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Ἡ γὰρ τυραννὶς ἀδικίας μήτηρ ἔφυ.

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Ἡ γὰρ τυραννὶς ἀδικίας μήτηρ ἔφυ.

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Tyranny is the mother of injustice.

The words come from Plutarch writing about Alexander the Great, quoting a line from a tragedy, "The Ransom of Hector," by Dionysius. Here is the iambic meter marked:

Ἡ γὰρ τυραν||νὶς ἀδ-(ι)κίας || μήτηρ ἔφυ.

From Greek τυραννίς, we get English "tyranny."

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Φίλος πιστὸς φάρμακον ζωῆς.

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Φίλος πιστὸς φάρμακον ζωῆς.

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A faithful friend is life's remedy.

The saying is found in the Biblical wisdom book known as Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus.The King James translation reads: A faithful friend is the medicine of life. The Greek word φάρμακον gives us English pharmacy; the etymology of the Greek word remains mysterious. From Greek ζωῆς we get the name Zoe.

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Πᾶν ἐστὶ ἄνθρωπος συμφορή.

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Πᾶν ἐστὶ ἄνθρωπος συμφορή.

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In every way, a person is (a thing of) chance.

The words appear in Herodotus when Solon is speaking to Croesus; specifically, Solon is arguing that whether a person is rich or poor is entirely a matter of chance. For more about Solon and about Croesus, see Wikipedia.

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Ἀεργοῖς αἲὲν ἑορτά.

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Ἀεργοῖς αἲὲν ἑορτά.

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For lazy (people), (it's) always a holiday.

The saying is reported in one of the idylls of Theocritus; you can find out more at Wikipedia: Idyll 15. The adjective ἀεργός is an alpha-privative: ἀ-εργός, not-working, and it is being used substantively here: lazy people.

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Ἔχθρας διάλυε.

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Ἔχθρας διάλυε.

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Dissolve hatreds.

In other words, put a stop to them, break them up, let them go. This is one of the maxims attributed to the Seven Sages as reported in Stobaeus. The Greek verb διαλύω is at the root of the English word dialysis.

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Προτέρα πάντων ἔκτισται σοφία.

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Προτέρα πάντων ἔκτισται σοφία.

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Before all things, wisdom was created.

The words also come from the Biblical book ofSirach. The verb ἔκτισται is a perfect passive form. From Greek σοφία we get the name Sophia, and for more about the Biblical tradition of Wisdom, seeWikipedia: Holy Wisdom. You can see the neuter form of προτέρα in the phrase hysteron proteron, a rhetorical device; find out more atWikipedia: ὕστερον πρότερον.

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Φίλος πιστὸς σκέπη κραταιά.

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Φίλος πιστὸς σκέπη κραταιά.

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A faithful friend is a strong shield.

The words come from the Biblical "wisdom book" known as Sirach or Ecclesiasticus. Compare yesterday's proverb: Φίλος πιστὸς φάρμακον ζωῆς. The adjective πιστὸς is derived from the verb πείθω, which is cognate with the Latin verb fido, and so ultimately is related to English "faith."

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Χρυσὸς ὁ ἀφανὴς τύραννος.

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Χρυσὸς ὁ ἀφανὴς τύραννος.

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Gold is the invisible tyrant.

The adjective ἀφανὴς is an alpha-privative: ἀ-φανὴς, in-visible. From Greek τύραννος, we get English "tyrant." The etymology of the Greek word is obscure; here are some possible etymologies.

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Πλέον ἥμισυ παντός.

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Πλέον ἥμισυ παντός.

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The half is greater than the whole.

The Greek saying was used to refer to someone who would risk losing what they have in order to gain something more; compare the English saying, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." The adjective πλέον is comparative, so it takes a genitive complement: παντός. From the root in Greek ἥμισυ we get the hemi- words in English like hemisphere.

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Ἕνα ἀλλὰ λέοντα.

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Ἕνα ἀλλὰ λέοντα.

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One, but a lion.

