Adagia 2901–3000

Among the philosophers you will hardly find one who educated young people more conscientiously than Pythagoras. This caused him to mingle with his teaching much superstition, because untrained youth, like the uneducated masses, cannot be ruled by precepts in clear and unadorned philosophical language. To these superstitions certainly belonged the prohibition on eating meat, the praise of vegetables, and the five-year 'silence,' and finally certain of the precepts, almost of an oracular nature, which had to be learned by heart before they could be understood. Our modern monks, who are monks in name only, seem to have imitated some of this man's teachings, and those who control their bellies and their tongues are the ones who sin least. However, because it is not in man's nature to be on his guard against wavering all the time, the next best thing is that each should constantly demand of himself an account of his actions and, if he has erred in any way, he should correct himself; if he has performed according to his duty, he should persevere therein and make even better progress. One of Pythagoras' salutary teachings, in the form of a symbolic figure, is preserved in a line of verse (its author is unknown for I cannot find it in Homer) which Plutarch seems to have taken delight in, for no one among the pagan philosophers is more saintly than this man. The verse goes like this: [greek]; 'Where have I slipped? What have I done? Or what duty have I omitted?' For every failure in human living consists of one of three things. We do otherwise than we should, that is, more or less than is required; to this error corresponds the question 'Where have I transgressed?' Or we do what we should not have done, to which corresponds the phrase 'What have I done?' Or we fail to do what we should have done, and to this corresponds the last phrase 'What duty have I not done?' If someone admonishes his son or his wife more leniently than is necessary when they sin or rebukes them too harshly, on reflection he will rightly ask, 'Where have I transgressed?' One who teaches a son unworthy things will ask, 'What have I done?' One who neglects a son's sins when it would be opportune to admonish him will ask, 'What duty have I not done?' Pythagoras was in the habit of admonishing young people to recite this verse in their minds whenever they returned home. If they had been wanting perchance in any way or if they had picked up some vice from their contact with men, this meditation made them anxious to correct it and to be wary of it in the future. This idea was developed at greater length and more fully by the person who wrote the poem 'On the Good Man,' which is to be found in the appendices of the works of Virgil:
Before he allows his eyes to close in gentle sleep,
He will have thought over all his deeds the whole day through:
Where have I transgressed? what have I done at the right time? what have I not done?
Why was this deed not fitting? or that one not sensible?
These ideas have been taught by men who did not know Christ. What then should Christians do? If only priests and monks would say to themselves when they returned to their beds from generous and splendid feasts: 'Where have I slipped? What have I done? Or what duty have I not done?' God in heaven, how many things would occur to us to be ashamed of and to repent?

Anyone who wants to say that different people are engrossed in different pursuits and each person lives by his own means will quote this from the same book: 'For the Phaeacians have no regard for arrows or quivers, / But for oars and a ship well-made with even planks.' This is rather like 'Smiths their hammers ply.' And Pindar in the tenth Pythian ode: "The minds of different men are stimulated by love of different things.'

When someone limits his effort deliberately to conform to other people's lower level, for example if a teacher provides his listeners not with everything he can teach but with as much as they can take in, then there will be a place for this verse from the same book about Nausicaa who controls the pace of her mules with the reins so that her followers and Ulysses could keep up with her on foot:
She drives so that Ulysses can accompany her on foot
And the whole crowd of her followers, using the whip
With moderation and sure skill.

When we want to declare to someone that we will take care of a matter so that he himself can be free of worry and hand over the whole task to us, these words from book 7 of the Odyssey will be suitable: 'But proceed quietly, I will lead the way here.'

Firmness of mind is valuable at all times, because timidity seems to be caused either by a bad conscience or by petty-mindedness. This idea is supported by this verse of Homer from the same book: 'A brave and bold man is better in all things, / Even if he is a stranger and comes from distant shores.' This is how Pallas encourages Ulysses not to be afraid as he goes into Alcinous' house. It coincides with an adage recorded elsewhere: 'Fortune favours the brave.' Livy in book 8 of From the Foundation of the City:
But the outcome showed that fortune favours the brave.

For the wealthy, for whom one profit follows another, we can adapt this, which is said in the same book about the orchards of Alcinous:
And there is no fresh summer each year,
But the west wind blowing with perpetual breath produces
These fruits and drops them ripe from the trees;
Pears follow full-grown upon pears, apples upon apples,
Figs upon figs mature, and grapes upon grapes.

What is decreed for man by the fates will happen. On this idea we have Homer's lines in the same book:
Thereafter he will suffer
Whatever fate and the grim spinners have spun for him
At his birth when he emerged from his mother's womb.
But this passage about the fates should be used only in a humorous way; for example if someone sends his son to some rather remote place for his education and says he would not care what he does there, but leaves it to the gods and fortune.

When you want to say that there is no reason why someone should doubt or continue to be worried by some concern that has been removed, this from the same book will fit: 'Alcinous, worry about something else.' Then there is Terence: 'I have already thought of one; worry about something else.'

