10 phraseological units in which the heroes of myths are mentioned. Presentation "Phraseologisms of Ancient Greek Origin
Phraseologisms from ancient Greek myths Phraseologism "Sisyphean labor" meaning - page №1 / 2
Nature. Borrowing in the XVI century. from lat. yaz., where natura "nature" - Suf. derived from natum "born" (from nascor "I am born"). Wed nature.
"Boat, shuttle", Ukrainian kayuk. Borrowing 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 destroyed sailing sailors. Scylla, who possessed six heads, grabbed rowers from sailing ships, and Charybdis, sucking water into herself at a great distance, absorbed the ship with her.
Skilla (ancient Greek Σκύλλα, in Latin transliteration Scylla, Latin Scylla) and Charybdis (ancient Greek Χάρυβδις, the transcription of Charybdis is acceptable) - sea monsters from ancient Greek mythology.
Charybdis in the ancient Greek epic is the personified representation of the all-consuming deep sea (etymologically Charybdis means "whirlpool", although there are other interpretations of this word). In the Odyssey, Charybdis is portrayed as a sea deity (ancient Greek δία Χάρυβδις) living in a strait under a rock at an arrow's distance from another rock, which served as the seat of Scylla.
Comparison of Skilla with Charybdis led to the formation of a proverb, which is equivalent to the Russian one "out of the fire into the fire":
Phraseologisms from ancient Greek myths
Phraseologism "Sisyphean labor" meaning
Ancient Greek myth tells about the cunning and insidious Corinthian king Sisyphus, who several times deceived the gods in order to prolong his luxurious life on the ground.
The angry Zeus awarded him eternal torment in hell for this: Sisyphus had to roll on high mountain a huge stone, which at the top suddenly pulled out of his hands and rolled down. And it all started all over again ...
The expression of the Sisyphean work began to mean hard, exhausting, useless work.
Phraseologism "Apple of discord" meaning
According to ancient Greek myth, once the goddess of discord Eridu was not invited to a feast. Holding a grudge, Eris decided to take revenge on the gods. She took a golden apple, on which was written "the most beautiful", and imperceptibly threw it between the goddesses Hero, Aphrodite and Athena. The goddesses argued over which of them it should belong. 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 the quarrel, enmity
THE VIEW OF MEDUSA
If a person is unpleasant in communication and does not like others, then it is often said that he has the look of Medusa.
Medusa the Gorgon is a monster with snakes wriggling on its 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 shining 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 danaid barrel is a pointless, useless work.
According to an ancient Greek legend, King Danai, who had fifty beautiful daughters, sat on the Libyan throne a long time ago. And the Egyptian king Egypt the gods gave 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 Danae and forced his daughters to marry them. But Danai 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 obeyed their father's command. The beautiful Hypernestra sincerely fell in love with the handsome Linkey and could not take his life.
The crime committed by the Danaids angered the Gods, and they severely punished the guilty. In the terrible Tartarus, a terrible curse awaited them - the sisters were forever doomed to pour water into a bottomless barrel, trying to fill it.
ATTIC SALT
Attic salt - (book) - an elegant joke, refined wit.
Turnover - 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 in his writings devoted a significant place 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.
PROMETEEV FIRE
Promethean fire - (book) the spirit of nobility, courage, an inextinguishable desire to achieve lofty goals.
The expression comes from ancient Greek mythology. One of the titans, Prometheus, stole fire from the gods and taught people to use it. Enraged Zeus told Hephaestus to chain the titan to a rock, where an eagle flew every day to peck at Prometheus's 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 maze. Here you can download or listen to the MYTH "Theseus's Journey to Crete" - the source of the phraseological unit thread of Ariadne.
OLYMPIAN CALM
Olympic serenity - imperturbable serenity.
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 who always preserve the majestic solemnity of their appearance and imperturbable peace of mind.
TSAR! REMEMBER THE GREEKS
Tsar! Remember the Greeks. 1. Reminder of urgent business. 2. Reminder of the need for revenge.
The king of Persia (522-4X6 BC) Darius I ordered his slave to repeat these words to him loudly three times a day, every time Darius sat down at the table. According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, 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 - "the source of misfortunes, troubles." Phraseologism 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 a box, and human misfortune flew out of there
PROCRUSTEAN BED
Procrustean bed. Allegorical expression - "a sample given in advance, for which you need to prepare something." One of the Greek myths tells about the robber Procrustes (the torturer). He caught passers-by and adjusted them to fit his bed: if a person was longer, his legs were cut off, if shorter, he was pulled out.
THE GOLDEN FLEECE
The Golden Fleece is gold, wealth, which they strive to master.
In ancient Greek myths, it is said that the hero Jason went to Colchis (the eastern coast of the Black Sea) to get the golden fleece (golden wool of a ram), which was guarded by a dragon and bulls that spewed fire from their mouths. Jason built the ship "Argo" (fast), after which the participants in this, according to the legend of the first long voyage of antiquity, were named Argonauts. With the help of the sorceress Medea, Jason, having overcome all obstacles, safely took possession of the golden fleece. The first to expound this myth was the poet Pindar (518-442 BC).
RETURN TO YOUR PENATES
To return to your penates - to return under your own roof.
What does penates mean and why do they return to them? The ancient Romans believed in kind, cozy gods living in every house and guarding it, peculiar brownies. They were called Penates, revered, treated with food from their table, and when leaving for a foreign land, they tried to take their small images with them.
Remember "Eugene Onegin" by A.S. Pushkin:
Returned to their penates,
Vladimir Lensky visited
A neighbor's monument is mortal.
TWO-FACED JANUS
In Roman mythology, Janus - the god of time, entrances and exits - was depicted with two faces. One face, young, looked forward to the future. Another, senile, - back to the past. V modern language used as a synonym for an insincere, two-faced person, a double-dealing.
GREEK GIFT
The gifts of the Danaans are treacherous gifts brought with a treacherous purpose.
Expression from the Iliad: in the legend, the Greeks took Troy by erecting a huge wooden horse and donating it to the Trojans. A detachment of soldiers was hidden inside the horse.
PENELOPE FABRIC
Penelope's fabric is about sophisticated cunning.
Penelope, 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 had finished weaving a blanket for her old father-in-law Laertes. But every night she dismissed everything that she managed to do in a day. When her cunning was revealed, Odysseus returned and interrupted in a fierce battle all the applicants for the hand of his wife.
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 sunk into oblivion, the phraseological unit of the golden age is still alive - this is how we call the best time, the days of the heyday of anything.
Here you can listen to or download the MYTH "FIVE CENTURIES"
CORNUCOPIA
A cornucopia is an endless source of prosperity, wealth.
The 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, instructing the nymphs to look after him, Zeus was fed with the milk of the divine goat Amalfea. One day she, clinging to a tree, broke off her horn. The nymph filled it with fruits and gave it to Zeus. Zeus presented the horn to the nymphs who raised him, promising that whatever they wished would emerge from it.
So the expression cornucopia became a symbol of prosperity, wealth.
Here you can listen to or download the MYTH "THE BIRTH OF ZEUS"
BONDS OF GIMENE
The bonds of Hymen are mutual obligations that living together imposes on the spouses, or, more simply, the very matrimony, marriage.
Ties are bonds, 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", while in Ancient Greece God was called Hymen marriage, patron saint of weddings.
