This article lists direct English translations of common Classical Greek phrases.
Αα
Ageōmétrētos mēdeìs eisítō. "Let no one untrained in geometry enter." Motto over the entrance to Plato's Academy (quoted in Elias' commentary on Aristotle's Categories: Eliae in Porphyrii Isagogen et Aristotelis categorias commentaria, CAG XVIII.1, Berlin 1900, p. 118.13–19).Henri-Dominique Saffrey, "Ἀγεωμέτρητος μηδεὶς εἰσίτω. Une inscription légendaire." In: Revue des études grecques 81 (1968, pp. 67–87), p. 81.
. Aeì Libúē phérei ti kainón. "Libya always bears something new", Aristotle, History of Animals. Compare the Latin proverb ex Africa semper aliquid novi 'from Africa always something new', based on Pliny the Elder.
. Aeì koloiòs parà koloiôi hizánei. "A jackdaw is always found near a jackdaw" Similar to English "birds of a feather flock together."
. Aeì ho theòs geōmetreî. "God always geometrizes." — Plato Plutarch elaborated on this phrase in his essay Πῶς Πλάτων ἔλεγε τὸν θεὸν ἀεί γεωμετρεῖν "What is Plato's meaning when he says that God always applies geometry".Symposiacs Problem VIII, 2, Quaestiones Convivales (718b-)718c at PerseusProject (in Greek) , Quaestiones Convivales 8.2.1 at PerseusProject (in English) Note: All three references, Symposiacs Problem VIII-2, Quaestiones Convivales (718b-)718c and Quaestiones Convivales 8.2.1 point to the same work and passage) Based on the phrase of Plato, above, a present-day mnemonic for π (pi) was derived: . Aeì ho theòs ho mégas geōmetreî tò súmpan. Always the great God applies geometry to the universe. +π = 3.1415926... ἀεὶ ὁ θεὸς ὁ μέγας γεωμετρεῖ τὸ σύμπαν 3 letters 1 letter 4 letters 1 letter 5 letters 9 letters 2 letters 6 letters
. Aetoû gêras, korydoû neótēs. "An eagle's old age (is worth) a sparrow's youth."
aièn aristeúein "Ever to Excel" Motto of the University of St Andrews (founded 1410), the Edinburgh Academy (founded 1824), and Boston College (founded 1863). The source is the sixth book of Homer's Iliad, (Iliad 6. 208) in a speech Glaucus delivers to Diomedes: "Hippolocus begat me. I claim to be his son, and he sent me to Troy with strict instructions: Ever to excel, to do better than others, and to bring glory to your forebears, who indeed were very great ... This is my ancestry; this is the blood I am proud to inherit."
. Aíka. "If." Plutarch reports that Philip II of Macedon sent word to the Spartans, saying that "if I should invade Laconia, I shall drive you out" (ἂν ἐμβάλω εἰς τὴν Λακωνικήν, ἀναστάτους ὑμᾶς ποιήσω). The Spartans laconically responded with "if."
. Anánkāi d' oudè theoì mákhontai. "Not even the gods fight against necessity." — Simonides, 8, 20.
Allà tì êi moi taûta perì drûn ḕ perì pétrēn? "But why all this about oak or stone?" English : Why waste time on trivial subjects, or "Why make a mountain out of a mole hill?" Hesiod, Theogony, 35.
. Andrôn gàr epiphanôn pâsa gê táphos. For illustrious men have the whole earth for their tomb. Pericles' Funeral Oration from Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.43.3
. Anerrhíphthō kúbos. Alea iacta est. Latin: "The die has been cast"; Greek: "Let the die be cast." Julius Caesar as reported by Plutarch, when he entered Italy with his army in 49 BC. Translated into Latin by Suetonius as alea iacta est.
. Ánthrōpos métron. "Man [is] the measure [of all things]" Motto of Protagoras (as quoted in Plato's Theaetetus 152a).
hápax legómenon "Once said" A word that only occurs once.
apò mēkhanês Theós Deus ex machina "God from the machine" The phrase originates from the way deity figures appeared in ancient Greek theaters, held high up by a machine, to solve a problem in the plot.
