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proverbs
294
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iota
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337 entries for
proverbs
Relevance
Adler order
Longest first
ε
1630
Ἐξ ἑνὸς τὰ πάνθ' ὁρᾶν
from one thing to see everything
Likewise in Photius. Both the
proverb
itself and other, more explicit glosses (e.g. Appendix
Proverbiorum
2.69) make it clear what sense of the verb parora=n is needed here. See generally Tosi (cited under alpha …
Matched in notes
high
short
ε
3008
Ἔρις ἔριν τίκτουσα προσμνᾶται λόγον
contention begetting contention facilitates discussion
Likewise in Mantissa
Proverbiorum
1.60 (with glosses on 'facilities' and 'chattering' appended). Arsenius 7.94a omits the phrase 'out of friendship' but adds an explanatory clause: 'i.e. arguing about philosophy'. For the first two words, …
Matched in notes
high
short
ει
150
Εἰ μὴ ταχέως ἀπολώμεθα οὐκ ἂν ἐσώθημεν
had we not perished so fast we would not have been saved
… of Greece in 146 BCE. For other versions of the
proverb
see Walbank's commentary ad loc. (3.717). The verb should probably be the aorist indicative a)pwlo/meqa rather than the Suda's subjunctive. [2] cf. Appendix …
trade and manufacture
trade and manufacture
32
32
gender and sexuality
31
gender and sexuality
31
law
31
law
31
aetiology
29
aetiology
29
women
29
women
29
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28
science and technology
28
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27
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27
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17
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17
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15
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15
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13
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13
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11
politics
11
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9
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9
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7
athletics
7
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7
Christianity
7
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7
dreams
7
stagecraft
7
stagecraft
7
art history
6
art history
6
architecture
5
architecture
5
constitution
3
constitution
3
mathematics
3
mathematics
3
ΑΙ
alphaiota
ΑΙ
alphaiota
9
9
Ross Scaife ✝
Ross Scaife ✝
3
3
Bobbiejo Winfrey ✝
2
Bobbiejo Winfrey ✝
2
Ioannis Doukas
2
Ioannis Doukas
2
Lauren Curtis
2
Lauren Curtis
2
Oliver Phillips ✝
2
Oliver Phillips ✝
2
Ronald Allen
2
Ronald Allen
2
Stefano Sanfilippo
2
Stefano Sanfilippo
2
Alexandra Trachsel
1
Alexandra Trachsel
1
Andrew Morrison
1
Andrew Morrison
1
D. Graham J. Shipley
1
D. Graham J. Shipley
1
Debra Hamel
1
Debra Hamel
1
John Arnold
1
John Arnold
1
Joseph Grabau
1
Joseph Grabau
1
Katina Ball
1
Katina Ball
1
Marta Steele
1
Marta Steele
1
Matthew Farmer
1
Matthew Farmer
1
Nathan Greenberg ✝
1
Nathan Greenberg ✝
1
Phiroze Vasunia
1
Phiroze Vasunia
1
Roger Travis
1
Roger Travis
1
Timothy Pepper
1
Timothy Pepper
1
Matched in notes
high
short
κ
1585
Κίγκλος
dabchick
… walks".) [2] Menander fr.221 Kock (190 Körte-Thierfelder, 168 K.-A.). The
proverb
is explained in Aelian, Nature of Animals 12.9: "But the dabchick is a weak bird in the end, and for that reason they …
Matched in notes
high
short
χ
610
Χύτραν ποικίλλειν
to decorate a cooking-pot
For this
proverbial
expression -- once regarded as a fragment of comedy (Comica adespota 921 Kock), but not in K.-A. -- see already under omicron 399 (and chi 135). Its point is that a …
Matched in notes
high
short
α
842
Ἀκεσίας ἰάσατο
Akesias healed
This
proverb
(for which cf. Zenobius 1.52 and other paroemiographers) comes from the fourth book of the lost Prose Works of Aristophanes, the comic playwright (fr. 903 Kock, now 934 Kassel-Austin), "Akesias healed the …
Matched in notes
high
short
α
4438
Αὐλητοῦ βίον ζῇς
you are living a piper's life
… a particular variety of piper is (disparagingly) envisaged in this
proverb;
certainly not (e.g.) the kind who, from 586 BCE, won the prestigious solo piping competition at the Pythian Games (see West 337). For …
Matched in notes
high
short
αι
125
Αἰθίοπα σμήχειν
to wash an Ethiopian white
First attested -- as already
proverbial
-- in Lucian, To the Ignorant Book-buyer 28. See also the paroemiographers: Zenobius 1.46, Diogenianus 1.45, Macarius 1.62. See generally Tosi [cited under alpha 378] no.1893. For this …
Matched in notes
high
short
ε
49
Ἐγένετο καὶ Μάνδρωνι συκίνη ναῦς
even Mandron got a fig-wood ship
… 255 (Mulierum Virtutes #18); Polyaenus 7.31. The Mandros of the
proverb
can hardly be him; nevertheless there is a tantalizing link between the geographical location of his kingdom and the fact that Zenobius (above) …
Matched in notes
high
short
α
1388
Ἀλωπεκίζειν
to 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 notes
high
short
β
175
Βάτα Κάρας
Bata Karas, Batakaras
Likewise in Apostolius 4.75. Hesychius (beta312) and Appendix
Proverbiorum
1.49 provide more detail: this
proverbial
expression was reportedly inscribed on a votive offering in the temple of Hera on Samos. All four sources allude …
Matched in notes
high
short
β
266
Βησᾶς ἕστηκεν οἷον ἀχανής
Besas stands as if gaping
Versions of this
proverb
appear in several of the paroemiographic collections e.g. Appendix
Proverbiorum
1.54 ( = E.L. Leutsch and F.G. Schneidewin, Paroemiographi Graeci, vol. 1, appendix, p. 387, no. 54), where the verb …
Matched in notes
high
short
η
286
Ἤμβροτεν
missed (the mark or goal)
… succeeding or hitting the mark through its use in two
proverbs.
