List of Greek phrases / tau

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Τὰ δε πάντα οἰακίζει κεραυνός.

Τὰ δε πάντα οἰακίζει κεραυνός.
Ta de panta oiakizei keraunos.
"But the universe is controlled by lightning."

Quote from the philosopher Heraclitus . He understands lightning to be the eternal primordial fire from which, according to the eternal law, the world with its opposites emerges “according to measure” and into which it falls back again. He also says that fire is rational and that it rules all things.

τὰ ἑπτὰ θεάματα τῆς οἰκουμένης

τὰ ἑπτὰ θεάματα τῆς οἰκουμένης
tà heptà theámata tēs oikoumenēs
"The seven sights of the inhabited earth "

The first complete list of the " Seven Wonders of the World " can be found in an epigram by the Phoenician writer Antipater of Sidon , who lived in the 2nd century BC. Wrote a travel guide of the Great Greek area in antiquity.

Philo of Byzantium described them in the text " Περὶ τῶν ἑπτὰ θεαμάτων " - De septem mundi miraculis  - The Seven Wonders of the World :

image place ancient / modern Greek German
7 Pharos Wonders of the World.jpg Alexandria ὁ Φάρος Ἀλεξανδρινός ho Pharos Alexandrinos /
Φάρος της Αλεξάνδρειας Faros tis Alexandrias 		Lighthouse on Pharos Island
7 Wonders of the World Pyramids.jpg Giza ἡ Μεγάλη πυραμίς (τοῦ Χέοπος) hē Megalē pyramís (tou Cheopos) /
Πυραμίδες της Γκίζα Pyramides tis Giza 		Pyramids of Giza
7 World Wound Zeus.jpg Olympia ὁ τοῦ Φειδίου Ζεὺς Ὀλύμπιος ho tou Pheidiou Zeus Olympios /
Άγαλμα του Ολυμπίου Διός Agalma tou Olymbiou Dios 		Zeus statue of Phidias in Olympia
Hanging Gardens of Babylon.jpg Babylon οἱ τῆς Σεμιράμιδος Κῆποι Κρεμαστοὶ Βαβυλώνιοι hoi tēs Semiramidos Kēpoi Kremastoi Babylōnioi /
Κρεμαστοί κήποστοί κήποαylon της Βipiς Kremastώavαylon της Βipiς vemastώavαylon 		Hanging Gardens of the Semiramis
7 World Wound Maussoleum.jpg Halicarnassus τὸ Μαυσσώλειον Ἁλικαρνασσεύς to Maussōleion Halikarnassou /
Μαυσωλείο της Αλικαρνασσού Mafsoleo tis Alikarnassou 		Tomb of Mausolus (Mausoleum) at Halicarnassus
7 World Wound Colossus.jpg Rhodes ὁ Κολοσσὸς Ῥόδιος ho Kolossos Rhodios /
Κολοσσός της Ρόδου Kolossos tis Rhodou 		Colossus of Rhodes
7 World Wound Artemis.jpg Ephesus ὁ ναὸς τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος Ἐφεσίης ho naos tēs Artemidos Ephesiēs /
Ναός της Αρτέμιδος στην Έφεσο Naos tis Artemidos stin Efeso 		Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

Since the list was created in the Middle East, four of the seven wonders of the world were also located there. This list has been changed many times over the years and adapted to the travel habits of the respective companies. Today only the pyramids of Giza exist of these world wonders. The others were destroyed or disintegrated by earthquakes and wars. The originally listed city walls of Babylon were removed from the list by the historian Gregory of Tours in the 6th century, as they were destroyed, and replaced by the lighthouse of Alexandria.

Τὰ ζῷα τρέχει.

Τὰ ζῷα τρέχει.
Ta zōa trechei.
"The animals are running."

This ancient Greek sentence illustrates the grammatical rule that neutral nouns in the plural are combined with verb forms in the singular . This is presumably the remainder of a Urindo-European collective form that already disappeared in Classical Greek.

This connection of neuter in the plural with verbs in the singular no longer exists in modern Greek. The above sentence is now:

" Τα ζώα τρέχουν. Ta zoa trechoun. "

Τὰ Καίσαρος ἀπόδοτε Καίσαρι καὶ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τῷ θεῷ.

Τὰ Καίσαρος ἀπόδοτε Καίσαρι καὶ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τῷ θεῷ.
Ta Kaisaros apodote Kaisari kai ta tou theou tō theō.
"Give the emperor what is the emperor and God what is God."

Jesus' answer to the trick question whether Jews are allowed to pay taxes to the Roman emperor. Quoted from the Gospel of Mark :

“ 14 But they come and say to him, Teacher, we know that you are truthful and that you do not care about anyone; for you do not look to the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth; is it permissible to give taxes to the emperor or not? Should we give it or should we not give it? 15 But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, What are you trying to me? Bring me a denarius that I may see it. 16 But they brought him. And he said to them: Whose is this picture and the title? And they said to him, The emperor's. 17 And Jesus answered and said to them, Give the emperor what is the emperor's, and God what is God's. And they were amazed at him. "

The question of the tax on the Roman occupiers was hotly debated among the Jews. A yes to this tax would have brought Jesus into conflict with the Jews, a no into conflict with the Romans. The tax coin was a silver denarius with an image of the Roman emperor, which the Jews rejected because of the tendency towards deification.

Τὰ μὲν ἀπλανέα τῶν ἄστρων καὶ τὸν ἅλιον μένειν ἀκίνητον, τὰν δὲ γᾶν περιφέρεσθαι περὶ τὸν ἅλιον.

Calculation of the relative size of the earth, sun and moon by Aristarchus of Samos (copy from the 10th century)
Τὰ μὲν ἀπλανέα τῶν ἄστρων καὶ τὸν ἅλιον μένειν ἀκίνητον, τὰν δὲ γᾶν περιφέρεσθαι περὶ τὸν ἅλιον.
Ta men aplanea tōn astrōn kai ton halion menein akinēton, tan de gân peripheralesthai peri ton alion.
"The fixed stars and the sun remain motionless while the earth rotates around the sun."

Description of the heliocentric solar system by Archimedes.

τὰ μετὰ τὰ φυσικά

τὰ μετὰ τὰ φυσικά
ta meta ta physika
"That according to physics"

The metaphysics is a summarized work of the philosopher Aristotle , that a branch of philosophy has given its name. Aristotle's pupils, presumably the Peripatetic Andronikos of Rhodes in the 1st century BC, used the collective term metaphysics . Chr., Different, partly independent writings summarized in 14 books. The name probably comes from the classification in the overall context of the works of the philosopher. The title denotes the books that are subordinate to physics .

Aristotle himself called the subject of his science "First Philosophy" ( πρώτη φιλοσοφία protē philosophia ) or also “Theological Science” ( ἐπιστήμη θεολογίκη epistēmē theologikē ). In a dissertation from the Humboldt University on metaphysics with Martin Heidegger it says:

" According to Heidegger, the Greek name of metaphysics" μετὰ τὰ φυσικά "means exactly what goes" beyond "beings as such."

Τα μυαλά σου και μιά λίρα.

