Μήλειος Ἡρακλῆς
Sheepy Heracles
Translated by David Whitehead7 Apr 2008Vetting: high4 revisions
Translation
[sc. A proverbial phrase] in reference to to cut-price things; for once, when the ox that they were intending to slaughter for Heracles escaped, they took a sheep and placed it on top of 4 branches and sacrificed it.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Μήλειος Ἡρακλῆς· ἐπὶ τῶν εὐτελῶν· τοῦ γὰρ βοὸς ἐκφυγόντος ποτέ, ὃν ἔμελλον τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ προσάξειν, μῆλον λαβόντες καὶ κλάδους ὑποθέντες δʹ ἔθυσαν.
Betacode
*mh/leios *(hraklh=s: e)pi\ tw=n eu)telw=n: tou= ga\r boo\s e)kfugo/ntos pote/, o(\n e)/mellon tw=| *(hraklei= prosa/cein, mh=lon labo/ntes kai\ kla/dous u(poqe/ntes d# e)/qusan.
Notes
- Some of the paroemiographers have explanatory variations on this theme, some of which interpret the epithet as referring to apples rather than sheep [the Greek word
mh=lon can mean either 'sheep' or 'apple', and cf. mu 921 for the ambiguity of the present adjectivemh/leios ]: see Zenobius 5.22, Appendix Proverbiorum 3.93; also Hesychius s.v.*mh/lwn *(Hraklh=s (mu1206).
Neighbouring entries
Revision history4 revisions · last 18 May 2016
- Revised — David Whitehead
- Revised — David Whitehead
- x-ref — David Whitehead
- modified translation, augmented note, added keywords, raised status — William Hutton
- Translated — David Whitehead