Eugene 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 "GIMENEUS"
Tantalum flour
Tantalum torment, Tantalus torment - suffering from the consciousness of the proximity of the desired goal and the inability to achieve it. Here you can listen to or download the MYTH "TANTAL"
AUGEAN STABLES
AVGIEVY STABLES - a dirty place, neglected business, a mess.
GORDIAN KNOT
Cutting the Gordian knot is a bold, energetic solution to a difficult matter.
I CARRY EVERYTHING WITH MYSELF
Everything that a person carries with him is his inner wealth, knowledge and mind.
PANIC FEAR (HORROR)
Panic fear is intense fear. Here you can listen to or download the myth "PAN"
PALM OF EXCELLENCE
The palm tree is a symbol of victory, almost the same as a laurel wreath.
RIDING THE 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 unrestrained laughter.
HERCULES PILLARS (PILLARS)
To say "reached the Pillars of Hercules" means reached the extreme limit.
MENTOR TONE
"Mentor tone" is a mentoring, arrogant tone.
In Greek mythology, the Augean stables are the vast stables of Augeus, king of Elis, which have not been cleaned for many years. They were cleaned in one day by Hercules: he sent a river through the stables, the waters of which carried away all the manure.
2. Ariadne's thread - what helps to find a way out of a difficult situation.
The expression originated from 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 get out. Theseus were helped to accomplish a 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 women who were doomed to be torn to pieces were taken to the labyrinth, Theseus tied the end of the thread at the entrance and walked along the tangled passages, gradually unwinding the ball. After killing the Minotaur, Theseus found the way back out of the labyrinth along a thread and led all the doomed out of there.
3. Achilles' heel - vulnerability.
In Greek mythology, Achilles (Achilles) is one of the most powerful and brave heroes. He is sung in Homer's Iliad. The mother of Achilles, the sea goddess Thetis, to make her son's body invulnerable, dipped him into the sacred river Styx. Dipping, she held him by the heel, which was not touched by the water, so the heel remained the only vulnerable spot of Achilles, where he was mortally wounded by Paris's arrow.
4. Barrel Danaid - endless labor, fruitless work.
Danaids - fifty daughters of the king of Libya Danaus, with whom his brother Egypt, the king of Egypt, was at enmity. Fifty sons of Egypt, pursuing Danae, who had fled from Libya to Argolis, forced the fugitive to give them his fifty daughters as their wife. The 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, sentenced by the gods to forever fill a bottomless barrel with water in the underworld of Hades.
5. Age of Astrea - happy time, time.
Astrea 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, shines in the constellation of the Zodiac.
6. Hercules. Hercules labor (feat). Pillars of Hercules (pillars).
Hercules (Hercules) - the hero of Greek myths, gifted with an extraordinary physical strength... He performed the famous twelve labors. On the opposite shores of Europe and Africa, near the Strait of Gibraltar, he set up the “Pillars of Hercules (Pillars)”. So in ancient world called the rocks - Gibraltar and Jebel Musa. These pillars were considered “the end 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 “Hercules labor, feat” is used when talking about any business that requires extraordinary efforts.
7. Hercules at a crossroads. Applies to a person who finds it difficult to choose between two solutions.
The expression arose 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 was sitting at a crossroads and thinking about the life path that he was to choose. Two women approached him: Affection, which painted him a life full of pleasure and luxury, and Virtue, which showed him the difficult path to fame.
8. Bonds (chains) of Hymen - marriage, matrimony.
In ancient Greece, the word "hymen" meant both a wedding song and the deity of marriage, consecrated by religion and law, in contrast to Eros, the god of free love.
9. Sword of Damocles - impending, threatening danger.
The expression arose from an ancient Greek tradition told by Cicero in his "Tuskulan Conversations". Damocles, one of the close associates of the Syracuse tyrant Dionysius the Elder, began to enviously speak of him as the happiest of people. Dionysius, in order to teach the envious lesson, put him in his place. During the feast, Damocles saw a sharp sword hanging from a horsehair above his head. Dionysius explained that this is the emblem of the dangers to which he, as a ruler, is constantly exposed, despite his seemingly happy life.
10. Gifts of the Danians. - "insidious" gifts that bring death with them for those who receive them.
The Trojan Horse is a secret cunning design (hence the Trojan Virus (Trojan)).
Expressions originated from Greek legends about Trojan War... The Danai (Greeks), after a long and unsuccessful siege of Troy, resorted to trickery: they built a huge wooden horse, left it at the walls of Troy, and themselves pretended to float away from the Troad coast. 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 of Cassandra, dragged the horse into the city. At night, the Danaans, hiding inside the horse, went out, killed the guards, opened the city gates, let in the comrades who returned on the ships, and thus took possession of Troy.
11. Two-faced Janus is a two-faced man.
Janus is the god of all beginning and end, entrances and exits (janua - door). He was depicted with two faces facing opposite directions: young - forward, into the future, old - back, into the past.
12. Golden Fleece - gold, wealth, which they seek to seize.
The Argonauts are brave seafarers and adventure seekers.
Jason went to Colchis (the eastern coast of the Black Sea) to get the golden fleece (golden wool of a ram), which was guarded by a dragon and bulls that spewed fire from their mouths. Jason built the ship "Argo", after which the participants of this, according to legend, the first long voyage of antiquity were named Argonauts. With the help of the sorceress Medea, Jason, having overcome all obstacles, safely took possession of the golden fleece.
13. To sink into oblivion - to disappear forever, to be forgotten.
Lethe is the river of oblivion in Hades, the underworld. The souls of the dead, upon arrival in the underworld, drank water from it and forgot all their past life... The name of the river has become a symbol of oblivion.
14. Between Scylla and Charybdis - in a difficult position when danger threatens from both 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 seafarers.
15. Torment Tantala - suffering due to unsatisfied desires.
Tantalus, king of Phrygia (also called king of Lydia), was a favorite of the gods, who often invited him to their feasts. But, being proud of his position, he insulted the gods, for which he was severely punished. According to Homer (“Odyssey”, II, 582-592), his punishment consisted in the fact that, being cast down into Tartarus (hell), he always experiences intolerable torments of thirst and hunger. He stands up to his throat in water, but the water recedes from him as soon as he tilts his head to drink. Branches with luxurious fruits hung over him, but as soon as he stretches out his hands to them, the branches deflect.
16. Narcissus is a person who loves only himself.
Narcissus is a handsome young man, the son of the river god Kephis 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 is an unusually tasty drink, an exquisite dish.
In Greek mythology, nectar is a drink, ambrosia (ambrosia) is the food of the gods, which gives them immortality.
18. Olympians are arrogant, inaccessible people.
Olympic bliss is the highest degree of bliss.
Olympic serenity is serenity, undisturbed by anything.
Olympic grandeur - solemnity with manners.
Olympus is a mountain in Greece where, as the Greek myths tell, the immortal gods lived.
19. Panic fear - sudden, intense fear that causes confusion.
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 the troops rushing from this to flight. Hence the word "panic"
20. Pygmalion and Galatea are about passionate love without reciprocity.
In the myth of the famous sculptor Pygmalion, it is said that he openly expressed his contempt for women. The goddess Aphrodite, enraged by this, made him fall in love with the statue of the young girl Galatea, created by him himself, and doomed him to the torments of unrequited love. The passion of Pygmalion was, however, so strong that it breathed life into the statue. The lively Galatea became his wife.
