List of Greek Phrases / Phi

Phi

Φάγε, πίε, εὐφραίνου.

Φάγε, πίε, εὐφραίνου.

Phage, pie, euphroinou

"Eat, drink and enjoy yourself!"

Key sentence from the parable of the rich fool in the Gospel according to Luke , which goes back to a passage in Psalm 49 . The parable tells of a rich man whose field had carried well and who was wondering what to do now:

“ That is what I want to do: I want to demolish my barns and build bigger ones, and inside of them I want to collect everything that has grown to me and my goods; 19 and I will say to my soul: Dear soul, you have a great supply for many years; now have rest, eat, drink and have good courage! "

But all of this is pointless:

“ But God said to him: You fool! this night your soul will be demanded of you; and what will it be that you have prepared? "

φακελάκι

φακελάκι

fakeláki

"Bag, small envelope"

In addition to its actual meaning, Fakelaki primarily describes a certain form of corruption in Greece. The recipient is given a discreet amount of money in an envelope in order to achieve certain advantages or even to be heard in the first place. This type of corruption is said to be very widespread, at the same time this bad habit has long been publicly criticized.

The fakelaki is just one of several forms of corruption in Greece; Nevertheless, only this term became a topos, especially in German-language media in publications about the causes of the Greek financial crisis, which has been perceived since 2009 , while the term Rousfeti ( ρουσφέτι from Turkish rüşvet , bribery money) , which is also common in Greece but is phonetically less distinctive , was hardly mentioned.

Φειδίας μ 'ἐποίησε.

Lawrence Alma-Tadema : Phidias shows his friends the frieze in the Parthenon

Φειδίας μ 'ἐποίησε.

Pheidias m 'epoiēse.

"Phidias made me."

Artist's signature of the famous sculptor Phidias , whose most important work is the twelve-meter-high statue of Zeus from Olympia , which was counted among the Seven Wonders of the World.

Plutarch reports that because of his friendship with Pericles , Phidias was in charge of or supervising all work on the Acropolis .

During excavation work in Olympia , the remains of the workshop of Phidias were found and in them tools and a ceramic cup with the following words carved into the bottom:

ΦΕΙΔΙΟΥ ΕΙΜΙ

( Φειδίου εἰμί Pheidiou eimi )

I am of Pheidias (property).

Φέρ 'ὕδωρ, φέρ' οἶνον.

Anacreon

Φέρ 'ὕδωρ, φέρ' οἶνον.

Pher 'hydor, pher' oinon.

"Bring water, bring wine!"

Beginning of a table song by the Ionian poet Anakreon :

φέρ 'ὕδωρ φέρ' οἶνον, ὦ παῖ,
φέρε ἀνθεμόεντας ἡμὶν
στεφάνους ἔνεικον, ὡς δὴ
πρὸς Ἔρωτα πυκταλίζω.

Bring water, bring wine, boy,
bring us wreaths full of flowers,
bring them, so that I can now
fight against Eros with my fist.

These table songs were round songs that were sung alternately by the guests to the lyre . Anakreon was part of the canon of the nine lyric poets . According to legend, he died at the age of 85 after choking on a grape . His statue stood on the Acropolis in Athens, depicting him as an aged singer blessed with wine. Love, wine and cheerful conviviality were the main themes of his songs, only three of which are complete and some in fragments. Imitations of this type of poetry paved the way for anacreontics .

Φεύγω τρόπον γε δή τιν 'οὐχ ἑκὼν ἑκών.

Sacrifice of Iphigenia

Φεύγω τρόπον γε δή τιν 'οὐχ ἑκὼν ἑκών.

Pheugō tropon ge dē tin 'ouch ekōn ekōn.

"Out of compulsion and yet of my own free will I went away."

Statement from Iphigenia on Tauris , the model for the Latin “ nolens volens ” (=  better or worse ).