Τα μυαλά σου και μιά λίρα.
Ta myala sou kē mia lira.
"Your brain or (literally: and) a pound!"

During the Ottoman occupation there was in Athens a huge Albanians ( Κιουλάκ Βογιατζή Kioulak Vojiatzi s), every six months in the homes of Christian Greeks poll tax ( jizya was collecting). He was carrying a big stick in his hand and threatened to smash the people the brain when they do not it a golden pound would give -Stück. But mentally he was so far behind that he could not distinguish between the different coins and the Athenians gave him shiny copper coins, which they made palatable to him as gold coins.

Τὰ πάντα ἐξ ὕδατος εἶναι.

Water (H 2 O) is the only chemical compound that naturally occurs in all three physical states.
Τὰ πάντα ἐξ ὕδατος εἶναι
καὶ εἰς ὕδωρ πάλιν ἀναλύεσθαι.
Ta panta ex hydatos einai
kai ice hydōr palin analyesthai.
"Everything is out of the water and everything dissolves in water."
Freier: "The principle of all things is water, because water is everything and everything returns to water."

Quote from the natural philosopher, statesman, mathematician, astronomer and engineer Thales von Milet . His philosophy is based in part on the claim that everything was made out of water . Thales believed he recognized a cycle of becoming. The original material sought not only had to be widespread, but also versatile. Water fulfilled all of these criteria, because all living beings need water and water occurs in different physical states : as ice , as liquid or as vapor .

This hypothesis was taken up again at the beginning of the 20th century when it was assumed that everything evolved from hydrogen .

The philosopher Wilhelm Weischedel quotes in his book The Philosophical Back Staircase Aristotle, who assumed that by “water” Thales meant the “ Oceanus ”, the ancient stream that flows around the earth's dome.

The verse "Water is the best" ( Ἄριστον μὲν ὕδωρ. ) Comes from Pindar (beginning of the first Olympic Ode), but is often wrongly - an obviously ineradicable error - attributed to Thales.

τὰ σάνδαλα τοῦ Ἐμπεδοκλέος

τὰ σάνδαλα τοῦ Ἐμπεδοκλέος
ta sandala tou Empedokleos
"The sandals of Empedocles"
Modern Greek τα σάνδαλα του Εμπεδοκλή ta sandala tou Embedokli

On the death of the philosopher Empedocles , the historian of philosophy Diogenes Laertios relates that Empedocles decided to reinforce the popular belief that he had become god by throwing himself into Mount Etna so as not to leave any traces on the earth. But the crater spat out its sandals again.

The poet Friedrich Hölderlin examines this figure between “Übermuth” and “Grosmuth” in his drama The Death of Empedocles , of which he worked out three versions. He also wrote the following poem:


You search for life, you search , and it wells up and shines. A divine fire deep out of the earth for you,
And you in shuddering longing
Throw yourself down into the flames of Aetna.

Bertolt Brecht uses this legend as a fable to criticize the Führer cult in his didactic poem Der Schuh des Empedokles .

The Sandals of Empedocles is also the title of a book by Norbert Wokart , with the subtitle A Little Philosophy of Everyday Life .

Τὰ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς οὐδὲν πρὸς ἡμᾶς.

Τὰ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς οὐδὲν πρὸς ἡμᾶς.
Ta hyper hēmas ouden pros hēmas.
"What goes beyond us (means) nothing to us."
Latin: “ Quod supra nos, nihil ad nos. "

Quote from the collection of proverbs Adagia by Erasmus of Rotterdam . What is meant by this is: What goes beyond our human capacity for knowledge has no meaning for our conduct of life. This maxim is cited several times as a saying of Socrates who, as Cicero put it, brought philosophy from heaven to earth, i.e. that is, he did ethics instead of physics.

Τάδ 'ἐστὶ Πελοπόννησος, οὐκ Ἰωνία.

Isthmus of Corinth
Τάδ 'ἐστὶ Πελοπόννησος, οὐκ Ἰωνία.
Tad 'esti Peloponnēsos, ouk Iōnia.
"This is the Peloponnese, not Ionia."

Inscription on a column on the Isthmus of Corinth , facing southwest.

Τάδ 'οὐχὶ Πελοπόννησος, ἀλλ' Ἰωνία.
Tad 'ouchi Peloponnēsos, all' Iōnia.
"This is not the Peloponnese, but Ionia."

Inscription on a column on the isthmus, facing northeast.

Theseus had the columns erected on the isthmus after he had acquired the Megarian area for Attica and had these inscriptions carved on them to mark the border.

Ταντάλειοι τιμωρίαι

Tantalus pains
Ταντάλειοι τιμωρίαι
Tantaleioi timōriai
"Tantalus pains"
Latin " Tantali poenae "

Tantalos did wrong against the gods and thereby drew a curse on his house. When the gods came to a feast at Tantalos, he tried to put their omniscience to the test: He killed his youngest son Pelops and had him prepared for the gods as a meal, but in such a way that they should not recognize what he was doing. The gods cast Tantalus in the Tartaros and tormented him there with eternal torments.

The humanist Erasmus von Rotterdam writes in his collection of proverbs Adagia :

“One speaks of tantalum torments when a person has all goods at his disposal, but he is denied their enjoyment. This goes back to the legend of Tantalus, whose fate in the underworld the poets describe as follows: He stands in a river and is thirsty; for when he bends down to drink, the water immediately recedes from his lips; A tree rises above his head, laden with fruit, but as soon as he reaches for it, it withdraws from it. So in the midst of abundance the poorest suffer agonizing need. "

The Roman poet Horace writes in his satires :

Tantalus is thirsty for the tide that
always disappears from his lips.
You laugh? Just swap the names: the legend is
true of you. You sleep, always lurking full of greed, on the sacks that
you are looking at all around you, and feel the compulsion to spare them,
as if they were consecrated or pictures to look at.

Ταράττει τοὺς ἀνθρώπους οὐ τὰ πράγματα, ἀλλὰ τὰ περὶ τῶν πραγμάτων δόγματα.

Fantasy portrait of the philosopher Epictetus
Ταράττει τοὺς ἀνθρώπους οὐ τὰ πράγματα, ἀλλὰ τὰ περὶ τῶν πραγμάτων δόγματα.
Tarattei tous anthrōpous ou ta pragmata, alla ta peri tōn pragmatōn dogmata.
"It is not the facts that worry people, but their opinions about the facts."

Findings from the handbook on morality of the stoic philosopher Epictetus , a slave of Epaphroditos in Rome, who was released by him after the death of Emperor Nero.

This sentence can be viewed as the quintessence of his teaching, and Albert Ellis also referred to this principle when developing his Rational-Emotional Therapy , which assumes that the decisive causes of mental disorders are to be found in irrational thought patterns.

The maxim of many addiction self-help groups such as B. Alcoholics Anonymous can be traced back to Epictetus:

"Accept what you cannot change, have the courage to change what you can change, and develop the ability to distinguish one from the other."

In terms of politics it can be stated:

"In politics it is not facts that decide, but opinion about facts."

This is a topic that Hannah Arendt dealt with in her essay Truth and Politics .

