Hey guys and welcome to my article!
How are you? I honestly hope you’re healthy and safe! I thought I'd write this article since there are many weird idioms, words and phrases in Greek and I wanted to share with you! Have fun reading <3
Από πού κρατάει η σκούφια του;
Pronunciation; Apó poú kratáei i skoúfia tou? Word-by-word translation; From where does his hat hold? Actual meaning; Where do they come from? or What type of person are they?
Many years ago skoufia, the hat that men, women and children had to wear during the day but also the hat the grown ups wore during nighttime, evinced one's ancestry. Not only because it was different from place to place, but also because it differed in shape and material, depending on the profession someone had or their social status.
While nobles' skoufies were made out of silk or velvet, elaborately decorated with embroidery and had a feather aigrette on the top, poorer people's hats were woolen or cotton without embroidery or fringed on the edge. There were also skoufies for special cases;
✿ Green skoufies were worn by those who were broke and later those who were sentenced to life imprisonment. ✿ Square skoufies were worn by dictators, teachers, judges and other dignitary. ✿ Red skoufies were worn by slave oarsmen in battleships.
Όποιον πάρει ο Χάρος
Pronunciation; ópoion párei o cháros Word-by-word translation; whoever the Grim Reaper gets Actual meaning; it is used to describe someone who attacks everyone without an exception, or does something without thinking about the consequences.
When times were leaner, things turned sour with wars and injustice was a common phenomenon, no one wanted to feel alone and wanted to create strong bonds and friendships with people who were willing to support them and their convenience, even if that meant sacrificing their lives. That's why they formed athelfopoiies (brotherhoods) They became official by taking an oath to the Gospel or by cutting a vein in their arm and connecting their blood.
How determined athelphopoiitoi (friends who called each other brothers) to sacrifice their lives for each other was also proven by the third way of forming an athelphopoiia that they called "opoion parei o charos"; they sat on the table and placed inside a tray a loaded gun. They later heated the tray with hot coal so that when the gun was fired, there was a great possibility that someone could be hurt or even dead. Those who survived were bonded for the rest of their lives. We use this phrase in a completely different way now though.
Πιάσε την ευκαιρία από τα μαλλιά
Pronunciation; Piáse tin efkairía apó ta malliá Word-by-word translation; grab the opportunity by the hair Actual meaning; Get the opportunity while you can
According to folklore, Luck has two daughters; Coincidence and Opportunity. The first, Coincidence is very similar to her mother and you can hardly tell them apart, since they both control the destiny of a human without asking. The latter, Opportunity, doesn't even interfere with the human, she is always running and doesn't stop anywhere unless someone hunts her.
How can someone catch her, however, when her head according to tradition, is full of hair in the front and shaven on the back? That's why anyone who meets her has to grab her by her hair before she passes, because if they lose her, they won't have a chance to catch her because her head is shaven on the back!
Πήγε στα κυπαρισσάκια
Pronunciation; Píge sta kyparissákia Word-by-word translation; they went to the little cypresses Actual meaning; they died
There are two ways to explain the meaning of this idiom.
Mythology
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful deer with golden horns and it was loved by everyone, but especially the king's little son, handsome Cupressus. One day that he went hunting, he mistakenly killed his favourite deer and when he faced it dead, he started praying to Apollo to take his life. The god empathized with him and transformed him into a cypress. Since then, Greeks hung cypress branches in front of their houses and planted cypresses around their loved ones' graves. The same we plant today around our cemeteries.
Modern folklore
_Cypresses symbolise the course of a human's life on earth and the "release" of their soul into the sky because of their straight trunk and their abundant, fragrant leaves. That's why a cypress' trunk sprouts from the ground without leaves (the same way a person doesn't have experiences when they're born) but develops branches from a relatively low point that become even more dense (a person's life fills with meaning, deprivation, sadness, happiness while they mature), that become less while the tree grows taller (and a person minimises their activities while they become older) until they thin out even more while they reach the top. The top points to the sky like a finger, representing the soul heading to the skies.
Ξύπνησε ο Εγκέλαδος
Pronunciation; Xýpnise o Enkélados Word-by-word translation; Enceladus woke up Actual meaning; there is an earthquake
According to mythology, Enceladus was the master if the Titans. They had a fair-for-all with the Olympian gods. The Titans were frightening; no one could reach their height or strength. However, gods managed to win them with the help of Hercules and Hecatonchires. Their fight was terrifying and wreaked havoc on the environment; countries were repositioned, islands disappeared and new ones sprung out.
Some say that their master was held in captivity by Zeus and won by his lightning, while others claim that he was exterminated by Athena. She began hunting him and piercing him with her spear. Injured Enceladus fell near Sicily so Athena threw the island on his head. The Titan was buried but didn't die. Trying to lift the unbearable weight off him, he is moving from time to time, causing earthquakes that terrify humans. When he is sighing out of anger because he can't set himself free, his scorching breath causes the eruption of the Etna volcano.
Thank you so much for reading! Hope you enjoyed it! See you next Friday!
Comentarios