The goddess Artemis punished Iphigenie's father Agamemnon for killing a stag in her sacred grove and at the beginning of the Trojan War prevented the fleet from continuing under Agamemnon's command by causing a calm at Aulis . The seer Kalchas prophesied that Agamemnon would have to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia in order to be able to continue his journey ( Euripides , Iphigenia in Aulis ).

In any case, Iphigenia was raptured by Artemis to the land of the Taurians (today Crimea ) to serve her there as a priestess in the Temple of Artemis (Euripides, Iphigenie with the Taurians ).

φησὶν σιωπῶν

φησὶν σιωπῶν

phēsin siōpōn

"By being silent, he agrees."

Quote from the Oresty of the poet Euripides , in which Orestes says:

" Φησὶν σιωπῶν · ἀρκέσω δ 'ἐγὼ λέγων. "

Also Iphigenia says in Tauris of a tablet:

" Αὐτὴν φράσει σιγῶσα τἀγγεγραμμένα [.] "

“ She herself will speak in silence. "

This phrase was probably the model for the well-known Latin phrase that comes from Cicero's first speech against Catiline :

" Cum tacent, clamant. "

“ By being silent, they scream. "

Φθείρουσιν ἤθη χρηστὰ ὁμιλίαι κακαί.

Φθείρουσιν ἤθη χρηστὰ ὁμιλίαι κακαί.

Phtheirousin ēthē chrēsta omiliai kakai.

"Bad examples spoil good morals."

Verse from the comedy Thais by the comedy writer Menander , which became a popular saying and - which is unusual - is also quoted in the New Testament :

" Μὴ πλανᾶσθε · φθείρουσιν ἤθη χρηστὰ ὁμιλίαι κακαί. "

“ Don't let yourself be seduced! Bad chatter spoils good morals. "

However, this sentence may have been a household word even before Menander and in no way proves that the apostle Paul read this comedy or other Greek classics.

With the proverb Paul wants to make it clear that the way of dealing with resurrection deniers leads the Corinthians to apostasy from the resurrection faith. Corinth was a multicultural and multireligious trading city that made Paul fear that his parishioners could easily stray from the right faith.

" If the dead do not rise," let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we will be dead! "

Φίλε Ζεύ

Bust of Zeus in the British Museum

Φίλε Ζεύ

Phile Zeu

"Friend Zeus"

Confidential address of the highest Olympian god Zeus in the new religious movement Hellenismos , which wants to reconstruct the traditional religion of classical Greece and adapt it to the modern world.

Φιλοπονεὶ ὦ παῖ μὴ δαρῇς.

Φιλοπονεὶ ὦ παῖ μὴ δαρῇς.

Philoponei ō pai mē darēs.

"Make an effort, boy, so you don't get punished."

Penal or exercise task on an ancient Greek writing board , which was found thousands of years later in the form ΦΙΛΟΠΟΝΕΙ Ω ΠΑΙ ΜΗ ΔΑΡΗΣ .

Φίλος μεν Πλάτων, φιλτέρα δὲ ἀλήθεια.

Φίλος μεν Πλάτων, φιλτέρα δὲ ἀλήθεια.

Philos men Platōn, philtera de alētheia.

"My friend is Plato, but even more my friend is the truth."

Latin: “ Amicus Plato, sed magis amica veritas. "

This line of thought comes from an anonymous late antique biography of Aristotle, the so-called Vita vulgata and was originally attributed to the Socrates student Plato , but was later transferred to the Plato student Aristotle .

The biographer thus justifies Aristotle's criticism of Plato's doctrine and then quotes a saying from Plato's dialogue Phaedo , where Socrates says to Simmias and Kebes:

“ Do not consider Socrates so much as the truth. "

Plato repeats the idea again in his Politeia , where Socrates explains with reference to Homer :

"But a person must not be valued more highly than the truth."

Φιλόσοφος

Bust of Pythagoras, Rome

Φιλόσοφος

Philosophos

"Friend of wisdom."

