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proverbs
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132 entries
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κ
8
Κάβος
kabos, cabus
A kind of measure. And [there is] a proverb: 'a kabos of kabos'.
high
short
κ
17
Καδμεία νίκη
Kadmeian victory, Cadmean victory
This is said in reference to those who are victorious to their hurt. Some say that [this is because] after their victory the Thebans were defeated by the Epigonoi; others [say it is because] …
high
medium
κ
18
Καδμεία νίκη
Kadmeian victory, Cadmean victory
They explain the [proverb] as referring to an unprofitable victory; since when Eteokles and Polyneikes fought in single combat both of them perished. But others say that it is used in reference to those …
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high
short
κ
31
Κάθαμμα λύεις
you are undoing a knot
[sc. A proverbial phrase] in reference to those attempting to undo something which is hard to undo. From the waggon of Midas. For an oracle had been issued to the Phrygians [which said] that …
high
short
κ
41
Καθ' αὑτοῦ Βελλεροφόντης
Bellerophon against himself
In reference to those who bring evils on themselves. kaq' au(to/ ["for itself"] ....... di' au(to/ ["because of itself"] e(te/rou e(/neken ["for the sake of another"] ..... di' a)/llo ["because of something else"]. The …
high
long
κ
129
Καθ' ὕδατος γράφειν
to write on water
[sc. A proverbial phrase] in reference to those laboring in vain.
high
short
κ
149
Κακὴ μὲν ὄψις
face [is] bad
A clause of a proverbial saying. "The face [is] bad, but in [= behind] [it are] cowardly thoughts". Menander [uses the phrase] in Sicyonian.
high
short
κ
171
Κακοῦ κόρακος κακὸν ᾠόν
bad crow's bad egg
Some say this proverb derives from the winged creature [of this name], because it is not edible itself, and nor is the egg which it lays. But others say it comes from Corax [Crow] …
high
medium
κ
177
Κακῶν πανήγυρις
festival of evils
[sc. A proverbial phrase] in reference to very great [evils]. The Pisidian [writes]: "and everyone, just as in a festival of evils, was miserable about his own individual calamity".
high
short
κ
182
Κακοὶ τῆς πονηρίας πίνουσι τὴν ὁμίχλην
bad men drink the fog of villainy
[sc. A proverbial phrase] in reference to to those who are punished as they deserve.
high
short
κ
183
Κακύνειν τὸν πηλόν
to spoil the dregs
That is, to do outrage to the man worthy of outrage.
high
short
κ
225
Καλλικύριοι
Kallikyrioi
Those who took the place of the Geomoroi ["land-sharers"] in Syracuse, a great mass of them -- these men were slaves of the exiles, according to Timaeus in [book] 6; hence the overwhelming majority …
high
medium
κ
243
Καλλιφάνης
Kalliphanes, Calliphanes
son of Parabrykon ['Voracious']. [A name] applied to those pretending erudition. For this man, by declaiming the copied-out beginnings of many poems and speeches, as far as their third or fourth lines, pretended a …
high
short
κ
259
Κάλως
cord
[Meaning] a rope. And [there is] a saying: "to move every rope". [Aristophanes] says it figuratively from the mast. You must unfurl the sails; that is, move everything with a view to prevailing over …
high
short
κ
292
Κάμπιος δρόμος
winding course
Some [race-]courses were winding, not straight and simple, but having bends.
high
short
κ
311
Κανθάρου μελάντερος
blacker than a dung-beetle
A proverb. Menander in Treasury [sc. uses it]. Also: 'wiser than a dung-beetle', in reference to villains and degenerates.
high
short
κ
313
Κανθήλιος
pack-ass
[sc. Someone] slow to understand, or dull. Or a large ass/donkey. Xenophon says: "in Babylon the date-palms are not less than a plethron in size: indeed, when they are under great pressure, they bend …
high
short
κ
324
Κάππα διπλοῦν
double kappa
Meaning [double] evils [kaka/]. "Three kappas [are] worst -- Kappadokia, Krete, and Kilikia."
high
short
κ
335
Καπηλίς
huckstress, landlady
[The term is derived] from the [phrase] "to spoil [kaku/nein] the dregs [phlo/n]". "Dregs" [phlo/s] [is] wine; hence also [comes] a)/mpelos, i.e. being e)/mpelos, having the dregs in itself.
high
short
κ
346
Καπνοῦ σκιά
smoke's shadow
[sc. A proverbial phrase] in reference to exceedingly weak [people/things]. "And he does not know that he is killing a corpse or smoke's shadow, a mere phantom; for he would not have caught me …
high
short
κ
388
Καρικῇ Μούσῃ
with a Carian muse
[Meaning] with a mournful [song]. For the Carians seem to be a kind of dirge-singers and to mourn the dead of others for payment. But some understood [Plato to mean] in a non-Greek and …
high
short
κ
389
Καρικὸν θῦμα
Carian sacrifice, Karian sacrifice
[sc. A proverbial phrase] in reference to those who are sacrificing lean or inedible [sc. animal] limbs. For the Carians sacrifice a dog. Eunapius [writes this?].
high
short
κ
395
Καρκίνος λαγὼν αἱρεῖ
a crab is catching a hare
[sc. A proverbial phrase] in reference to impossible things.
high
short
κ
425
Κάρτα
certainly
From the [writings] of Sophocles. Ajax says to his own child: "for not perceiving [is] certainly a painless evil, until you learn to rejoice and to grieve."
high
short
κ
437
Καρύκη
sauce
[Meaning] a dish put together from many ingredients. A Lydian recipe [made] from blood and other dishes; from which they also call mixing something up and making a paste of it 'saucing'. Also [sc. …
high
medium
κ
497
Καταγηρᾶσαι Τιθωνοῦ βαθύτερον καὶ τοῦ Κινύρου πλουσιώτερον καὶ Σαρδαναπάλου τρυφερώτερον ὅπως τὸ τῆς παροιμίας ἐπὶ σοὶ πληρωθῇ δὶς παῖδες οἱ γέροντες
to grow old deeper than Tithonus and richer than Kinyras and daintier than Sardanapalus so that in your case the proverb would be fulfilled: the old are children again
Something said in reference to the long-lived. When Tithonus became very old he was turned by prayer into a cicada; Kinyras, a descendant of Pharnake and king of Cyprus, was exceptionally rich; and Sardanapalus, …
high
short
κ
652
Καταμήλην
probing
To probe [mhlw=sai] is what the physicians call inserting a probe somewhere. There was also a certain proverb in reference to those who conjecture about unknown matters. Dyeing fleeces is also called katamhlou=n ["plunging"], …
high
short
κ
667
Κατὰ ναῦν
by ship
[Meaning] by rank/order. Expressed from the proverb: "by ship the tackle [sc. is determined]".
high
short
κ
710
Κατὰ πῆχυν ἐπεδίδου
was advancing [cubit] by cubit
In reference to those who progress towards greater things. "Unhindered in practicing philosophy, he continued to make a contribution and was advancing [cubit] by cubit, to speak simply, until the panic misfortune."
high
short
κ
717
Κατὰ ποδὸς βάσιν
by a foot's step
A proverb in reference to those who do something in small stages and methodically and not all at once.
high
short
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