This is the punchline to an Aesop's fable: when the fox rebukes the lioness for having only one cub, this is the lioness's reply. That's why the words are in the accusative: "(I have only) one (cub), but (he is) a lion." In other words, all the offspring of the fox could never equal a single lion. Here are some English versions of the Aesop's fable.

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Ὁ ἄδικος οὐ λανθάνει τοὺς θεούς.

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Ὁ ἄδικος οὐ λανθάνει τοὺς θεούς.

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The unjust person does not escape the gods.

The word ἄδικος is an alpha-privative, ἄ-δικος. The word "escape" here means to "escape the notice of," i.e. the gods see the person who is unjust; he cannot escape their judgment.

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Πᾶν τὸ ἐρχόμενον ματαιότης.

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Πᾶν τὸ ἐρχόμενον ματαιότης.

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Everything that is to come is foolishness.

This is from the Biblical Book of Ecclesiastes. I've personally been feeling the special relevance of this one lately! King James reads "all that cometh is vanity," but "vanity" here does not mean vain self-regard; instead, it means emptiness, pointlessness. The Greek root word μάτη means "folly, foolishness," and the adjective μάταιος means "foolish, pointless," hence ματαιότης is "foolishness, pointlessness."

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Σαοὺλ Σαούλ, τί με διώκεις;

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Σαοὺλ Σαούλ, τί με διώκεις;

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Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?

This is from the famous "road to Damascus" moment in the Biblical Book of Acts when Saul (later Paul) has a vision of Jesus in which Jesus rebukes him with these words; the King James version reads "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" You can find out more about this famous Biblical scene at Wikipedia: Conversion of Paul. The Greek verb διώκω can means simply "chase" or "pursue," but it also has a legal meaning of "prosecute" or "persecute," which is the meaning in this context.

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Μανθάνων μὴ κάμνε.

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Μανθάνων μὴ κάμνε.

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Don't get tired of learning.

The negative μή is used moods other than the indicative, which means the imperative as here, the subjunctive, etc. Literally, "as you are learning (participle), don't get tired (imperative)." The root of the verb μανθάνω is μαθ- as in English words like polymath and mathematics.

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Θυμοῦ κράτει.

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Θυμοῦ κράτει.

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Master your emotions.

The Greek word θυμός covers a whole range of emotions, as you can see in the LSJ dictionary entry, so I just opted for "emotions" as the translation, even though it is singular in Greek; another translation could be: "Control your anger."  The verb κρατέω takes a genitive complement: θυμοῦ. The verb is formed from the noun κράτος, meaning "strength, power," etc., and you can see that same root in the -cracy words in English like democracy, aristocracy, bureaucracy, etc.

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Μὴ εἰς τὴν αὔριον ἀναβάλλου.

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Μὴ εἰς τὴν αὔριον ἀναβάλλου.

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Don't postpone until tomorrow.

Like αἰδοῦ above, ἀναβάλλου here is a middle imperative (hence the negating μή). The word αὔριον, which means "tomorrow" (more specifically, at dawn tomorrow) is technically an adverb but it often functions like a feminine noun (i.e. ἡμέρα), hence the prepositional phrase: εἰς τὴν αὔριον.

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Ἐπὶ δυοῖν ἀγκυραῖν ὁρμεῖ.

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Ἐπὶ δυοῖν ἀγκυραῖν ὁρμεῖ.

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He is moored upon two anchors.

You can see the dual number here: δυοῖν ἀγκυραῖν; the plural would be ἀγκύραις. As Erasmus explains, this saying refers to something especially stable and secure because you have cast one anchor from the prow and one from the stern. Note these two similar verbs with quite opposite meanings: ὁρμέω, to be moored or lie at anchor, as in this saying, from the noun ὅρμος, a chain or collar, also a harbor or haven, as opposed to ὁρμάω, to set in motion or rush, from the noun ὁρμή, an assault or rush, also violence, appetite (which gives us English hormone). And yes, we get English anchor from the Greek ἄγκυρα.

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Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται.

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Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται.

