Phraseologisms of ancient Greece and their meanings. Winged words and expressions

The great civilization of the ancient Greeks left humanity a rich historical and cultural heritage. She gave the world unsurpassed masterpieces of art, including literature (myths and poems). Have you ever wondered how many modern words and expressions have Greek roots, and what they mean?

Phraseologisms from the myths of Ancient Greece

A phraseological unit is an established phrase that can only be understood in its entirety. A special type of phraseological units are verbal figures of speech originating from the ancient era. These expressions take their origins from mythology and. The essence of ancient Greek phraseological units can be understood if you understand their origin from a certain myth. Such “catchphrases” can be safely inserted into the topic of conversation, wanting to emphasize feelings and attitudes towards an object or phenomenon.

Phraseologisms of Ancient Greece: examples

"Achilles' heel " Means a vulnerable, weak point. Thetis dipped her son Achilles into the miraculous waves of the Styx so that the boy would become invulnerable. However, while bathing, she held her son’s body by the heel, which made Achilles’s most vulnerable point his heel. In the future, it was Paris who mortally wounded him in the heel.
« Ariadne's thread “- something that helps you get out of a difficult situation. This expression comes from the myth of Theseus. The hero had to enter into battle with the Cretan monster - the Minotaur and get out of the labyrinth. The daughter of the king of Crete, Ariadne, gives him a guiding ball, which helped the guy escape from the terrible house of the Minotaur.
« Gordian knot “- this phrase is used when they want to indicate a solution to a complicated problem in a simple way. The Phrygians, when electing a ruler, turned to the oracle. He told them to wait for the first person to pass in the direction of the Temple of Zeus with a cart. Gordius became king, and he placed his cart within the walls of the temple, tying it with a reliable, intricate knot. The oracle prophesied that the one who untied the Gordian plexus would be the ruler of Asia. , without thinking for a long time, cut the knot with his sword.
« Medusa's Gaze “- this is what they say when a person creates an unpleasant, bad atmosphere when communicating with him. According to legend, there were three sisters - Gorgons. They looked disgusting: snakes moved on their heads instead of hair, and copper hooves rested on the ground instead of legs. The most terrible of them was the Gorgon Medusa. From her gaze people turned to stone. The hero Perseus managed to outwit the monster in battle. He took a mirror shield so he could avoid looking at the monster while watching it in the reflection. Perseus managed to cut off the Gorgon's head, after which he hung it on his shield.

Nature. Borrowing in the 16th century from lat. language, where natura “nature” is suf. derived from natum “born” (from nascor “born”). Wed. nature.
“boat, shuttle”, Ukrainian kayuk. Borrowed from Tat., Tur., Crimean-Tat., Kazakh.

Scylla and Charybdis - in ancient Greek mythology, two monsters that lived on both sides of the narrow sea strait between Italy and Sicily and killed passing sailors. Scylla, who had six heads, grabbed oarsmen from passing ships, and Charybdis, who sucked water into herself from a great distance, swallowed the ship along with it.

Skilla (ancient Greek Σκύλλα, in Latin transliteration Scylla, lat. Scylla) and Charybdis (ancient Greek Χάρυβδις, the transcription of Charybdis is acceptable) are sea monsters from ancient Greek mythology.

Charybdis in the ancient Greek epic is a personified representation of the all-consuming abyss of the sea (etymologically, Charybdis means “whirlpool,” although there are other interpretations of this word). In the Odyssey, Charybdis is depicted as a sea deity (ancient Greek δία Χάρυβδις), living in a strait under a rock within an arrow's flight distance from another rock, which served as Scylla's seat.

The comparison of Skilla with Charybdis led to the formation of a proverb equivalent to the Russian “out of the frying pan and into the fire”:

Phraseologisms from ancient Greek myths

Phraseologism “Sisyphean labor” meaning

An ancient Greek myth tells of the cunning and treacherous Corinthian king Sisyphus, who deceived the gods several times in order to prolong his luxurious life on earth.

The angry Zeus sentenced him to eternal torment in hell for this: Sisyphus had to roll a huge stone up a high mountain, which at the top suddenly broke out of his hands and rolled down. And it all started all over again...

The expression of Sisyphean labor came to mean hard, exhausting, useless work.

Phraseologism “Apple of discord” meaning

According to ancient Greek myth, one day the goddess of discord, Eris, was not invited to a feast. Bearing a grudge, Eris decided to take revenge on the gods. She took the golden apple, on which was written “most beautiful,” and quietly threw it between the goddesses Hera, Aphrodite and Athena. The goddesses argued over which of them should own it. Each considered herself the most beautiful. The son of the Trojan king Paris, who was invited to be a judge, gave the apple to Aphrodite, and in gratitude she helped him kidnap the wife of the Spartan king Helen. Because of this, the Trojan War broke out.

The expression apple of discord has turned into a phraseological unit denoting the cause of a quarrel or enmity

MEDUSA'S LOOK

If a person is unpleasant to communicate with and is not liked by others, then they are often said to have the look of Medusa.

Medusa Gorgon is a monster with snakes writhing on her head, and instead of feet there were copper hooves. If a person looked at her, he immediately turned into stone.

Perseus managed to defeat the monster. To kill Medusa, the hero had to show remarkable ingenuity: during the battle he used a shiny shield in which the Gorgon was reflected - so Perseus never looked at the monster. Then he cut off the head of the defeated Medusa and attached it to the shield. As it turned out, her gaze could still turn all living things into stone.

BARREL DANAID

A barrel of Danaids is meaningless, useless work.

As the ancient Greek legend says, a long time ago, King Danaus sat on the Libyan throne, who had fifty beautiful daughters. And the gods gave the Egyptian king of Egypt fifty sons, whom he planned to marry with the daughters of Danaus. But the Libyan king opposed the will of Egypt and fled with his daughters. In the Greek city of Argos, the sons overtook Danaus and forced his daughters to marry them. But Danaus did not want to put up with such an outcome and persuaded his daughters to kill the spouses after the wedding feast. All but one of the sisters fulfilled their father’s command. The beautiful Hypermnestra sincerely fell in love with the handsome Lynceus and could not take his life.

The crime committed by the Danaids angered the Gods, and they cruelly punished the offenders. In the terrible Tartarus, a terrible curse awaited them - the sisters are forever doomed to pour water into a bottomless barrel, trying to fill it.

ATTICA SALT

Attic salt - (book) - elegant joke, refined wit.

The reverse is a tracing paper from Lat. sal Atticus. The expression is attributed to the ancient Roman writer and orator Cicero (106 - 43 BC). In an effort to popularize Greek culture in Rome, Cicero devoted significant space in his writings to the theory of oratory developed by the Greeks. He especially singled out the inhabitants of Attica, famous for their eloquence. “They were all... sprinkled with the salt of wit...” wrote Cicero.

PROMETHEAN FIRE

Promethean fire - (book) the spirit of nobility, courage, unquenchable desire to achieve high goals.

The expression comes from ancient Greek mythology. One of the Titans, Prometheus, stole fire from the gods and taught people how to use it. An angry Zeus ordered Hephaestus to chain the titan to a rock, where an eagle flew every day to peck Prometheus’ liver. The hero Hercules freed Prometheus.

ARIADNE'S THREAD

Ariadne's thread means a way out of any difficult, confusing situation. The expression originated from the ancient Greek myth of the Golden Fleece, when Ariadne gave her lover a ball of thread so that he could find a way out of the labyrinth. Here you can download or listen to the MYTH "Theseus's Journey to Crete" - the source of the phraseological unit Ariadne's thread.

OLYMPIAN CALM

Olympic calm - imperturbable calm.

Olympus is a mountain in Greece where, as the Greek myths tell, the gods lived. For Sophocles, Aristotle, Virgil and other authors, Olympus is the firmament inhabited by the gods. The Olympians are immortal gods, always preserving the majestic solemnity of their appearance and imperturbable calm of spirit.

TSAR! REMEMBER THE GREEKS

Tsar! Remember the Greeks. 1. Reminder of an urgent matter. 2. A reminder of the need for revenge.