This word was the short answer of Pythagoras of Samos to the question of the tyrant Leon, the ruler of the Phleiasi, which artistry he was particularly good at. Pythagoras thus coined the new term philosopher , which did not exist before.

Amazed by this new term, Leon asked what made the philosopher different from other people. Pythagoras replied that life resembled the market at the Olympic Games, in which some strived for fame with their trained bodies, others were attracted by the prospect of profit, but there were also people who were eager to see everything. This he calls " on wisdom legatee " ( Philo-sophen ).

On Herakleides appeals Diogenes Laertius in the introduction to his philosophers' biographies:

“Pythagoras was the first to use the term 'philosophy' and [called] himself a 'philosopher' when he was in Sicyon talking to Leon, the tyrant of the Sicyonians - or the Phleiasier, as Heraclides the Pontic in his work“ About those not more woman breathing «says. For no one is wise except God. "

Φιλοσόφων πλῆθος ἀδύνατον εἶναι.

Φιλοσόφων πλῆθος ἀδύνατον εἶναι.

Philosophōn plēthos adynaton einai.

"The multitude of people can never become philosophers."

From Plato's Res Publica , lib. VI. This sentence is also quoted in Latin translation (among others in Die Welt als Wille und Ideen , Volume Two, Chapter 17. On the Metaphysical Need of Man, cited there in Latin and Greek) and is called: “ Vulgus philosophum esse impossibile est. "

Φοβοῦ τοὺς Δαναοὺς καὶ δῶρα φέροντας.

Trojan horse , the Danaer gift , is drawn to the city of Troy .

Φοβοῦ τοὺς Δαναοὺς καὶ δῶρα φέροντας.

Phobou tous Danaous kai dōra pherontas.

"Fear the Danaer (Greeks), even if they bring gifts."

This sentence is mostly quoted from Virgil's epic Aeneid , where it says in Latin:

“ Quidquid id est timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. "

“ Whatever it is, I also fear the Danes if they bring presents. "

After the Greek army had faked their departure, the Trojans brought the Trojan horse into the city despite the warning from Laocoon , who warned against this Danaer gift with these words . The Trojans believed that the huge wooden horse was a parting gift from the Greeks for the god Poseidon , but with it they brought doom to their city.

The writer Gustav Schwab relates this in his sagas of classical antiquity :

“When they saw the smooth wooden horse on the site of the old enemy camp, they stood around it in amazement, because it was a tremendous work. While they were still arguing about what to do with the strange miracle thing, and some were of the opinion that we should make it to the city and erect it in the castle as a monument to victory for all future, the others to throw the eerie gift from the Greeks into the sea Or advised to burn, a counseling to which the Greek heroes locked in the horse's belly had to listen to their torment, when Laocoon, the Trojan priest of Apollo, stepped into the midst of the gawking people and shouted from afar:
" Unhappy fellow citizens, what madness drives you? Do you think the Greeks have really sailed away, or that a gift from the Danaer does not hide deceit? Do you know Odysseus like that? Either some danger is hidden in the horse, or it is a war machine that will be propelled against our city by the enemies lurking nearby! Whatever it may be, don't trust the animal! ""

Φοινικήϊα γράμματα

The name of the Phoenicians is derived from the purple snail .

Φοινικήϊα γράμματα

Phoinikeia grammata

"Phoenician letters"

Formulation of the historian Herodotus , according to which Kadmos , the king of Thebes, is said to have brought the Phoenician letters to Greece. The Greeks were aware that they had adopted their script from the Phoenicians . They also adopted the letter names that no longer had any meaning in Greek.

From the Phoenician script the Aramaic scripts , the Greek script and almost all of today's alphabetic scripts emerged. The Greek script is a further development of the Phoenician alphabet and was the first alphabet script . The names of the letters have no meaning in Greek.

The Phoenician alphabet was a consonant script . In Greek, however, the vowels played a greater role than in the Semitic languages, which is why separate letters were required for them. For this purpose Phoenician letters, which denoted sounds that did not occur in Greek, were converted into vowel symbols.

