Talk:List of Greek phrases
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I have a phrase that might be added to this list...in Herodotus (6.129) there is the story of Hippocleides, and the phrase "Hippocleides doesn't care." He says that it became a common phrase throughout Greece, and people still use it (T.E. Lawrence, for one, and everyone else I know who has read the story :) Is that appropriate for this list? If so, what is it in Greek? I have found one Internet reference to "Hippokleides ou phrontis," but I have no idea. I also don't really know how to transliterate it...would it be 'Ιπποκλειδες ου φροντις, assuming that is actually the translation? Adam Bishop 22:46, 25 Oct 2003 (UTC)
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[edit] Sources?
This list would be much more useful if the sources of the phrases were included. rossb 22:56, 4 Mar 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Γλαῦκ’ Ἀθήναζε
It is generally but erroneously believed that "owls" referred to living owls. Yet unlike eagles, owls cannot be trained, and carried away.
Owl was the common name of the Athenian drachma. Alternatively Corinth had pegasus (stater).
I just realized that I spoiled "coals to Newcastle" which should be i.e. "pounds to London" or "dollars to Washington"
See also "reverse" of coin in Greek drachma--Odysses 19:15, 26 November 2005 (UTC)
I found a little reference on [1]--Odysses 19:40, 26 November 2005 (UTC)
Hmm...my apologies then, I never thought of it like that. I always assumed Athens just had a lot of owls, not trained, but just living there naturally. Or that they were referring to Athena... Adam Bishop 19:48, 26 November 2005 (UTC)
Thanks. I was told the same version at school. I read about the second version during a coin collecting period.--Odysses 20:10, 26 November 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Socrates
The phrase Ἓν οἶδα ὅτι ουδὲν οἶδα is attributed to Socrates but it is not found as such in the Apology. Here is what is written there: ἀλλ' οὗτος μὲν οἴεταί τι εἰδέναι οὐκ εἰδώς, ἐγὼ δέ, ὥσπερ οὖν οὐκ οἶδα, οὐδὲ οἴομαι: ἔοικα γοῦν τούτου γε σμικρῷ τινι αὐτῷ τούτῳ σοφώτερος εἶναι, ὅτι ἃ μὴ οἶδα οὐδὲ οἴομαι εἰδέναι. [2] Andreas 19:44, 12 January 2006 (UTC)¨
- Sometimes mottos of philosophers include concealed meanings. I have also heard of the short version Ἓν οἶδα (I know the One), which has an opposite meaning, i.e. that Socrates had actually recognized divinity or God.--Odysses 14:18, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Virgil
Is "I fear the Greeks even bearing gifts" actually a famous Greek phrase? Did they translate it from the Latin and use it later? (Or did Virgil translate a Greek phrase?) Adam Bishop 23:12, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
- I don't think this phrase is Homeric or Greek. It was Virgil who gave Laocoön this line.
- Φοβοῦ τοὺς Δαναοὺς καὶ δῶρα φέροντες was probably translated from Latin into Greek.--Odysses 12:46, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Classical Greek phrases
This is a cool article, I enjoyed reading it. The title actually threw me off though. Since Greek is still spoken today, I'd expect an article of this title to be about, say, how to get directions to a hostel or order some wine. Perhaps it should be titled "A list of Classical Greek phrases"? Ocicat 16:32, 2 February 2006 (UTC)
Concerning this and the question about Vergil's line: SPOILSPORTS! Yes, the line is best known from the Aeneid, yes the article probably should be disambiguated. But, a more accurate title would be "A list of Ancient Greek phrases," since "Classical" Greek is a specific form which would could be construed to refer only to the 5th Century BCE. Ancient Greek would definitely cover everything from Homer to Ptolemy (with an easement on both sides). The Dogandpony 16:11, 2 February 2006 (UTC)΄
- I would suggest Classical Greek instead of Ancient Greek. Classical is more specific. Ancient is quite arbitrary. Today, we might call for example Plato an Ancient, but Plato in turn, called others ancients:
- the modern interpreters of Homer may, I think, assist in explaining the view of the ancients (Cratylus)
- there is an ancient saying, that "hard is the knowledge of the good (Cratylus)--Odysses 15:22, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Wikiquote and Here
Wikiquote has a page for quotes by Archimedes (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Archimedes), and the Greek they use for his quote (Give me a fulcrum and a place to stand, and I will move the world) is different from the Greek here. Which is correct, or are they both correct? 141.149.207.158 16:38, 2 August 2006 (UTC)
- There is no "fulcrum" (υπομόχλιον) in the Greek text. Πα στώ, literaly means "where to stand", or "a place to stand"--Odysses (☜) 18:48, 15 October 2006 (UTC).
[edit] Two (three?) things:
1) This page should be moved to either Classical or Ancient (with redirects, for the time being).
2) Statements should be cited better. Why is there a quote from Nero here? I'd like to know where it came from. He wasn't a ruler of Greece.
3) Κάθε πράγμα στο καιρό του κι'ο κολιός τον Αύγουστο ... I've only ever seen the preposition στο in modern greek, and in none of the old stuff I've read. Had it shown up by the time of Koine? If not, this shouldn't be on here, though the contributor might not know that because this article is misnamed
[edit] Merry Xmas and new year
All the best to the contributors of this highly entertaining list. May it thrive. Politis 11:43, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] 2007-02-24 Automated pywikipediabot message
--CopyToWiktionaryBot 04:22, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
