Read by the tongue
Including essays filed under Greek (Aesopic tradition), Greek (Modern).
Βουνό με βουνό δε σμίγει, μα άνθρωπος μ' άνθρωπο σμίγει
vounó me vounó de smígei, ma ánthropos m' ánthropo smígei
Why Greeks say mountains never meet but people do — and how Russian, Arabic, Mandarin, and Spanish circle the same observation about the inevitability of encounter from four very different cosmologies.
Βραδέως ἀλλὰ βεβαίως
bradeōs alla bebaiōs
Slow and steady wins the race — Aesop's fable became Europe's most-quoted maxim on persistence. Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, and Russian all make the same claim, with very different bodies under it.
Το ψάρι βρομάει από το κεφάλι
to psári vromáei apó to kefáli
Why Greek, Turkish, Russian, and English all say the fish rots from the head — though Aristotle never did — and how Mandarin avoids fish entirely and rebuilds the same uncomfortable claim about leadership as a crooked beam.