The Phoenician alphabet

image	Phoenician Greek	Remarks
	Aleph Alpha ( ἄλφα )	Semitic guttural , which only became the vowel alpha in the Greek alphabet . The letter is derived from the representation of a bull's head ( alef  = "cattle"). The horns are at the bottom of the Greek alpha. Aleph is the Phoenician word for bull / ox, but not the Aramaic, which supports the thesis that the Greeks adopted their script directly from the Phoenicians.
	Beth Beta ( βῆτα )	Consonant that is derived from the stylized representation of the floor plan of a house ( beth  = "house"). By changing the direction of writing, the Greek letter was aligned to the right. A similar symbol, the floor plan of a house, is used for the hieroglyph with the sound value h :
	Gimel Gamma ( γάμμα )	Consonant, which is derived from the stylized representation of a camel's back ( gamel  = "camel"). The Latin C and G arose from the rotated and slightly changed Greek gamma .
	Daleth Delta ( δέλτα )	Consonant derived from the representation of an opened tent door. The Greek letter derived from it was used to denote the Nile Delta because of its shape .
	He Epsilon ( ἔψιλον )	Semitic guttural , which only became the vowel epsilon in the Greek alphabet. The letter is probably derived from the stylized representation of a person crying out in pain or joy. The Greek name “e psilón” ( ἔ ψιλόν ) means “simple e” (opposite the letter combination “ αι ”, which has had the same sound value since the Hellenistic period).
	Waw Ypsilon ( ὔψιλον )	Consonant derived from the representation of a hook or a nail. In Greek, from the letters were Digamma ( δίγαμμα, Ϝ ϝ ) and Wye and the five derived Latin letters F , U , V , W and Y . The original Phoenician letter Vaw disappeared from the alphabet.
	Zajin Zeta ( ζῆτα )	A consonant that is derived from the stylized representation of a scale or a weapon. The word Zajin means "sword". In the Latin alphabet, this letter moved to the end because it was only subsequently reintroduced to spell Greek names such as Zeus . In the Greek alphabet, however, this letter is still in seventh position.
	Chet Eta ( ἦτα )	Semitic guttural . The letter is derived from the representation of a fence or a strand of hair. The H sign was first adopted as " heta ". Since a character was missing for the sound “H”, the letter “H” was cut in half vertically: For the sound “H” at the beginning of a word, the left half of the capital letter “H” was used for the sounding of a word without a breath "Is used, from which the two characters" Spiritus asper "and" Spiritus lenis "developed.
	Tet Theta ( θῆτα )	This consonant sign, which is presumably derived from the representation of a spool of thread or a wheel, was not adopted into the Latin alphabet.
	Iodine iota ( ἰῶτα )	Semitic guttural, which only became the vowel Iota in the Greek alphabet . The letter is derived from the representation of a hand ( yod  = "hand"). The iota is the only letter to which a biblical passage can be directly assigned: “ For verily, I say to you: Until heaven and earth pass, not even an iota or a line of the law should pass until everything has happened. "
	Kaph Kappa ( κάππα )	Consonant, which is probably derived from the representation of an open hand. The old pictorial character originally stood for an open hand and in earlier versions looked like three splayed fingers. In Greek, however, the sign lost its clarity through rotation.