The stomach is a shameless intruder which never allows anyone to forget it. It could be used figuratively of extreme poverty, which always forces mortals to do and suffer all sorts of things. This is what Ulysses says in the same book:
There is no other thing more shameless than a troublesome stomach,
Which bids a man take thought for it even against his will,
However distressed you may be at heart, whatever affliction torments
your breast.

Common people are suspicious and often take things in a bad sense. Homer in the same book: 'For we men are mostly quick to suspect the worst.'

No guest should be kept against his inclination and will. No one should be forced to accept anyone's hospitality if he does not wish it. This idea can be illustrated by this from the same book: 'If you choose to remain, no one shall keep you against your will.' The words are addressed to Ulysses by Alcinous king of the Phaeacians.

Whenever Nature bestows some extraordinary gift but counterbalances it with some flaw, or when a person spoils his kindness with some malice, then there will be a place for these words from book 8 of the Odyssey spoken about Demodocus the minstrel:
This man the Muse loved above all others and gave him
Both good and evil. For she deprived him of his sight,
But gave him the gift of softening hearts with sweet song.

When we imply that we have engaged in every sort of contention, for example if someone says that there has been bitter argument on every point of doctrine, then this from the same book will be appropriate: 'In boxing and in racing, in leaping and in wrestling.' Likewise, when someone declares that he refuses no competition, but is prepared for any sort of mental test, the following from the same book will do:
Come here, for I am greatly angered;
Let anyone who wishes try me out in boxing or in wrestling,
Or racing if he will, I care not.

If we feel someone is so pre-eminent that there is no danger anyone will take the palm from him, then this from the same book will suit: 'But set your mind at rest, as far as this competition is concerned, / No one of the Phaeacians will throw as well or further.'

We should not compete with the greatest and the invincible, or with the ancients, for these seem to be placed beyond the hazards of mortals; to them we should yield willingly. For example, if someone says he does not wish to vie in eloquence with Cicero, but does not want to refuse ordinary rivals, he can use what Ulysses says in the same passage:
With the men of olden times I will not compete,
With Hercules' excellence or with Eurytus of Oechalia.'

When an affair that has been wrongly undertaken turns out badly, the following verse from the same book will suit: 'Wicked deeds never turn out well.' This is said of the adultery of Mars when it was discovered.

A faithful friend is to be valued no less than a brother. Homer says in the same book: 'Someone whom chance makes a pleasant and good friend / Is to be valued no less than a brother.'

Every man finds his own country most agreeable, whatever land he happens to be in. Homer in book 9 of the Odyssey: 'For nothing is sweeter to any man than his fatherland / And his own parents.'

Someone who wants to say that it is safer to overcome a violent desire by fleeing from it than by fighting it could adapt what is said about Charybdis in book 12 of the Odyssey: "There is no remedy; the best thing is to flee far from her.'

One should not without good reason divulge no matter what to no matter whom, and not all secrets should be spread around the household; some should be trusted to friends or wives, others hidden. The idea is suitably expressed by this from book 11 of the Odyssey: 'One thing may be said, another, on the other hand, should be withheld.'

Nothing is more noxious than a woman. The opinion is expressed by Homer in the same book: 'Nothing is more shameless and worse than a woman.' In the ancient poets the female sex is often spoken of badly. And in our own times they constantly strive to ensure that the poets should not seem to have been liars.

The words in book 11 of the Odyssey about the dead can be applied to a man who has lived too long and lost his strength, or to someone who is frightened: 'For sinews no longer hold flesh and bone together.'

For those who achieve what they want, even if with difficulty, this line from the same book will be appropriate: 'You will reach home, though you will have suffered many ills.' These words are spoken to Ulysses by Tiresias.

We should not seek to compete with a friend and one who deserves well of us in case our friendship is overshadowed by the rivalry that accompanies this sort of contention. Homer implies this in book 8 of the Odyssey when Ulysses excludes Laodamas as a competitor because he was his host: 'For who would quarrel with a benevolent host?' It will also be appropriate when we want to say that it is the duty of the guest to give way to those with whom he lodges, even if he could win. For in the same passage there is immediately added this thought:
For he is indeed a foolish man and worthless,
Who would challenge to the outcome of a contest the one
From whose hospitality he benefits and whose house he enjoys.

Against the man who throws the cause of his misfortune on someone else, as people commonly do, one can aptly turn this line from book 11 of the Odyssey. It is spoken by the shade of Elpenor who had died because he was drunk in Circe's house: 'An evil fate of the gods was my undoing and too much wine.' There's another place too where Agamemnon similarly throws the blame for a dispute on Ate.

For shameful pleasures, or for a prostitute who is skilled in all the arts that cause the ruin of young people, the following words from book 10 of the Odyssey will suit. They are said of Circe: 'She will change us all to swine or wolves or fierce lions.'

