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Ὁ οἶνος οὐκ ἔχει πηδάλια.

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Ὁ οἶνος οὐκ ἔχει πηδάλια.

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Wine has no oars.

In other words, when you drink, you lose control of yourself, just as you cannot control a ship without oars. Metaphorically, the word πηδάλια could also be used to mean the reins of a horse: ἱππικὰ πηδάλια. From Greek οἶνος we get the words oenophile and oenology.

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Ὁ φεύγων μύλον ἄλφιτα φεύγει.

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Ὁ φεύγων μύλον ἄλφιτα φεύγει.

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He who flees the mill, flees the flour.

There is an English equivalent of this saying: "No mill, no meal." As Erasmus explains, mills were noisy places, but you had to put up with the noise if you wanted your grain; in this case, it is barley flour. Erasmus then provides this misogynistic parallel: "Likewise, some men cannot stand their wives, although they do want children." Flour is the child of the mill! The Greek root μύλ- is cognate with English "meal,"

both coming from the Indo-European root melh₂-, meaning to grind or crush.

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Ὄνου οὐρὰ τηλίαν οὐ ποιεῖ.

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Ὄνου οὐρὰ τηλίαν οὐ ποιεῖ.

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A donkey's tail can't make a sieve.

The Greek word τηλία has a wide range of meanings; I have translated it as sieve, following Erasmus, who explains that this saying has an implied comparison to the nobler horse: the hairs from a horse's tail could be used to make a sieve, but not the hairs from a donkey's tail. Thanks to Erasmus, this saying also made its way into English and also in German: "You cannot make a sieve of an ass's tail," Aus des Esels Wedel wird kein Sieb. Sieves continue to be made of horse-hair even now (just Google, and you'll see). From the root in Greek ποιέω we get English words like poetry and onomatopoeia.

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Δακρυόεν γελάσασα.

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Δακρυόεν γελάσασα.

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In tears, smiling.

This proverbial phrase appears in Homer's Iliad, referring to Andromache; hence the feminine participle, γελάσασα. Hector has just placed their baby in Andromache's arms, and she smiles at him, but she is crying too. The word δακρυόεν is a neuter adjective being used adverbially: tearfully, in tears, through tears, etc. Hector then leaves for battle; he will not return alive. The Greek word δάκρυ is cognate with Latin lacrima and also with the English tear; the Indo-European root is dáḱru.

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Παρὰ κωφῷ διαλέγῃ. 

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Παρὰ κωφῷ διαλέγῃ. 

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You're discoursing with a deaf man.

The idea is that you are wasting your time; a deaf man cannot hear what you are saying. Compare this humorous variation reported by Erasmus: παρὰ κωφῷ ἀποπαρδεῖν, to let loose a fart in the presence of a deaf man. The idea here is that you are wasting your time in a similar way: you are insulting someone (the fart) but your insults are having no effect because he cannot hear you (the olfactory dimension presumably remains ha ha). From the same root in διαλέγω we get English words like dialogue and dialect.

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Ζῇ ἀεὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια.

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Ζῇ ἀεὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια.

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The truth lives forever.

Compare the words of Socrates in Plato's Meno: ἀεὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια ἡμῖν τῶν ὄντων ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ, "the truth of those things that are is forever in our soul." The verb is ζήω or ζάω in its uncontracted form; its contracted form is ζῶ, and that is how it appears in the LSJ dictionary. From this root we get the zo- words in English like zoology and zodiac.

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Πονηρός ἐστι πᾶς ἀχάριστος ἄνθρωπος.

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Πονηρός ἐστι πᾶς ἀχάριστος ἄνθρωπος.

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Every person who shows no gratitude is worthless.

This is another one of Menander's monostichs, and it is also reported in this form: Πονηρός ἐστ’ ἄνθρωπος πᾶς τις ἀχάριστος. The word ἀχάριστος is an alpha-privative: ἀ-χάριστος, un-grateful.

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Προπέτεια πολλοῖς ἐστιν αἰτία κακῶν.

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Προπέτεια πολλοῖς ἐστιν αἰτία κακῶν.

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Hastiness often leads to disaster.

Literally: Hastiness for many is to blame for bad things. This is one of Menander's monostichs (one-liners); here is the meter marked:

Προπέτει|α πολ||λοῖς ἐσ|τιν αἰ||τία | κακῶν.