	Lamed Lambda ( λάμβδα )	This consonant sign is probably derived from the representation of a staff with which the cattle were driven. It was later written vertically and the arch turned into a sharp angle. The Greek lambda Λ was not always written with two legs of the same length . This explains why an Athenian named his limping daughter Labda ( Lambda ).
	Mem My ( μῦ )	Consonant that is derived from the representation of a waterline. As with lambda and ny, the lines in Greek gradually became the same length: Λ, Μ and Ν . A similar symbol, a rippled waterline, is used for the hieroglyph with the sound value N :
	Well Ny ( νῦ )	Consonant, which is thought to be derived from the representation of a snake or a fish. The similarity of Nun and Mem suggests that the symbol for a similar sound was modified for this sound.
	Samech Xi ( ξῖ )	Consonant, which is probably derived from the representation of a buttress. In Greek this became the letters Xi ( ξῖ ) and Chi ( χῖ ). The Xi was adopted later than other Phoenician letters. The X was added to the Latin alphabet as the first additional letter to write Greek foreign words. Because it was the last letter, it was called “ ultima nostrorum ” ( our last ) in Latin.
	Ajin omicron ( ὄμικρον )	Semitic guttural , which only became the vowels omicron and omega in the Greek alphabet . The letter is derived from the stylized representation of an eye with a point in the middle. The pupil remained until the 11th century BC. As a point in the middle. In Greek it became two letters, the O-micron ( small O ) and the O-mega ( capital O ).
	Pe Pi ( πῖ )	Consonant, which is probably derived from the stylized representation of a mouth. The Greeks adopted this symbol and wrote it mostly with a square head. The short stroke became the same length again in Greek, while it was bent in Latin. A similar symbol is used for the hieroglyph with the meaning mouth and the sound value R :
	Tzade Sampi ( σαμπῖ, Ϡ ϡ )	This consonant, which is presumably derived from the representation of a grasshopper, was temporarily adopted as Sampi in the Greek alphabet, but later only used as a numeral for the number 900. There is also no Latin equivalent for it.
	Qoph Qoppa ( κόππα, Ϙ ϙ )	Consonant derived from the highly stylized representation of a sitting monkey with its tail hanging down. In Greek this became the letter Qoppa , which was only retained for its numerical value 90. Because Kappa and Qoppa only referred to variants, they got rid of them in 403 BC. BC with the introduction of the Ionic alphabet in Athens des Qoppas and replaced it with the kappa. When the Etruscans adopted the Greek alphabet, the qoppa was still in use and was thus also adopted in the ancient Italian alphabet. The Q was retained in the letter combination <QV> (= <QU>) in order to be able to write the sound [kʷ].
	Resch Rho ( ῥῶ )	Consonant, which is derived from the stylized representation of a human head in profile. The name is derived from the meaning head . Rosh still means "head" in Hebrew.
	Shin Sigma ( σίγμα )	Consonant, which is probably derived from the stylized representation of a tooth. Schen ( שן) still means “tooth” in Hebrew. In the classical Greek script the angular form Σ was preferred, while the Latin script kept the round form S.
	Taw Tau ( ταῦ )	Consonant, the written form of which is a marker. This meaning of “Taw” has been preserved in the book of the prophet Ezekiel (chap. 9, verse 4 and 6) and in the book of Job (chap. 31, verse 35). Taw was the last letter until the five newly developed Greek characters Υ, Φ, Χ, Ψ and Ω were appended.