21. Promethean fire - a sacred fire burning in the soul of a person; an unquenchable desire to achieve lofty goals.
Prometheus is one of the titans. He stole fire from heaven and taught people to use it, thereby undermining faith in the power of the gods. For this, an angry Zeus ordered Hephaestus (the god of fire and blacksmithing) to chain Prometheus to a rock. The eagle flew in every day tore at the liver of the chained titan.
22. Penelope's work is never-ending work (wife's loyalty).
The expression originated from Homer's Odyssey. Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, during the many years of separation from him, remained faithful to him, despite the harassment of the suitors. She said that she was postponing a new marriage until the day when she finished weaving the coffin for her father-in-law, Elder Laertes. She spent the whole day at the weaving, and at night everything that she had knitted in the day was dismissed and again set to work.
23. Sphinx riddle - something insoluble.
The Sphinx is a monster with the face and chest 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. Those who could not figure them out, he killed. When the Theban king Oedipus solved the riddles given to him, the monster took his own life.
24. Sisyphean labor is endless, disembodied (useless) work.
The Corinthian king Sisyphus was sentenced by Zeus to eternal torment in Hades for insulting the gods: he had to roll a huge stone onto the mountain, which, having reached the top, rolled down again.
25. Circe is a dangerous beauty, an insidious seducer.
Circe (Latin form; Greek Kirke) - according to Homer, an insidious sorceress. With the help of a magic potion, she turned Odysseus's companions into pigs. Odysseus, to whom Hermes gave a magic plant, defeated her spell, and she invited him to share her love. Having made Circe swear that she was not plotting anything wrong against him and would return the human form to his companions, Odysseus bowed to her proposal.
26. The apple of discord is the cause of dispute, enmity.
The goddess of discord Eris rolled between the guests at the wedding feast a golden apple with the inscription: "The most beautiful." Among the guests were the goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, who argued about which of them should get 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 to kidnap Helen, the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus, which caused the Trojan War.
27. Pandora's box is a source of misfortune, great calamities.
Once people lived without knowing any misfortunes, illnesses and 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 chest and scattered all the misfortunes.
28. Golden rain - big money or easily obtained wealth.
This image arose from the Greek myth of Zeus, who, captivated by the beauty of Danaë, the daughter of the Argos king Acrisius, appeared to her in the form of a golden rain, after which her son Perseus was born.
29. Cyclops - one-eyed
Cyclops are one-eyed giant blacksmiths, strong men, cannibals, cruel and rude, living in caves on the tops of the mountains, engaged in cattle breeding. The Cyclops were credited with building gigantic structures.
WORKS
A.S. Pushkin
PROPHET
We languish with spiritual thirst,
I dragged myself in the gloomy desert, -
And the six-winged seraph
He appeared to me at the crossroads.
With fingers as light as a dream
He touched my apple.
Prophetic apples were opened,
Like a frightened eagle.
He touched my ears, -
And they were filled with noise and ringing:
And I heeded the shudder of the sky,
And the high flight of angels,
And a reptile underwater passage,
And the vegetation of the valley vine.
And he clung to my lips,
And tore out my sinful tongue,
And idle and crafty,
And the sting of a wise snake
My frozen lips
Inserted with a bloody right hand.
And he cut my chest with a sword,
And he took out his quivering heart,
And coal blazing like fire
I put it in my chest.
I lay like a corpse in the desert
And God's voice called to me:
"Rise, prophet, and see and hear,
Fulfill my will
And, bypassing the seas and lands,
Burn people's hearts with the verb. "
Notes (edit)
* Prophet (p. 149). In the image of a 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", of anti-government content, dedicated to the events of December 14. MP Pogodin explained to PA Vyazemsky in a letter dated March 29, 1837: "He wrote" The Prophet "on his way to Moscow in 1826. There should be four poems, the first just printed (" We are tormented by spiritual thirst, etc. ") "(" Links ", VI, 1936, p. 153). The other three poems were destroyed and did not reach us.
The version of the first verse of the "Prophet" - "We torment the great sorrow", available in Pushkin's notes, apparently refers to the original edition of the well-known text.
Six-winged seraph- In Christian mythology, angels were called seraphim, especially close to God and glorifying him.
Finger- finger
Zenitsy- Pupil, eye.
Opened- opened
Prophetic- Foreseeing the future, prophetic
Gorny(flight) - Above.
Vegetation- growth
Right hand - right hand, sometimes even a hand
See- look
Heed- Listen to someone, direct attention to someone.
Poem theme:
The time of writing the poem dates back to 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 introductory 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 problem under consideration. According to the Old Testament concepts described in the Book of Isaiah, one of the seraphim cleanses the prophet's lips by touching them with hot coal, which he takes with tongs from the sacred altar, thereby preparing it for the fulfillment of the mission of service. The theme of fire is extensively developed in the poem at the compositional and lexical-semantic levels; the inner form of the word "seraphim" (translated from the Hebrew "fiery", "flaming") also actualizes the concept: in the word one can distinguish the producing root srp "to burn", "to burn", "to burn". The second part of the poem takes twenty lines and is devoted to the transformation of a person into a Prophet. Its fusion and internal correlation is actualized by a special mechanism of poetic expressiveness: a complex sound anaphora on "and". The concluding section is six lines long and expresses the idea of a prophetic ministry; in it, the voice of God, calling out to the lyrical hero, sums up the original result of the accomplished reincarnation. The poem is written in iambic tetrameter with periodic significant interruptions in the form of spondees and pyrrhiales, with paired, cross and sweeping rhymes with male and female rhymes; at the rhythmic-metric level, the key idea of the poem is also reflected.
Lermontov "Duma"
Sadly I look at our generation!
His future is either empty, or dark,
Meanwhile, under the burden of knowledge and doubt,
In inaction it will grow old.
We are rich, barely from the cradle,
By the mistakes of the fathers and their late minds,
And life weary us, like a straight path without a goal,
Like a feast at a stranger's holiday.
Shamefully indifferent to good and evil,
At the beginning of the race, we wither without a fight;
Shamefully cowardly in the face of danger
And before the authorities - despicable slaves.
So skinny fruit, ripe for a time,
Neither our taste pleases nor the eyes,
Hanging between flowers, an orphaned stranger,
And the hour of their beauty - the hour of his fall!
We have dried up the mind with sterile science,
Taya envious of neighbors and friends
Disbelief of ridiculed passions.
We barely touched the cup of pleasure,
But we didn’t save our youthful strength;
From every joy, fearing satiety,
We have extracted the best juice forever.
Dreams of poetry, creation of art
They do not stir our mind with sweet delight;
We greedily cherish the rest of the feeling in our chest -
Buried with avarice and useless treasure.
And we hate, and we love by chance,
Sacrificing nothing for malice or love,
And a secret cold reigns in the soul,
When the fire boils in blood
And the luxurious fun of our ancestors is boring,
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,
The descendant will offend with a contemptuous verse,
By the bitter mockery of a deceived son
Over a squandered father.
The poem "Duma" in its genre is the same elegy-satire, as well as "Death of a 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 the Characteristics of the Generation of the 30s given here by Lermontov. This generation, which grew up in conditions of gloomy reaction, is not at all what it was in the 10-20s, not the generation of “fathers”, that is, the Decembrists. The socio-political struggle of the Decembrists is considered by them as a "mistake" ("We are rich, barely out of the cradle, in the mistakes of our fathers ..."). The new generation has moved away from participation in public life and has gone deep into the pursuit of "fruitless science", it is not worried about the issues of good and evil; it shows "shameful cowardice before danger", is "despicable slaves before the authorities." Neither poetry nor art says anything to these people. Their fate is bleak:
In a crowd gloomy and soon forgotten
We will pass over the world without noise or trace,
Without abandoning for centuries a fertile thought,
Not the genius of the work begun.
