("he has lived well who has stayed well hidden",Tristia 3.4.25). Plutarch elaborated in his essayIs the Saying "Live in Obscurity" Right? (Εἰ καλῶς εἴρηται τὸ λάθε βιώσας) 1128c.
The last words attributed toArchimedes (paraphrased fromValerius Maximus'Memorable Doings and Sayings). During the raid ofSyracuse by the Romans, Archimedes was busy drawing mathematical circles. He was eventually attacked and killed by a Roman soldier as he was too engrossed in thought to obey the soldier's orders.
"33 Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."
Painting of Pheidippides as he gave word of the Greek victory overPersia at theBattle of Marathon to the people of Athens, byLuc-Olivier Merson, 1869
Νενικήκαμεν.
Nenikḗkamen.
"We have won."
The traditional story relates that the Athenian heraldPheidippides ran the 40 km (25 mi) from the battlefield near the town ofMarathon toAthens to announce the Greek victory overPersia in theBattle of Marathon (490 BC) with the word 'We have won' and collapsed and died on the spot because of exhaustion.
Used by early mathematicians includingEuclid (Elements, 1.4),Aristotle (APo.90b34), andArchimedes, written at the end of a mathematicalproof or philosophicalargument, to signify the proof as complete. Later it was latinized as "QED" or theHalmos tombstone box symbol.
Ὁ σῴζων ἑαυτὸν σωθήτω.
Ho sṓizōn heautòn sōthḗtō.
"he who saves himself may be saved."
Used in cases of destruction or calamity, such as an unorderly evacuation. Each one is responsible for himself and is not to wait for any help.
Οὐ φροντὶς Ἱπποκλείδῃ.
Ou phrontìs Hippokleídēi.
"Hippocleides doesn't care."
From a story inHerodotus (6.129), in whichHippocleides loses the chance to marryCleisthenes' daughter after getting drunk and dancing on his head. Herodotus says the phrase was a common expression in his own day.
Charon's obol. 5th-1st century BC. All of these pseudo-coins have no sign of attachment, are too thin for normal use, and are often found in burial sites.
Οὐκ ἂν λάβοις παρὰ τοῦ μὴ ἔχοντος.
Ouk àn labois parà toû mḕ ékhontos.
"You can't get blood out of a stone." (Literally, "You can't take from one who doesn't have.")
Menippus toCharon when the latter asked Menippus to give him anobol to convey him across the river to theunderworld.[25]
"All is flux; everything flows" – This phrase was either not spoken byHeraclitus or did not survive as a quotation of his. This famous aphorism used to characterize Heraclitus' thought comes fromSimplicius, aNeoplatonist, and fromPlato'sCratylus. The wordrhei (ρέι, cf.rheology) is the Greek word for "to stream"; according to Plato'sCratylus, it is related to the etymology ofRhea.
πάντοτε ζητεῖν τὴν ἀλήθειαν
pántote zeteῖn tḕn alḗtheian
"ever seeking the truth" —Diogenes Laërtius,Lives of Eminent Philosophers[26] — a characteristic ofPyrrhonism. An abbreviated form,ζητεῖν τὴν ἀλήθειαν ("seek the truth").
"Good heavens!Mardonius, what kind of men have you brought us to fight against? Men who do not compete for possessions, but for honour."
Spontaneous response ofTigranes, a Persian general whileXerxes was interrogating someArcadians after theBattle of Thermopylae. Xerxes asked why there were so few Greek men defending the Thermopylae. The answer was "All the other men are participating in theOlympic Games". And when asked "What is the prize for the winner?", "An olive-wreath" came the answer. — Herodotus,The Histories[27]
Πάθει μάθος.
Páthei máthos.
"(There is) learning in suffering/experience", or "Knowledge/knowing, or wisdom, or learning, through suffering."[28]
The complete text of this fragment by Heraclitus is:πόλεμος πάντων μὲν πατήρ ἐστι, πάντων δὲ βασιλεύς, καὶ τοὺς μὲν θεοὺς ἔδειξε τοὺς δὲ ἀνθρώπους, τοὺς μὲν δούλους ἐποίησε τοὺς δὲ ἐλευθέρους (War is the father of all and the king of all; and some he has made gods and some men, some bond and some free).
This phrase occurs frequently in theHomeric poems referring toEos, the Titanic goddess of thedawn. Eos opened the gates of heaven so thatHelios could ride his chariot across the sky every day.