Some characters from the Phoenician alphabet existed in certain older forms of the Greek alphabet. They were abolished through the standardization of the alphabet. The letters Digamma, Qoppa and Sampi remained as numerical symbols.

The Greeks also adopted the order of the letters. Genuinely Greek neoplasms without a Phoenician equivalent are Phi ( Φ ) for [pʰ], Chi ( Χ ) for [kʰ] and Psi ( Ψ ) for [ps].

φρονεῖν ὅσια

Asclepius statue from Epidaurus

φρονεῖν ὅσια

phronein hosia

"Keeping pious things in mind"

On the Propylaea of Epidaurus there was an inscription that included the program of the Epidaurus health resort:

“Ἁγνὸν χρὴ νηοῖο θυώδεος ἐντὸς ἰόντα ἔμμεναι · ἁγνείη δ ἔστι φρονεῖν ὅσια.”

“Whoever enters the fragrant temple must be pure; But purity means having holy things in mind. "

Epidaurus was the most important health resort of antiquity and the most important place of worship for the healing god Asklepios , who according to mythology was born there. Asklepios is usually depicted as a bearded man with a laurel wreath, who is supported by a stick around which an adder is entwined. This Aesculapian staff is the international symbol of medicine today.

The rise of the Asclepius cult is probably related to the plague epidemic in Athens. The Epidaurs knew how to praise their place as the birthplace of God and made the place the most important sanctuary of this God. The following statement by the travel writer Strabo shows how popular the place was in Roman times :

“This city is also not insignificant, especially because of the fame of Asclepius, who is believed to cure all kinds of diseases, and whose temple is always filled with the sick and consecrated tablets on which the remedies are written, just as in Kos and Trikke. "

Part of the healing arts consisted in making the sick feel good. The sick first had to sleep one night in the temple. The aim of this night was to find out in a dream which healing method is the most suitable. Probably the hypnosis procedure was also used in later times. The following day there was a conversation with a priest and a doctor to determine the therapy. These were mostly spa treatments, diets, but also surgical or medicinal procedures.

It is told of a boy named Euphanes who had a stone disease and slept in the sanctuary. There he dreamed that the god Asclepius asked him what he would give him if he would make him well. When the boy offered him ten clickers ( δέκ 'ἀστραγάλους dek' astragalous ), Asklepios laughed and the boy woke up healthy the next morning.

Φυγεῖν μὲν οὖν χρὴ πόλεμον ὅστις εὖ φρονεῖ.

Murder of Prince Astyanax by Odysseus

Φυγεῖν μὲν οὖν χρὴ πόλεμον ὅστις εὖ φρονεῖ.

Phygein men oun chrē polemon hostis eu phronei.

"So those who are sensible must avoid war."

Quote from Euripides , Troades 400. The tragedy The Trojan Women ( Troades ) is about the downfall of Troy the subject: The male population is slaughtered, the women waiting to be distributed as spoils to the ships of the winner. The former Queen Hecuba learns that she has been assigned to Odysseus as a slave. Her daughter, the seer Kassandra , is claimed by Agamemnon and, as she herself prophesies, follows him into death. Her other daughter, Polyxena , was sacrificed on the tomb of Achilles . Her little grandson Astyanax is overthrown from the walls of the city so that no descendants of the royal line can survive as a possible avenger.

Jean-Paul Sartre , who arranged this play under the title Die Troerinnen des Euripides , writes:

“We know very well that the play also had a clear political meaning at the time of Euripides. It was a condemnation of the war in general, and the colonial expeditions in particular. "

Thousands have died because one woman left her husband. Now Helena tries to wash herself clean by - as in the tragedy of Euripides - blame Aphrodite, the goddess of love . Helena will not be held accountable and Sartre's Hekuba expresses bitterness over this injustice:

Zeus, I thought you were righteous, I'm crazy.
Forgive me.
The bitterness of our dead will not be sweetened.
Invisible they huddle together on the beach and see how
Helena triumphantly embarks,
Helena, the plague with the red hair,
and now they finally know that they died for nothing.

In this context the following quote from the histories of Herodotus can also be made :

"Οὐδεὶς γὰρ οὕτω ἀνόητος ἐστὶ ὅστις πόλεμον πρὸ εἰρήνης αἱρέεται · ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῇ οἱ παῖδες τοὺς πατέρας θάπτουσι, ἐν δὲ τῷ οἱ πατέρες τοὺς παῖδας."

“No one in their right mind prefers war to peace; for in one the sons bury their fathers, in the other the fathers bury their sons. "

Φύσει γὰρ ἄνθρωπος, ὃ βούλεται, τοῦτο καὶ οἴεται.

Φύσει γὰρ ἄνθρωπος, ὃ βούλεται, τοῦτο καὶ οἴεται.

Physei gar anthrōpos, ho bouletai, touto kai oietai.

"Because humans naturally believe what they want."

Chariton , De Chærea et Callirhoë 6.5.1. Compare Demosthenes ( Olynth. 3.18), "Ὃ γὰρ βούλεται, τοῦθ 'ἕκαστος καὶ οἴεται."