For a way of life that is rather hard but suitable for the proper teaching of morality, an apt verse would be the following about Ithaca from the Odyssey book 9: 'A rugged island, but a good nurse for young men.'

For a man who is as distinguished in counsel as in action a suitable verse will be this one from book 14 of the Odyssey: 'Such a man was this, whether in battle or in counsel.'

When someone says he cannot keep silent about what he thinks, he can adapt this humorously from the same book: 'For my part I shall say something rather bold, / For foolish wine impels me.' In the same passage Ulysses declares eloquently what wine can do, for he goes on:
Wine excites a man however serious and modest to sing,
And drives him to easy laughter and dancing,
And sometimes he opens up his heart and babbles out
What it would have been better to keep silent.

Anyone who wants to say that he finds himself in the greatest danger and that no help is at hand, can use this from the same book: 'No other land appeared, / But everywhere around us only sky and sea.' The same expression is found in book 12.

When we want to say that we are violently repelled by some vice, we can use this from the same book: This man is hateful to me as the threshold of the dark gods.' The same verse is found in book 9 of the Iliad spoken by Achilles. Here it is spoken by Ulysses.

For someone who presents a different face a suitable expression would be this, from book 13 of the Odyssey, which Ulysses says of Athena: 'Now you put on one face and now another.' The same expression will be marvellously suitable for the wisdom that is concealed with different wrappings in the ancient writers and is presented in ever changing images, especially in holy scripture, which consists almost entirely of allegories.

For someone who has said something out of place and irrelevant to the subject under discussion, a suitable expression will be this from the same book, although the same is to be found in other places:
Stranger, you are foolish, or a foreigner recently come
From distant shores.

If someone wants to warn that we ought to accept in good part what fortune allows us he will use this from book 14 of the Odyssey:
Stranger, take this food and enjoy such bounty as there is,
For fate will give one thing and refuse another
According to its whim, for it can do all things.
With these words the swineherd Eumaeus invites Ulysses to accept in good part his humble rustic food such as it is. They can be used metaphorically of any aspect of human life whenever we want to recommend that we should live happily and quietly in the position fate has given us. In book 10 of Athenaeus is recorded this verse: 'Whatever is at hand, weave your life with that.' In his speech On the Peace Isocrates says it is very difficult for some men 'to be content with what is present' and that this is why they prefer war to peace.

It would be in the nature of an insult if a person placed an obligation on someone who does not want it. This idea is expressed by Homer in book 15 of the Odyssey:
Both commit a wrong: the man who drives out a guest
Who is unwilling to go, and the man who detains one who wishes to leave.
As long as he wishes to stay, a guest should be treated kindly;
And when he seeks to leave, he should be allowed to go.

When a sure hope of achieving what we set out to do appears from somewhere, a suitable adage will be the following from the same book: 'Even as he speaks a bird of good omen flies by on the right.'

For those who show unbearable arrogance, we can adapt quite neatly from the same book the words of Eumaeus about the suitors: 'Their wantonness and violence reaches heaven.' The same expression is used in book 17 by Ulysses speaking to Eumaeus.

The most unhappy condition is to be a vagrant without fixed abode, as the [greek] 'homeless' always are, and those who live in foreign countries. Support for this is given in the same book: 'Nothing is more wretched than wandering with no fixed abode.' This could be used metaphorically of those who are pushed this way and that by every sort of idea or who change their friends or their way of life repeatedly.

Not everyone has the opportunity to confer with kings; not everyone is given the power to penetrate the mysteries of holy scripture. This meaning may be given quite elegantly by the following line from book 16 of the Odyssey: 'Not to everyone is the will of the gods made manifest.'

It is the will of god that the same man should be highly revered at one moment and despised at another. The following from the same book is suitable for this:
It is easy for the gods, whom broad Olympus houses,
To make a man despised or to grant him honour.

If you want to persuade people to remove the opportunity for evil, it would not be out of place to quote this from the same book: 'For the iron draws men to it of itself.' Thus wealth tempts one to luxury and familiarity with girls stirs one to lust.

When a matter that was concealed with great care is somehow detected, a suitable adage will be this from the same book:
Either some god pointed this out to them
Or they saw it themselves.

If you want to say that for good reason one should not lay hands on kings, on rulers, or on men dedicated to god, you can bring in this from the same book:
It is a fearful thing and full of danger
To have killed one of royal stock.

For the abominable quarrelling that takes place in the home and the discord and intrigues of those who live together, a suitable expression is this from the same book: 'It is an impious thing to plot evil one against the other.'

The story is still commonly told nowadays of the blind beggar who ordered his servant to lead him to where there were most people, adding the opinion well known in popular humour that profit is to be made where there are lots of people. Homer has it in book 17 of the Odyssey: 'A beggar does better to beg for his meal in a crowded town / Than in the country.'

When someone refuses an office as too humble and not worthy of him, he could apply this line which is also from book 17 of the Odyssey: 'For my age does not require that I should stay at the farmstead.' This is Ulysses speaking to the swineherd.

