Η αισιοδοξία μου μεγαλώνει όταν βλέπω ότι ο φόβος και η ζήλια φεύγουν σιγά σιγά.

In Greek, possessive words like μου often come after the noun.

So:

η αισιοδοξία μου = my optimism

Literally, it is closer to the optimism of me, but in normal English we simply say my optimism.

This post-noun position is very common in Greek:

• το σπίτι μου = my house
• η φίλη μου = my friend
• ο δάσκαλός μου = my teacher

So μου here is not unusual at all; it is the normal way to express possession.

Greek uses the definite article much more often than English does.

So Greek normally says:

η αισιοδοξία μου
literally: the optimism my
natural English: my optimism

This is the standard pattern with possessives in Greek: article + noun + possessive.

Examples:

• το βιβλίο μου = my book
• η οικογένειά μου = my family
• οι φίλοι μου = my friends

So the article is not extra emphasis; it is simply normal Greek grammar.

Yes. μεγαλώνει literally means grows or becomes bigger.

In this sentence, it is used figuratively:

Η αισιοδοξία μου μεγαλώνει = My optimism grows / My optimism increases

Greek often uses μεγαλώνω in both literal and figurative ways.

Literal:

• Το παιδί μεγαλώνει. = The child is growing up.

Figurative:

• Η αγωνία μεγαλώνει. = The anxiety is growing.
• Η χαρά μου μεγαλώνει. = My joy is growing.

So here it sounds natural and expressive, not strange.

They do two different jobs:

• όταν = when
• ότι = that

So the structure is:

μεγαλώνει όταν βλέπω ότι...
= grows when I see that...

Breakdown:

• όταν βλέπω = when I see
• ότι ο φόβος και η ζήλια φεύγουν = that fear and jealousy are going away

A learner can easily confuse them because they look similar, but their functions are different:

• όταν introduces a time clause
• ότι introduces a content clause after verbs like see, know, say, think

It can mean both, depending on context.

Here βλέπω is probably best understood as:

• I see
• I notice
• I realize

So όταν βλέπω ότι... means something like:

• when I see that...
• when I notice that...
• when I realize that...

Greek often uses βλέπω in this wider sense, just like English does.

Compare:

• Βλέπω ένα αυτοκίνητο. = I see a car.
  literal sight

• Βλέπω ότι είναι κουρασμένος. = I see that he is tired.
  meaning I can tell / I notice

So in your sentence, it is not just about eyesight; it is about recognizing a change.

Because there are two subjects joined by and:

• ο φόβος = fear
• η ζήλια = jealousy

Together, they form a plural subject:

ο φόβος και η ζήλια = fear and jealousy

So the verb must be plural:

φεύγουν = they leave / they go away

This is the same idea as in English:

• Fear and jealousy are leaving not
• Fear and jealousy is leaving

Even though each noun is singular by itself, the combination is grammatically plural.

They are in the nominative case, because they are the subjects of φεύγουν.

You can tell from the articles and forms:

• ο φόβος = nominative singular masculine
• η ζήλια = nominative singular feminine

They are the things doing the action of φεύγουν.

If they were objects, the forms would be different in many cases. For example:

• βλέπω τον φόβο = I see the fear
  accusative
• βλέπω τη ζήλια = I see the jealousy
  accusative

But in your sentence, they are subjects, so nominative is correct.

φεύγουν comes from φεύγω, which means:

• leave
• go away
• depart

In this sentence it is figurative:

ο φόβος και η ζήλια φεύγουν
= fear and jealousy are going away
or
= fear and jealousy are disappearing

Greek often uses φεύγω for emotions, problems, pain, and similar things.

For example:

• Ο πόνος φεύγει. = The pain is going away.
• Η ένταση φεύγει. = The tension is disappearing.

So here it does not mean they are physically walking away; it means they are gradually ceasing to be present.

σιγά σιγά means:

• slowly
• little by little
• gradually

The repetition is fixed and very common in Greek. It is the normal idiomatic expression.

So:

φεύγουν σιγά σιγά = are going away little by little / are gradually disappearing

You should learn σιγά σιγά as a set phrase.

Examples:

• Μαθαίνω ελληνικά σιγά σιγά. = I’m learning Greek little by little.
• Σιγά σιγά θα γίνει καλύτερα. = Little by little it will get better.

Greek often uses the present tense for things that are happening now or developing over time.

So:

• μεγαλώνει = is growing / grows
• βλέπω = I see
• φεύγουν = are going away / go away

In English, depending on style, you might translate with either the simple present or progressive forms:

• My optimism grows when I see that fear and jealousy are slowly going away.
• My optimism is growing when I see that fear and jealousy are slowly fading away.

The first sounds more general or reflective.
The second sounds more immediate and in-progress.

Greek present tense can cover both kinds of meaning, so context and translation style matter.

Because Greek does not form the present tense the same way English does.

In English, many present continuous forms need to be + -ing:

• they are leaving
• they are going away

In Greek, the verb form itself already carries the meaning:

• φεύγουν = they leave / they are leaving / they go away / they are going away

So Greek does not need a separate word for are here.

This is very common in Greek verb forms: one word can contain person and number by itself.

Yes, in many everyday contexts ότι and πως can both introduce a clause meaning that.

So these can both work:

• βλέπω ότι ο φόβος και η ζήλια φεύγουν
• βλέπω πως ο φόβος και η ζήλια φεύγουν

Both mean I see that fear and jealousy are going away.

However, ότι is often felt to be a little more neutral or standard in careful writing, while πως is also very common in speech and writing. For a learner, the important point is that both can mean that in this kind of sentence.

Just do not confuse this πως with the question word πώς = how. In modern writing, πώς as how usually has an accent, while πως meaning that usually does not.

The given word order is natural and clear:

Η αισιοδοξία μου μεγαλώνει όταν βλέπω ότι ο φόβος και η ζήλια φεύγουν σιγά σιγά.

Greek word order is more flexible than English word order, because case endings and verb forms carry more grammatical information. So some parts could be moved for emphasis.

For example, you might also hear:

Όταν βλέπω ότι ο φόβος και η ζήλια φεύγουν σιγά σιγά, η αισιοδοξία μου μεγαλώνει.

This puts the when clause first and sounds like:

When I see that fear and jealousy are slowly going away, my optimism grows.

Both are correct. The original version simply begins with the main idea: my optimism grows.

Yes, ζήλια is a feminine noun, so it takes feminine forms:

• η ζήλια = nominative singular
• τη ζήλια = accusative singular

Greek nouns have grammatical gender, and you have to learn each noun together with its article.

So it is helpful to memorize vocabulary as:

• ο φόβος = fear
• η ζήλια = jealousy
• η αισιοδοξία = optimism

That way you learn the gender and the basic nominative form at the same time.

Yes. Greek often uses articles where English does not.

So:

ο φόβος και η ζήλια
literally: the fear and the jealousy
natural English here: fear and jealousy

In this sentence, English usually sounds better without articles because the nouns are being used in a general or abstract way.

This is a very common difference between the two languages: Greek often keeps the article with abstract nouns, while English often drops it.