Laurence Sterne put the quote in front of his work Tristram Shandy as a motto, but in the Aeolian - Doric spelling " Ταράσσει ... ".

Τεθνάμεναι γὰρ καλὸν ἐνὶ προμάχοισι πεσόντα.

Τεθνάμεναι γὰρ καλὸν ἐνὶ προμάχοισι πεσόντα / ἄνδρ 'ἀγαθὸν περὶ ᾗ πατρίδι μαρνάμενον ·
Tethnamenai gar kalon eni promachoisi pesonta andr 'agathon peri hēi patridi maramenon;
"Because dying is nice when someone falls in the front row while he fights as a brave warrior for his fatherland;"

This Tyrtaios quote became known in the Latin form of the poet Horace. Tyrtaios is considered the archetype of a war poet. The main theme of his poems was the struggle of the Spartans against the Messenians they had subjugated in the Second Messenian War. Tyrtaius urged the Spartan soldiers to persevere and to submit.

This famous Horace quote comes from his songs and reads:

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.

"It is sweet and honorable to die for the fatherland."

In the war year 1917, Bertolt Brecht criticized this saying as a subpriman in an essay with the following words:

“The saying that it is sweet and honorable to die for the fatherland can only be seen as purposeful propaganda. It is always difficult to say goodbye to life, in bed and on the battlefield, most certainly young people in the prime of their years. "

Brecht was punished for this with a school expulsion. Only his father's respected position and the intervention of a religion teacher saved him from being expelled from school. It was decided that a confused student's brain had written these words and he was given his graduation diploma.

Τετέλεσται.

Ge : the dying Jesus
Τετέλεσται.
Tetelestai.
"It is finished."
Latin " Consummatum est. "

According to the Gospel according to John, the last words of Jesus crucified . These words are also among the Seven Last Words , which Christianity attaches special importance.

Jesus said to the soldiers, “I'm thirsty!” A soldier dipped a sponge into a jug of vinegar water, put it on a stick, and held the sponge to his mouth. When Jesus had drunk it, he shouted, “It is finished!” Bowed his head and died.

According to general theological opinion, Jesus does not only mean here that his life is now coming to an end, but that his work as Savior is now completed.

Τέτλαθι δή, κραδίη καὶ κύντερον ἄλλο ποτ 'ἔτλης.

Lovis Corinth : The suitors in the fight against Odysseus , 1913
Τέτλαθι δή, κραδίη καὶ κύντερον ἄλλο ποτ 'ἔτλης.
Tetlathi dē, kradiē; kai kynteron allo pot 'etlēs.
“Tolerate, my heart! You have suffered even more severe hurt. "

Resigned utterance by Odysseus , who on his return home as an unrecognized stranger must take note of the naughtiness of the maids and the cheek of the suitors in his own house. A cow's foot is thrown at Odysseus at dinner. But he controls himself and thinks back to the situation when the Cyclops Polyphemus ate his companions:

But he struck the chest and said the angry words:
Endure, my heart! You have suffered even more severe hurt,
Back then, than the Cyclops, the monster! the dear
brave friends ate you. You tolerated until an attack
freed you from the cave, where your death was already destined for you.

(Translation by Johann Heinrich Voss )

Gustav Schwab recounts the events in his legends of classical antiquity as follows:

“At last a young, beautiful servant, Melantho, who had been raised by Penelope like a child, but who now lived on shameful terms with the suitor Eurymachos, spoke the cheeky abusive words: 'You miserable beggar, you are a real fool that you are not go to sleep in a blacksmith's shop or other inn and here, where there are so many nobler men than you, want to prescribe laws for us. '"

Then a suitor turns to Odysseus and says:

“Listen, fellow, wouldn't you feel like hiring yourself to my servant, gathering thorns on my property and planting trees? You shouldn't suffer from food and nutrition. But I can see that you prefer to beg and fill your stomach with alms, which does not cost you a sweat. "

Τέτταρα δὲ τοῖς στοιχείοις ἰσάριθμα, λευκὸν μέλαν ἐρυθρὸν ὠχρόν.

Goethe's color circle
Τέτταρα δὲ τοῖς στοιχείοις ἰσάριθμα, λευκὸν μέλαν ἐρυθρὸν ὠχρόν.
Tettara de tois stoicheiois isarithma, leukon melan erythron ōchron.
"There are four colors, as many as there are elements: white, black, red and yellow-green."

The philosopher Empedocles created a theory of colors long before Goethe. He explained that the colors are what fit into the pores of the eye and claimed that the colors are only put together in the eye. Their differences arise from the different mixture of the elements .

Empedocles assigned the four basic colors (white, black, red and yellow ocher) to the four elements, each of which has four properties:

colour greek German element property
λευκός White Fire hot + dry
μέλας black water cold + damp
ἐρυθρός red air moist + hot
ὠχρός ocher earth dry + cold

Ancient Greek made no distinction between the color of honey and grass . In the rather dry and hot Mediterranean climate of Greece, the grass was probably not green long enough, but mostly yellow, like honey. There is no independent term coining.

The Chinese five-element theory makes a different classification:

colour Chinese element property
木 Wood windy
火 Fire hot
土 earth wet
金 metal dry
水 water cold

Τήμερον οὐδεμίαν γραμμὴν ἤγαγον.

Salvator Rosa: Alexander in the studio of Apelles (etching, around 1662)
Τήμερον οὐδεμίαν γραμμὴν ἤγαγον.
Tēmeron oudemian grammēn ēgagon.
"I didn't draw a line today."
Latin: “ Nulla dies sine linea. " ( " Not a day without a line. " )

The famous painter Apelles had made it a habit not to let a day go by without at least practicing his art by drawing a line. Apelles was considered the "coronation of ancient painting" and is the first artist known to have made a self-portrait . None of his paintings have survived, they are only passed down in descriptions.

The German proverb “ Schuster, stay with your last ” goes back to Apelles : he liked to hide behind his pictures to listen to the judgments of the viewer. A shoemaker once complained that the painted shoes did not have one eyelet. Apelles corrected the picture. But now the shoemaker also had something to complain about with his thighs. Then Apelles replied that a shoemaker could not judge what was above the shoe. The anecdote was passed down in Latin from Pliny the Elder : " ... ne supra crepidam sutor iudicaret ... " , hence the Latin phrase " Ne supra crepidam sutor " .

τὴν αὑτοῦ σκιὰν φοβεῖσθαι

τὴν αὑτοῦ σκιὰν φοβεῖσθαι
tēn autou skian phobeisthai
"Fear his own shadow"
Latin " umbram suam metuere "

The humanist Erasmus von Rotterdam writes in his collection of proverbs Adagia:

“To be afraid of one's own shadow means to get into childish fear where there is nothing to fear. The expression goes back either to the fact that some people startled when they happen to see the shadow of their own figure, or to the fact that people suffering from a certain kind of melancholy have something like theirs in front of them because of the weakness of their eyes perceive their own form and think they are seeing their own spirit; that's what Aristotle says. "

τὴν κατὰ σαυτὸν ἔλα

τὴν κατὰ σαυτὸν ἔλα
tēn kata sauton ela
"The one that suits you, take!"