"All things move and nothing remains still, and you cannot step twice into the same stream".[32]
Τάδ' ἐστὶ Πελοπόννησος, οὐκ Ἰωνία.
Tád' estì Pelopónnēsos, ouk Iōnía.
"Here is Peloponnesus, not Ionia" — Inscription written on a pillar erected byTheseus on theIsthmus of Corinth facing toward the West, i.e. toward thePeloponnese.[33]
Τάδ' οὐχὶ Πελοπόννησος, ἀλλ' Ἰωνία.
Tád' oukhì Pelopónnēsos, all' Iōnía.
"Here is not Peloponnesus, but Ionia" — inscription as per above, but toward East, i.e. towardAttica.
"What is that which has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?" — The famousriddle of the Sphinx.Oedipus solved the riddle correctly by answering: "Man: as an infant, he crawls on fours; as an adult, he walks on two legs and; in old age, he uses a walking stick".[37]
Τὶ εὔκολον; Τὸ ἄλλῳ ὑποτίθεσθαι.
Tì eúkolon? Tò állōi hupotíthesthai.
"What is easy? To advise another." — Thales
Τὶ καινὸν εἴη τεθεαμένος; Γέροντα τύραννον.
Tì kainòn eíē tetheaménos? Géronta túrannon.
"What is the strangest thing to see? "An agedtyrant." — Thales[38]
"What is quite common? Hope. When all is gone, there is still hope. Literally: "Because even to those who have nothing else, it is still nearby." — Thales
"Only-begotten son" From John 3:16: Οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον, ὥστετὸν υἱὸν τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν. [Oútōs gàr ēgápēsen ho Theòs tòn kósmon, hṓstetòn huiòn tòn monogenê édōken.] "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" and see John 1:14
The expression later appears in theNiceno-Constantinopolitan Creed: Καὶ εἰς ἕνα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν,τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦτὸν μονογενῆ [Kaì eis éna Kúrion Iēsoun Christón,tòn Huiòn toû Theoûtòn monogenê];Et in unum Dominum Iesum Christum,Filium DeiUnigenitum; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, theonly-begotten Son of God.
Unigenitus (named for its Latin opening wordsUnigenitus dei filius, or "Only-begotten Son of God") is an apostolic constitution in the form of a papal bull promulgated by PopeClement XI in 1713.
Rhetorical device in which the most important action is placed first, even though it happens after the other action. The standard example comes from theAeneid ofVirgil (2.353):
Moriamur, et in media arma ruamus "Let us die, and charge into the thick of the fight".
Refers to theLibrary of Alexandria, also known as the Great Library inAlexandria, Egypt, which was once the largest library in the world.
The phrase is used in reverse as ἰατρεῖον ψυχῆς as a motto forCarolina Rediviva, a university library inUppsala, and is echoed in the motto of theAmerican Philological Association, "ψυχῆς ἰατρὸς τὰ γράμματα" ("literature is the soul's physician"). The phrase "ΨΥΧΗΣ ΙΑΤΡΕΙΟΝ" is above the entrance door of theAbbey library of Saint Gall.
Translated byCicero in hisTusculan Disputations (1.42.101) as «Dic, hospes, Spartae nos te hic vidisse iacentis / dum sanctis patriae legibus obsequimur» (often quoted with the formiacentes).
^Aristophanes goes on:"Firstly, the owls of Laurium (i.e. the Athenian drachmas minted from the silver-mines of Laurium) which every judge desires above all things, shall never be wanting to you"The Birds, 1106Archived 2021-06-08 at theWayback Machine
^The word πλατυώνυχον however sounds like πλατωνικόν, i.e. "the platonic thing". SeeThe stranger's knowledge: Political knowledge in Plato's statesman by Xavier Márquez, University of Notre Dame, 2005, p. 120.
^Pindar (1997). "Olympian Odes 8". In Race, William H. (ed.).Olympian Odes. Loeb Classical Library (in Ancient Greek and English). Vol. 56. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. pp. 136–137.ISBN0674995643.
^Alex Preminger, Terry V.F. Brogan, and Frank J. Warnke,The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, 3rd ed., Princeton University Press, 1993,ISBN0-691-02123-6, p. 874.
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Quotations related toGreek proverbs at Wikiquote