Such a harsh assessment of his contemporaries by Lermontov is dictated by his public views as an advanced poet. For him, who as a young man declared: “Life is so boring when there is no struggle,” an indifference to 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 the departure from the social and political struggle, Lermontov, as it were, calls him to moral renewal, to awakening from spiritual slumber. Lermontov, acting in the role of the prosecutor, in this echoes Ryleev, who with the same denunciation addressed his contemporaries who evade political struggle in the poem "Citizen".
How fair and accurate was the characterization of the generation of the 1930s given by Lermontov in The Duma, is best illustrated by the testimonies of his contemporaries, Belinsky and Herzen, who deeply felt the horror of their era. Belinsky wrote about the Duma: “These verses were written in blood; they came out of the depths of the offended spirit. This is a cry, this is the groan of a person for whom the absence of inner life is evil, a thousand times the most terrible physical death!
apathy, internal emptiness and will not respond to him with a cry, with his groan? " And Herzen talked about this era: "Will the future people understand, will they appreciate all the horror, the entire tragic side of our existence? .. Will they understand ... why do not they raise their hands to great work, why do we not forget melancholy in a moment of delight?"
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, new for the beginning of the 19th century.
The comedy "Woe from Wit" is a satire on the aristocratic Moscow society of the first half of the 19th century - one of the heights of Russian drama and poetry; actually completed "comedy in poetry" as a genre. The aphoristic style contributed to the fact that she "went into quotations."
History of the text:
Around 1816, Griboyedov, returning from abroad, found himself in St. Petersburg at one of the secular evenings and was amazed at how the entire audience splendidly before everything foreign. That evening she surrounded with attention and care some talkative Frenchman; Griboyedov could not stand it and made a fiery, incriminating speech. While he was talking, someone from the public declared that Griboyedov was crazy, and thus spread a rumor all over Petersburg. Griboyedov, in order to take revenge on secular society, conceived of writing a comedy on this matter.
Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm"
"The Thunderstorm" - a play in five acts by Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky
History of creation
The play was started by Alexander Ostrovsky in July and finished on October 9, 1859. The manuscript is kept at the Russian State Library.
The writer's personal drama is also connected with the writing of the play "The Thunderstorm". In the manuscript of the play, next to famous monologue Katerina: “And what dreams did I have, Varenka, what dreams! Or golden temples, or some extraordinary gardens, and everyone is singing invisible voices ... ", there is Ostrovsky's entry:" I heard from LP 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 husband of the actress was the artist of the Maly Theater I.M. Nikulin. And Alexander Nikolaevich also had a family: he lived in a civil marriage with a commoner Agafya Ivanovna, with whom he had children in common (they all died as children). Ostrovsky lived with Agafya Ivanovna for nearly twenty years.
It was Lyubov Pavlovna Kositskaya who served as the prototype for the image of the heroine of the play Katerina, she also became the first performer of the role.
Alexander Golovin. Bank of the Volga. 1916 Sketches of scenery for the drama A. N. Ostrovsky "The Thunderstorm"
In 1848, Alexander Ostrovsky went with his family to Kostroma, to the Shchelykovo estate. Natural beauty The Volga region was struck by 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. Kostroma residents at the beginning of the 20th century could accurately indicate the place of Katerina's suicide.
In his play, Ostrovsky raises the problem of the turning point in public 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, heavy-handed woman; 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 Barbarian - "barbarian".
In the play "The Thunderstorm" the writer described the state of provincial society in Russia on the eve of reforms. The playwright examines such issues as the position of a woman in the family, the modernity of Domostroi, the awakening of a person's sense of personality and self-esteem, the relationship between the “old”, oppressive, and “young”, voiceless.
The main idea of "Thunderstorm" is that a strong, gifted and courageous person with natural tendencies 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 positions. 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, the beautiful night landscape matches the date of Katerina and Boris. The expanses of the Volga emphasize Katerina's dreams of freedom, the picture of the cruel nature opens when describing the suicide of the main character. Then nature promotes the development of action, as if pushes events, stimulates the development and resolution of the conflict. So, in the scene of a thunderstorm, the elements prompts Katerina to public repentance.
So, the title "Thunderstorm" underlines the main idea of the play: the self-esteem awakening in people; the desire for freedom and independence begins to threaten the existence of the old order.
The world of Kabanikha and the Wild is coming to an end, because a “ray of light” has appeared in the “dark kingdom” - Katerina is a woman who cannot put up with the oppressive atmosphere that reigns in the family and in the city. Her protest was expressed in love for Boris, in unauthorized departure from life. Katerina preferred death to existence in a world where she was “ashamed” of everything. She is the first lightning of the thunderstorm that will soon break out in society. The clouds over the "old" world have been gathering 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 children the true faith in the inviolability of their rules of life. Young people live by the laws of their fathers as long as they can reach a compromise through deception. When the oppression becomes unbearable, when deception saves only partially, then a protest begins to wake up in a person, he develops and is able to break out at any moment.
Katerina's suicide awakened a man in Tikhon. He saw that there was always a way out of this situation, and he, the most weak-willed of all the characters described by Ostrovsky, who had been unquestioningly obeying 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 thunderstorm that began with Katherine's protest, there will also be a renewal: the oppressive and subordinate order will probably be replaced by a society of freedom and independence.
But a thunderstorm occurs not only in nature, but also in the soul of Katerina. She has committed a sin and repents of it. Two feelings are fighting in her: fear of Kabanikha and fear that “death will suddenly catch you as you are, with all your sins ...” In the end, religiosity, fear of retribution for sin prevail, and Katerina publicly confesses what she had 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 as long as everything is “sewn and covered”. However, the recognition does not bring relief to Katherine. 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 everything “hates” for her, she finds no other way out but to rush into the Volga. Katerina transgressed religious law for the sake of freedom. Thunderstorm and in her soul ends with renewal. The young woman completely freed herself from the shackles of the Kalinov world and religion.
Thus, the thunderstorm that occurs in the soul of the main character turns into a thunderstorm in the society itself, and all the action takes place against the background of the elements.
Using the image of a thunderstorm, Ostrovsky showed that a society that has outlived itself, based on deception, and the old order, depriving a person of the opportunity to manifest the highest feelings, are doomed to destruction. This is as natural as cleansing nature through a thunderstorm. Thus, Ostrovsky expressed the hope that the renewal in society will come as soon as possible.
Goncharov "Oblomov"
History of creation
The novel was conceived in 1847 and took 10 years to write. In 1849, the chapter “Oblomov's Dream” was published in the almanac Literary Collection with Illustrations under the Sovremennik as an independent work.