The Roman general Gaius Iulius Caesar wrote this insight in Latin in his report on the Gallic War :

" Fere libenter homines id, quod volunt, credunt. "

Φύσις κρύπτεσθαι φιλεῖ.

Φύσις κρύπτεσθαι φιλεῖ.

Physis kryptesthai philei.

"Nature loves to hide."

Quote from the fragments of the natural philosopher Heraklit . Martin Heidegger , who studied Heraclitus intensively, saw in this statement the law of development of philosophical-scientific thought already contained:

“Most people do not think about such things that they encounter on a daily basis, nor do they understand what they have experienced; it seems to them that way. "

The physicist Werner Heisenberg writes in physics and philosophy :

"And we have to remember that what we observe is not nature itself, but nature, which is exposed to our way of asking."

In this context, see Heisenberg's uncertainty principle .

φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ

Domenico Veneziano : John in the desert

φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ

phōnē boōntos en tē erēmō

"Voice of the caller in the desert"

According to the Christian interpretation, the “ caller in the desert ” means John the Baptist . The name is Latin " vox clamans in deserto " and goes back to Isa 40,3  EU and Mk 1,3  EU :

" ³ φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, ἑτοιμάσατε τὴν ὁδὸν Κυρίου, εὐθείας ποιεῖτε τὰς τρίβους αὐτοῦ, ⁴ ἐγένετο Ιωάννης βαπτίζων ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ καὶ κηρύσσων βάπτισμα μετανοίας εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν ."

" ³ Voice of one who calls in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his path!" ⁴ John came and baptized in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. "

The place name " in the desert " could indicate that John lived not far from Qumran , where a strictly ascetic community was looking forward to the coming dispensation. But John himself did not belong to this sect.

Because the evangelist Mark begins his gospel with the " caller in the desert ", his mark is the lion , the symbol of Venice.

See also: " Καὶ τὸ ζῷον τὸ πρῶτον ὅμοιον λέοντι ... " ( "And the first animal was like a lion ..." )

Φῶς - Ζωή

Φῶς - Ζωή (" Light and Life ")

Φῶς - Ζωή

Phōs - zōē

"Light - Life"

In Christianity, light and life are seen as inextricably linked. This can be seen confirmed by the word of the Creator in Genesis : “ Let there be light! "(" Γενηθήτω φῶς. ")

But for the ancient Greeks, light and life also belonged together. Likewise, the goddess Persephone brings light and life into the world.

The two words were passwords arranged in the form of a cross by Christians of the first centuries and in this arrangement the Franconian theologian Matthias Kaiser had them on a small silver cross that the youth pastor of the diocese of Bamberg, Jupp Schneider , had given him.

Kaiser wore this cross when he was drafted into the Wehrmacht in 1941. In 1944 he was sentenced to death in a field trial for cowardice in front of the enemy and executed in November of the same year.

The emperor's cross, the cross from Feuerstein Castle , with the message “ Light and Life ” was adopted as a symbol by the KIM movement , a Catholic youth movement, in 1970.

Φῶς Ἱλαρόν

Φῶς Ἱλαρόν

Phos Hilaron

"Bright light"

Latin: " Iucunda lux "

Phos hilaron is an early Christian, Trinitarian hymn of Christ, which in the Roman Catholic tradition is also called Lumen Christi and can be traced back to the middle of the 2nd century:

"Φῶς Ἱλαρόν αγίας δόξης αθανάτου Πατρός, ουρανίου, αγίου, μάκαρος, Ιησού Χριστέ, ελθόντες επί τήν ηλίου δύσιν, ιδόντες φώς εσπερινόν, υμνούμεν Πατέρα, Υιόν, καί άγιον Πνεύμα, Θεόν, Αξιόν σε εν πάσι καιροίς υμνείσθαι φωναίς αισίαις, Υιέ Θεού, ζωήν ο διδούς, διό ο κόσμος σέ δοξάζει. ”

“Cheerful light from the splendid splendor of your immortal, holy, blessed heavenly Father: Jesus Christ. All creatures glorify you. See, we come as the sun sets, we greet the friendly light of the evening, we sing in hymns to God the Father, we sing to the Son and the Holy Spirit. You are worthy that we celebrate you at all times with sacred songs, Christ, Son of God, Bringer of Life: the whole earth praises you. Amen."