In this epigrammatic elegy, Callimachus tells an anecdote from ancient times, such as was recited at banquets. Pittakos of Mytilene , one of the legendary Seven Wise Men, was asked for advice by a man willing to marry which of the two girls proposed to him he should marry that was equal to him in rank and fortune or that was superior to him. Pittakos replied that he should go to the boys who were driving their tops with sticks and listen to them. When he did that, he heard: “The one that suits you, take!” (The pun cannot be translated into German without loss, because the Greek word for spinning top, βέμβιξ bembix , is a feminine.) He should do it too .

Τῆς δ 'ἀρετῆς ἱδρῶτα θεοὶ προπάροιθεν ἔθηκαν ἀθάνατοι ·

The wide and the narrow way
Τῆς δ 'ἀρετῆς ἱδρῶτα θεοὶ προπάροιθεν ἔθηκαν ἀθάνατοι ·
Tēs d 'aretēs idrōta theoi proparoithen ethēkan athanatoi;
"The immortal gods put sweat before virtue."

Quotation from the writings of the poet Hesiod , where it goes on to say:

"... and the way to her is long and steep, and rough at the beginning."

The sentence is related to the so-called Prodikos fable by Heracles at the crossroads : The youthful hero Heracles meets two women at a fork in the road. One of them in precious robes, lavishly cleaned, the other in simple clothes and with modestly lowered eyes. First the beautifully dressed woman (Lust) speaks to him:

“If you follow my path, Heracles, you will have a life of pleasure and wealth. You will find neither hardship nor suffering here, just bliss! "

Then the other (virtue):

“The love of the gods and those around him cannot be achieved without effort. Much suffering will befall you on the path of virtue [ Arete in Greek ], but your reward will be respect, admiration and love of people. Only you can decide which path should be yours. "

The wide and the narrow path were also an often depicted motif of Pietism .

Τί δύσκολον; Τὸ ἑαυτὸν γνῶναι.

Τί δύσκολον; Τὸ ἑαυτὸν γνῶναι.
Ti dyscolon; To heautōn gnōnai.
"What is difficult? To know yourself. "

One of the basic questions posed by the natural philosopher, statesman, mathematician, astronomer and engineer Thales von Miletus , which echoes the famous Delphic Γνῶθι σεαυτόν .

question answer
Τί δύσκολον;
Ti dyscolon?
"What is difficult?" 		Τὸ ἑαυτὸν γνῶναι.
To heautōn gnōnai.
"To know yourself."
Τί εὔκολον;
Ti eukolon?
"What is easy?" 		Τὸ ἄλλῳ ὑποτίθεσθαι.
To allō hypotithesthai.
"To give advice to others."
Τί ἰσχυρότατον;
Ti ischyrotaton?
"What is the strongest?" 		ἀνάγκημόνον γὰρ ἀνίκητον.
Anangkē; monon even anikēton.
"The necessity, because it rules everything."
Τί κάλλιστον;
Ti kalliston?
"What is the best thing?" 		κόσμος πᾶν γὰρ τὸ κατὰ τάξιν τούτου μέρος ἐστί.
Cosmos; pan gar to kata taxin toutou meros esti.
"The world; because it is God's creation. "
Τί κοινότατον;
Ti koinotaton?
"What is the most common?" 		Ἐλπίς. Καὶ γὰρ οἳς ἄλλο μηδέν, αὔτη παρέστη.
Elpis. Kai gar hois allo mēden, autē parestē.
"The hope. When everything else is gone, she stays alone. "
Τί μέγιστον;
Ti megiston?
"What's the biggest?" 		Τόπος τἄλλα μὲν γὰρ ὁ κόσμος, τὸν δὲ κόσμον οὗτος περιέχει.
Topos; talle men gar ho kosmos, ton de kosmon houtos periechei.
"The room, because it includes everything."
Τί πρεσβύτατον;
Ti presbytaton?
"What is the oldest?" 		θεός ἀγέν νητον γάρ ἐστι.
Theos; agen nēton gar esti.
"God; for he is the unborn. "
Τί σοφώτατον;
Ti sophotaton?
"What is the wisest thing?" 		χρόνος τὰ μὲν γὰρ εὕρηκεν οὗτος ἤδη, τὰ δ 'εὑρήσει.
Chronos; ta men gar heurēken autos hēdē, ta d 'heurēsei.
"The time, because it finds out everything."
Τί τάχιστον;
Ti tachiston?
"What's the fastest?" 		Νούς. Διὰ παντὸς γὰρ τρέχει.
Nous. Dia pantos gar trechei.
"The ghost. He rushes through everything. "

The philosopher Wilhelm Weischedel asks why most researchers consider Thales to be the founder of philosophy and gives the answer himself:

“For him, it's not about things, but about the essence of things. He wants to find out what is really all about what can be found in so diverse shapes in the world: with the mountains, the animals and the plants, with the wind and the stars, with the people, their actions and his thinking. What is the essence of all of this? Asks Thales. And further: where does it come from, what does it all arise from? What is the origin of everything? What is the one, all-embracing principle, the principle that makes it all become and is and exist? Even if not so explicitly expressed by himself, these are the fundamental questions of Thales, and by being the first to ask them, he becomes a beginner in philosophy. "

Τί ἐστιν ὃ μίαν ἔχον φωνὴν τετράπουν καὶ δίπουν καὶ τρίπουν γίνεται;

Oedipus and the Sphinx
Τί ἐστιν ὃ μίαν ἔχον φωνὴν τετράπουν καὶ δίπουν καὶ τρίπουν γίνεται;
Ti estin ho mian echon phōnēn tetrapoun kai dipoun kai tripoun ginetai;
"What is (something) that has a voice and becomes four-legged, two-legged and three-legged?"

Riddle of the Sphinx to Oedipus . The riddle of the Sphinx read completely:

“It is four-legged in the morning, two-legged at noon, and three-legged in the evening. Of all creatures it changes only in the number of its feet; but when it moves the most feet, strength and speed are the least with it. "

Oedipus replied:

"Your riddle is the person [...] who walks on his two feet and his two hands in the morning of his life as long as he is a weak and powerless child; if he is strengthened, he only walks on two feet at noon of his life; when he has finally arrived at the end of his life as an old man and is in need of support, he uses the staff as a third foot. "

Then the monster fell to its death. For his liberation Thebes from the Sphinx, Oedipus got the king's widow Iokaste as his wife - without knowing that it was his own mother.

The French Nobel Prize for Literature Laureate André Gide said of this riddle:

“No matter what the Sphinx would have asked me, I would always have said: Man!
After all, it is man around whom all puzzles revolve! And what is more interesting than humans? It is he who has an awareness of himself and his life stages. "

Τί οὖν τὸ ἀγαθόν, τὸ καλόν, τὸ ὄν;

Τί οὖν τὸ ἀγαθόν, τὸ καλόν, τὸ ὄν;
Ti oun to agathon, to kalon, to on;
"What is the good, the beautiful, the being?"

Ask in dialogues of Plato , who described the highest ideas, the true, the beautiful and the good, as so inviolable that even God could not stand above them. Rather, it is a manifestation of the good, the true and the beautiful.