If you want to say that the rancours of the rich and of rulers are to be dreaded because, however slightly they are injured, they take serious offence and, as Plautus says, 'their wrath is a load of lead,' then you may apply this line from the same book:
The rancours and threats of kings are to be feared.

A careless tutor corrupts the child, a bad teacher spoils the student, and a wicked king corrupts the nation. The idea is effectively expressed by this line from the same book: 'The bad shepherd ruins the sheep.' These words are spoken by the swineherd Eumaeus to the goatherd.

For one who has become accustomed to putting up with injuries, a suitable adage will be this from the same book:
Not at all unused to blows and peltings.

We give easily of other people's goods, but it is not the same with our own. This idea was expressed by Antinous in the same book:
For there is no hindrance or regret
In giving away another's possessions.
Seneca in book 2 of his Letters number 16: 'You need not wonder at my genius; so far, I have been lavish with other men's possessions.' And when Aeschinus in The Brothers says, 'Do it; I have promised them,' Mitio replies, 'Promised, did you? Be generous with what is your own, my boy.'

For a man who is poorly dressed but nevertheless of outstanding physical appearance, a suitable adage will be this from book 18 of the Odyssey: 'Such shoulders the old man shows beneath his humble rags.' This is said of Ulysses when he is about to wrestle with Irus. In his 'Gallic Hercules' Lucian applies it to an old man who is outstandingly clever and eloquent.

If someone wants to warn against boasting excessively of good fortune or natural gifts lest at any time Nemesis overhears and takes them away, it would be a good time to use this from the same book: 'Let him keep in silence whatever gifts he may have of the gods.'

For one whose words make a pretence of good will but who plots something very different a suitable phrase will be this from the same book: 'She beguiled his mind / With gentle words but her thoughts were on other things.'

If on occasion you want to say that we should never refuse a gift, whatever is offered, or that we should seize the chance of some advantage whenever it occurs, a suitable adage would be this from the same book: 'It is never a good idea to refuse a gift.'

All those things that are important to comfortable living can be quite neatly symbolized by this line from book 19 of the Odyssey: 'Things by which they live well and are reputed wealthy.'

For the man who would say he does not need the help of others and is quite fit to complete a task by himself a suitable adage will be this from book 20 of the Odyssey:
I have eyes, ears, and two feet,
And intelligence in my breast that is neither simple nor foolish.

For one who through age and experience of affairs is able to discern between things to be avoided and things to be desired a suitable adage will be this from the same book:
For a long time now I have known and understood all things,
Both what is good and what is evil.
Even nowadays no expression is more common than this.

When someone takes heart and bears present discomforts by remembering past ills he can with some humour use this from the same book: 'Stand firm, my soul; in the past you have borne worse.' Virgil imitated and developed this with:
You have had worse to bear than this. Now, as before,
Providence will bring your suffering to an end
Hold hard, therefore. Preserve yourselves for better days.
Likewise Horace in the Odes: 'You who have stayed by me through worse disasters, heroes .. .'

If you want to say that we should pardon a mistake that has occurred through neglect, and that a man cannot be expected to give careful attention at every moment, you can use this from book 19 of the Odyssey: 'For it is in no way possible for a mortal to remain / Forever awake.'

If you want to say that not everything happens as you may have hoped or imagined you can apply this from the same book:
Some dreams, of course, are trifling and vain,
Nor does everything you see turn out to be real.
And in this passage he introduces the very beautiful image of the two gates for dreams which Virgil describes in book 6.

When something happens at which we rejoice and grieve equally - for example, when someone's wealthy parents depart this life, on the one hand he is tormented by their death, on the other he rejoices at gaining his inheritance and becoming free - a suitable adage will be this from the same book:
Joy and grief together came upon her heart.

If you want to say we should not measure age by years, because when men are tormented by frequent labours and troubles they become old before their time, you can use this from the same book: 'For quickly do men grow old with cares and misfortunes.'

If you want to warn that we should do our best to leave with our descendants a worthy memory that will live for ever, for this life is bound by narrow limits, you can apply this from the same book: 'But mortals' lives are confined to brief spans.'

For one who tells a falsehood just as if it were the truth a suitable expression would be this from the same book: 'He made the many falsehoods of his tale seem like truth.' This is said about Ulysses. Plato also remarked that Homer represented Ulysses as a liar, and Achilles on the other hand as truthful.

For the man who is harmed by his own discovery, a suitable expression will be this from book 21 of the Odyssey: 'But it was his own harm he caused first, being overcome with wine.' This is said of Eurytion, who was the first to discover the use of wine and was killed by the Lapiths.

For a man who conceals a secret that has been entrusted to him and does not blurt it out to anyone a suitable saying will be this in book 21 of the Odyssey:
For him the words lacked wings.
That is, they flew no further.

If at some time you want to indicate that you are about to undertake something difficult and new, something not attempted by anyone else, you can apply this from book 22 of the Odyssey: 'Now I shall attempt another target, to see if I can hit it, one that no one else has hit so far.' These are the words of Ulysses as he prepares to kill the suitors.

