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imagery57
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proverbs51
ethics33
definition25
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food16
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economics12

29 more

tragedy12
geography10
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women6

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Α alpha29
Β beta8
Χ chi7
Ε epsilon7
Δ delta4
ΑΙ alphaiota2

Vetting status

high57

Length

Short45
Medium12

Translator

Jennifer Benedict28
William Hutton6
Catharine Roth5
David Whitehead4
Craig Gibson3
Robert Dyer3

6 more

Anne Mahoney2
Antonella Ippolito2
Katina Ball1
Malcolm Heath1
Nathan Greenberg ✝1

57 entries for proverbs

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χ191Χελώνη μυιῶνa tortoise [uncaring] of flies[1] cf. Appendix Proverbiorum 5.27 (etc.) [2] Julian, Epistles 82.106; cf. tau 368. (Thersites features in Homer, Iliad 2, as an ugly Greek soldier who speaks out against Agamemnon and is quickly silenced with …Matched in noteshighmedium
α2819Ἄξιος λαβεῖν ὁ μισθόςthe wage [is] worth taking… fr. 228. [6] Aristophanes, Frogs 614 (web address 4). Later proverbial: Tosi (cited under alpha 378) no.1685. [7] = Synagoge (Codex B) alpha1562; Photius, Lexicon alpha2181 Theodoridis. de Borries identifies this and the following …Matched in noteshighmedium
δ400Δηλίου κολυμβητοῦDelian diver… omitted). [3] The paroemiographers do not, in fact, register the proverb in this nominative-case form; see rather Apostolius 5.100 (genitive, as above).

χ191

Χελώνη μυιῶν

a tortoise [uncaring] of flies

[sc. a proverbial phrase] in reference to those who think little of someone/something. Also [sc. attested is] 'to a tortoise'. "You think your frankness is 'worth four obols', as the saying goes. You do not know that…

Χελώνη μυιῶν· ἐπὶ τῶν ἀφροντιστούντων τινός. καὶ Χελώνῃ· τὴν παρρησίαν τὴν σὴν οἴει τεττάρων εἶναι ὀβολῶν, τὸ λεγόμενον. οὐκ οἶσθα, ὅτι καὶ Θερσίτης ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐπαρρησιάζετο·…

science and technology5

science and technology5

trade and manufacture2

trade and manufacture2

Ross Scaife ✝1

Ross Scaife ✝1

Matched in noteshighmedium

α249Ἀγκώνelbow… 2); the first adjective is garbled here. [7] cf. Mantissa Proverbiorum 3.31 and the quotation which follows here. [8] Diogenes Laertius 4.46. [9] gamma 316.Matched in noteshighmedium

β293Βίοςlife… not raw fruits. [4] Zenobius 1.21 (for both of these proverbs) and other paroemiographers; cf. beta 295 (and alpha 1183).Matched in noteshighshort

ε1505Ἐν φρέατι κυσὶ μάχεσθαιto fight with dogs in a well… unidentifiable. (Adler suggested the emperor Julian, who does sometimes cite proverbs in this kind of way.)Matched in noteshighshort

α4472Αὐτὴ κάμινος αὐτὸς εἵλκυσε καπνὸς ἢ τροχόςthe oven itself, the smoke itself or the wheel dragged on… textual problems.) The first element does, of itself, constitute a proverbial saying: so Photius, explicitly, with a gloss very similar to the present one; also Hesychius, who has such a gloss plus the extra …Matched in noteshighshort

α1388Ἀλωπεκίζεινto play the fox… 1), where it is presented as an already-existing song or proverb. Zenobius (1.70) and other paroemiographers present both proverb and gloss more fully: "to play the fox to another fox: in reference to those …Matched in noteshighshort

α371Ἀγροῦ πυγήrump of the country; fat of the land… the Atticist alpha21; Hesychius alpha837; Photius, Lexicon alpha272 Theodoridis; Appendix Proverbiorum 1.4; Macarius Chrysocephalus 1.3. The phrase itself is taken to come from Old Attic Comedy: Archippus fr. 7 Demianczuk, now 29 Kassel-Austin. As …Matched in noteshighshort

α1303Ἅλμη οὐκ ἔνεστ' αὐτῷthere is no salt in him; there is no sauce in him… This judgment is shared by many modern sophisticated societies. This proverb also occurs in Eustathius's note to Odyssey 4.511 and in several of the late paroemiographers (e.g. Gregorius 1.25).Matched in noteshighshort

α1355Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔνεστι συκοφάντου δήγματοςbut it does not have [a charm] against an informer's bite… there. Again (with slight variations) at omicron 885. In Appendix Proverbiorum 1.21 and other paroemiographic collections. For informers/blackmailers in classical Athens, see sigma 1330.Matched in noteshighmedium

α1391Ἀλώπηξ οὐ δωροδοκεῖταιa fox does not take bribes… 1.71. (Note, however, that in Photius, Lexicon alpha1088 Theodoridis, both proverb and gloss have no negative.) [2] Cratinus fr. 128 Kock, now 135 K.-A.Matched in noteshighshort