The king of Persia (522-4X6 BC) Darius I ordered his slave to repeat them loudly to him three times a day, every time Darius sat down at the table. As the ancient Greek historian Herodotus reports, this ruler thereby showed that he had not forgotten how the Greeks (Athenians and Ionians) captured and burned the Persian city of Sardis, and that he would certainly take revenge when possible.

PANDORA'S BOX

Pandora's Box. Allegorically - “a source of misfortune, trouble.” The phraseological unit is associated with the myth of Pandora, who received from the god Zeus a closed box filled with all earthly disasters and misfortunes. Curious Pandora opened the box and human misfortunes flew out.

PROCRUSTEAN BED

Procrustean bed. An allegorical expression is “a model given in advance, according to which something needs to be prepared.” One of the Greek myths tells about the robber Procrustes (torturer). He caught passers-by and forced them under his bed: if the person was longer, his legs were cut off, if he was shorter, they were stretched out.

THE GOLDEN FLEECE

Golden Fleece - gold, wealth that people strive to acquire.

Ancient Greek myths tell that the hero Jason went to Colchis (the eastern coast of the Black Sea) to mine the golden fleece (golden wool of a ram), which was guarded by a dragon and bulls that spewed flames from their mouths. Jason built the ship "Argo" (fast), after which the participants in this, according to legend, the first long-distance voyage of antiquity were called Argonauts. With the help of the sorceress Medea, Jason, having overcome all obstacles, successfully took possession of the Golden Fleece. The first to expound this myth was the poet Pindar (518-442 BC).

RETURN TO YOUR PENATES

Return to your home - return under your native roof.

What does penates mean and why do they come back to them? The ancient Romans believed in kind, cozy gods who lived in every house and guarded it, kind of brownies. They were called penates, they were revered, they treated them to food from their table, and when they left for a foreign land, they tried to take small images of them with them.

Remember "Eugene Onegin" by A.S. Pushkin:

Returned to his penates,

Vladimir Lensky visited

The neighbor's monument is modest.

TWO-FACED JANUS

In Roman mythology, Janus - the god of time, entrances and exits - was depicted with two faces. One face, a young one, was turned forward to the future. Another, senile, - back to the past. In modern language it is used as a synonym for an insincere, two-faced person, a double-dealer.

GREEK GIFT

The gifts of the Danaans are insidious gifts brought with a treacherous purpose.

An expression from the Iliad: in the legend, the Greeks took Troy by building a huge wooden horse and giving it to the Trojans. A squad of warriors was hidden inside the horse.

PENELOPE'S FABRIC

Penelope's fabric is about sophisticated cunning.

Penelope, the wife of Odysseus (the hero of Homer's poem "The Odyssey"), promised to make a choice from among the suitors who annoyed her after she finished weaving a bedspread for her old father-in-law Laertes. But every night she unraveled everything she managed to do during the day. When her cunning was revealed, Odysseus returned and killed all the applicants for his wife’s hand in a fierce battle.

GOLDEN AGE

In ancient times, people believed that a long time ago, at the dawn of time, a wonderful golden age reigned on earth, when humanity enjoyed peace and serenity - people did not know what fear, wars, laws, crimes, hunger were.

And although these naive beliefs have long since sunk into oblivion, the golden age phraseology is still alive - that’s what we call the most best time, the heyday of something.

Here you can listen to or download the MYTH "FIVE CENTURIES"

CORNUCOPIA

The cornucopia is an endless source of prosperity and wealth.

An ancient Greek myth tells that the cruel god Kronos did not want to have children, because he was afraid that they would take away his power. Therefore, his wife gave birth to Zeus in secret, entrusting the nymphs to look after him. Zeus was fed with the milk of the divine goat Amalthea. One day she got caught in a tree and broke off her horn. The nymph filled it with fruits and gave it to Zeus. Zeus gave the horn to the nymphs who raised him, promising that whatever they desired would appear from it.

So the expression cornucopia became a symbol of prosperity and wealth.

Here you can listen to or download the MYTH "THE BIRTH OF ZEUS"

BONDS OF HYMENEUS

The bond of Hymen is the mutual obligations that living together imposes on spouses, or, simply, matrimony itself, marriage.

Bonds are fetters, something that binds a person or binds one living creature to another. There are many words of this root: “prisoner”, “knot”, “bridle”, “burden”, etc. Thus, we are talking about something like “bundles” or “chains”, but in Ancient Greece Hymen was the name of the god marriage, patron of weddings.

Evgeny Onegin in the novel by A. S. Pushkin says to Tatyana Larina:

You judge what kind of roses

Hymen will prepare for us... -

when it comes to their possible marriage.

Here you can download or listen to the MYTH "HYMENEUS"

TANTALUM FLOUR

Tantalum's torment, the torment of Tantalus - suffering from the consciousness of the proximity of the desired goal and the impossibility of achieving it. Here you can listen or download MYTH "TANTALUM"

AUGEAN STABLES

AUGEAN STABLES - a dirty place, a neglected business, a mess.

GORDIAN KNOT

Cutting the Gordian knot means boldly and energetically solving a difficult matter.

I CARRY EVERYTHING WITH ME

Everything that a person carries with him is his inner wealth, knowledge and intelligence.

PANIC FEAR (HORROR)

Panic fear is intense fear. Here you can listen or download the myth "PAN"

PLANT OF CHAMPIONSHIP

The palm is a symbol of victory, almost the same as a laurel wreath.

RIDING PEGASUS

Ride Pegasus - become a poet, speak in poetry

UNDER THE AUSPICES OF

To be under the auspices - to enjoy someone's patronage, to be protected.

SWORD OF DAMOCLES

The sword of Damocles is a constant threat.

HOMERIC LAUGHTER (LAUGHTER)

Homeric laughter is uncontrollable laughter.

PILLARS OF HERCULES (PILLARS)

To say “reached the pillars of Hercules” means reached the extreme limit.

MENTOR TONE

“Mentor tone” - a mentoring, arrogant tone.

In Greek mythology, the Augean stables are the vast stables of Augeas, the king of Elis, which were not cleaned for many years. They were cleansed in one day by Hercules: he directed a river through the stables, the waters of which carried away all the manure.

2. Ariadne's thread is what helps to find a way out of a difficult situation.

The expression originated from the Greek myths about the hero Theseus, who killed the Minotaur. The Athenians were obliged, at the request of the Cretan king Minos, to send seven young men and seven girls to Crete every year to be devoured by the Minotaur, who lived in a labyrinth built for him, from which no one could escape. Theseus was helped to accomplish this dangerous feat by the daughter of the Cretan king, Ariadne, who fell in love with him. Secretly from her father, she gave him a sharp sword and a ball of thread. When Theseus and the young men and girls doomed to be torn to pieces were taken into the labyrinth, Theseus tied the end of a thread at the entrance and walked through the intricate passages, gradually unwinding the ball. Having killed the Minotaur, Theseus found the way back from the labyrinth along a thread and brought out all the doomed.

3. Achilles' heel is a weak spot.

In Greek mythology, Achilles (Achilles) is one of the strongest and bravest heroes. He is sung in Homer's Iliad. Achilles' mother, the sea goddess Thetis, dipped him into the sacred river Styx to make her son's body invulnerable. While dipping, she held him by the heel, which was not touched by the water, so the heel remained Achilles’s only vulnerable spot, where he was mortally wounded by Paris’s arrow.

4. Barrel Danaid - endless labor, fruitless work.

The Danaids are the fifty daughters of the king of Libya, Danaus, with whom his brother Egypt, the king of Egypt, was at enmity. The fifty sons of Egypt, pursuing Danaus, who fled from Libya to Argolis, forced the fugitive to give them his fifty daughters as wives. On their very first wedding night, the Danaids, at the request of their father, killed their husbands. Only one of them decided to disobey her father. For the crime committed, forty-nine Danaids were, after their death, condemned by the gods to forever fill a bottomless barrel with water in the underworld of Hades.

5. The Age of Astraea is a happy time, time.

Astraea is the goddess of justice. The time when she was on earth was a happy, “golden age.” She left the earth in the Iron Age and since then, under the name of Virgo, she has been shining in the constellation of the Zodiac.