Even in early Christianity, light played a major role. In the Orthodox Church at the beginning of Vespers every evening the candles are lit and the light welcomed. The Latin Church knows this only in the Easter Vigil , combined with the three-time call: " Lumen Christi - Deo gratias ".

The Benedictine Father Ambrosius Leidinger writes:

"Since the cult of light was too similar to a rite of the cult of the sun that was widespread in late antiquity, the Christians of antiquity needed an interpretation of the light through a shout or hymn, our song."

Φῶς του Θαβώρ

Transfiguration of Christ

Φῶς του Θαβώρ

Phos tou Tabor

" Taborlicht "

The Tabor light is the light that Peter , James and John saw, according to the account of the biblical Gospels, when Christ was transfigured on Mount Tabor :

“ ¹ And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them aside up a high mountain. ² And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. ³ And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah; they talked to him. ^{4 But} Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good to be here. If you want, we want to make three huts here: one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. "

The mountain was perhaps the Tabor or the Hermon . Something of Jesus' true form has been revealed. His face shone like the sun. He was the source of the light while Moses' face reflected the light. His clothes became white like the high priest's robes. Peter seems to want to extend the experience. The three huts made of branches and leaves are reminiscent of the Feast of Tabernacles .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gospel according to Luke , 12.19 EU
2. ↑ http://www.bibel-online.net/buch/42.lukas/12.html#19
3. ↑ Hans Poeschel: The Greek language. Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1975. ISBN 3-423-04174-9
4. ↑ Euripiedes, Orestie, 1592
5. ^ Iphigenia in Tauris , 763
6. ↑ Cicero, 1st Catiline speech, 7.18
7. ↑ 1st Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians , 15:33
8. ↑ http://www.bibel-online.net/buch/46.1-korinther/15.html#33
9. ↑ http://www.bibel-online.net/buch/46.1-korinther/15.html#32
10. ^ "Phaedo" 91c.
11. ↑ Plato , Politeia 595c.
12. ↑ Cicero : Tusculanae disputationes , 5.8 f.
13. ↑ Diogenes Laertios 1.12
14. ↑ Gustav Schwab: The most beautiful sagas of classical antiquity
15. ↑ Histories of Herodotus , 58
16. ^ Gospel of Matthew , 5.18 EU
17. ^ Anthologia Graeca app. 18.2
18. ↑ http://www.gottwein.de/Hell2000/epid001.php
19. ^ Strabo : Description of the earth in seventeen books , translated by Ch. G. Groskurd, Part 2, Book VIII-XIII, 1988, p. 89
20. ^ The Trojans des Euripides, edited by Jean-Paul Sartre ( Memento from January 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
21. ^ Jean-Paul Sartre : The Troerinnen des Euripides , 11th scene. Collected dramas, Reinbek 1969, p. 755
22. ↑ Herodotus : Historien , 1,87,4 / Croesus
23. ^ Gaius Iulius Caesar : De bello Gallico 3,18,6
24. ↑ Heraklit : Fragments , B 123
25. ↑ Heraklit (around 550-480 BC) ( Memento from April 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
26. ↑ http://www.die-philosophen.de/natur.html
27. ↑ http://www.bibel-online.net/buch/41.markus/1.html#3
28. ^ 1. Book of Moses , 1.3
29. ↑ St. Albertus Magnus Ottobrunn, Der Hymnus Heiteres Licht ( Memento from December 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
30. ↑ Gospel according to Matthew , 17.1-4