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Cretans are always liars.

From the same root in Greek ψεῦστ- we get the pseud- words in English, like pseudonym. This saying is related to the famous paradox associated with the philosopher Epimenides: Epimenides was a Cretan who said: "All Cretans are liars." You can find out more at Wikipedia: Epimenides Paradox. The fact that the statement uses a noun, ψεῦσται, instead of a verb offers one way to escape the paradox: even if Cretans are always liars, i.e. they do tell lies, it does not mean they are always lying, i.e. telling a lie whenever they speak.

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Σεαυτὸν αἰδοῦ.

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Σεαυτὸν αἰδοῦ.

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Have respect for yourself.

Here you see the pronoun in accusative form; compare the genitive form in the previous item (as a reflexive pronoun agreeing with the subject of the main verb, it has no nominative case). The form αἰδοῦ is a middle imperative from the verb αἰδέομαι. It can mean "feel shame," but especially when it takes a direct object, as here, it has the sense of "feel fear, awe," and thus to venerate or respect. The noun αἰδώς also covers that same range of meaning, from shame and fear to awe and respect.

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Ἄρχε σεαυτοῦ.

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Ἄρχε σεαυτοῦ.

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Have control over yourself.

The verb ἄρχω takes a genitive complement: σεαυτοῦ. This is one of the maxims of the Seven Sages as recorded by Stobaeus; find out more at Wikipedia: Delphic Maxims.

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Στιγμὴ χρόνου πᾶς ἐστιν ὁ βίος.

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Στιγμὴ χρόνου πᾶς ἐστιν ὁ βίος.

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A whole life is (just) a moment of time.

The words comes from Plutarch's essay on education (although it should be noted that Plutarch puts these words into the mouths of flatterers urging the hedonism of the here-and-now as opposed to delayed gratification). The word στίγμα in Greek is literally a prick, a point, a mark, and thus it also comes to mean tattoo in Greek (compare the use of stigma in English). So, the idea here is a prick of time, a single point of time, a moment. From Greek χρόνος we get all the chron- words in English like chronicle and chronology.

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Κακὸν δῶρον ἴσον ζημίᾳ.

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Κακὸν δῶρον ἴσον ζημίᾳ.

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A bad gift is the same as a loss.

You can see the Greek δῶρον in the name Theodore. From the root of the adjective ἴσο- we get the iso- words in English like isometer and isosceles (Greek ἰσο-σκελής, equal-legged).

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Ζεὺς πάντων ἐφορᾷ τέλος.

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Ζεὺς πάντων ἐφορᾷ τέλος.

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Zeus looks upon the end of all things.

This is another of the sayings attributed to Solon. The verb ἐφορᾷ is a compound of ἐπι and ὁρᾷ: the iota drops before the following vowel, and then the pi aspirates, resulting in the compound ἐφορᾷ. For more about the etymology of Zeus's name, which has Διός as its genitive form, see Wikipedia. The word τέλος has enormous range of meaning as you can see in the LSJ dictionary entry; the English word "end" has a similar range of meaning. From this Greek word we get English teleology.

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Νοῦν ἡγεμόνα ποιοῦ.

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Νοῦν ἡγεμόνα ποιοῦ.

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Make your mind your leader. These words are attributed to Solon by Diogenes Laertius; you can read more about Solon at Wikipedia. The verb ποιοῦ here is also a middle imperative, and from the Greek ἡγεμὼν, we get English hegemony. This always reminds me of the opening lines of the Buddha's Dhammapada: "Mind precedes thoughts, mind is their chief, their quality is made by mind..."

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Γονεῖς αἰδοῦ.

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Γονεῖς αἰδοῦ.

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Respect your parents.

This is one of the maxims of the Seven Sages as recorded by Stobaeus: Delphic Maxims. About the middle imperative αἰδοῦ, see yesterday's post: Σεαυτὸν αἰδοῦ. The noun γονεύς is derived from the root of the verb γίγνομαι, which is the middle form means "be born" (compare Latin "gigno").

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