6. Hercules. Herculean labor (feat). Pillars of Hercules (pillars).

Hercules (Hercules) is a hero of Greek myths, gifted with extraordinary physical strength. He performed the famous twelve labors. On the opposite shores of Europe and Africa, near the Strait of Gibraltar, he erected the “Pillars of Hercules (Pillars)”. This is how the rocks of Gibraltar and Jebel Musa were called in the ancient world. These pillars were considered the “edge of the world,” beyond which there is no way. Therefore, the expression “to reach the pillars of Hercules” began to be used in the meaning: to reach the limit of something, to the extreme point. The expression “Herculean labor, feat” is used when talking about any task that requires extraordinary effort.

7. Hercules at the crossroads. Applies to a person who finds it difficult to choose between two solutions.

The expression originated from the speech of the Greek sophist Prodicus. In this speech, Prodicus told an allegory he had composed about the young man Hercules (Hercules), who sat at a crossroads and reflected on the path of life that he had to choose. Two women approached him: Effeminacy, who painted him a life full of pleasures and luxury, and Virtue, who showed him the difficult path to glory.

8. Bonds (chains) Hymenia - marriage, matrimony.

In ancient Greece, the word “hymen” meant both a wedding song and the deity of marriage, sanctified by religion and law, in contrast to Eros, the god of free love.

9. Sword of Damocles - impending, threatening danger.

The expression originated from an ancient Greek legend told by Cicero in his essay “Tusculan Conversations”. Damocles, one of the close associates of the Syracusan tyrant Dionysius the Elder, began to enviously speak of him as the happiest of people. Dionysius, in order to teach the envious man a lesson, put him in his place. During the feast, Damocles saw a sharp sword hanging above his head from a horsehair. Dionysius explained that this is an emblem of the dangers to which he, as a ruler, is constantly exposed, despite his seemingly happy life.

10. Gifts of the Danaans - “insidious” gifts that bring with them death for those who receive them.

A Trojan horse is a secret, insidious plan (hence the Trojan virus (Trojan)).

The expressions originate from Greek tales of the Trojan War. The Danaans (Greeks), after a long and unsuccessful siege of Troy, resorted to cunning: they built a huge wooden horse, left it at the walls of Troy, and themselves pretended to sail away from the shore of the Troas. Priest Laocoon, seeing this horse and knowing the tricks of the Danaans, exclaimed: “Whatever it is, I am afraid of the Danaans, even those who bring gifts!” But the Trojans, not listening to the warnings of Laocoon and the prophetess Cassandra, dragged the horse into the city. At night, the Danaans, hiding inside the horse, came out, killed the guards, opened the city gates, let in their comrades who had returned on ships, and thus took possession of Troy.

11. Two-faced Janus is a two-faced person.

Janus is the god of every beginning and end, entrances and exits (janua - door). He was depicted with two faces facing in opposite directions: the young one - forward, to the future, the old one - back, to the past.

12. Golden Fleece - gold, wealth that people strive to acquire.

Argonauts are brave sailors and adventurers.

Jason went to Colchis (the eastern coast of the Black Sea) to mine the golden fleece (golden wool of a ram), which was guarded by a dragon and bulls that spewed flames from their mouths. Jason built the ship “Argo”, after which the participants in this, according to legend, the first long-distance voyage of antiquity were called the Argonauts. With the help of the sorceress Medea, Jason, having overcome all obstacles, successfully took possession of the Golden Fleece.

13. Sink into oblivion - disappear forever, be forgotten.

Lethe is the river of oblivion in Hades, the underworld. Upon arrival in the underworld, the souls of the dead drank water from it and forgot their entire past life. The name of the river became a symbol of oblivion.

14. Between Scylla and Charybdis - in a difficult situation, when danger threatens from two sides.

According to the legends of the ancient Greeks, two monsters lived on the coastal rocks on both sides of the strait: Scylla and Charybdis, who devoured sailors.

15. The torments of Tantalus - suffering due to unsatisfied desires.

Tantalus, king of Phrygia (also called king of Lydia), was the favorite of the gods, who often invited him to their feasts. But, proud of his position, he offended the gods, for which he was severely punished. According to Homer (“Odyssey”, II, 582-592), his punishment was that, cast into Tartarus (hell), he forever experiences unbearable pangs of thirst and hunger. He stands up to his neck in water, but the water recedes from him as soon as he lowers his head to drink. Branches with luxurious fruits hang over him, but as soon as he stretches out his hands to them, the branches deviate.

16. A narcissist is a person who loves only himself.

Narcissus is a handsome young man, the son of the river god Cephisus and the nymph Leiriope. One day Narcissus, who had never loved anyone, bent over a stream and, seeing his face in it, fell in love with himself and died of melancholy. His body turned into a flower.

17. Nectar and ambrosia - an unusually tasty drink, an exquisite dish.

In Greek mythology, nectar is a drink, ambrosia (ambrosia) is the food of the gods, giving them immortality.

18. Olympians are arrogant, inaccessible people.

Olympic bliss is the highest degree of bliss.

Olympic calm - calm, undisturbed by anything.

Olympic greatness is solemnity with manners.

Olympus is a mountain in Greece, where, as told in Greek myths, the immortal gods lived.

19. Panic fear is a sudden, strong fear that causes confusion.

It arose from the myths about Pan, the god of forests and fields. According to myths, Pan brings sudden and unaccountable terror to people, especially to travelers in remote and secluded places, as well as to troops who flee from this. This is where the word “panic” comes from.

20. Pygmalion and Galatea - about passionate love without reciprocity.

The myth about the famous sculptor Pygmalion says that he openly expressed his contempt for women. The goddess Aphrodite, angered by this, forced him to fall in love with the statue of the young girl Galatea, which he himself created, and doomed him to the torment of unrequited love. Pygmalion's passion, however, turned out to be so strong that it breathed life into the statue. The revived Galatea became his wife.

21. Promethean fire is a sacred fire burning in the human soul; unquenchable desire to achieve high goals.

Prometheus is one of the Titans. He stole fire from the sky and taught people how to use it, which undermined faith in the power of the gods. For this, the angry Zeus ordered Hephaestus (the god of fire and blacksmithing) to chain Prometheus to a rock. The eagle that flew in every day tore at the liver of the chained titan.

22. Penelope’s work is a never-ending job (wife’s fidelity).

The expression originated from Homer's Odyssey. Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, remained faithful to him during many years of separation from him, despite the harassment of suitors. She said that she was postponing a new marriage until the day when she finished weaving a coffin cover for her father-in-law, the elder Laertes. She spent the whole day weaving, and at night she unraveled everything she had woven during the day and set to work again.

23. Sphinx riddle - something unsolvable.

The Sphinx is a monster with the face and breasts of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of a bird, who lived on a rock near Thebes. The Sphinx lay in wait for travelers and asked them riddles. He killed those who failed to solve them. When the Theban king Oedipus solved the riddles given to him, the monster took his own life.

24. Sisyphean labor is endless, ethereal (useless) work.

The Corinthian king Sisyphus, for insulting the gods, was sentenced by Zeus to eternal torment in Hades: he had to roll a huge stone up a mountain, which, having reached the top, rolled down again.

25. Circe is a dangerous beauty, an insidious seductress.

Circe (Latin form; Greek Kirke) - according to Homer, an insidious sorceress. With the help of a magic drink, she turned Odysseus's companions into pigs. Odysseus, to whom Hermes gave a magical plant, defeated her spell, and she invited him to share her love. Having forced Circe to swear that she was not plotting anything bad against him and would return his companions to human form, Odysseus bowed to her proposal.

26. An apple of discord is the cause of a dispute, enmity.

The goddess of discord, Eris, rolled a golden apple with the inscription: “To the most beautiful” between the guests at the wedding feast. Among the guests were the goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, who argued about which of them should receive the apple. Their dispute was resolved by Paris, the son of the Trojan king Priam, by awarding the apple to Aphrodite. In gratitude, Aphrodite helped Paris kidnap Helen, the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus, which caused the Trojan War.

