Short sayings in Ancient Greek with English translations and pronunciation. From the oldest dead white European males to you.

1. Antique Greek Epigrams

2. ἐπίγραμμα
• An epigram is a brief,
interesting, memorable,
and sometimes
surprising or satirical
statement. Derived
from the Greek:
ἐπίγραμμα epigramma
"inscription" from
ἐπιγράφειν epigraphein
"to write on, to inscribe

4. γνῶθι σεαυτόν
Gnôthi seautón: "Know
thyself"
Epigram inscribed over
the entrance to the
temple of Apollo at
Delphi.

5. Socrates
ἓν οἶδα ὅτι οὐδὲν οἶδα
Hèn oîda hóti oudèn
oîda
"I know one thing, that I
know nothing"
Socrates, paraphrased from
Plato's Apology

7. χαλεπὰ τὰ καλά
Khalepà tà kalá
"The good/beautiful
things are difficult to
attain." "Naught
without labor."
Plato, Republic

8. σὺν Ἀθηνᾷ καὶ χεῖρα κίνει
Sỳn Athēnâi kaì kheîra
kinei.
"Along with Athena,
move also your hand"
Like the English "God
helps those who help
themselves."

9. ζῷον πολιτικόν
Zôion politikòn
"Man is by nature a
political animal", i.e.
animal of the polis or
social being
Aristotle, Politics

10. School of Athens

11. Aristotle

12. Γόρδιος δεσμός
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

13. Archimedes
δῶς μοι πᾶ στῶ καὶ τὰν
γᾶν κινάσω Dôs moi pâ
stô, kaì tàn gân kīnā́sō.
"Give me somewhere to
stand, and I will move
the earth".

14. εὕρηκα!
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
calculated 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!".

15. μὴ μοῦ τοὺς κύκλους τάραττε
Mḕ moû toùs kúklous
táratte.
"Do not disturb my
circles."
The last words attributed
to Archimedes. During
the raid of Syracuse by
the Romans, Archimedes
was busy drawing circles.
He was eventually
attacked and killed by a
Roman soldier.

16. λάθε βιώσας
Láthe biṓsas "Live hidden"
An Epicurean phrase, because of
his belief that fame troubles men
and doesn't allow them to reach
inner peace. So Epicurus
suggested that everybody should
live "Hidden".
The sentiment is echoed by
Ovid's statement bene qui latuit
bene vixit ("he has lived well who
has stayed well hidden", Tristia
3.4.25).
Plutarch elaborated in his essay Is
the Saying "Live in Obscurity"
Right? (Εἰ καλῶς εἴρηται τὸ λάθε
βιώσας)

17. μέτρον ἄριστον
Métron áriston
"Moderation is best"
On occasions where
neither too much nor
too little is a good
choice, as when eating
or celebrating.
Diogenes Laertius

18. μηδὲν ἄγαν
Mēdèn ágan
"Nothing in excess"
Inscription from the
temple of Apollo at
Delphi

19. τὸ γὰρ ἡδύ, ἐὰν πολύ, οὐ τί γε ἡδύ
Tò gàr hēdý, eàn polý, ou tí
ge hēdý.
"A sweet thing tasted
too often is no longer
sweet."

20. οὐ φροντὶς Ἱπποκλείδῃ
Ou phrontìs Hippokleídēi.
"Hippocleides doesn't
care." From a story in
Herodotus , in which
Hippocleides loses the
chance to marry
Cleisthenes' daughter
after getting drunk and
dancing on his head.
Herodotus says the
phrase was a common
expression in his own day.

21. μὴ χεῖρον βέλτιστον
Mḕ kheíron béltiston.
"The least bad choice is
the best."
When there is no good
option, one should pick
the one that does the
least harm.

22. ξένος ὢν ἀκολούθει τοῖς ἐπιχωρίοις
νόμοις
Xénos ṑn akoloúthei toîs
epikhōríois nómois.
"As a foreigner, follow
the laws of that
country."
Loosely, "Do in Rome as
Rome does."
Quotation from the
works of Menander.