Eustathius describes them as follows. " 'You missed and did not hit' (h)/mbrotes oud’ e)/tuxes, Iliad 5.287) is
proverbial
for those who fail …
Matched in notes
high
short
α
281
Ἁγνότερος πηδαλίου
purer than a steering-oar
Diogenianus 1.11 and other paroemiographers. Presumably this
proverb's
effect turns on the purificatory properties of salt. On the steering oars -- always in pairs -- of ancient ships, see pi 1493 and pi 1494, …
Matched in notes
high
short
α
371
Ἀγροῦ πυγή
rump 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 notes
high
short
α
732
Ἀθηναίων δυσβουλία
Athenians' ill-counsel
[1] Mantissa
Proverbiorum
1.3. (For 'ill-counsel' alone, see delta 1601.) [2] Eupolis fr. 205 Kock, now 219 K.-A. [3] Aristophanes, Clouds 587-9 (web address 1 below), with scholion; cf. gamma 195. [4] This additional …
Matched in notes
high
medium
α
1303
Ἅλμη οὐκ ἔνεστ' αὐτῷ
there 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 notes
high
short
α
1355
Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔνεστι συκοφάντου δήγματος
but 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 notes
high
medium
α
1391
Ἀλώπηξ οὐ δωροδοκεῖται
a 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 notes
high
short
α
2536
Ἄνθρωπος ἀνθρώπου δαιμόνιον
man (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 notes
high
short
α
2570
Ἄννος κρίβανον
Annos (and) the potter's oven
… Acharnians 86, where an oven is mentioned. See also Appendix
Proverbiorum
1.31 (where the name is Annas). Again at alpha 4052 and kappa 2414.
Matched in notes
high
short
α
3234
Ἁπλοῦν θύλακον πάτει
treads a single sack
Appendix
Proverbiorum
1.37 (etc.).
Matched in notes
high
short
α
3428
Ἀπὸ λύκου θύρας
from a wolf's door
Likewise in Apostolius 3.52; similarly in Appendix
Proverbiorum
3.95.
Matched in notes
high
short
α
3438
Ἀπὸ μηχανῆς
from a machine
… scholia to Plato, Clitophon 470A (and other scholia). For the
proverbiality
of the phrase see also e.g. Demosthenes 40.59: "Timocrates alone, as if from a machine, testifies that..." [1] cf. theta 181.
Matched in notes
high
medium
α
3471
Ἀπὸ πέντε ἅλλεσθαι πετρῶν εἰς κῦμα
to leap from five rocks into a wave
cf. Diogenianus 1.80, where however the
proverb
itself ends (improbably) "into a cudgel".
Matched in notes
high
short
α
3770
Ἀργείους ὁρᾷς
you see Argives
Also in some of the later paroemiographers. In Appendix
Proverbiorum
3.35 and Macarius 2.38 the Suda's explanation appears alongside another one, about suspicions of theft (said to be a charge comically levelled at Argives …
Matched in notes
high
short
α
3990
Ἀρουραία μάντις
field mantis
Appendix
Proverbiorum
1.40 (and elsewhere). [1] The praying mantis (Mantis religiosa); again at mu 169. [2] An Egyptian land-measure. [3] cf. sigma 981.
Matched in notes
high
short
α
4043
Ἄρτι μῦς πίττης γεύεται
finally the mouse is tasting pitch
… to the same general effect.) The earliest occurrence of this
proverb
is in [Demosthenes] 50.26; see also Theocritus, Idylls 14.51.
Matched in notes
high
short
α
4101
Ἀρχὴ Σκυρία
Skyrian empire, Scyrian empire
… in the dead centre of the Aegean Sea; for other
proverbs
mentioning it see alphaiota 238, sigma 714. [2] Similarly explained in Zenobius 1.32 and other paroemiographers. [3] For Theseus and Lykomedes see e.g. …
Matched in notes
high
short
α
4582
Ἀφέντες τὴν ὑπέραν τὸν πόδα διώκουσιν
they 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 notes
high
short
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