27. Pandora's Box is a source of misfortune, great disasters.

Once upon a time, people lived without knowing any misfortunes, illnesses or old age, until Prometheus stole fire from the gods. For this, an angry Zeus sent a beautiful woman to earth - Pandora. She received from Zeus a casket in which all human misfortunes were locked. Spurred on by curiosity, Pandora opened the casket and scattered all the misfortunes.

28. Golden shower - big money or easily obtained wealth.

This image arose from the Greek myth of Zeus, who, captivated by the beauty of Danae, the daughter of the Argive king Acrisius, appeared to her in the form of golden rain, after which her son Perseus was born.

29. Cyclops - one-eyed

Cyclops are one-eyed giant blacksmiths, strongmen, cannibals, cruel and rude, living in caves on the tops of mountains, engaged in cattle breeding. The Cyclopes were credited with building gigantic structures.

WORKS

A.S. Pushkin

PROPHET

In the dark desert I dragged myself, -

And the six-winged seraph

He appeared to me at a crossroads.

With fingers as light as a dream

He touched my eyes.

The prophetic eyes have opened,

Like a frightened eagle.

He touched my ears,

And they were filled with noise and ringing:

And I heard the sky tremble,

And the heavenly flight of angels,

And the reptile of the sea underwater,

And the valley of the vine is vegetated.

And he came to my lips,

And my sinner tore out my tongue,

And idle and crafty,

And the sting of the wise snake

My frozen lips

He put it with his bloody right hand.

And he cut my chest with a sword,

And he took out my trembling heart,

And coal blazing with fire,

I pushed the hole into my chest.

I lay like a corpse in the desert,

And God’s voice called to me:

"Rise up, prophet, and see and listen,

Be fulfilled by my will,

And, bypassing the seas and lands,

Burn the hearts of people with the verb."

Notes

* Prophet (p. 149). In the image of the prophet, as in “Imitations of the Koran” (see above), Pushkin understood the poet. The picture depicted by Pushkin, in several small details, goes back to the VI chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Bible (six-winged Seraphim with a burning coal in his hand).

The poem was originally part of a cycle of four poems, entitled “The Prophet,” with anti-government content, dedicated to the events of December 14. M.P. Pogodin explained to P.A. Vyazemsky in a letter dated March 29, 1837: “He wrote “The Prophet” while traveling to Moscow in 1826. There should be four poems, the first one has just been published (“We are tormented by spiritual thirst, etc.”) "("Links", VI, 1936, p. 153). The remaining three poems were destroyed and did not reach us.

The version of the first verse of the “Prophet” - “We are tormented by great sorrow”, available in Pushkin’s recording, apparently refers to the original edition of the famous text.

Six-winged seraph- In Christian mythology, seraphim were angels who were especially close to God and glorified him.

Finger- finger

Zenitsa- Pupil, eye.

Opened up– opened

Prophetic- Foreseeing the future, prophetic

Gorny(flight) - Located in the heights.

Vegetation– growth

Right hand- right hand, sometimes even a hand

Vizhd- Look

Listen up- Listen to someone or something, pay attention to someone or something.

Theme of the poem:

The poem was written in 1826. This multidimensional poetic work belongs to a series of poems, the key themes of which are the problem of the poet’s spiritual realization and the problem of the essence of poetry.

Composition and plot:

In the compositional aspect, it seems possible to divide the text into three equal parts. The first characterizes the place and time of the action (it consists of four verses). To some extent, the initial formula of the poem echoes the opening part of Dante's Divine Comedy. The “six-winged seraphim,” an angel especially close to the throne of God and glorifying it, indicates immersion in the Old Testament space; he is a hero “at a crossroads,” which also emphasizes the sacredness and universality of the issues under consideration. According to the Old Testament ideas described in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, one of the seraphim cleanses the prophet’s lips by touching them with a hot coal, which he takes with tongs from the sacred altar, thereby preparing him for the fulfillment of the mission of ministry. The theme of fire receives large-scale development in the poem at the compositional and lexical-semantic levels; the internal form of the word “seraphim” (translated from Hebrew as “fiery”, “flaming”) also actualizes the concept: in the word one can distinguish the producing root srp “to burn”, “to burn”, “to scorch”. The second part of the poem takes twenty lines and is dedicated to the transformation of a person into a Prophet. Its unity and internal correlation are actualized by a special mechanism of poetic expressiveness: a complex sound anaphora with “and”. The final part consists of six lines and expresses the idea of ​​prophetic ministry; in it, the voice of God, calling out to the lyrical hero, sums up the transformation that has taken place. The poem is written in iambic tetrameter with periodic significant interruptions in the form of spondees and pyrrhics, with paired, cross and span rhymes with masculine and feminine rhymes; at the rhythmic-metric level, the key idea of ​​the poem is also reflected.

Lermontov "Duma"

I look sadly at our generation!

His future is either empty or dark,

Meanwhile, under the burden of knowledge and doubt,

It will grow old in inactivity.

We are rich, barely out of the cradle,

By the mistakes of our fathers and their late minds,

And life already torments us, like a smooth path without a goal,

Like a feast at someone else's holiday.

Shamefully indifferent to good and evil,

At the beginning of the race we wither without a fight;

In the face of danger they are shamefully cowardly

And before the authorities - despicable slaves.

So skinny fruit, ripe before its time,

It pleases neither our taste nor our eyes,

Hanging between the flowers, an orphaned alien,

And the hour of their beauty is the hour of his fall!

We have dried up the mind with fruitless science,

I feel envious from my neighbors and friends

Passions ridiculed by disbelief.

We barely touched the cup of pleasure,

But we did not save our youthful strength;

From every joy, fearing satiety,

We have extracted the best juice forever.

Dreams of poetry, creation of art

Our minds are not moved by sweet delight;

We greedily cherish the remainder of the feeling in our chests -

Buried by stinginess and useless treasure.

And we hate and we love by chance,

Without sacrificing anything, neither anger nor love,

And some secret cold reigns in the soul,

When fire boils in the blood.

And the luxurious amusements of our ancestors are boring to us,

Their conscientious, childish depravity;

And we rush to the grave without happiness and without glory,

Looking back mockingly.

We will pass over the world without noise or trace,

Not the genius of the work begun.

And our ashes, with the severity of a judge and a citizen,

A descendant will insult with a contemptuous verse,

The bitter mockery of a deceived son

Over the wasted father.

The poem "Duma" in its genre is the same elegy-satire as "Death of the Poet". Only the satire here is directed not at court society, but at the bulk of the noble intelligentsia of the 30s.

The main theme of the poem is human social behavior. The topic is revealed in Lermontov’s Characteristics of the Generation of the 30s. This generation, which grew up in conditions of gloomy reaction, is not at all the same as it was in the 10-20s, not the generation of the “fathers,” i.e., the Decembrists. The socio-political struggle of the Decembrists is considered by them as a “mistake” (“We are rich, barely from the cradle, by the mistakes of our fathers...”). The new generation has withdrawn from participation in public life and delved into the pursuit of “sterile science”; it is not bothered by questions of good and evil; it shows “shameful cowardice in the face of danger” and is “despicable slaves in front of power.” Neither poetry nor art says anything to these people. Their fate is bleak:

Crowd gloomy and soon forgotten

We will pass over the world without noise or trace,

Without giving up the centuries a single fertile thought,

Not the genius of the work begun.

Such a harsh assessment by Lermontov of his contemporaries was dictated by his social views as a progressive poet. For him, who as a young man declared: “So life is boring when there is no struggle,” an indifferent attitude towards the evil reigning in life is especially unacceptable. Indifference to public life is the spiritual death of a person.

Severely condemning his generation for this indifference, for its retreat from the socio-political struggle, Lermontov seems to be calling him to moral renewal, to awakening from spiritual hibernation. Lermontov, acting as an accuser, in this echoes Ryleev, who with the same denunciation addressed his contemporaries evading political struggle in the poem “Citizen.”