Τίς πόθεν εἰς ἀνδρῶν;

Penelope meets Odysseus who has returned home
Τίς πόθεν εἰς ἀνδρῶν;
Tis pothen eis andrōn;
"Who, where are you from among the people?"

Question to Odysseus in the Odyssey when he was accepted by the Phaeacians :

Τίς πόθεν εἰς ἀνδρῶν; πόθι τοι πόλις ἠδὲ τοκῆες;
Tis pothen eis andrōn? Pothi toi polis ēde tokēes?
“Who, where are you from among people? Where (are) your hometown and parents? "

This is what his wife Penelope asks when Odysseus returns to Ithaca disguised as a beggar after ten years of wandering .

Τὸ ἀδικεῖν τοῦ ἀδικεῖσθαι κάκιον.

Τὸ ἀδικεῖν τοῦ ἀδικεῖσθαι κάκιον.
To adikein tou adikeistai kakion.
"It is better to suffer injustice than to do injustice."

Plato's dialogue with Gorgias is divided into three parts:

  1. Socrates talks to the famous orator Gorgias about the art of speaking.
  2. Socrates talks to the sophist Polos about the relationship between suffering and doing injustice.
  3. Socrates talks to the politician Callicles about the role of virtue in governance.

Polos is portrayed as a young, sophistic hot spur who is ready for power to commit crimes even if only the appearance of moral conduct is preserved and he cannot be punished. Polos says that he finds someone enviable who can do what he wants:

Polos: "So whoever kills someone as he sees fit and rightly kills one should be unhappy and pitiful?"
Socrates: “Oh no; but also not enviable. "

Socrates, on the other hand, says that even if this is done in the right is not enviable, but basically suffering injustice is better than doing injustice:

"But if I had to do injustice or suffer, I would prefer suffering to doing."

Τὸ αἷμα αὐτοῦ ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ τέκνα ἡμῶν.

Τὸ αἷμα αὐτοῦ ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ τέκνα ἡμῶν.
To haima autou eph 'hēmas kai epi ta tekna hēmōn.
"His blood come on us and our children."

Passage from the Gospel according to Matthew , which was used in the Middle Ages (and after) to accuse the Jews of murdering God . In this way, from the point of view of Matthew, the Jewish crowd took on the consequences of an unjust judgment by Pontius Pilate against Jesus. This corresponded to the Jewish belief in the atonement of unatoned sins by the next generation. Accordingly, the early Christians understood the destruction of Jerusalem in the Jewish War as God's punishment for rejecting his son.

The motif, anchored in popular piety , contributed significantly to the fact that hostility towards Jews became a “basic cultural pattern” in European history for 1,800 years.

The apostle sermons of the early Christians address the Jerusalem Jews as perpetrators:

"He who was given up by God's ordinance and providence, you crucified and killed by the hand of the Gentiles."

Τὸ γὰρ ἡδύ, ἐὰν πολύ, οὐ τι γὲ ἡδύ.

Τὸ γὰρ ἡδύ, ἐὰν πολύ, οὐ τι γὲ ἡδύ.
To gar hēdy, ean poly, ou ti ge hēdy.
"Tasting something sweet too often is not sweet for long."

This ancient Greek proverb speaks of dulling.

See also: “ Variatio delectat. “  → Μεταβολὴ πάντων γλυκύ. ( "Variety is sweeter than anything." )

Το δάσος σ 'αγαπάει, εσύ;

Forest fire 2007
Το δάσος σ 'αγαπάει, εσύ;
To dasos s' agapai, esy;
"The forest loves you, and you?"

Slogan used by the Greek authorities to draw attention to the risk of forest fires . In the Süddeutsche Zeitung of August 26, 2007 it says:

“Anyone driving through Greek recreational areas or looking around the edge of villages will find it all: wrecked cars in the forest and discarded refrigerators in the meadow. Sometimes there is a large blackboard right next to it, with already faded writing: 'The forest loves you, and you?' Is written there. There is also a drawing of a little man in a hat who takes a tree by the hand. "

The author Hubert Eichheim, who calls this slogan a stupid sentence , points out in his book Greece that most of the forests were once created as commercial forests, because the resin of the Aleppo pine was an important export item:

“But with the invention of synthetic resin , the market collapsed - and the forests were left to their own devices. Footpaths and donkey paths grew overgrown, and kindling was no longer removed. This forms the ideal breeding ground for quick fires. "

Τὸ δὶς ἐξαμαρτεῖν οὐκ ἀνδρὸς σοφοῦ.

Τὸ δὶς ἐξαμαρτεῖν οὐκ ἀνδρὸς σοφοῦ.
To dis examartein ouk andros sophou.
"To commit the same mistake twice is not a wise man's business."

This corresponds to the Latin phrase “ bis ad eundem lapidem offendere ”  - “hit the same stone twice” .

Τὸ δυσσεβὲς γὰρ ἔργον

Τὸ δυσσεβὲς γὰρ ἔργον
μετὰ μὲν πλείονα τίκτει, σφετέρᾳ δ 'εἰκότα γέννᾳ.
To dyssebes gar ergon
meta men pleiona tiktei, sphetera d 'eikota genna.
"Because the evil deed grows rampantly,
And creates a sex more evil, the father of like deeds."
(free translation after JG Droysen and SG Müller )

With these words (verses 757-760) the choir in Aeschylus ' tragedy Agamemnon rejects the common view (verses 750-756) that the gods provide for a balance by preparing every person a fate in which happiness and unhappiness are found alternate.

The quote is best known through Friedrich Schiller's paraphrase from Die Piccolomini (V, 1):

"That is the curse of the evil deed,
that it must always give birth to evil."

Τὸ θεῖον πᾶν ἐὸν φθονερόν τε καὶ ταραχῶδες.

Τὸ θεῖον πᾶν ἐὸν φθονερόν τε καὶ ταραχῶδες.
To theion pān eοn phthoneron te kai tarachōdes.
"The gods are utterly jealous and fickle."

Quotation from the histories of Herodotus , which testifies to an anthropomorphic idea of ​​gods that arises from the subjective feeling of an injured party. Man is relegated to his limits by divine interventions and looks for an explanation for every event.

The religion of the Greeks emerged from a mixture of the beliefs of the immigrant Greeks and the pre-Greek population in Asia Minor and Greece. Compared to the major monotheistic religions, the lack of revelation is striking. Since Xenophanes one can  speak of an anthropomorphism - a humanization of the gods. According to Xenophanes, it was not the gods who made man, but man who made gods:

"If the horses had gods, they would look like horses."

The Greek gods are therefore more similar to men, especially in their weaknesses, than a monotheistic god can be.

Τὸ πεπρωμένον φυγεῖν ἀδύνατον.

Tyche
Τὸ πεπρωμένον φυγεῖν ἀδύνατον.
To peprōmenon phygein adynaton.
"It is impossible to escape fate."

The Zeus daughter Tyche ( Τύχη ), the goddess of fate and chance, was responsible for the fate of the people . It exalts and humiliates, and capriciously brings about a change of fortune.