23. ὅπερ ἔδει δεῖξαι
(ΟΕΔ) Hóper édei deîxai.
(abbreviated as OED) "Quod
erat demonstrandum"
"what was required to be
proved" Used by early
mathematicians including
Euclid, Aristotle, and
Archimedes, written at the
end of a mathematical
proof or philosophical
argument, to signify the
proof as complete. Later it
was latinized as "QED"

24. Οὖτις ἐμοί γ' ὄνομα
Oûtis emoí g' ónoma.
"My name is Nobody"
Odysseus to
Polyphemus, the
Cyclops, when asked
what his name was.
Homer, Odyssey

25. Πάντα ῥεῖ
• Panta rhei
• "All is flux; everything
flows"
• This famous aphorism
used to characterize
Heraclitus' thought
comes from Plato

26. σπεῦδε βραδέως
• Speûde bradéōs.
• "Hasten slowly" (cf.
Latin festina lente), "less
haste, more speed".
• According to Suetonius
the phrase "σπεῦδε
βραδέως, ἀσφαλὴς γάρ
ἐστ᾽ ἀμείνων ἢ θρασὺς
στρατηλάτης" was a
favorite of Augustus as
he often quoted it.

27. φρονεῖν γὰρ οἱ ταχεῖς οὐκ ἀσφαλεῖς
Phroneîn gàr hoi takheîs
ouk asphaleîs
"Those who make quick
decisions are not also
safe."

28. Τί δύσκολον; Τὸ ἑαυτὸν γνῶναι
Tí dýskolon? Tò heautòn
gnônai.
"What is hard? To know
thyself." — attributed
(among other sages) to
Thales, according to
Pausanias

29. τί εὔκολον; Τὸ ἄλλῳ ὑποτίθεσθαι
• . Tí eúkolon? Tò állōi
hypotíthesthai.
• "What is easy? To
advise another." —
Thales

30. τί τάχιστον; Νοῦς. Διὰ παντὸς γὰρ τρέχει
Tí tákhiston? Noûs. Dià
pantòs gàr trékhei.
"What is the fastest? The
mind. It travels through
everything." — Thales

31. τί πρότερον γεγόνοι, νὺξ ἢ ἡμέρα;
"νύξ, μιᾷ ἡμέρᾳ πρότερον
Tí próteron gegónoi, nỳx ē
hēméra? núx, miâi
hēméraa próteron.
"Which is older, day or
night? "Night is the
older, by one day." —
Thales

32. • τί ἐστιν ὃ μίαν ἔχον φωνὴν
τετράπουν καὶ δίπουν καὶ τρίπουν
γίνεται; Ti estin ho mian ekhon
phōnēn tetrapoun kai dipoun kai
tripoun ginetai? "What is that which
has one voice and yet becomes four-footed
and two-footed and three-footed?."
— The famous riddle of the
Sphinx. Oedipus solved the riddle
correctly by answering: “Man: as an
infant, he crawls on fours; as an
adult, he walks on two legs and; in
old age, he uses a walking stick”.[28] In
allegorical terms it also describes the
development of humans: from a
primitive state (four-footed animal),
to self-sustained (two-footed) and
finally to stable and mature

33. ψυχῆς ἰατρεῖον
• Psykhês iatreîon.
• "Hospital of the soul" The Library of
Alexandria, Egypt, was once the largest
library in the world.
• A story concerns how its collection grew
so large: by decree of Ptolemy III of
Egypt, all visitors to the city were
required to surrender any form of
written documents in any language in
their possession, which were listed
under the heading "books of the ships".
These writings were then swiftly copied
by official scribes.. This process also
helped to create a reservoir of books in
the relatively new city.
• The phrase is echoed in the motto of the
American Philological Association,
"ψυχῆς ἰατρὸς τὰ γράμματα" ("literature
is the soul's physician").

34. Wisdom

35. Thank You