How fair and accurate was the characterization of the generation of the 30s given by Lermontov in the Duma is best shown by the testimonies of his contemporaries, Belinsky and Herzen, who deeply felt the horror of their era. Belinsky wrote about “Duma”: “These poems were written in blood; they came out of the depths of an offended spirit. This is a cry, this is a groan of a person for whom the absence of inner life is an evil, a thousand times more terrible than physical death!

apathy, inner emptiness and will not respond to him with a cry, with his groan? And Herzen spoke about this era: “Will future people understand, will they appreciate all the horror, all the tragic side of our existence?.. Will they understand... why we don’t raise our hands to great work, why in a moment of delight we don’t forget the melancholy?”

Griboyedov "Woe from Wit"

“Woe from Wit” - a comedy in verse by A. S. Griboyedov - a work that made its creator a classic of Russian literature. It combines elements of classicism and romanticism and realism, which were new to the early 19th century.

The comedy "Woe from Wit" - a satire on aristocratic Moscow society in the first half of the 19th century - is one of the peaks of Russian drama and poetry; actually completed “comedy in verse” as a genre. The aphoristic style contributed to the fact that she “went into quotations.”

Text history:

Around 1816, Griboyedov, having returned from abroad, found himself in St. Petersburg at one of the social evenings and was amazed at how the entire public admired everything foreign. That evening she showered attention and care on a talkative Frenchman; Griboyedov could not stand it and made a fiery incriminating speech. While he was speaking, someone from the audience declared that Griboedov was crazy, and thus spread the rumor throughout St. Petersburg. Griboedov, in order to take revenge on secular society, decided to write a comedy on this occasion.

Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm"

“The Thunderstorm” - a play in five acts by Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky

History of creation

The play was begun by Alexander Ostrovsky in July and completed on October 9, 1859. The manuscript is stored in the Russian State Library.

The writing of the play “The Thunderstorm” is also associated with the writer’s personal drama. In the manuscript of the play, next to Katerina’s famous monologue: “And what dreams I had, Varenka, what dreams! Or golden temples, or some extraordinary gardens, and everyone is singing invisible voices...”, there is Ostrovsky’s entry: “I heard from L.P. about the same dream...”. L.P. is the actress Lyubov Pavlovna Kositskaya, with whom the young playwright had a very difficult personal relationship: both had families. The actress's husband was the artist of the Maly Theater I. M. Nikulin. And Alexander Nikolaevich also had a family: he lived in a civil marriage with the commoner Agafya Ivanovna, with whom he had common children (all of them died as children). Ostrovsky lived with Agafya Ivanovna for almost twenty years.

It was Lyubov Pavlovna Kositskaya who served as the prototype for the image of the heroine of the play, Katerina, and she also became the first performer of the role.

Alexander Golovin. Bank of the Volga. 1916 Sketches for the drama “The Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky

In 1848, Alexander Ostrovsky went with his family to Kostroma, to the Shchelykovo estate. The natural beauty of the Volga region amazed the playwright, and then he thought about the play. For a long time it was believed that the plot of the drama “The Thunderstorm” was taken by Ostrovsky from the life of the Kostroma merchants. At the beginning of the 20th century, Kostroma residents could accurately indicate the place of Katerina’s suicide.

In his play, Ostrovsky raises the problem of the turning point in social life that occurred in the 1850s, the problem of changing social foundations.

The names of the characters in the play are endowed with symbolism: Kabanova is an overweight woman with a difficult character; Kuligin is a “kuliga”, a swamp, some of its features and name are similar to the name of the inventor Kulibin; the name Katerina means “pure”; opposed to her is Varvara - “barbarian”.

In the play “The Thunderstorm,” the writer characterized the state of provincial society in Russia on the eve of reforms. The playwright examines such issues as the position of women in the family, the modernity of “Domostroy”, the awakening in a person of a sense of personality and self-worth, the relationship between the “old”, oppressive, and the “young”, voiceless.

The main idea of ​​“The Thunderstorm” is that a strong, gifted and courageous person with natural aspirations and desires cannot live happily in a society where “cruel morals” prevail, where “Domostroy” reigns, where everything is based on fear, deception and submission .

The name “Thunderstorm” can be viewed from several perspectives. A thunderstorm is a natural phenomenon, and nature plays an important role in the composition of the play. So, it complements the action, emphasizes the main idea, the essence of what is happening. For example, a beautiful night landscape corresponds to a date between Katerina and Boris. The vastness of the Volga emphasizes Katerina’s dreams of freedom; a picture of cruel nature is revealed when describing the suicide of the main character. Then nature contributes to the development of action, pushes events, as it were, stimulates the development and resolution of the conflict. Thus, in the thunderstorm scene, the elements prompt Katerina to publicly repent.

So, the title “The Thunderstorm” emphasizes the main idea of ​​the play: a sense of self-worth awakening in people; the desire for freedom and independence begins to threaten the existence of the old order.

The world of Kabanikha and Wild is coming to an end, because a “ray of light” has appeared in the “dark kingdom” - Katerina - a woman who cannot put up with the oppressive atmosphere reigning in the family, in the city. Her protest was expressed in her love for Boris, in her unauthorized death. Katerina chose death over existence in a world where she was “sick of everything.” She is the first lightning bolt of the storm that will soon break out in society. Clouds have been gathering over the “old” world for a long time. Domostroy has lost its original meaning. Kabanikha and Dikoy use his ideas only to justify their tyranny and tyranny. They were unable to convey to their children true faith in the inviolability of their rules of life. Young people live according to the laws of their fathers as long as they can achieve a compromise through deception. When oppression becomes unbearable, when deception only partially saves, then protest begins to awaken in a person, it develops and is capable of breaking out at any moment.

Katerina's suicide awakened the man in Tikhon. He saw that there is always a way out of this situation, and he, the most weak-willed of all the characters described by Ostrovsky, who unquestioningly obeyed his mother all his life, blames her for the death of his wife in public. If Tikhon is already able to declare his protest, then the “dark kingdom” really does not have long to exist.

The thunderstorm is also a symbol of renewal. In nature, after a thunderstorm, the air is fresh and clean. In society, after the storm that began with Katerina’s protest, there will also be a renewal: the oppressive and subjugating orders will probably be replaced by a society of freedom and independence.

But a thunderstorm occurs not only in nature, but also in Katerina’s soul. She committed a sin and repents of it. Two feelings are fighting in her: fear of Kabanikha and fear that “death will suddenly find you as you are, with all your sins...” In the end, religiosity and fear of retribution for sin prevail, and Katerina publicly admits to what she has done sin. None of the residents of Kalinov can understand her: these people, like Katerina, do not have a rich spiritual world and high moral values; they do not feel remorse, because their morality is that everything is “sewn and covered.” However, recognition does not bring relief to Katerina. As long as she believes in Boris's love, she is able to live. But, realizing that Boris is no better than Tikhon, that she is still alone in this world, where she is “sick of everything,” she finds no other way out but to throw herself into the Volga. Katerina broke religious law for the sake of freedom. The thunderstorm ends with renewal in her soul. The young woman was completely freed from the shackles of the Kalinov world and religion.

Thus, the thunderstorm occurring in the soul of the main character turns into a thunderstorm in society itself, and the whole action takes place against the backdrop of the elements.

Using the image of a thunderstorm, Ostrovsky showed that a society that has become obsolete, based on deception, and the old order, depriving a person of the opportunity to express the highest feelings, are doomed to destruction. This is as natural as the purification of nature through a thunderstorm. Thus, Ostrovsky expressed the hope that renewal in society would come as soon as possible.