Belief in a fate above the gods is said to have arisen only in Hellenistic times, when belief in the old gods waned. According to the philologist and religious scholar Karl Kerényi , Tyche is

"... a deity without a history of its own, but with a power that, like the power of the three moirs and the threefold Hecate, proves to be stronger than the rule of Zeus."

In the everyday use of the word, the personal imagination increasingly disappears, so that tychē ( τύχη ) can also mean “ fate ” and “ chance ”.

The tragedy King Oedipus by the playwright Sophocles is a prime example of the fact that man cannot escape his fate. The oracle of Delphi prophesied King Laios that if he should ever father a son, he would kill him and marry his wife Iokaste. So Laios has the newborn's feet pierced and a shepherd abandons him in the mountains. However, the shepherd has pity and gives the newborn Oedipus to a shepherd friend in Corinth. Via this the child reaches the royal couple Polybos and Merope of Corinth, who adopts him.

When he grew up, the oracle announced to him that he would kill his father and take his mother as his wife. Oedipus sets off into the distance to prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled. At a narrow fork in the road he meets a car and gets into an argument with its driver, whom he kills in an argument. When he solves the riddle of the Sphinx, Oedipus is appointed as a reward to succeed the slain Laios as King of Thebes and his widow Iokaste is his wife.

Τὸ σάββατον διὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐγένετο, οὐχ ὁ ἄνθρωπος διὰ τὸ σάββατον ·

Ferdinand Olivier: Jesus and his disciples in the grain fields
Τὸ σάββατον διὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐγένετο, οὐχ ὁ ἄνθρωπος διὰ τὸ σάββατον ·
To sabbaton dia ton anthrōpon egeneto, ouch ho anthrōpos dia to sabbaton;
"The Sabbath was made for man's sake, and not man for the Sabbath's sake."

Passage from the Gospel according to Mark, where Jesus deals with the Jewish Sabbath :

“ 23 And it came to pass that on the sabbath he walked through the crops; and his disciples, as they went, began to pluck ears of wheat. 24 And the Pharisees said to him, See, what do your disciples do on the Sabbath that is not right? 25 And he said to them, Have you never read what David did when he was in need, and when he and those who were with him were hungry? 26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which no one was allowed to eat except the priests, and gave them also to those who were with him? 27 And he said to them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath. "

Τὸ τρίτον τῷ σωτῆρι.

Depiction of a libation on an Attic phial :
Τὸ τρίτον σωτῆρι.  -
"The third to the savior."
τὸ τρίτον τῷ σωτῆρι.
To triton tō sōtēri.
"The third to the savior."

Libra made from liquids such as water, milk, honey, wine or oil are by far the most common cult act. It happened in the morning and in the evening, for prayer, during the oath, when starting a journey or at symposia and banquets.

With the libation was true

  • the first cup to the messenger of the gods Hermes ,
  • the second cup to the goddesses of charm, the Charites , the three graces ,
  • and the third cup to Zeus, the father of the gods .

Independent libations were made during the oath or in the cult of the dead with the consecration of unmixed wine directly on the ground.

Τοῖς ἐγρηγορόσιν ἕνα καὶ κοινὸν κόσμον εἶναι.

Τοῖς ἐγρηγορόσιν ἕνα καὶ κοινὸν κόσμον εἶναι.
Tois egrēgorosin hena kai koinon kosmon einai.
"The guards are in a common world."

Quotation from the works of the historian Plutarch on a fragment of the philosopher Heraclitus :

„ Ὁ Ἡράκλειτός φησι τοῖς ἐγρηγορόσιν ἕνα καὶ κοινὸν κόσμον εἶναι, τῶν δὲ κοιμωμένωρν ἕσανστον ειἰς ἴσαντον ειἰς. "
"Heraclitus says that the guards are in a common world, but that everyone has turned away from the sleeper into his own."

Τοῖς εὐτυχοῦσι καὶ τρίμηνα παιδία.

Livia Drusilla
Τοῖς εὐτυχοῦσι καὶ τρίμηνα παιδία.
Tois eutychousi kai trimēna paidia
"Fortunately, you have three-month children."

Mocking verse on the Roman politician and military leader Drusus , the father of the Roman emperor Claudius , about whom the historian Suetonius writes:

“Drusus, the father of Emperor Claudius, first had the first name Decimus, then Nero. He was the son of the one who, when she was already pregnant, became Augustus' wife. She got down with him barely three months after they were married, and it was believed that he had emerged from the adulterous relationship she had with his stepfather. "

Drusus was a son from the first marriage of Livia Drusilla , the third wife of the emperor Augustus . When she was introduced to Octavian, the later Augustus, the latter fell in love with the sixth month pregnant woman and ordered her husband to divorce her. Claudius Nero obeyed and handed his wife over to her new husband. Three days earlier (possibly only three months later) Livia gave birth to her second son Drusus. She was married to Octavian for 51 years without having a child from him.

Τοῖς νενικημένοις ὀδύνη.

Brennus and Camillus
Τοῖς νενικημένοις ὀδύνη.
Tois nenikēmenois odynē.
"Woe to the vanquished!"

The Greek version of Vae victis! ( “Woe to the vanquished!” ) As quoted by the historian Plutarch.

It goes back to a report by Livy about the Gaul king Brennus , who, when the defeated Romans refused to weigh the imposed war contribution according to the heavy weights of the enemy, also threw his sword into the scales with scorn and exclaimed: “Woe to him Defeated! ” (Latin“ Vae victis! ”)

The self-confidence of the Roman state was shaken; fear of the Celts remained an important factor in Roman foreign policy for decades. Jochen Bleicken writes :

“[The Romans] never forgot the terrible misfortune; as a shock it had wrought upon them, and for many centuries when Rome was later already empire, each Romans drove the horror in the limbs when on the distant horizon a crowd [ sic ] showed by the Gauls. "

τὸν ἥττω λόγον κρείττω ποιεῖν

τὸν ἥττω λόγον κρείττω ποιεῖν
ton hēttō logon kreittō poiein
"Make the weaker thing the stronger"

Principle of sophistic rhetoric. The sophist Protagoras himself defines his activity as "training people" ( παιδεύειν ἀνθρώπους ). To achieve this goal, he offered to teach technical knowledge and skills. Competence ( ἀρετή ) was no longer considered innate, but something that could be learned. The art of speaking was most important to them, as it was the best way to assert oneself in the popular assembly and in court.

The competencies that the sophists promised to impart were:

  1. πολιτικὴ τέχνη (politikē technē) : the ability to assert oneself in the process of forming opinions and making decisions.
  2. ῥητορικὴ τέχνη (rhētorikē technē) : the ability to make one's opinion credible to others in the debate.
  3. δικανικὴ τέχνη (dikanikē technē) : the ability to stand up in court.

The sophist Gorgias thought of this principle that speech was like poison, one could poison and enchant with it at the same time.