Work on the novel proceeded slowly, at the end of the 40s Goncharov wrote to the publisher A.A.Kraevsky:
“After reading what was written carefully, I saw that all this went to the extreme, that I did not take the subject so well, that one needs to be changed, the other released<...>I work out the thing in my head slowly and hard. "
Completely the novel "Oblomov" was first published only in 1859 in the first four issues of the journal "Otechestvennye zapiski". The beginning of work on the novel dates back to an earlier period. In 1849, one of the central chapters of "Oblomov" was published - "Oblomov's Dream", which the author himself called "the overture of the whole novel." The author asks the question: what is “Oblomovism” - the “golden age” or death, stagnation? In "Dream ..." motives of static and immobility, stagnation prevail, but at the same time the author's sympathy, good-natured humor, and not just satirical denial, are felt. As Goncharov later argued, in 1849 the plan for the novel "Oblomov" was ready and a draft version of its first part was completed. “Soon,” wrote Goncharov, “after the publication of“ Ordinary History ”in Sovremennik in 1847, Oblomov’s plan was already in my mind.” In the summer of 1849, when Oblomov's Dream was ready, Goncharov made a trip to his homeland, to Simbirsk, whose life retained the imprint of patriarchal antiquity. In this small town, the writer saw many examples of the "dream" with which the inhabitants of Oblomovka, fictional by him, slept. Work on the novel was interrupted due to Goncharov's voyage around the world aboard the frigate Pallada. Only in the summer of 1857, after the travel essays "Pallas Frigate" were published, Goncharov continued to work on "Oblomov". In the summer of 1857, he left for the resort of Marienbad, where he completed three parts of the novel within a few weeks. In August of the same year, Goncharov began working on the last, fourth, part of the novel, the final chapters of which were written in 1858. However, preparing the novel for publication, Goncharov in 1858 rewrote "Oblomov", supplementing it with new scenes, and made some abbreviations. After completing work on the novel, Goncharov said: "I wrote my life and what I grow to it."
Goncharov admitted that the influence of Belinsky's ideas influenced Oblomov's concept. The most important circumstance that influenced the concept of the work is Belinsky's speech on the first novel by Goncharov - “ An ordinary story". There are also autobiographical features in the image of Oblomov. By Goncharov's own admission, he himself was a sybarite, he loved the serene peace that gave birth to creativity.
Published in 1859, the novel was hailed as a major public event. The Pravda newspaper wrote in an article dedicated to the 125th anniversary of Goncharov's birth: "Oblomov appeared in an era of social excitement, several years before the peasant reform, and was perceived as a call to fight against inertia and stagnation." Immediately after its publication, the novel became the subject of discussion in criticism and among writers.
The novel by I. A. Goncharov “Oblomov” is one of the most popular works of the classics. Since the critic Pisarev announced upon the release of the novel that he, "in all likelihood, will constitute an epoch in the history of Russian literature," and prophesied the common sense of the types introduced in it, there is not a single literate Russian who does not know at least approximately that such Oblomovism. Roman was lucky: a month after his appearance, he found not only an intelligent reviewer, but also a serious interpreter in the person of Dobrolyubov; Moreover, the author himself, far from the views and even more so from the practice of revolutionary democracy, and also an extremely jealous and suspicious person, completely agreed with Dobrolyubov's article "What is Oblomovism?"
“The impression that this novel made in Russia by its appearance defies description,” recalled Prince P. Kropotkin forty years later. “All educated Russia read Oblomov and discussed Oblomovism.
The study of Oblomovism in all its manifestations made Goncharov's novel immortal. The main character is Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, a hereditary nobleman, an intelligent, intelligent young man who received a good education and dreamed in his youth of selfless service to Russia. Goncharov gives the following description of his appearance: "He was a man of average height, pleasant appearance, with dark gray eyes, but with the absence of any definite idea." By nature, Ilya Ilyich is honest, kind and meek. His childhood friend, Andrei Stolts, says about him: "This is a crystal, transparent soul." But all these positive character traits are opposed by such qualities as lack of will and laziness.
To understand the reasons for the occurrence of such a phenomenon as Oblomovism, you need to remember “Oblomov's Dream”. In it, Ilya Ilyich sees his parents, his family estate and her entire life. It was a way of life that hadn't changed for decades; everything seemed to stand still, fell asleep in this estate; life was unhurried, measured, lazy and sleepy. Nothing disturbed Oblomov's everyday life. When describing the life of the manor house, Goncharov often uses the words "silence", "stagnation", "peace", "sleep", "silence". They very accurately convey the very atmosphere of the house, where life proceeded unchanged and unchanged from breakfast to lunch, from afternoon nap to evening tea, from dinner - again until the morning, where the most memorable event was how Luka Savelich unsuccessfully moved down a hill in winter. sled and hurt his forehead. We can say that the life of the Oblomovites was defined by one word - "stagnation", this was the typical existence of a Russian provincial landlord estate, and Goncharov did not invent it: he himself grew up in such a family.
And little Ilyusha Oblomov was brought up by the very atmosphere of this house, the very life of Oblomovka. As N. A. Dobrolyubov very accurately defined in his article "What is Oblomovism?" Ilya Oblomov should be regarded as a kind of result of the education of many generations of the Oblomovs, as a product of the “fossilized kingdom” of Russian life itself. This upbringing and this way of life killed all living things, all spontaneous, accustoming a person to sleepy idleness; moreover, they had the same effect on the master and the courtyard. In this sense, the image of Oblomov's servant Zakhara is very important. Ilya Ilyich says, addressing him: "Yes, you, brother, are even bigger Oblomov than myself!" This is a very accurate observation; Zakhar is like “Oblomov squared”: all the worst qualities of Oblomov are brought to caricature in Zakhar.
Oblomov's life is devoid of striving for any changes, on the contrary, most of all he values solitude and peace. Oblomov is gradually breaking contact, first with the service, and then with everything outside world, with society. A robe, shoes and a sofa - this is what contributes to the immersion of a young man into complete apathy. The fact that this person is morally dying, Goncharov makes us understand, describing Oblomov's life: “A cobweb sat on the glass, saturated with dust; mirrors ... could serve as tablets for writing memorial notes on them from dust ”; "Lying at Ilya Ilyich's was his normal state."
Dobrolyubov, and after him other critics, were amazed at the skill of the writer, who built the novel in such a way that nothing seems to happen in it, and there is no external movement at all, more precisely, the habitually “romantic” dynamics, and unremitting interest remains. The fact is that under the hero's external inactivity, under the unhurried and detailed descriptions, there is a tense internal action. Its leading spring is Oblomov's stubborn struggle with the life that surrounds him, inflowing from all sides - a struggle outwardly unnoticeable, sometimes almost invisible, but therefore no less fierce.
On the contrary, bitterness only grows due to the fact that vain, in some of its manifestations, life moves slowly and steadily, crushing everything hostile and hostile to it: progress crushes Oblomovism, which is represented in the novel by all inertia.
The meek Ilya Ilyich desperately and to the end fights off the invasion of life, from its great demands, from labor and from the small pricks of "anger for the day." Being wrong in his resistance to civic duty, he sometimes turns out to be above and to the right of the vain claims of then being. And, without throwing off his robe, without leaving the famous Oblomov sofa, he sometimes strikes well-aimed blows at the enemy who rushed in to him and disturbed his peace.
Goncharov introduces the reader into the atmosphere of this struggle from the very beginning, immediately outlining the contradictions of the hero's passive, albeit in his own way, militant position. "Oh my god! It touches life, gets it everywhere, ”Oblomov yearns.
Morning visits to the hero, with which the novel begins, are a whole gallery of types, characteristic masks; some of them then no longer appear in the novel. There is an empty dandy, a careerist bureaucrat, and an accusatory writer. The masks are different, but the essence is the same: empty vanity, deceitful activity. It is thanks to the “removal” of such “heterogeneous faces” that the thought about the ghostly intensity of the existence of “business” people, the fullness of their life, becomes more full-blooded and expressive.