To the question Give examples (5) of phraseological units from the myths of ancient Greece and their meaning. given by the author Yoonya Sachenko the best answer is you can do this:
1. Augean stables are a heavily clogged, polluted or cluttered room.
In Greek mythology, the Augean stables are the vast stables of Augeas, the king of Elis, which were not cleaned for many years. They were cleansed in one day by Hercules: he directed a river through the stables, the waters of which carried away all the manure.
2. Ariadne's thread is what helps to find a way out of a difficult situation.
The expression originated from the Greek myths about the hero Theseus, who killed the Minotaur. The Athenians were obliged, at the request of the Cretan king Minos, to send seven young men and seven girls to Crete every year to be devoured by the Minotaur, who lived in a labyrinth built for him, from which no one could escape. Theseus was helped to accomplish this dangerous feat by the daughter of the Cretan king, Ariadne, who fell in love with him. Secretly from her father, she gave him a sharp sword and a ball of thread. When Theseus and the young men and girls doomed to be torn to pieces were taken into the labyrinth, Theseus tied the end of a thread at the entrance and walked through the intricate passages, gradually unwinding the ball. Having killed the Minotaur, Theseus found the way back from the labyrinth along a thread and brought out all the doomed.
3. Achilles' heel is a weak spot.
In Greek mythology, Achilles (Achilles) is one of the strongest and bravest heroes. He is sung in Homer's Iliad. Achilles' mother, the sea goddess Thetis, dipped him into the sacred river Styx to make her son's body invulnerable. While dipping, she held him by the heel, which was not touched by the water, so the heel remained Achilles’s only vulnerable spot, where he was mortally wounded by Paris’s arrow.
4. The sword of Damocles is an impending, threatening danger.
The expression originated from an ancient Greek legend told by Cicero in his essay “Tusculan Conversations”. Damocles, one of the close associates of the Syracusan tyrant Dionysius the Elder, began to enviously speak of him as the happiest of people. Dionysius, in order to teach the envious man a lesson, put him in his place. During the feast, Damocles saw a sharp sword hanging above his head from a horsehair. Dionysius explained that this is an emblem of the dangers to which he, as a ruler, is constantly exposed, despite his seemingly happy life.
5. Gifts of the Danaans. - “insidious” gifts that bring with them death for those who receive them.
A Trojan horse is a secret, insidious plan (hence the Trojan virus (Trojan)).
The expressions originate from Greek tales of the Trojan War. The Danaans (Greeks), after a long and unsuccessful siege of Troy, resorted to cunning: they built a huge wooden horse, left it near the walls of Troy, and themselves pretended to sail away from the shore of the Troas. Priest Laocoon, seeing this horse and knowing the tricks of the Danaans, exclaimed: “Whatever it is, I am afraid of the Danaans, even those who bring gifts! “But the Trojans, not listening to the warnings of Laocoon and the prophetess Cassandra, dragged the horse into the city. At night, the Danaans, hiding inside the horse, came out, killed the guards, opened the city gates, let in their comrades who had returned on ships, and thus took possession of Troy.

Answer from 22 answers[guru]

Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: Give examples (5) of phraseological units from the myths of ancient Greece and their meaning.

Answer from vitriol[newbie]
helped out))

Answer from European[newbie]
The apple of discord is the cause of dispute, enmity. The goddess of discord, Eris, rolled a golden apple with the inscription: “To the most beautiful” between the guests at the wedding feast. Among the guests were the goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, who argued about which of them should receive the apple. Their dispute was resolved by Paris, the son of the Trojan king Priam, by awarding the apple to Aphrodite. In gratitude, Aphrodite helped Paris kidnap Helen, the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus, which caused the Trojan War.
Slide 3
Achilles' heel is a weak spot. Achilles' mother, the sea goddess Thetis, dipped him into the sacred river Styx to make her son's body invulnerable. While dipping, she held him by the heel, which was not touched by the water, so the heel remained Achilles’s only vulnerable spot, where he was mortally wounded by Paris’s arrow.
Slide 4
Two-faced Janus - a two-faced man Janus is the god of every beginning and end, entrances and exits. He was depicted with two faces facing in opposite directions: the young one - forward, to the future, the old one - back, to the past.
Slide 5
Narcissus is a man who loves only himself. Narcissus is a handsome young man, the son of the river god Cephisus and the nymph Leiriope. One day Narcissus, who had never loved anyone, bent over a stream and, seeing his face in it, fell in love with himself and died of melancholy. His body turned into a flower.
Slide 6
Pygmalion and Galatea - about passionate love without reciprocity The myth about the famous sculptor Pygmalion says that he openly expressed his contempt for women. The goddess Aphrodite, angered by this, forced him to fall in love with the statue of the young girl Galatea, which he himself created, and doomed him to the torment of unrequited love. Pygmalion's passion, however, turned out to be so strong that it breathed life into the statue. The animated Galatea became his wife

Answer from Vika Votinova[newbie]
Class

Answer from philosophical[active]
THX

Answer from Denis Maishev[newbie]
THX

Answer from Oleg L[active]
Phraseologisms of mythical origin and their meaning “Achilles’ heel” is a weak, vulnerable place in a person “an apple of discord” is the cause of enmity, disputes, disagreements between someone. “Narcissistic narcissist” is a narcissistic person; a person who admires himself. “Hymen’s bond” - "marital connections." "Cornucopia" - enormous variety, wealth. "cross the Rubicon" - take an irreversible step, a decisive act, cross a line, a limit. "Sword of Damocles" is used when talking about constant mortal danger. "tantalum torment " - to endure terrible suffering due to the inability to achieve the desired goal "Augean stables" - extreme neglect, dirt, disorder. "Procrustean bed" characterizes a far-fetched standard to which the facts of action are forcibly adjusted. Danaid barrel - empty, endless work. "Ariadne's thread" "means a pointer, a guiding thread, salvation. "A Herculean feat" is a task that requires great effort. "Cyclopean structure" is used when talking about a huge building. “to ride Pegasus” - to become a poet. “Sisyphean labor” is called fruitless, hard, endless work. “Pandora's box” means the source of misfortune, disaster, trouble. “panacea” is a remedy not only for diseases, but for all problems. homeric laughter - uncontrollable, loud laughter. "Gordian knot" means a complex or tangled matter that is difficult to solve; cut the Gordian knot - solve a complex issue in a radical way. The Gordian knot is also considered a symbol of infinity. “Apples of the Hesperides” are valuable luggage. “Promethean fire” is used when it characterizes the spirit of nobility, courage and talent, and “Promethean torment” when it comes to suffering in the name of a high goal. The “all-seeing eye” is the ability to notice, see, and quickly learn about everything. “global flood” is used when talking about a flood or a drain. "Arcadian idyll" means a harmonious, happy, cloudless life.

Answer from Artyom Korablin[newbie]
uu bpb

Answer from Natalia[newbie]
thanks for the words

Answer from Laima Tomira[newbie]
Priests of Themis
Judges
In Greek mythology, Themis is the goddess of justice. She was depicted as a woman holding scales in one hand and a sword in the other. Blindfolds symbolized her impartiality, the arguments of the prosecution and defense were assessed on the scales, and the guilty were punished with the sword.
Panic fear
Sudden, unaccountable fear that grips a person
Pan in mythology is the god of flocks and shepherds. Pan is capable of instilling such fear in a person that he will run headlong wherever his eyes look, without even thinking that the road will lead to inevitable death. -
Achilles' heel
Vulnerability, weak point
Thetis dipped her son Achilles into the miraculous waves of the Styx so that the boy would become invulnerable. However, while bathing, she held her son’s body by the heel, which made Achilles’s most vulnerable point his heel. In the future, it was Paris who mortally wounded him in the heel.
Augean stables
1) A very polluted place, a neglected room
2) Extreme disorder in business
In Greek mythology, these stables are the huge possessions of the king of Elis, Augeas, which had not been restored to order for many years. And Hercules cleared them in one day, channeling the Alpheus River through the stables. This water took all the dirt with it.
Torments of Tantalus
Suffering from the consciousness of the proximity of the desired goal and the impossibility of achieving it
Tantalus is the name of King Sipylus of Phrygia, and also the son of Zeus and Queen Pluto from ancient Greek mythology. So he was a favorite of the gods, and as a result had access to their advice and feasts, which was the further reason for his punishment. And there are several versions according to which the gods hated him, and as a result made him suffer in hell.
Sword of Damocles
Constantly threatening danger
The Usyracuse tyrant Dionysius the Elder was a favorite and saint, his close associate Damocles. But what does the sword have to do with it? The fact is that Damocles was jealous of his king and it seemed to him that Dionysius had a happy and easy life. But at the same time, Dionysius the Elder always noticed Damocles’ envy and, as a result, decided to show him that in fact it is not as easy to rule the kingdom as it seems at first glance.
At one of the feasts, Dionysius ordered Damocles to be temporarily placed on the throne and given all the honors due to a real ruler. Damocles was happy about this. But in the midst of the fun, he noticed a sword hanging above his head. But the sword did not just hang, but hung by a thread and could break at any moment and, accordingly, cause the death of Damocles. With this situation, Dionysius wanted to prove that being a ruler is not as easy as it seems.
Sink into oblivion
Disappear without a trace, disappear into an unknown location, etc.
In Greek mythology there was a river of oblivion - Lethe, which flowed in the underground kingdom. When the soul of a deceased person tasted the water from this source, it forever forgot about earthly life. This phraseological unit from the myths of Ancient Greece means - to disappear without a trace, to disappear into an unknown place, etc.
pillars of Hercules
The highest, extreme degree of something
The Greeks believed that at the very edge of the world, on the shores of an endless empty ocean, above the Strait of Gibraltar, there were two stone pillars (in the ancient language - pillars); The great Hercules established them here during one of his wanderings as a sign that there was no further way for man.
Ariadne's thread
A way to help find a way out of a difficult situation
Ariadne in mythology is the daughter of Pasiphae and the Cretan king named Minos. When Prince Theseus arrived in Crete, doomed along with other guys to be devoured by the Minotaur, the girl fell in love with him. And the Minotaur lived in the Labyrinth, where there were a huge number of passages. Once a person entered there, he would never get out. Ariadne gave Theseus a large ball of thread, which the guy unwound, getting to the monster. Having killed the Minotaur, Theseus easily left the room thanks to the threads.