Jan Ross writes under the heading The New Sophists :

“The sophists appeared towards the end of the 5th century BC, as traveling teachers who went from town to town with great publicity to offer their lessons for a lot of money, in poetry, grammar or natural history. Above all, however, they taught politically ambitious young men rhetoric - in a society of orality and live performance in front of a manageable citizenry, the art of speaking was what is now suitable for television, and the sophist a kind of media consultant and TV trainer of the classic Antiquity. "

Τὸν τεθνηκότα μὴ κακολογεῖν, γῆρας τιμᾶν.

Τὸν τεθνηκότα μὴ κακολογεῖν, γῆρας τιμᾶν.
Ton tethnēkota mē kakologein, gēras tīmān.
"Don't talk bad about the dead, honor old age."

Saying of the sage Chilon of Sparta according to Diogenes Laertios ; Literally: "Do not speak ill of the dead, honor (the) old age."

The first half of the sentence is often quoted in Latin:

" De mortuis nil nisi bene "  - "Only good things from the dead." (Literally: "Nothing from the dead, if not well [speak]" , in better German "... nothing but good".)

τοῦ Πνεύματος βλασφημία

τοῦ Πνεύματος βλασφημία
tou Pneumatos blasphēmia
" Sin against the Holy Spirit "

According to the Christian understanding, a sin against the Holy Spirit is a sin in which the work of the Holy Spirit is rejected and attributed to evil . The term from the Gospel according to Matthew, where Jesus says:

“Therefore I say to you: every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men; but the blasphemy of the spirit will not be forgiven. And if anyone speaks a word against the Son of man, he will be forgiven; but if anyone speaks against the Holy Spirit, he will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the future. "

The term is probably based on the incident where the Pharisees claim that Jesus cast out the evil spirits through Beelzebub , the chief of evil spirits, instead of the Holy Spirit. He then told them that "blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven."

The relevance is that sins against the Holy Spirit, unlike all other sins, are not forgiven.

τραγικὸν πάθος

τραγικὸν πάθος
tragicon pathos
"Tragic pain"

The word tragedy is derived from the ancient theater and refers to a goat song ( τραγῳδία Tragodia ). During the Dionysus cult , parades with a mask and goat skin ( τράγος tragos ) were performed.

Often at the beginning of the game one hears the announcement that the hero will die. This increases the moral effect on the viewer, because the announcement is made seriously and credibly, but the other circumstances of the scene move the viewer to deceive himself and to dismiss the prediction as nonsensical.

According to Aristotle, tragic ( τραγικός ) is the name of an event that arouses compassion ( ἔλεος eleos ) for those affected and fear ( φόβος phobos ) for ourselves.

τρία γένη πολιτειῶν

τρία γένη πολιτειῶν
tria gēnē politeiōn
"Three forms of rule"

The ancient historian Polybius mentions the following constitutional cycle :

  1. βασιλεία basileia : Basilie (royal rule; freedom and rationality)
  2. ἀριστοκρατία : aristocracy (moral and political competence)
  3. δημοκρατία : democracy (legality instead of political arbitrariness)

Polybius describes three good constitutional types (royalty, aristocracy, democracy) and three parekbatic forms ( τυραννίς tyranny , ὀλιγαρχία oligarchy , ὀχλοκρατία ochlocracy ). He sees the reason for the transition from a good constitution to the degenerate type in the moral decline of those in power.

" Συμβαίνει δὴ τοὺς πλείστους τῶν βουλομένων διδασκαλικῶς ἡμῖν ὑποδεικνύειν περὶ τῶν τοιούτων τρία γένη λέγειν πολιτειῶν , ὧν τὸ μὲν καλοῦσι βασιλείαν, τὸ δ ἀριστοκρατίαν, τὸ δὲ τρίτον δημοκρατίαν. "

According to his idea, there is the following cycle:

Basilia → Tyranny → Aristocracy → Oligarchy → Democracy → Ochlocracy → Basilia ...

Both Aristotle and Polybius took the view that states with mixed constitutions such as the commercial republic of Carthage , Sparta and the Roman Republic were protected from this cycle of decay.

τριάκοντα ἀργύρια

τριάκοντα ἀργύρια
triakonta argyria
"Thirty pieces of silver"

Judas Iscariot received this sum from the high priests for his betrayal of Jesus. However, Judas later threw it into the temple. The blood field was bought from the 30 denarii ( Judas silver pieces ) because the high priests and elders did not want the money:

“When Judas, who betrayed him, saw that he was sentenced to death, he regretted it, and he brought the thirty pieces of silver back to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have done wrong in betraying innocent blood. But they said: What is that to us? You watch! And he threw the silver pieces into the temple, went away and hanged himself. But the chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, It is not right that we should put them in the chest of God; because it's blood money. But they decided to buy the pottery field from it for funeral for strangers. Therefore this field is called Blood Field to this day "

But Judas went and hanged himself and is said to be buried in the blood field.

Τῷ γὰρ καλῶς πράσσοντι πᾶσα γῆ πατρίς.

Τῷ γὰρ καλῶς πράσσοντι πᾶσα γῆ πατρίς.
Tō gar kalōs prassonti pasa gē patris.
"Because for someone who is well, the whole earth is fatherland."

This Greek sentence is the model for the Latin tragic verse of the mythical Teucer in Ciceros Tusculanae disputationes :

" Patria est, ubicumque est bene. "
"The fatherland is wherever you feel good"

Teukros was the best archer in the Greek army before Troy . When he returned from Troy without avenging his brother's death, Telamon , Ajax's father, did not let him land. Forced to look for a new fatherland, Teukros found it in Cyprus , which Belos , King of Sidon, left to him.

This quote is reproduced in Georg Büchmann's Winged Words abbreviated as " Ubi bene, ibi patria " and translated by Gottfried Keller as "Where I am well, there is my fatherland" :

“Wherever I am, there is my fatherland! Otherwise it is said and this proverb should remain untouched for those who really have to show a better and necessary cause of their well-being in the new fatherland, who went out into the world with free determination in order to gain an advantage for themselves and return as safe people, or who flee in droves from an inhospitable condition and, obeying the course of time, wander the new migration of peoples across the seas; or who have found more loyal friends somewhere than at home or who are more closely related to their own inclinations or have been tied by some more beautiful human bond. "

A similar formulation can be found in Aristophanes , Plut. 1151: Πατρὶς γάρ ἐστι πᾶσ 'ἵν' ἂν πράττῃ τις εὖ.

Τῷ οὖν τόξῳ ὄνομα βίος, ἔργον δὲ θάνατος.

Τῷ οὖν τόξῳ ὄνομα βίος, ἔργον δὲ θάνατος.
Tō oun toxō onoma bios, ergon de thanatos.
"The name for the bow is life, but its work is death."

Statement by the philosopher Heraclitus , who points out that in Greek the words βίος ( b í os , life ) and βιός ( bi ó s , arch ) are almost identical and only differ in their accentuation. Such ambiguous allusions are sometimes interpreted as deliberate reflections of the hidden structure of the logo , which turns out to be an entangled unity of opposites.

Τῷ σοφωτάτῳ.