You can read the word αἰτία either as an adjective (feminine form of αἴτιος, which is how I would take it) or as a noun (αἰτία). Both the adjective and the noun are common words in ancient Greek. From αἰτι- we get English aetiology.

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Γυμνὸς ὡς ἐκ μήτρας.

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Γυμνὸς ὡς ἐκ μήτρας.

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Naked as from the womb.

Compare the equivalent English saying, "As naked as the day he was born." The Greek phrase was used, metaphorically, to refer to someone who was as helpless as a baby. See also the Biblical Book of Job, αὐτὸς γυμνὸς ἐξῆλθον ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου γυμνὸς καὶ ἀπελεύσομαι ἐκεῖ, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither." From the root in Greek γυμνό- we get English gymnasium.

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Ἄριστον μὲν ὕδωρ.

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Ἄριστον μὲν ὕδωρ.

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The best thing is water.

The words are from Pindar in his first Olympian ode:  "Water is best, and gold like a blazing fire in the night stands out supreme of all lordly wealth," ἄριστον μὲν ὕδωρ, ὁ δὲ χρυσὸς αἰθόμενον πῦρ / ἅτε διαπρέπει νυκτὶ μεγάνορος ἔξοχα πλούτου." Aristotle, who had a great interest in proverbs, discusses this saying in his Rhetoric. From the root of Greek ἄριστο- we get English aristocracy.

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Ἑρμῆς κοινός.

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Ἑρμῆς κοινός.

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Hermes is shared.

The god Hermes, Ἑρμῆς, is invoked here in the meaning of a "windfall," something that is acquired by pure luck, so the saying means that when you have acquired something by luck, it should be shared. The Greek word for "windfall" is ἕρμαιον, like the name of the god; compare the archaic English word godsend. The saying appears in a funny little poem from the Greek Anthology about a woman who finds her daughter with a lover and insists on sharing in her good luck: "Ἑρμῆς κοινός," ἔφη "θύγατερ."

Erasmus cites Lucian and Plutarch, along with a long fable from Aristides, in his commentary on the saying.

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Μήτε νεῖν μήτε γράμματα.

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Μήτε νεῖν μήτε γράμματα.

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Not (knowing how) to swim nor (knowing) letters.

This saying refers to someone who is completely ignorant: they have no practical skills, and they cannot read or write. From the root of Greek γράμμα we get gram- words in English like grammar and telegram.

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Ὄνος ἵππον μιμούμενος.

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Ὄνος ἵππον μιμούμενος.

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A donkey imitating a horse.

This saying refers to someone unworthy who claims honors that do not belong to them. Aesop has his own take on this comparison: he tells a fable about a donkey who envied a noble horse... until he saw the horse badly wounded in war. The donkey then decided that being a donkey is maybe not so bad! Here's that fable: The Donkey who Envied the Horse.

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Τύχη Εὔριπος.

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Τύχη Εὔριπος.

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Luck (is like) the Euripus Strait.

You can read about the Euripus Strait at Wikipedia: it is a narrow sea channel between the island of Euboea and mainland Greece, and it has extremely strong currents that change direction, back and forth, four times a day, making the waters extremely dangerous. Those shifting currents are what make the Euripus Strait like luck: sometimes good, sometimes bad, switching back and forth dangerously. The Wheel of Fortune is a similar metaphor, with her wheel that goes up and down. (Latin Fortuna is the equivalent of Greek Tyche, Τύχη.)

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Μὴ πῦρ ἐπὶ πυρί.

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Μὴ πῦρ ἐπὶ πυρί.

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Don't (add) fire upon fire.

The saying is found in Plutarch, who marks it as proverbial with the phrase  ὥς φασι, "as they say." Fire upon fire is like one bad thing after another in English; if there's a fire, don't heap on more fire, i.e. don't make a bad situation worse. From Greek πῦρ we get the pyr- words in English like pyre and pyrotechnics.

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Ἰχθύων βίος.

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Ἰχθύων βίος.

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The lifestyle of fish.

This saying is shorthand for when powerful people take advantage of weaker people, just as big fish devour the little fish. It is sometimes called "the Law of Fish" in English, or "the Law of the Jungle." You can see this proverbial usage in Polybius: τὸν λεγόμενον τῶν ἰχθύων βίον, with τὸν λεγόμενον indicating the proverbial status of the phrase. The Greek word ΙΧΘΥΣ was used as a secret sign by the early Christians, with the five letters being interpreted as:

Ἰησοῦς

Χρῑστός

Θεοῦ

Yἱός

Σωτήρ,

i.e. Jesus-Christ-God's-Son-Savior. You can find out more at Wikipedia: Ichthys.