Answer from Nazar Starodubov[newbie]
Augean stables
1. a heavily clogged, polluted place, usually a room where everything is lying around in disarray;
2. something that is in an extremely neglected state, in disarray, etc. Usually about some kind of organization, about complete confusion in the conduct of business.
· · ·
From the name of the huge canyons of the Elidian king Augeas, which had not been cleaned for many years. Cleaning them was only possible for the mighty Hercules, the son of Zeus. The hero cleared the Augean stables in one day, channeling the waters of two stormy rivers through them.
Hannibal's Oath
a firm determination to be irreconcilable towards someone or something, to fight someone or something to the end.
· · ·
On behalf of the Corthaginian commander Annibal (or Hannibal, 247-183 BC), who, according to legend, as a boy swore to be an implacable enemy of Rome all his life. Hannibal kept his oath: during the Second Punic War (218-210 BC), the troops under his command inflicted a number of severe defeats on the troops of Rome.
Arcadian idyll
a happy, serene life, a peaceful, unclouded existence.
· · ·
From the name of Arcadia - the central mountainous part of the Peloponnese, whose population in ancient times was engaged in cattle breeding and agriculture and which in the classical literature of the 17th-18th centuries. was portrayed as a happy country where people live serene, carefree lives.
Attic salt
subtle, graceful wit, graceful joke; ridicule.
· · ·
By the name of the ancient Greek region of Attica, which was the center of mental and spiritual life of that time and became famous for its rich and subtle culture.
Barrel Danaid
the same as Sisyphean labor - useless, endless labor, fruitless work.
· · ·
In ancient Greek mythology, the Danaids are the fifty daughters of the Libyan king Danaus, forty-nine of whom, as punishment for killing their husbands on their father’s orders on their wedding night, were forever doomed to pour water into a bottomless barrel in the underworld of Hades.
Take off to Helikon
the same as Saddle Pegasus - become a poet; feel a surge of inspiration.
· · ·
From the name of Mount Helikon in Greece, which was considered by the ancient Greeks to be the habitat of the muses.
Pillars of Hercules
extreme limit, border of something, extreme in something.
· · ·
Originally - the name of two rocks on the shores of Europe and Africa near the Strait of Gibraltar, according to ancient legend, erected by Hercules on the border of the world.
Gordian knot
intractable, complicated matter, task, some kind of difficulty. Also, Cut (dissect) the Gordian knot - resolve a complex, confusing issue boldly, decisively and immediately.
· · ·
From the name of a complex, tangled knot, tied, according to one of the legends, by the Phrygian king Gordius, which no one was able to untie. According to the oracle, whoever managed to unravel this knot was to become the ruler of all Asia. The legend told by ancient Greek writers tells that only Alexander the Great managed to do this - he cut the knot in half with a sword.
Sword of Damocles
constantly threatening someone with danger or trouble.
· · ·
The expression arose from the ancient Greek legend about the Syracusan tyrant Dionysius the Elder (432-367 BC), who, in order to teach a lesson to one of his associates, Damocles, who was jealous of his position, put him in his place during a feast, hanging him over his head Damocles sharp sword on horsehair as a symbol of the dangers that inevitably threaten the tyrant. Damocles realized how little happy is the one who is under eternal fear.
Two-Faced Janus
1. two-faced person; 2. a case that has two opposite sides.
· · ·
In ancient Roman mythology, Janus is the god of time, as well as every beginning and end, the god of change and movement. He was depicted with two faces, young and old, which were turned in different directions: young - forward, to the future, old - back, to the past.
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Answer from Anastasia Popova[newbie]
Procrustean BedForcibly forcing someone to do something. One of the Greek myths tells about the robber Procrustes (torturer). He caught passers-by and forced them under his bed: if a person was longer, his legs were cut off; if he was shorter? pulled out.
Sisyphus's workEndless and fruitless work An ancient Greek myth tells about the cunning and treacherous Corinthian king Sisyphus, who deceived the gods several times in order to prolong his luxurious life on earth.
The angry Zeus sentenced him to eternal torment in hell for this: Sisyphus had to roll a huge stone up a high mountain, which at the top suddenly broke out of his hands and rolled down. And it all started all over again...
Apple of discord An object of enmity or a cause of dispute. According to ancient Greek myth, one day the goddess of discord, Eris, was not invited to a feast. Bearing a grudge, Eris decided to take revenge on the gods. She took the golden apple, on which was written “most beautiful,” and quietly threw it between the goddesses Hera, Aphrodite and Athena. The goddesses argued over which of them should own it. Each considered herself the most beautiful. The son of the Trojan king Paris, who was invited to be a judge, gave the apple to Aphrodite, and in gratitude she helped him kidnap the wife of the Spartan king Helen. Because of this, the Trojan War broke out.
CornucopiaWith extraordinary generosity, in huge quantities. An ancient Greek myth tells that the cruel god Kronos did not want to have children, because he was afraid that they would take away his power. Therefore, his wife gave birth to Zeus in secret, entrusting the nymphs to look after him. Zeus was fed with the milk of the divine goat Amalthea. One day she got caught in a tree and broke off her horn. The nymph filled it with fruits and gave it to Zeus. Zeus gave the horn to the nymphs who raised him, promising that whatever they desired would appear from it.
Promethean Fire An undying desire to achieve high goals. One of the Titans, Prometheus, stole fire from the gods and taught people how to use it. An angry Zeus ordered Hephaestus to chain the titan to a rock, where an eagle flew every day to peck Prometheus’ liver. The hero Hercules freed Prometheus.
Into the arms of Morpheus Fall into sleep In ancient Greek mythology, Morpheus is the god of dreams, the son of the god of sleep Hypnos. He was usually depicted as a small winged man with closed eyelids and hung with poppy flowers. From the name of this deity comes the name of the medicine - morphine - extracted from poppy heads and used for pain relief during operations. Since ancient times, the expression “to find yourself in the arms of Morpheus,” used with a humorous connotation, means to fall asleep.
Bonds of Hymen Marriage, bonds of marriage Bonds are fetters, something that binds a person or binds one living creature to another. There are many words of this root: “prisoner”, “knot”, “bridle”, “burden”, etc. Thus, we are talking about something like “bundles” or “chains”, but in Ancient Greece Hymen was the name of the god marriage, patron of weddings.
Sing praises Excessively praise, extol someone or something. It comes from the name dithyrambs - songs of praise in honor of the god of wine and the vine, Dionysus, sung during processions dedicated to this deity.
Priests of ThemisJudgesIn Greek mythology, Themis is the goddess of justice. She was depicted as a woman holding scales in one hand and a sword in the other. Blindfolds symbolized her impartiality, the arguments of the prosecution and defense were assessed on the scales, and the guilty were punished with the sword.
Panic fear A sudden, unaccountable fear that seizes a person. Pan in mythology is the god of herds and shepherds. Pan is capable of instilling such fear in a person that he will run headlong wherever his eyes look, without even thinking that the road will lead to inevitable death. -
Achilles' heel Weak spot, weak side Thetis dipped her son Achilles in the miraculous waves of the Styx so that the boy would become invulnerable. However, in

Answer from Inna Pupysheva[newbie]
apple of discord - the cause of a quarrel

Answer from Olga Kurochkina[newbie]
Thank you

In works of art we can often encounter very specific phraseological units - expressions whose meaning is hidden in legends And ancient myths. Without excellent orientation in this field of knowledge, it is almost impossible to answer the question of what made him famous. Procrustes' bed, For what Ariadne threads and what passion they had Danaids To… barrel?