When a person receives a benefit because someone has remembered past good deeds, a suitable adage will be this from the same book: 'It is far better to do one's duty than to commit evil.'

A beaten man should not be scoffed at nor should insults be heaped further on a dead man, even if he was justifiably killed. Homer approves of this in the same book: 'It is an inauspicious thing to boast over slain men' - the words of Ulysses about the dead suitors.

The best ornament of a house is a glowing hearth; this is why those who move into a new house or come to an inn bid first of all that a fire be lit. The idea seems to come from book 22 of Homer, who makes Ulysses say, 'Now first of all let a fire be made for me in the hall.' And this famous line: 'For the home is brighter when the fire is lit.' This verse seems to have greatly delighted Plutarch, so often does he use it and adapt it to various meanings. In the essay 'On Virtue and Vice' he applies it to wealth, power, and fame, which become the more pleasing if the soul is free of troubles; again in the book entitled 'The Lover' he applies it to the heart of the suitor, which glows far more brightly if it is fired by the warmth of love.

For those who deserve to die a suitable line will be this from the same book: 'These men were destined to be killed, destroyed by their own misdeeds.' The words refer to the suitors.

For one who is hard and pitiless a fitting adage is this line from book 23 of the Odyssey: 'But your heart is ever harder than any stone.' So Telemachus to his mother.

When someone is confused by a sudden event and then recovers himself, a suitable adage will be this line from book 24 of the Odyssey:
As he caught his breath and his spirit returned into his breast.

Speaking of people who may be old certainly, but who, because of their experience of affairs, are nevertheless quite fit to carry on some occupation, we might aptly say this from the same book: 'Hoary age indeed, but not unfit for war.'

There is a story by Plutarch in the essay on the 'Fortune of Alexander' (if indeed this book is by him): 'When the question was raised at dinner, which of the verses of Homer was most praiseworthy, and different people expressed their preference for different verses, Alexander awarded the palm to this line which is in book 3 of the Iliad:
A good leader and an outstandingly strong soldier too.
For with this line he both sang the praise of Agamemnon and prophesied the courage of Alexander.' However, in my opinion physical strength does not count for much in a prince, but deliberation and wisdom count for a great deal. For this reason, when orators sang the praises of a certain Chares, a young man of notable physical strength, and gave their opinion that the Athenians should seek to have this sort of leader in war, Timotheus said vehemently, 'Not at all. I would have that sort of man carry mattresses and blankets for the army, but as commander I would have a man who has eyes for "what is both before and behind," and who is not hindered in his determination of what is for the best by any disturbance of his reasoning.'

[greek], They have gazed at the heavenly she-goat rising. This used to be said of those for whom everything prospered as well as they wished, because in antiquity according to popular opinion it was accepted that those who had observed the she-goat - the one that had been Jupiter's nurse and was therefore placed among the constellations - would be the possessors of whatever they prayed for. This story is explained at greater length in the adage 'Amaltheia's horn.' This one, however, is to be found in the Collected Proverbs of Plutarch. It is also in the essay 'On Listening to Poetry': 'How happy is the owner of many fields who keeps [greek] heavenly goat" to bring him wealth.' However, in Athenaeus book 9, Antiphanes I think mentions the heavenly goat among animals suitable for the table: 'Wild goat, [greek] "heavenly she-goat," castrated ram.'

[greek], A she-goat to the festival. Used to be said when someone came into an affair opportunely, or when someone exposed himself openly to his own destruction. This was because, at festivals, particularly those of Bacchus, they sacrificed a she-goat. It is recorded in the same collection.

[greek], Soon we shall know the matter better than the prophet himself. This expression was used by people who did not foretell a thing by guessing but tried to understand it by testing it. For there is no better proof than a test. It is recorded in the same Collected Proverbs of Plutarch, but it originates in Sophocles' Antigone. However, in the second book of the Punic War Livy says: 'The outcome is the teacher of fools.'

[greek], Cyzicene dye, was an expression among the Athenians for an ineradicable disgrace. It was said of those who did something shameful from fear, for the Cyzicenes had a reputation for both cowardice and effeminacy. It is listed in the same Collected Proverbs. Hesychius recalls it too, adding that the Cyzicenes were known for their effeminacy, being Ionians. The scholiast of Aristophanes says roughly the same. Stephanus Byzantinus adds that they were overwhelmed by the repeated plundering of the Tyrrhenians. The expression is found in Aristophanes' Peace: 'But if ever it is necessary to fight and wear the scarlet, he himself is immediately "stained with Cyzicene dye."' Distinctive dyes are usually known by the names of places, for not all dyes found everywhere colour well. Thus people speak of 'Syracusan dye' and 'Sardinian dye.' This was used proverbially of men's conduct, for the appraisal and the rumour that follow men's lives act like a dye. Whence people are said to be 'marked with coal' when they are condemned. Well known too is this line of Ennius quoted in Aulus Gellius: 'Affairs dyed with evil or others good to speak of.' The scholiast of Aristophanes tells us the Spartans used to wear red tunics so that they should not be seen to be wounded by the enemy because the colour would be the same. Cowards and weak people on the other hand turn pale. Let me add something that is in book 4 of Herodotus: 'When the king of the Ethiopians looked at a purple cloak sent to him by the Persian king, he asked how it had been dyed. When he learned it was done by the Fish-eaters he said it was not only the men who were cunning, but that even their clothes were deceitful.'