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Τὸν ὑψόθεν σκοπὸν ἐπισκόπει, φύλακα πολυπόνων.

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Τὸν ὑψόθεν σκοπὸν ἐπισκόπει, φύλακα πολυπόνων.

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Consider the one who watches from on high, the protector of long-suffering people.

The words are from Aeschylus's Suppliant Women. The chorus of Danaids is speaking to King Pelasgus, invoking Zeus as they urge him to help them; Zeus is the one who watches from on high. Like μίσει above, ἐπισκόπει is the imperative form of a contract verb.

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Οἶνος ἄνωγε γέροντα καὶ οὐκ ἐθέλοντα χορεύειν.

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Οἶνος ἄνωγε γέροντα καὶ οὐκ ἐθέλοντα χορεύειν.

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Wine has made the old man dance, even if he doesn't want to.

The saying is quoted in Athenaeus's Deipnosophistae. Note that καὶ here is not a conjunction but is instead being used adverbially. This portion of Athenaeus is full of proverbial sayings and memorable quotes about drinking and drunkenness; you can find an English translation here.

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Ἐν νυκτὶ βουλὴ τοῖς σοφοῖσι γίγνεται.

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Ἐν νυκτὶ βουλὴ τοῖς σοφοῖσι γίγνεται.

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Council comes to the wise at night.

This saying is also used in a shortened form: Ἐν νυκτὶ βουλὴ. Compare the English saying: "Sleep on it." This is one of the monostichs (one-liners) of Menander; here is the iambic meter marked:

Ἐν νυκ|τὶ βου||λὴ τοῖς | σοφοῖ||σι γίγ|νεται.

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Δίδοτε, καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν.

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Δίδοτε, καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν.

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Give, and it will be given to you.

The words are from the Gospel of Luke. The verse is sometimes translated into English as "Give, and you will receive." It appears in the so-called "Sermon on the Plain," and you can find out more at Wikipedia.

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Ἔριν μίσει.

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Ἔριν μίσει.

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Hate strife.

Don't let μίσει fool you: that's the imperative form of an -εω contract verb! From the Greek root  μίσ- we get English words like misanthrope and misogyny. Meanwhile, for more about strife personified as a goddess, Ἔρις, see Wikipedia: Eris.

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Ὕπνος τὰ μικρὰ τοῦ θανάτου μυστήρια.

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Ὕπνος τὰ μικρὰ τοῦ θανάτου μυστήρια.

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Sleep is a small mystery of death.

Many cultures have proverbs related to the eerie similarity of sleep and death, and in Greek mythology, the gods Ὕπνος and Θάνατος are brothers, the fatherless sons of Night, Νύξ. You can find out more at Wikipedia: Hypnos and Thanatos. From these Greek roots we get English words like hypnotize and euthanize. From the root in Greek μυστήρι- we get English mystery.

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Ἄνθρωπος ἀνθρώπῳ δαιμόνιον.

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Ἄνθρωπος ἀνθρώπῳ δαιμόνιον.

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One person is a divine spirit to another.

The idea here is that one person can help another person in a way that is so valuable that it is as if that person is a god. Translating the Greek word δαιμόνιον is notoriously difficult; the word has its own Wikipedia article, specifically with reference to Socrates's use of δαιμόνιον: Wikipedia: Daimonion. Erasmus renders the saying in Latin as Homo homini deus, Man is a god to man.

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Εἰς κόλπον πτύειν.

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Εἰς κόλπον πτύειν.

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To spit into one's cloak.

This was something done to ward off a bad omen or to counteract magic. According to one of the idylls of Theocritus, you had to spit three times: ὡς μὴ βασκανθῶ δὲ τρὶς εἰς ἐμὸν ἔπτυσα κόλπον, "so that I wouldn't be bewitched, I spit three times into my cloak." You can find out more about this idyll at Wikipedia: Theocritus VI.

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Δόλον φοβοῦ.

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Δόλον φοβοῦ.

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Fear deceit.

Don't let φοβοῦ fool you; it's the imperative form of a contract deponent verb, middle voice (φοβέομαι). This is one of the maxims that the anthologist Stobaeus attributed to the Seven Sages of Greece; you can find out more at Wikipedia: Seven Sages. You can also find out more about Stobaeus at Wikipedia.

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