Pythia in Delphi on her tripod
Τῷ σοφωτάτῳ.
Tō sophōtatō.
"The wisest"

From the story of the tripod that fishermen pulled out of the sea near the Ionian city of Miletus . The inscription ΤΩΙ ΣΟΦΩΤΑΤΩΙ was on the tripod . The fishermen quarreled about who was the wisest of them and who should own the tripod. So they consulted the Delphi Oracle . The oracle was:

Citizen of Miletus, you ask Phoibos about the tripod?
Whoever is the wisest is due, I say, the tripod.

So the tripod was presented to the philosopher Thales of Miletus . The latter handed it over to another of the Seven Wise Men , who also passed it on until he came to Solon of Athens . He declared the god Apollo to be the wisest and sent the tripod to Delphi.

Τῶν ἄγαν γὰρ ἅπτεται Θεός, τὰ μικρὰ δ 'εἰς τύχην ἀφεὶς ἐᾷ.

Τῶν ἄγαν γὰρ ἅπτεται Θεός, τὰ μικρὰ δ 'εἰς τύχην ἀφεὶς ἐᾷ.
Tōn agan gar haptetai theos, ta mikra d 'eis tychēn apheis ea.
"Because God touches the oversized things, he leaves the small ones to chance."

This quote from the works of the historian Plutarch became the model for the following much-used saying from Roman law:

" Minima non curat praetor ."
"The praetor does not care about the little things ."

In concrete terms, this means that courts (the praetor ) do not make any decisions in petty matters and is reflected in German law. In accordance with this principle, the Hamburg Finance Court also dismissed the action brought by a lawyer in 2004, who sued for reimbursement of EUR 0.66, which also consisted of various smaller amounts.

Τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοὺς φρονίμους δεῖ πρότερον τὰ τῆλε τῶν πραγμάτων σκοπεῖν ...

Illustration to the fable The Fox and the Goat
Τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοὺς φρονίμους δεῖ πρότερον τὰ τῆλε τῶν πραγμάτων σκοπεῖν, εἴθ᾿ οὗτως αὐτοῖς ἐπῖχειρερννς πῖχ.
Tōn anthrōpōn tous phronimous dei proteron ta tēle tōn prāgmatōn skopein, eith 'houtōs autois epicheirein.
"It behooves clever people to look at the end of a company first and only then to put it into operation."

This sentence is traced back to Aesop's fable The Fox and the Goat, in which a fox falls into a well and comes out again by enticing a billy goat to jump into the well as well. After the buck has helped him out, the gleeful fox leaves him alone in the well.

In the pseudo-Pythagorean golden sayings it says:

" Βουλεύου δὲ πρὸ ἔργου, ὅπως μὴ μῶρα πέληται. "
Bouleuou de pro ergou, hopōs mē mōra pelētai.
"Think before the act, so that nothing foolish emerges from it."

The Latin version used in the Gesta Romanorum is known:

" Quidquid agis, prudenter agas et respice finem. "
"Whatever you do, do it wisely and watch the consequences."

In 1557, the Nuremberg master- singer Hans Sachs told in his Kurtzweiligen Zeitvertreiber that a philosopher from Athens sold this wisdom. Sachs says that the tyrant Dionysius saw a philosopher sitting among the merchants and asked him what he had to sell. He replied: "Wisdom" . Dionysius paid 400 guilders and the philosopher told him the following saying:

Man, what you do, consider the end, that
is called the greatest wisdom.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heraklit, fragment B 64 D [iels] K [ranz]. Translation by Hermann Diels
  2. ↑ Gospel according to Mark 12 : 14ff. EU
  3. ↑ http://www.bibel-online.net/buch/41.markus/12.html#17
  4. ↑ Yun-Ping Sun: The individual seeking meaning . 2004, doi : 10.18452 / 15049 (dissertation, Institute for Philosophy, Humboldt University of Berlin).
  5. ↑ Friedrich Hölderlin, Empedokles ( Memento from February 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ a b Erasmus of Rotterdam : Selected writings . Volume 7. Scientific Book Society. 1972
  7. ↑ Tyrtaios: Fragment 6
  8. ↑ Horace : Odes 3, 2, 13
  9. ↑ http://www.planet-wissen.de/alltag_gesundheit/lernen/abitur/beruehmte_abiturienten.jsp
  10. ↑ Gospel according to John 19.30 EU
  11. ↑ Odyssey , Canto 20, 18; quoted from http://www.gottwein.de/Grie/hom/od20de.php
  12. ↑ a b Gustav Schwab: Odysseus again mocked in the Gutenberg-DE project
  13. ↑ Aëtios I 15,3 and Stobaios
  14. ↑ Naturalis historia , Book XXXV, Section 85 (in Chapter xxxvi)
  15. ↑ Callimachus, Epigram 1:12
  16. ↑ Hesiod: Werke und Tage, 289f. (Wikisource)
  17. ↑ Wilhelm Weischedel: The philosophical back stairs
  18. ^ Gustav Schwab: Oedipus in Thebes, marries his mother in the Gutenberg-DE project
  19. ↑ Homer, Odyssey 10,325
  20. ↑ Odyssey 19, 104
  21. ↑ Gorgias 474b
  22. ↑ http://www.zeno.org/Philosophie/M/Platon/Gorgias
  23. ↑ Gospel according to Matthew , 27.25 EU
  24. ^ Stefan Rohrbacher
  25. ↑ Acts of the Apostles , 2.23 EU
  26. ^ Christiane Schlötzer : Unhappy love affair. In: SZ.de . December 15, 2008, accessed June 14, 2018 .
  27. ^ Hubert Eichheim: Greece, Munich: CH Beck, 1999. ISBN 3-406-39877-4 . P. 58
  28. ^ The Black Net - Tyche ( Memento of May 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  29. ^ Gospel according to Mark, 2.27 EU
  30. ↑ http://www.bibel-online.net/buch/41.markus/2.html#27
  31. ↑ Plutarch: De Superstitione , 3rd p. 166
  32. ^ Suetonius : Life of the Caesars . Zurich: Artemis Verlag, 1972. ISBN 3-423-06005-0
  33. ↑ Cassius Dio , Roman History 48:44 (in English)
  34. ^ Bleicken, Rome and Italy , in: Golo Mann , Alfred Heuss (ed.), Propylaen Weltgeschichte. Volume 4: Rome and the Roman World , Propylaeen Verlag, Berlin – Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 57.
  35. ↑ Plato: Protagoras 317b
  36. ↑ Jan Ross, Die neue Sophisten, DIE ZEIT, January 17, 2002 ( Memento of February 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  37. ↑ Gospel according to Matthew, Mt 12.31  EU
  38. ↑ Gospel according to Matthew, 12: 22–32 EU
  39. ↑ Polybios VI 3.5-4.13
  40. ↑ Gospel according to Matthew 27: 3-8 EU
  41. ↑ Cicero: Tusculanae disputationes , 5, 108
  42. ↑ Menander : individual verses 735 / Nauck: Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta , Adespota 318
  43. ↑ Gottfried Keller : The three just Kammacher
  44. ↑ http://agiw.fak1.tu-berlin.de/Auditorium/BeGriRoe/SO9/DiogThal.htm
  45. ↑ Plutarch: Praecepta gerendae rei publicae 811
  46. ↑ Georg Büchmann: Winged words . Berlin: 1898, p. 55