It is not surprising that Oblomov is far from interests practical life, is burdened by her requests, is not able to protect even his own interests. When, using credulity, a swindler and a blackmailer asks Oblomov about the state of his affairs, Oblomov gives an answer that is stunning in its frankness. “Listen ... Listen,” he repeated in a deliberate manner, almost in a whisper, “I don’t know what corvée is, what rural labor is, what does a poor man mean, what is rich; I do not know what a quarter of rye or oats means, what it is worth, in what month, and what is sown and reaped, how and when it is sold; I don’t know if I’m rich or poor, if I’ll be full in a year, or if I’ll be a beggar - I don’t know anything! - he concluded with despondency ... "This detail is remarkable - Oblomov makes his confession" almost in a whisper. " Before him, perhaps for the first time, the whole tragedy and helplessness of his position appeared. And despite this realization, Oblomov's death is inevitable.
Goncharov is stern and adamant in analyzing the fate of his hero, although the writer does not conceal his good qualities. “It began with the inability to put on stockings and ended with the inability to live.”
Oblomovism is not only Ilya Ilyich Oblomov himself. This is the serf Oblomovka, where the hero began his life and was brought up; this is "Vyborg Oblomovka" in the house of Agafya Matveyevna Pshenitsyna, where Oblomov finished his inglorious career; this is the serf Zakhar, with his slavish devotion to the master, and a host of crooks, crooks, hunters for someone else's pie (Tarantyev, Ivan Matveyevich, Zaterty), scurrying around Oblomov and his free income. The serf system, which gave rise to such phenomena, spoke with all its content of Goncharov's novel, was doomed to destruction, its destruction became an urgent requirement of the era.
I could not awaken Oblomov's interest in life and the love of a beautiful girl, Olga Ilyinskaya. "The Poem of Love" with its passions, ups and downs seems to the hero as a "pre-hard school of life." Oblomov is frightened of those high qualities of the soul that he must possess in order to become worthy of a girl's love. Olga, trying in vain to save her beloved, asks him: “What ruined you? There is no name for this evil ... "-" There is ... Oblomovism ", - Ilya Ilyich answers. Oblomov is much more satisfied with another version of the relationship. He finds his “ideal” in the person of Agafya Matveyevna Pshenitsyna, who, without demanding anything from the object of her love, tries to indulge him in everything.
But why is one of the best people in the novel morally clean, honest, kind, warm-hearted Oblomov morally dying? What is the cause of this tragedy? Goncharov, condemning Oblomov's way of life, his laziness, lack of will, inability to practice, sees the reasons that gave rise to the phenomenon of Oblomovism in the conditions of Russian local life, which allowed the landowner not to worry about his daily bread. According to Dobrolyubov, “Oblomov is not a dull, apathetic nature, without aspirations and feelings, but a person who is also looking for something in his life, thinking about something. But the vile habit of receiving satisfaction of his desires not from his own efforts, but from others, developed in him an apathetic immobility and plunged him into a miserable state of a moral slave. " This is the essence of Oblomov's tragedy.
But condemning Oblomov's laziness and apathy, Goncharov is ambivalent about another hero, Andrei Stolz, who seems to be ideally positive, and does not consider his path of personality formation more suitable for Russia. Unlike Oblomov, a warm-hearted person, the author describes Stolz to us as a kind of mechanism. His ideal, which nothing prevented from being realized, is the achievement of material prosperity, comfort, personal well-being. A. P. Chekhov wrote about him: “Stolz does not inspire me with any confidence. The author says that he is a magnificent fellow, but I do not believe him ... He is half composed, three-quarters stilted. "
Perhaps the origins of the tragedies of both heroes lie in their upbringing. The fault of Stolz's unnaturalness is the “correct”, rational, burgher upbringing.
The Oblomovs are the keepers of the traditions of antiquity. This Oblomov utopia about a man harmoniously coexisting with nature was passed down from generation to generation. But the author shows the backwardness of patriarchy, the almost fabulous impossibility of such an existence in his contemporary world. Oblomov's dream is crumbling under the pressure of civilization.
In a rebuff to Zakhar about the lifestyle of “other” Oblomov, he looks almost like the personification of the typical psychology of a slave owner, confident in his right to do nothing and only consume the goods of life. But here Zakhar, beaten by the "pathetic" words of the master, left, and Oblomov alone with himself seriously compares himself with the "others" and thinks completely opposite to what he was explaining to the old uncle with pathos. And the “painful consciousness” of the truth almost leads him to that terrible word, which, “like a stigma, captures his life and the true values of his spirit. Oblomov hid so diligently from life that secret pure gold turns out to be an obvious evil for those who depend on him Zakhar, touching in his slavish devotion, but completely depraved, weakened by idleness, perishes, and the rest of the three hundred Zakhars, who are invisible in the novel, ruined by swindlers and “honest figures,” suffer.
A dream-like life and a death-like dream are the fate of the novel's protagonist.
Oblomov's "pigeon soul" resolutely denies the world of false activity hostile to man, life, nature - first of all, the world of active bourgeois affairs, the world of all predation and meanness. But this very soul, as Goncharov shows, in its weakness acts as a hostile element to life. This contradiction is the real immortality of Oblomov's tragic image.
Dobrolyubov with all his might showed the typicality of Oblomov not only for conservative, but also for liberal Russia. According to the correct remark of PA Kropotkin, "Oblomov's type is not at all limited to the borders of Russia alone: ... Oblomovism exists on both continents and under all latitudes." This was also recognized by Western European criticism. P. Hansen, a translator of Goncharov's works into Danish, wrote to him: “Not only at Aduev and Raysky, but even in Oblomov, I found so much familiar and old, so much dear. Yes, there is nothing to hide, and in our dear Denmark there is a lot of Oblomovism.
The concept of "Oblomovism" has become a household name for all sorts of inertia, inertia and stagnation.
Phraseologisms are stable combinations of words that are close to lexical meaning one word. The Russian linguist A. I. Efimov said: "Phraseologisms are pearls, nuggets and gems of the native language."
The term "phraseology" is derived from the Greek words phrasis (speech) and logos (teaching). This term denotes a section of linguistics that is devoted to the study of the phraseological composition of a language, i.e. the subject of this science is the semantic, morphological and stylistic properties of phraseological units.
Phraseologisms have existed throughout the history of the language. Since the end of the 18th century, they have been explained in special collections and explanatory dictionaries under various names (catchphrases, aphorisms, idioms, proverbs and sayings). Even MV Lomonosov, drawing up a plan for the dictionary of the Russian literary language, pointed out that it should include "phrases", "idioms", "sayings", that is, turns, expressions. However, the phraseological composition of the Russian language began to be studied relatively recently.
There are primordially Russian phraseological units, but there are also borrowed ones, including phraseological units that came to the Russian language from ancient Greek mythology.
Verbal expressions of speech come from the ancient era - this is a special type of phraseological units. These expressions have their origins in the mythology and history of Greece. The essence ancient Greek phraseological units can be understood if you understand their origin from a certain myth. Such "catch phrases" convey the attitude to the subject of the conversation, emphasizing the significance of the phrase for the speaker.
Augean stables are a heavily littered, polluted place, usually a place where everything is in disarray. Phraseologism originated from the name of the huge stables of the Elid king Augean, which had not been cleaned for many years. Only the mighty Hercules, the son of Zeus, could cleanse them. The hero cleared the Augean stables in one day, sending the waters of two stormy rivers through them.