A distinctive feature of phraseological units that came from myths is their extreme cohesion with the history of the myth itself.

Expression " Danaid barrel"came to us with the meaning "with completely useless and endless work" Behind the phraseological unit is myth about the fifty daughters of the Libyan king Danaus. Danae's daughters were named after their father - Danaids. They became famous for the fact that... at the request of their father killed their husbands on their wedding night, for which they were doomed to forever fill a bottomless barrel in the underworld of Hades. True, there is a mystery here too: after all, the killers were 49 daughters of the king, why then does the phraseological unit “defame” everyone 50 girls?

Pillars of Hercules, surprisingly, have nothing in common with “morning” healthy porridge. Pillar of Hercules called in the highest, extreme degree of manifestation of something. Originally this name was two rocks on opposite shores of the Strait of Gibraltar. According to ancient legend, the pillars were placed by Hercules at the edge of the world as memory of the hero's wanderings across Europe and Africa.

When they talk about a constantly threatening danger literally hanging over someone, we remember the expression “ Sword of Damocles" The ancient Greek legend about Syracusan tyrant Dionysius the Elder, who, in order to teach a lesson to one of his associates, an envious Damocles, came up with a very “entertaining” way. During the feast, Dionysius placed Damocles in his place, hanging it over his head. a sharp sword as a symbol of the dangers that await the tyrant. An excellent way for those who are trying to experience any situation in their own skin.

Torments of Tantalus one who suffers experiences suffering from the awareness of the proximity of the desired goal and the impossibility of achieving it. In ancient times river myth Tantalum- Phrygian king - for insulting the gods he was cruel to themko nakadhan: Tantalum was doomed to experience the pangs of thirst and hunger, although water and luxurious fruits were next to him.

Ariadne's thread- This way out of a difficult situation; Ariadne's thread is often called guiding thread. The history of the expression leads us to the myth of the Minotaur, which once every ten years he demanded a kind of tribute from the inhabitants of the island of Crete - 14 beautiful girls and boys who served the monster as lunch. There were brave men who tried to free the people from the terrible offering to the Minotaur, but they all died in labyrinth- the abode of the monster. Only Theseus was able to kill the Minotaur and get out of the labyrinth. His guiding thread was the donated Ariadna- daughter of King Minos - a thread that helped the hero return home safe and sound.

Procrustean bed- This a standard to which I artificially, forcibly adjust something t. This expression is based on the cruel ancient Greek myth of the robber Procrustes, which tortured victims by cutting off their legs or, conversely, stretching them so that the sufferers could exactly “fit” on the robber’s bed.

Promethean fire, i.e. undying desire to achieve high, noble goals, forever captured the feat of the mythological ancient Greek hero, which stole fire from the divine Olympus and brought it to people.

Apple of discord points to the reason for the quarrel. There is an expression from ancient Greek the myth about the quarrel between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite about which of them is the most beautiful: the insidious apple was planted on the women and contained the indecently insulting inscription “To the fairest” for the two ladies.

Augean stables called a polluted, neglected place, extreme disorder in affairs. Associated with these fetid stables is one of the exploits of the legendary Hercules. The myth says that the hero volunteered to clear the stables of Augeas, king of Elis, in one day. It would have been fine, but the stables had not been cleaned for 30 years! Hercules nevertheless found a way out of this situation by sending him to the stables waters of the stormy river Alpheus.

Achilles heel called weak, most vulnerable place. The reason for this is the myth about Achilles's bathing in the miraculous waters of the River Styx: the mother, wanting to make her son invulnerable, washed him in the river, while holding the heel. This fatal accident became the cause of the hero’s death: he was struck at this very unfortunate heel.

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About Achilles' heel, the bone of discord, the Augean stables and Ariadne's threads.

Most popular expressions have an ancient and interesting history. The origin of phraseological units, which go back to the era of Antiquity, are presented in the Cognitive section.

Augean stables

The myths of Ancient Greece tell us about the character Augeas, who was so unlucky that he could not bring order to his estates. For many years, the careless owner of numerous stables was unable to put his territory in order. Everyone around knew that Elis was the world center of disorder and chaos. Hercules managed to clear the wretched sheds of rubbish. The Alpheus River helped the legendary hero in a difficult matter. Its raging waters passed through the walls of the stables broken by Hercules, which instantly washed away all the impurities. Since then, the expression “Augean stables” has meant difficult circumstances, problematic and confusing, complete chaos in business. A dirty and cluttered room is also denoted by this phraseology.

The cleaning of the stables of Augeas is called the sixth labor of Hercules.

Achilles' heel

The prophets destined for the ancient Greek hero Achilles a complex, tragic fate. He was faced with a choice: a calm, long, but inglorious life or heroic death at the very dawn of his strength during the Trojan War. Having heard a terrible legend, the concerned mother decided to make her son invulnerable. She bathed Achilles in the underground river Styx, the waters of which were considered sacred and could protect him from any harm. After the ritual, the hero gained invisible protection from any misfortunes. The only unprotected place on his body was the heel, by which the mother held the child when she dipped her into the river. The origin of the phraseological unit is associated with Achilles’ enemy Paris, who managed to direct an arrow at the heel, the weakest point of the fearless warrior. It was she who killed our hero. Thus, when talking about a person’s vulnerable spot, the popular expression “Achilles’ heel” is often mentioned.

“The Dying Achilles”, Ernst Herter, 1884, Corfu.

Apple of discord

We heard the story about a fruit that quarreled three powerful Goddesses back in school from the myths of Ancient Greece. The conflict between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite arose over a golden apple with the engraving “most beautiful”. This item was planted by the Goddess of Discord, Eris, who was offended by the lack of an invitation to the banquet. Not deciding which of the three contenders was the most beautiful, the Goddesses turned to Paris, the son of the King of Troy, who acted as a judge in a difficult dispute. He chose Aphrodite. As a token of gratitude, the Goddess of Love helped the hero get Helen, the wife of the king of Sparta, which was the beginning of the Trojan War. Since that time, the cause of the conflict or a certain subject of dispute has been called a bone of contention. Phraseologism is often used to indicate a reason for a quarrel.

Painting by Jacob Jordaens "The Golden Apple of Rador", 1633

Ariadne's thread

The ancient Greek legend about Ariadne's love for Theseus explains to us the origin of this expression. On the island of Crete, ruled by the girl’s father Minos, in a dark cave with a labyrinth, lived the monster Minotaur. Every year the inhabitants of the island were forced to give 7 young maidens and 7 young boys to be devoured by the monster. Theseus, who decided to put an end to the lawlessness of the Minotaur, was given a ball of thread by the lover Ariadne. The gift from Minos' daughter helped the brave man escape from the labyrinth and defeat the villain. Ariadne's thread became a salvation not only for Theseus, but also for all the islanders. When talking about a certain opportunity, a guiding thread that helps solve a difficult, confusing situation, this phrase is often used.