[greek], You will be a cowherd. This was in the nature of a riddle which meant exile. Those who were ostracized went into exile in Argiva where there was a bronze ox of great size. This is recorded in the Collected Proverbs of Plutarch. Hesychius states that it appeared in the Phasma of Menander.

[greek], I am Embarus. This was said formerly of a mad or delirious person. The adage is explained by reference to a story that goes like this. In olden times Piraeus was an island, something that the name itself indicates because [greek] is 'to send across.' When Munychus became the ruler, he built a temple to Diana, to whom the title 'Munychian' was added. Later, when a bear, which is sacred to Diana, was discovered there and was killed by some Athenians, a famine occurred. People resorted to the oracle and sought a remedy for the evil. The god answered that there would be an end to the evil only if someone sacrificed his daughter to the deity. And Embarus alone was found who was mad enough to promise that he would sacrifice his daughter on condition that the priestly office should be granted to his descendants. So his daughter was dressed in the customary way and sacrificed. This too is mentioned in the Collected Proverbs of Plutarch. Hesychius states that it appeared in the Phasma of Menander.

[greek], The Colophonian vote. This is used in a letter of Plato to Dionysius. The adage differs in words rather than in meaning from the one we noted in the second chiliad, 'He added the colophon.' The source of the adage is explained in this way. At a time when the Colophonians were in uproar with internal rebellions, some of them happened to move residence and migrated to Smyrna. Later, when the Smyrnaeans were at war and were repeatedly defeated, they finally accepted the help of the Colophonians whom they had welcomed into the city and who had proved themselves superior. Thus the belief was established that, just as the Smyrnaeans had not been able to win in war without the support of the Colophonians, so they would not win elections if they did not also have their vote. Hence when the Ionian rule extended over twelve cities, of which one was Smyrna, and when the votes of the Smyrnaeans were equally divided in public meetings, the party that won was the one that had the support of the Colophonians who had helped them conquer in the war. Relevant to this too are some things related by a Greek writer called Iabenus. The twelve cities of Ionia were accustomed to meet together, and this was called the Pan-Ionian council. If it happened that no decision could be made because the votes on each side were equal, the Colophonians were summoned and victory was accorded to whichever party they supported. So the adage will fit when we want to indicate that someone's judgment or vote is of great moment in some matter. I have already mentioned this adage.

'[greek], These things I and the white maidens will take care of. This is an oracular trimeter which has been taken into popular speech. When Brennus attacked Delphi with his Gallic forces, the Delphians asked the oracle what they should do. The answer was in the form of the verse I have just quoted. Shortly afterwards Apollo was seen with the two maidens Pallas and Diana, for there are temples to them as well at Delphi. It can be properly used whenever we want to signify that there is no danger, that an affair will be looked after by those whose concern it is. It is included in the Collected Proverbs of Plutarch. Cicero translates the Greek verse in book 1 of On Divination as follows: 'It is I and the white maidens who shall provide for this.'

'[greek], A festival has many, 'troubles' or 'pre-occupations' being understood. Said of people who make up great packages to carry when they are about to travel somewhere. It will be more humorous if it is applied to certain people who do nothing, however trivial, without great effort, long delay, and extraordinary preparation, such that they often exhaust both themselves and everyone else with their preparations before they start anything. It derives from people going to festivals, who were in the habit of taking a great many goods with them: jars, clothes, sacred objects, bread, and lots of other things of that sort, in case anything necessary for the ceremony should be lacking. It is extant in the same Collected Proverbs.

[greek], Compared with Croton the rest are wretched little towns. The scholiast of Theocritus recalls this proverb. It can be applied to a thing or a man so outstanding that others seem nothing when placed alongside. The origin is perhaps the excellence of Crotonian boxers, one of whom was the Milo we have mentioned elsewhere, namely in the proverb 'Healthier than Croton.'

There are certain people who seem to be the target of a proverbial figure in the Fishermen of Theocritus: 'Every dog dreams of [greek] "bread" in his sleep, but I of fish.' The meaning is that everybody dreams about the things he desires eagerly and to which he is most committed. Aristotle attributes dreams not only to men but to all the other animals, although this is most apparent in dogs because, as they sleep, we often hear them dreaming of hunting, as can be quite easily deduced from the nature of the barks they utter while asleep. Therefore, it would seem to me to fit better if instead of [greek] 'bread' we read [greek] or [greek] 'field' or 'hunt.' But I am merely suggesting this should be considered by scholars who can decide on the matter when they have found a more correct manuscript. This has not happened to me so far. Dreams are used to prophesy future events by many people even in our own time, although Aristotle does not approve of it.