Singing praises is immoderate, enthusiastic praise, praise someone or something. It originated from the name of dithyrambs - songs of praise in honor of the god of wine and the vine Dionysus, sung during processions dedicated to this deity.
The apple of discord is an object, a cause of dispute, enmity. According to ancient Greek myth, once the goddess of discord Eridu was not invited to a feast. Holding a grudge, Eris decided to take revenge on the gods. She took a golden apple, on which was written "the most beautiful", and imperceptibly threw it between the goddesses Hero, Aphrodite and Athena. The goddesses argued over which of them it should belong. 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.
Sisyphean labor is useless, endless hard work, fruitless work. The expression came from the ancient Greek legend about Sisyphus, a famous cunning man who could deceive even the gods and constantly came into conflict with them. It was he who managed to bind Thanatos, the god of death, sent to him, and keep him in captivity for several years, as a result of which people did not die. For his actions, Sisyphus was severely punished in Hades: he had to roll a heavy stone onto the mountain, which, reaching the top, inevitably fell down, so that all the work had to start anew.
Throwing thunder and lightning - speak angrily, irritated, reproaching, denouncing or threatening someone. It arose from the idea of Zeus - the supreme god of Olympus, who, according to myths, dealt with his enemies and people unwanted by him with the help of terrifying lightning forged by Hephaestus.
Ariadne's thread, Ariadne's thread - what helps to find a way out of a predicament. By the name of Ariadne, daughter of the Cretan king Minos, who, according to ancient Greek myth, helped the Athenian king Theseus, after he killed the half-bull, half-human Minotaur, to safely get out of the underground labyrinth with the help of a ball of thread. The gifts of the Danaans (Trojan horse) are insidious gifts, ...
Slide 1
Phraseologisms of Ancient Greece
Slide 2
Apple of discord
The subject of enmity or reason for the dispute
According to ancient Greek myth, once the goddess of discord Eridu was not invited to a feast. Holding a grudge, Eris decided to take revenge on the gods. She took a golden apple, on which was written "the most beautiful", and imperceptibly threw it between the goddesses Hero, Aphrodite and Athena. The goddesses argued over which of them it should belong. 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.
Slide 3
Cornucopia
With extraordinary generosity, in great numbers. The 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, instructing the nymphs to look after him, Zeus was fed with the milk of the divine goat Amalfea. One day she, clinging to a tree, broke off her horn. The nymph filled it with fruits and gave it to Zeus. Zeus presented the horn to the nymphs who raised him, promising that whatever they wished would emerge from it.
Slide 4
Promethean fire
An unquenchable desire to achieve lofty goals. One of the titans, Prometheus, stole fire from the gods and taught people to use it. Enraged Zeus told Hephaestus to chain the titan to a rock, where an eagle flew every day to peck at Prometheus's liver. The hero Hercules freed Prometheus.
Slide 5
Sing praises
Overly praise, exalt someone or something. It arose from the name of praises - songs of praise in honor of the god of wine and the vine, Dionysus, sung during processions dedicated to this deity.
Slide 6
Achilles' heel
Weak point, the weak side of Thetis dipped his son Achilles into the wonderful waves of Styx, so that the boy would become invulnerable. However, while bathing, she held her son's body by the heel, from this the heel became the most vulnerable point of Achilles. In the future, it was in the heel that Paris mortally wounded him.
Slide 7
Augean stables
1) A very polluted place, neglected premises 2) Extreme disorder in business In Greek mythology, these stables are the huge possessions of the king of Elis - Auge, in which order has not been restored for many years. And Hercules cleared them in one day, sending the Alpheus River through the stables. This water took all the dirt with it.
1. Augean stables - heavily littered, dirty or littered premises.
In Greek mythology, the Augean stables are the vast stables of Augeus, king of Elis, which have not been cleaned for many years. They were cleaned in one day by Hercules: he sent a river through the stables, the waters of which carried away all the manure.
2. Ariadne's thread - what helps to find a way out of a difficult situation.
The expression originated from 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 get out. Theseus were helped to accomplish a 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 women who were doomed to be torn to pieces were taken to the labyrinth, Theseus tied the end of the thread at the entrance and walked along the tangled passages, gradually unwinding the ball. After killing the Minotaur, Theseus found the way back out of the labyrinth along a thread and led all the doomed out of there.
3. Achilles' heel is a weak spot.
In Greek mythology, Achilles (Achilles) is one of the most powerful and brave heroes. He is sung in Homer's Iliad. The mother of Achilles, the sea goddess Thetis, to make her son's body invulnerable, dipped him into the sacred river Styx. Dipping, she held him by the heel, which was not touched by the water, so the heel remained the only vulnerable spot of Achilles, where he was mortally wounded by Paris's arrow.
4. Sword of Damocles - impending, threatening danger.
The expression arose from an ancient Greek tradition told by Cicero in his "Tuskulan Conversations". Damocles, one of the close associates of the Syracuse tyrant Dionysius the Elder, began to enviously speak of him as the happiest of people. Dionysius, in order to teach the envious lesson, put him in his place. During the feast, Damocles saw a sharp sword hanging from a horsehair above his head. Dionysius explained that this is the 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 death with them for those who receive them.
The Trojan Horse is a secret cunning design (hence the Trojan Virus (Trojan)).
The expressions originated from the Greek legends of the Trojan War. The Danai (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 pretended to float away from the Troad coast. 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, went out, killed the guards, opened the city gates, let in the comrades who returned on the ships, and thus took possession of Troy.
2.2. Antique phraseological units
2.2.1. The emergence and spread of antique phraseological units
Antique phraseological units are a group of phraseological units that arose on the basis of ancient ancient myths. They make up a fairly large group of revolutions, most often book ones. They found their way into the Russian language most often in the 18th century, when interest in antiquity sharply increased. Most of them arose, as in the case of biblical phraseological units, by tracing phrases from Greek and Latin.
A clear example of all the above facts is the proverb the smoke of the fatherland is sweet and pleasant to us... In the BMS dictionary you can learn about it, firstly, that its use is bookish. It is used in the meaning of "everything is expensive at home, everything is cute - even unpleasant things" and, according to this dictionary, the proverb goes back to the Latin proverb Et fumus patriae dulcis; dulcis fumus patrie (lit. "and the smoke of the fatherland is sweet; the smoke of the fatherland is sweet"). Similar expressions are found in Homer's Odyssey. In the Russian language, this proverb appears, apparently, in the 70s of the 18th century, when interest in antiquity is growing in Russia (BMS 2005: 214).
The proof of the tracing from the Latin language is the proverb truth in wine... It exists in all the languages we study in the form of full equivalents: Czech. ve víně je pravda; words. vo víne je pravda; floor. prawda w winie; ukr. truth in wine; English in wine there is the thruth; German in Wein ist Wahrheit; isp. en el vino esta le verdad; it. la verita é nel vino / nel vino sta la veritá.
The source of the proverb is the aphorism of the Greek poet Alcaeus: "Wine is a sweet child, but it is the truth." This idea was briefly formulated by the Roman writer and scholar Pliny the Elder (23 or 24-79 AD) in Natural History " In vino veritas"(BMS 2005: 274). The proverb is used in two main meanings: 1) drunk, as is commonly believed, is telling the truth; 2) iron... spoken as an excuse for drunkenness.