. Apò toû hēlíou metástēthi. "Stand a little out of my sun." Legendary reply of Diogenes the Cynic when Alexander the Great asked him if he had any wish he desired to fulfil — version recounted by Plutarch
. áriston mèn húdōr. "Greatest however [is] water" — Pindar, Olymp. 1, 1 Used as the inscription over the Pump Room at Bath.
autòs épha Ipse dixit "He himself said it" Argument from authority made by the disciples of Pythagoras when appealing to the pronouncements of the master rather than to reason or evidence. The Latin translation of the phrase comes from Marcus Tullius Cicero in De Natura Deorum (On the Nature of the Gods)
Ββ
basileía tôn ouranôn "kingdom of the heavens" "Heaven" is a foundational theological concept in Christianity and Judaism. "God's Kingdom" (Βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ, Basileia tou Theou), or the "Kingdom of [the] Heaven[s]" was the main point of Jesus Christ's preaching on earth. The phrase occurs more than a hundred times in the New Testament.
Bellerophóntēs tà grámmata "Bellerophontic letter" King Proetus dared not to kill a guest, so he sent Bellerophon to King Iobates, his father-in-law, bearing a sealed message in a folded tablet: "Pray remove the bearer from this world: he attempted to violate my wife, your daughter."
brôma theôn "food of the gods" Allegedly said by Nero of the poisoned mushrooms with which his mother Agrippina the Younger murdered Claudius.
Γγ
Gēráskō d' aieì pollà didaskómenos. "I grow old always learning many things." Solon the Athenian, one of the seven Sages of Greece, on learning.
glaûk’ Athēnaze / eis Athḗnaśnaze / eis Athḗnas "Owls (Athenian drachmas) to Athens" — Aristophanes, The Birds, 302, also in 1106Aristophanes goes on: "Firstly, the owls of Laurium (i.e. the Athenian drachmas minted from the silver-mines of Laurium) which every judge desires above all things, shall never be wanting to you" The Birds, 1106 E.g., coals to Newcastle, ice to the Eskimos.
Gnôthi seautón. "Know thyself" Aphorism inscribed over the entrance to the temple of Apollo at Delphi.
Górdios desmós "Gordian Knot" The Gordian Knot is a legend associated with Alexander the Great. It is often used as a metaphor for an intractable problem, solved by a bold stroke
Δδ
Deîmos kaì Phóbos "Horror and Fear" Deimos and Phobos, the moons of Mars, are named after the sons of the Greek god Ares (Roman Mars): Deimos "horror" and Phobos "fear".
. Déspota, mémneo tôn Athēnaíōn. "Master, remember the Athenians." When Darius was informed that Sardis had been captured and burnt by the Athenians he was furious. He placed an arrow on his bow and shot it into the sky, praying to the deities to grant him vengeance on the Athenians. He then ordered one of his servants to say three times a day the above phrase in order to remind him that he should punish the Athenians.
diaírei kaì basíleue "divide and rule"
. Diploûn horôsin hoi mathóntes grámmata. "Those who know the letters see double [twice as much as those who don't]." Attributed to Pythagoras. — Inscription in Edinburgh from 1954:
Dôs moi pâ stô, kaì tàn gân kīnásō. "Give me somewhere to stand, and I will move the earth." Archimedes as quoted by Pappus of Alexandria, Synagoge, Book VIII.
Εε
. Eàn êis philomathḗs, ései polumathḗs. "If you are fond of learning, you will soon be full of learning." Isocrates, To Demonicus 18
. Heîs oiōnòs áristos, amúnesthai perì pátrēs. "There is only one omen, to fight for one's country." The Trojan prince Hector to his friend and lieutenant Polydamas when the latter was superstitious about a bird omen. The omen was an eagle that flew with a snake in its talons, still alive and struggling to escape. The snake twisted backward until it struck the bird on the neck, forcing the eagle to let the snake fall.
ek tôn hôn ouk áneu sine qua non "without things which [one can]not [be] without"
. Hellḗnōn promakhoûntes Athēnaîoi Marathôni khrusophóron Mḗdōn estóresan dúnamin. Fighting in the forefront of the Hellenes, the Athenians at Marathon brought low the Medes' gilded power. Epigram by Simonides on the tomb of the Athenians who died in the Battle of Marathon.