[greek], You keep on singing. I find this means 'You are being frivolous, talking nonsense, talking vainly.' It is an Attic expression, like [greek] 'you keep on playing, or joking.' So those who are singing are not doing anything serious, but just seeking to charm our ears with a passing pleasure.

[greek], The African cannot become shining white. Usually said about those who will never change their nature. For an inborn trait cannot easily be changed. There is a fable of Aesop about a man who bought an African and thinking that the colour of his skin was not natural but had come about because of the neglect of a former master, scrubbed his face for so long that he even made him ill, whilst the colour was no better than it had been before. There is also an epigram attributed to Lucian: 'You wash the African in vain; why not give up the task? / You will never manage to turn black night into day.'

[greek], Annas and the oven. We should understand 'Annas invented the oven.' It does not escape me that I have dealt with this expression elsewhere, but since it crops up so often in collections of proverbs in a different form, I am glad to advise that the written form is threefold. In another place, in several places in fact, I find the reading [greek] 'The man and the oven.' Personally, I think this reading is corrupt. Nor is it difficult to see the source of the corruption for those who know Greek script. In another place I find "Avvos, so that it seems to have been a man in question. In some I am surprised to find the spelling [greek], as if it were a woman's name or at least a foreign word. Clibanus 'oven,' however, I understand not in the common sense - what would be extraordinary or new about that? - but as the earthenware pot that is put in common ovens with the bread inside, and in which bread or even fish or meat is cooked gradually by a slow heat.

[greek], You are wearing out or treading Archilochus, was used to describe a scandal-monger. [greek] 'to tread' was used either because the scandal-monger seemed to be eager to trot out the verses of this poet or because he followed in his footsteps. Archilochus is described by Horace too: 'It was rage that armed Archilochus with his own iambus.' Personally I think this adage is the same as the one I have noted elsewhere, [greek] 'Archilochus' native land,' the word [greek] being corrupted to [greek].

There are many expressions in the gospels taken from popular speech. And this was not unworthy of Christ, but rather highly suitable because, just as by assuming a body he wished to be one of us, so he used expressions as familiar as possible in order to raise our humble understanding by every means to his divinity. But it did not seem proper to me to include a large number of these expressions, partly because to people excessively devoted to poetry anything that smacks of sacred scriptures seems unattractive; partly because I believe they are clear enough to anyone; but mostly because I am afraid that some pious individual might consider that I insult holy scripture if I intermingle them in this work where there are not only pagan expressions, but even some not very decent ones. The few I have referred to in spite of this and as discreetly as I could are by no means all. But of all the adages in the gospels I could not leave out this one. It was applied by our lord Jesus Christ to certain superstitious and absurdly punctilious people who do not know or disregard what constitutes real Christian piety, but are delighted or alarmed in turn by trifles, are unconcerned with the most important things, are full of Judaizing superstitions and devoid of true charity. It is against these people, in Matthew 23, that Christ, the teacher of real piety, turns the adage thus: [greek] [greek] [Blind guides who] 'strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.' This is not far from the adage we have recorded elsewhere: ' [greek] 'To try to drink a statue.'

[greek], It has no tree. This used to be said of anything that was of no use for some particular purpose. The source of the figure is the plough, of which the [greek] 'plough-tree' is a part. Some think this is what Latin speakers called the dentale. Apparently if this particular part is missing, nothing can be done with the plough. Hesiod spoke of 'a ploughtree of holm-oak' in this sense, but Homer used it to mean iugerum, talking of a field as 'fifty guai, that is measuring one hundred iugera.

[greek], The folly of the giants. This used to be said when, relying on his own strength, someone rashly and inconsiderately undertook things that should not have been attempted. The origin is the well-known story of the giants. The adage tells us that anything undertaken unreasonably and by force against the gods, against piety, against the law, against justice will turn out to be ill-fated. Horace in his Odes:
Force without reason topples to its own ruin,
Force moderated is raised by the gods to even greater heights.
In book 23 of the Iliad Homer declares in some very elegant lines that in every sort of affair reason and deliberation are of much greater weight than physical strength:
By cunning much more than by strength
You can cut down heavy timber;
By cunning too the helmsman steers the ship
Buffeted by wind and waves on the dark sea,
By cunning one charioteer beats another and comes first.
In book 2 of the Rhetoric Aristotle quotes this trochaic verse, without naming the author:
It is not proper that one who is mortal should be concerned with immortal things,
But rather one who is mortal should think of mortal things.

