«Σὺν Ἀθηνᾷ καὶ χεῖρα κίνει»
By Sotiria Schoina
This proverb “God helps those who help themselves” was told by a famous Ancient Greek story teller, called Aesop. He was born in 620 BC. There are two versions on where he was born. Aristotle supports that Aesop was born in Thrace, close to the Black Sea coast. Phaedrus said that he was born in Phrygia. Many people say that Aesop never existed, because no writing of his has been preserved. Other people are of the opinion that Aesop existed, and his stories were not written but were told through the centuries. Aesop used animals, objects, even parts of the body as heroes in his fables. Using allegory and metaphor, he managed to describe human character and behavior and teach his listeners a moral. He was a great story teller and all his stories have a message to display.
Aristotle the philosopher and Herodotus the historian, teach us that Aesop was a slave in Samos. Delphi is the place where Aesop died.
This phrase “God helps those who help themselves” is said in one of Aesop’s stories. Sophocles wrote: «No good e’er comes of leisure purposeless; and heaven ne’er helps the men who will not act.» And in Euripides’ Hippolytus (428BC) appears the quote, «Try first thyself, and after call in God; for to the worker God himself lends aid.»
’Ανήρ ναυαγός
Aesop’s story is about a wealthy Athenian, who was on a ship with other passengers, but the ship sank and while everybody else was swimming to save their lives, he prayed to the goddess Athena for help and in return he promised he would make sacrifices to her. The other passengers then told him that he shouldn’t idly wait for the god to save him but he should try to save himself because the gods favour those who help themselves.
With this proverb, we learn that we shouldn’t just wish for things to happen. We must achieve our goals by our own means. We should not expect others to help us but we must depend on ourselves.
http://users.uoa.gr/~nektar/history/1antiquity/arxaioi_megaloi_sofoi.htm
