Zenobius 3.68

To make an elephant out of a fly

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English

Proverb

To make an elephant out of a fly

Explanation

of those who magnify by speech the smallest things and blow them up. Lucian, in his Encomium of the Fly: "Lest I seem, as the proverb has it, to make an elephant out of a fly."

Greek

Proverb

Ἐλέφαντα ἐκ μυίας ποιεῖν

Explanation

ἐπὶ τῶν τὰ ἐλάχιστα ἐπαιρόντων τῷ λόγῳ καὶ μεγαλοποιούντων. Λουκιανὸς Μυίας ἐγκωμίῳ· Μὴ καὶ δόξω, κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν, ἐλέφαντα ἐκ μυίας ποιεῖν.

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0098.tlg001.1st1K-grc1:3.68