What does it mean?
It is not enough to hope for help; we have to act ourselves too.
Closest English saying: God helps those who help themselves.
What does it literally say?
Συν Αθηνά και χείρα κίνει
Sin Athiná ke híra kíni
“With Athena’s help, move your hand as well.”
Calling on the goddess Athena is paired with the practical movement of the hand, stressing personal effort. Folk variants make the same point with Christian saints, for example asking Saint George for help but moving your own foot.
How is it used?
“He’s waiting for a chance, but he has to take the first step himself. With Athena’s help, move your hand as well.”
Other ways Greeks say it
- Αϊ-Γεώργη, βόηθα με· σείε και συ τον πόδα σου
- Αϊ-Γεώργη βούθα μου! Σείε και συ τον πόδα σου
- Βοήθα με, Άγιε Νικόλα, μα κούνα και συ τα χέρια σου
Where does it come from?
Ancient Greek proverbial tradition. The historical attribution of the phrase has not yet been checked against a critical edition or primary source for this entry.
This is an English edition of the Greek entry, which remains the reference version. The English text was written from the Greek entry with the help of AI tools and checked against it. Suggest a correction ↗