α2536Ἄνθρωπος ἀνθρώπου δαιμόνιονman (is) man's divinity… delta 674 and tau 1234; and also in Photius. On proverbial uses (of this kind) of the Euripos straits, between Euboia (epsilon 3696) and Boiotia/Attica, see generally D. Whitehead, Hypereides: the forensic speeches (Oxford …Matched in noteshighshort

α3234Ἁπλοῦν θύλακον πάτειtreads a single sackAppendix Proverbiorum 1.37 (etc.).Matched in noteshighshort

α4582Ἀφέντες τὴν ὑπέραν τὸν πόδα διώκουσινthey let go the brace and chase the sheet[1] A proverb using nautical terminology, as is made explicit in Harpokration s.v. (from which the present entry derives). [2] Hyperides fr. 181 Jensen (from the first of the two speeches For Chairephilos, on …Matched in noteshighshort

αι114Αἰθέρα νήνεμον ἐρέσσειςyou are rowing the windless aetherZenobius 1.39. For this type of proverb cf. (e.g.) alpha 1399, alpha 1400, alpha 2261, gamma 508, alphaiota 125, epsilon 384, epsilon 591, epsilon 3207, epsilon 3238, epsiloniota 326, epsiloniota 327, kappa 129, pi …Matched in noteshighshort

β446Βοῦν ἐν γνάθοις φέρειhe is carrying an ox in his jawsMantissa Proverbiorum 1.36; cf. beta 460 (an ox on one's tongue).Matched in noteshighshort

ε695Ἐκκυβεύεινto gamble (everything) on dice… common in Greek, of gambling all on battle, see the proverbs "Let the die be cast (or, rather, tossed)" (alpha 2310, epsilon 3013, kappa 2591, kappa 2602) and "Triple six or just three dice" …Matched in noteshighshort

ε1379Ἓν κηρίονa single honeycombAppendix Proverbiorum 2.62. For honeycombs see also mu 503.Matched in noteshighshort

χ601Χοῖροςpig, piglet, piggie… Acharnians 773 (web address 1), where this usage occurs; [Plutarch], Proverbs which the Alexandrians Used 1.92; Anonyma Dorica fr. 22 Kassel-Austin, with a text (from Zenobius) which eliminates 'Akrocorinth'. See generally LSJ s.v. xoi=ros, …Matched in noteshighshort

δ1560Δοῖδυξpestle… word, and a)letri/banos an Asian one. The scholia refer to proverbial expressions: scholia to Knights 984b paroimi/a, doi/duc au)/cei: e)pi\ tw=n li/an mikrw=n, "there is a proverb, "the grinder causes [things] to augment: [it …Matched in noteshighshort

α1073Ἀλλ' ἅπαν γένοιτ' ἂν ἤδηbut now anything might happen… address 1 below), with scholion. For variants on this alleged proverb, attributed to the mid-C5 poetess Praxilla of Sikyon by the scholiast, see the drinking-song quoted by Athenaeus, Deipnosophists 15.695D = 15.50 #20 Kaibel …Matched in noteshighshort

α749Ἄθως καλύπτει πλευρὰ Λημνίας βοόςAthos conceals the flank of a Lemnian cowA differently-worded version of this proverb was given by Sophocles, fr. 776 Pearson (= 709 Radt): *)/aqws skia/zei nw=ta *lhmni/as boo/s, "Athos shades the back of a Lemnian cow". LSJ (s.v. Athos; web address …Matched in noteshighshort

α2031Ἀναπολεῖrepeats… If Adler's choice amongst the mss variants is correct, this proverb (again at upsilon 55) does not contain the headword verb but, instead, the two-word phrase a)\n a)polh=|s "if you destroy". See however the …Matched in noteshighshort

α2260Ἀνέμου παιδίονwind's child… (1.47) and other paroemiographers; also casually mentioned -- apparently as proverbial -- in Libanius, Letters 1196.2.Matched in noteshighshort

α2521Ἄνθρακες ὁ θησαυρὸς ἦσανthe treasure was ashesSame entry in Photius. For this proverb see e.g. Lucian, Zeuxis 2, Philopseudes 32, Navigium 26. Its modern (if nowadays little-used) equivalent would be "apples of Sodom".Matched in noteshighshort

β329Βλέπειν γὰρ ἄντικρυς δόξεις μ' Ἄρηfor you will think that I look a downright Ares… The form of the gloss implies that the line became proverbial, and so it (eventually) did: see Apostolius 4.98. The chorus is parodying tragedic phraseology, e.g. Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 53.Matched in noteshighshort

δ619Διαλλάττεινto reconcile… resumption of the Peloponnesian War. [2] Evidently in a different proverb; cf. Aristophanes Acharnians 10 (web address 2; kappa 1465), and generally kappa 1463, kappa 1466, kappa 1467.Matched in noteshighshort

χ187Χελιδόνων μουσεῖαswallows' museums… taken from the scholia to the line; cf. Hesychius; and proverbial in Apostolius 7.66. [1] From line 680 of the same play. (The Aristophanes mss have e)pi-.) [2] Euripides fr. 88.Matched in noteshighshort

χ362Χοᾶchous; pitcher… (web address 4 below), with scholion. (Despite being called a proverb, it was not taken up by the paroemiograpers.) [7] Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae 43-44 (web address 5), with scholion.Matched in noteshighmedium

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