[greek], You are stepping into fire, that is 'You are involved in a risky affair.' It is found in Aristophanes' Lysistrata: 'I would even be willing to step into the fire, if it were necessary.' Horace in his Odes:
You are concerned with a work
That is full of hazards and you step on fire
Lying beneath deceptive ash.
This is said to fit a person who seeks to finish a task rapidly. Someone who steps on fire suffers less harm if he goes quickly on the tips of his toes. This is similar to what a rhetorician in Seneca said: 'I am stepping on thorns.'

[greek], One strong man met another stronger and better. This expression is used when someone relies too much on his own strength and then finds someone who beats him. The origin is believed to be Hyllus the son of Hercules and Euchemus of Aegea. This is what Zenodotus says. Suidas records these words without mentioning the author's name: 'It sometimes happens as the proverb says that some matter of its own accord may resist the efforts of good men; on the other hand it happens sometimes [as the proverb says], "For one strong man, another comes along stronger and better."' The idea is visibly taken from the Iliad book 22, when Hector encounters Achilles: One who was previously brave fled, pursued by one yet braver.'

[greek], Glory is for the future. This is a half line of heroic verse. It is cited in the same Collected Proverbs of Plutarch. It warns us that for the most part we achieve fame and reputation for our good deeds in the eyes of those who come after us. Moreover, as Ovid rightly says: 'It is the living envy feeds on; after death it is silent.'

[greek], Not everyone has the same insanity. A half-line of heroic verse, like the previous one, which is extant in the same Collections. The meaning is that there is no mortal who is not in some way foolish, although each one suffers from a different sickness, one from avarice, another from lust, one from ambition, another from envy. This is what Damasippus the Stoic proves amply in Horace's Satires. This ruinous characteristic of men is a game played with wonderful variety by Nature. Among those whose mind has gone there are some who think they have bull's horns, others a very long nose, some think they are earthenware pots, some believe they are dead, some think they are princes, others that they are learned philosophers. I know a man who thinks he is by far the most villainous among the living or the dead; I know a man who believes no one is better in any way than he; I know a man who thinks he is Jesus Christ and another who believes he is God. There was a man of Argos who applauded in an empty theatre fancying he was listening to wonderful tragic actors. In book 12 Athenaeus talks of a certain Athenian who was convinced that he owned all the ships calling at Piraeus; he counted them, sent them forth, or brought them back, welcoming all those visiting the port with as much joy as if he were master of all they carried. But if there was any loss, he made no further enquiry about whether survivors had arrived. He enjoyed himself leading a very pleasant life all the time until his brother Crito came from Sicily and took him to a doctor whose care freed him from his madness. When he had recovered, however, he would say that he had never lived more happily.

[greek], A snake in the jar. This is a proverb, I freely confess, which I have so far not located in any ancient author, neither Greek nor Latin; it is perhaps borrowed from the vernacular, for I do not like to believe that a good writer, with no small reputation in letters, has lied knowingly, because it is reported by Antonio Sabellico in one of his Familiar Letters. And he adds a story that was the source of the proverb, which goes like this:
A certain peasant noticed that some wine stored in a cask was diminishing
in quantity and, wondering what the cause was, began looking for the crack
by which the liquid was leaking away. Finding nothing of this sort, he next
suspected his neighbours of breaking the seal on the cask in his absence and
drinking the wine. So he sealed the cask carefully when he was about to go out
to work. But when he came back he found the seals unbroken and the wine
still diminished. Then indeed he bewailed the luck of farmers, for whom ruin
waited not only in their vines but in their casks. Finally, when the cask was
empty they found at the bottom a snake, which was drinking the wine.
The story became a popular joke. Pliny tells us in book 10 chapter 72 that although snakes generally drink little, they are particularly attracted to wine if they have a chance. Juvenal in his sixth satire says of a bibulous woman: 'Like a long snake she falls into a deep barrel and drinks and vomits.' The adage in itself is by no means inelegant or contemptible. And if you are not put off by its modern source you can use it when someone is struck by a disaster that is unexpected because the cause or the author is not obvious, or when the author of a longstanding ill is at last perceived. The snake, for which the Greek word is hydros, is called natrix in Latin because it lives in water. From the swelling made by its bite there flows a plentiful humour which is watery and fetid - this according to Dioscorides book 6. Pliny in book 6 chapter 23 reports that between certain islands off Persia sea snakes twenty cubits long terrified a fleet.

[greek], You're from Massilia. Suidas affirms this used to be said of those who dressed themselves up in an unmanly way, because the Massilians were given to luxury and adorned themselves like women, besmearing their hair with unguents and tying it up. Related to this is what Athenaeus records in book 12 of the Doctors at Dinner: 'You should sail to Massilia,' which I have mentioned elsewhere in the adage 'You should take ship for Massilia,' and I have explained what I think of this.

In book 8 of the Doctors at Dinner Athenaeus writes that there was a proverb among the ancients to the effect that flute-players had no intelligence: 'It is an ancient saying that "The gods never endowed flute-players with sense, / For when they blow sense is blown away too.", I have made several remarksabout this sort of person in the adage 'You live the life of a flute-player.'