. Hèn oîda hóti oudèn oîda. "I know one thing, that I know nothing" Socrates, paraphrased from Plato's Apology.
. Énthen mèn Skúllē, hetérōthi de dîa Khárubdis. "On one side lay Scylla and on the other divine Charybdis." Odysseus was forced to choose between Scylla and Charybdis, two mythical sea monsters, an expression commonly known as Between Scylla and Charybdis.
. Epeì d' oûn pántes hósoi te peripoloûsin phanerôs kaì hósoi phaínontai kath' hóson àn ethélōsin theoì génesin éskhon, légei pròs autoùs ho tóde tò pân gennḗsas táde.́sas t "When all of them, those gods who appear in their revolutions, as well as those other gods who appear at will had come into being, the creator of the universe addressed them the following." — Plato, Timaeus, 41a, on gods and the creator of the universe.
Heúrēka! "I have found [it]!" While Archimedes was taking a bath, he noticed that the level of the water rose as he got in, and he realized that the volume of water displaced must be equal to the volume of the part of his body he had submerged. This meant that the volume of irregular objects could be measured with precision, a previously intractable problem. He was so excited that he ran through the streets naked and still wet from his bath, crying "I have found it!".
. Éti mían mákhēn Rhōmaíous nikḗsōmen, apoloúmetha pantelôs. "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined." Pyrrhus of Epirus commenting his victories (according to Plutarch, Life of Pyrrhus).
Ζζ
zôion dípoun ápteron "two-legged featherless animal" Plato's definition of humans, latinized as "Animal bipes implume" To criticize this definition, Diogenes the Cynic plucked a chicken and brought it into Plato's Academy saying: . Hoûtós estin o Plátōnos ánthrōpos. "Here is Plato's man." In response, Plato added to his definition:
platuṓnukhon "Having broad nails"The word πλατυώνυχον however sounds like πλατωνικόν, i.e. "the platonic thing". See The stranger's knowledge: Political knowledge in Plato's statesman by Xavier Márquez, University of Notre Dame, 2005, p. 120. As quoted by Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers
zôion politikón "Man is by nature a political animal", i.e. animal of the polis or social being Aristotle, Politics, book 1:
Ηη
. Ḕ tàn ḕ epì tâs. "Either [with] it [your shield], or on it." Meaning "either you will win the battle, or you will die and then be carried back home on your shield; but you will not throw your shield away to flee." It was said by Spartan mothers to their sons before they went out to battle to remind them of their bravery and duty to Sparta and Greece. A hoplite could not escape the field of battle unless he tossed away the heavy and cumbersome shield. Therefore, "losing one's shield" meant desertion. (Plutarch, Moralia, 241)
Hē phúsis oudèn poieî hálmata. Natura non facit saltus. "Nature does not make [sudden] jumps." A principle of natural philosophies since Aristotle's time, the exact phrase coming from Carl von Linné.
Êlthon, eîdon, eníkēsa. Veni, vidi, vici. "I came, I saw, I conquered." With these words, Julius Caesar described his victory against Pharnaces, according to Plutarch.
Θθ . Thálassa kaì pûr kaì gunḗ, kakà tría. "Sea and fire and woman, three evils."
Thálatta, thálatta. "The Sea! The Sea!" Thalatta! Thalatta! from Xenophon's Anabasis. It was the shouting of joy when the roaming 10,000 Greeks saw Euxeinos Pontos (the Black Sea) from Mount Theches (Θήχης) in Armenia after participating in Cyrus the Younger's failed march against Persian Empire in the year 401 BC.
Thánatos oudèn diaphérei toû zên. "Death is no different from life." Thales' philosophical view to the eternal philosophical question about life and death.
Ιι
Iatré, therápeuson seautón. "Physician, take care of yourself!" "Medice cura te ipsum." An injunction urging physicians to care for and heal themselves first before dealing with patients. It was made famous in the Latin translation of the Bible, the Vulgate. The proverb was quoted by Jesus, recorded in the Gospel of Luke chapter 4:23. Luke the Evangelist was a physician.
Iēsoûs Khristòs Theoû Huiòs Sōtḗr