Motto to Encourage Excellence in Learning Greek

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Devenios Doulenios
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Motto to Encourage Excellence in Learning Greek

Post by Devenios Doulenios »

Χαίρετε πᾶσιν!

To encourage excellence and hard work in learning Greek, I am proposing a Greek version of a family motto which started out in English, which I earlier translated into Spanish and Latin versions and used with my students when I was teaching middle school. In English it is "Do it right or do it over!".

When I was growing up, I heard this often from my maternal grandmother, Janie Cash Gustafson. Before she retired, she worked at a dry cleaner, and every day at work she saw a big sign over the main work area that had the above motto.

The Greek version I propose is: ποίει αὐτὸ ὀρθῶς ἢ ποίει αὐτὸ ἄνωθεν!

I would appreciate your feedback in getting the Greek correct; I'm aiming for an idiomatic translation.

For those who are interested, here are the Spanish and Latin versions:

Español: ¡Hazlo bien o hazlo de nuevo!

Latinē: Fac rectē aut fac dē novō!

Ἐυχαριστῶ ὑμῖν,

Δεβένιος Δουλένιος
Devenios Doulenios

Dewayne Dulaney
Δεβένιος Δουλένιος

Blog: https://letancientvoicesspeak.wordpress.com/

"Ὁδοὶ δύο εἰσί, μία τῆς ζωῆς καὶ μία τοῦ θανάτου."--Διδαχή Α, α'
Ken M. Penner
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Re: Motto to Encourage Excellence in Learning Greek

Post by Ken M. Penner »

Devenios Doulenios wrote:ποίει αὐτὸ ὀρθῶς ἢ ποίει αὐτὸ ἄνωθεν!
I would omit αὐτό.
Ken M. Penner
Professor and Chair of Religious Studies, St. Francis Xavier University
Co-Editor, Digital Biblical Studies
General Editor, Lexham English Septuagint
Co-Editor, Online Critical Pseudepigrapha pseudepigrapha.org
Stephen Carlson
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Re: Motto to Encourage Excellence in Learning Greek

Post by Stephen Carlson »

Ken M. Penner wrote:
Devenios Doulenios wrote:ποίει αὐτὸ ὀρθῶς ἢ ποίει αὐτὸ ἄνωθεν!
I would omit αὐτό.
I would also agree.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
Mark Lightman
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Re: Motto to Encourage Excellence in Learning Greek

Post by Mark Lightman »

I might shorten it even more:


ποίει ὀρθῶς ἢ ἄνωθεν!
Louis L Sorenson
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Re: Motto to Encourage Excellence in Learning Greek

Post by Louis L Sorenson »

and front it

ὀρθῶς ποίει ἢ ἄνωθεν.

The words ποιῶ ὀρθω- / ποιῶ ὀρθο occur many, many times in the same context. Here are a few:

Dionysius Halicarnassensis Hist., Rhet., Epistula ad Pompeium Geminum
Chapter 1, section 1, line 9
ὀρθῶς ποιεῖς·
Cassius Dio Hist., Historiae Romanae
Book 52, chapter 38, section 2, line 2
εἴτε ὀρθῶς τι ποιεῖς εἴτε καὶ μή,
Gregorius Nazianzenus Theol., Epistulae
Epistle 79, section 1, line 7
τοῦτο μὲν ὀρθῶς ποιεῖς,
Devenios Doulenios
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Re: Motto to Encourage Excellence in Learning Greek

Post by Devenios Doulenios »

ἔχω χάριν (cf. Heb. 12:28) πᾶσιν οις ἀπεκρίθησαν. ἐυδοκεῖ μοι τι ειπεν τὸν Λεωνίδαν (Louis). :D

Δεβένιος
Dewayne Dulaney
Δεβένιος Δουλένιος

Blog: https://letancientvoicesspeak.wordpress.com/

"Ὁδοὶ δύο εἰσί, μία τῆς ζωῆς καὶ μία τοῦ θανάτου."--Διδαχή Α, α'
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