Proof of the Latin origin of the turnover is the fact that it is still often quoted in Latin. So, for example, when one of the Slovak radio stations held a competition, the essence of which was that the listener had to answer within a minute to 10 easy questions such as: what is the name of the capital of Japan, among the questions arose the question: what does a Latin proverb mean? in vino veritas?(recorded January 2008). This proves the prominence of the Latin prototype.
In addition, like biblical phraseological units, antique phraseological units also often passed from language to language, and, as we will show in phraseological units be afraid of your shadow, the process was so complex that it was “no longer possible to trace the migration path” (Stěpanova 2004: 248).
There are, however, some exceptions that can be cited as an example of the migration of phraseological units of ancient origin.
So, phraseological unit Golden Rain, according to the BMS dictionary, is associated with the ancient Greek myth of Zeus. Captivated by the beauty of Danaë, the daughter of the Agros king Acrisius, Zeus entered her in the form of a golden rain and impregnated her. Russian expression - tracing paper from German Goldregen(BMS 2005: 194).
At the aforementioned time, when interest in antiquity was growing in the Russian language, I got from the German language into Russian and phraseological units business bum: the expression is found in various ancient authors, for example, in Aristophanes (c. 446 - 385 BC) in Horace and others. This antithesis, following the ancient literature, was mastered by the world literature of modern times. The founder of Danish literature L. Goberg (1684-1754) - the author of the comedy "The Business Loafer", in imitation of which in Germany in 1743 the comedy by I. Schlegel (1718-1749) appeared under the same name. In Russian since the 18th century, tracing paper from German (BMS 2005: 47). Phraseologism is used in the meaning of ‘a person who creates the appearance of being actively engaged in business, but in fact doesn’t work’ His origin proves an interest in antiquity not only in Russia, but also in other countries of the world. (In connection with such a description of the origin of phraseological units, one can state one reason for the differences in the composition of ancient phraseological units in different languages - the influence of literature. So, in connection with the German phraseological unit jdm Hekuba sein (which corresponds to Russian what is Hecuba to me) K. Müller notes that the phraseological unit arose on the basis of Shakespeare's “Hamlet” (Müller 2003: 241).
In addition to German, during the mentioned period, the French language had a huge influence on the Russian language. As in the case of biblical phraseological units, phraseological units of ancient origin often entered the Russian language precisely through French. As in the case of phraseological units Noah's ark among biblical phraseological units, and in relation to phraseological units of ancient origin skin and bones in the BMS dictionary there are two interpretations of its origin that are not mutually exclusive: 1) the expression has analogues in ancient languages, is used by ancient writers - Theocritus, Plautus, Horace, Ovid, etc .; 2) the expression is probably tracing paper from fr. la peau et les os.
Identical expressions were used in ancient Greece and Rome (BMS 2005: 310).
Phraseologism is used about a very thin, extremely emaciated, emaciated person and has equivalents in Czech ( kost a kůže), Slovak ( kosť a koža), Polish ( skora a kośći) English language ( nothing but skin and bones).
The same situation with phraseological unit phraseological unit be afraid of your shadow, which is used about the extreme degree of cowardice, unfounded fear.
The turnover is a tracing of fr. avoir peur de son ombre. It goes back to one from the fragments of the comedy of Aristophanes (c. 415 - c. 385 BC) This is a literal translation of the Greek expression: ten heaytoy skian dedoiken.
Cited by Plato: antonius umbram suam metuit(BMS 2005: 698). This means that the Greek expression was traced to Latin, from there it got into French, and then into Russian.
Phraseologism is found in other languages, for example Czech. bát / lekat se i vlastního stínu; words. báť sa vlastného tieňa; German Angst von eigenenSchattenhaben; English be afraid of one’s shadow.
The expression came from French to Russian priestess of venus, which is used in the meaning of "woman of easy virtue, heterosexual."
2.2.2. The reasons for the internationality / non-internationality of ancient phraseological units:
2.2.2.1. Migration of antique phraseological units
Migration of phraseological units of ancient origin can lead to differences in their composition in different languages due to differences in language contacts. In addition, after falling into different languages, phraseological units often undergo various kinds of changes, are actualized in different ways, which often leads to differences in their component composition in different languages: existovaly dlouhou dobu, mohou tato rčení získat určité specifické rysy (Stěpanova 2004: 65).
A good example of a kind of "adaptation" of phraseological units to the realities of the country can be found in German, where from the Latin prototype no omnes qui haben citharam, sunt citharo edi a whole series of stable expressions with the same meaning arises: es sind nicht alle Jä ger, die das Horn blassen(lit. not all hunters who blow the horn); es sind nicht alle Kö cher, die lange Messer tragen (lit. not all chefs who carry a long knife); es sind nicht alle Heilige, die in die Kirche gehen(lit. not all saints who go to church); es ist nicht jeder ein Schmied, der ein Schurzfell trä gt(lit. not all blacksmiths who wear an apron).
If in the comedy of Plautus, for example, the expression '' tunica proprior palio′ ′, Which, if literally translated, sounds ‘a tunic closer to the body than a cloak’, then in Russian the expression gradually appears own shirt closer to the body... And if we consider the equivalents of this expression in Czech, Slovak and German (there is no phraseological unit in the English language), then they will turn out to be only relative equivalents of both the Russian turnover and the original Latin expression. In German, for example, this phraseological unit is found in the following version: das Hemd ist mir nä her als der Rock(lit. ′ ′ shirt is closer to me than skirts ′ ′). V. Fleischer, to whom we have already referred more than once, mentions this phraseological unit precisely in connection with the variation of phraseological units of ancient origin (Fleischer 1982: 82).
In Czech, L. Stepanova cites as an example “změny lexikálního složení z důvodu změny významu jednoho z komponentů” (Stěpanova 2004: 145) just this phraseological unit. It turns out that in the Czech language there was a complete equivalent of the German expression - bližší košile než sukně... In the German language, the phraseological unit still remains in its original form, but it is not completely transparent for modern Germans and needs an etymological commentary (Müller 2003: 242). In connection with the above-mentioned migration of phraseological units of ancient origin, it cannot be ruled out that this turnover came to the Czech language from German. This variant was, however, outdated already under Comenius (Stěpanova 2004: 145). In the modern Czech language, the phraseological unit under consideration exists in the form bližší košile než kabát, an identical variant exists in the Slovak language: bližšia košeľa ako kabát.
2.2.2.2. Various development phraseological units in individual languages
Phraseological units of ancient origin undergo the same changes that are characteristic of phraseological units of other groups, which can also lead to differences between such phraseological units in different languages. So, in accordance with the need for expressiveness in phraseology, there is a phraseological unit poor like Ir option poorer Ira; due to the tendency towards implicitness caused by the redundancy of semantic information (Mokienko 1980: 98), arises from the comparison like Janus two-faced comparison like Janus.
It is also worth considering phraseological unit Augean stables, which is used in three main meanings: 1) about a heavily polluted, littered, littered place (as a result of long neglect) in a room where complete disorder reigns; 2) about any institution, organization, etc., where disorder and chaos reign, complete confusion in the conduct of business; 3) about badly neglected cases, disorderly accumulation of papers, documents, etc. (BMS 2005: 337).
As A. Oleskevich notes, most of the phraseological units of biblical and ancient origin are substantive phraseological units, to which verb variants then arise, “najczesciej za pomoca czasownika być: być chlebem powszednim, być czyją pietą Achilessa, być arką przymieza, ale tez przy pomocy innych czasownikow przeciać / rozcać / rozsuplać / rozwiazać węzel gordyjski, polozyć / postawić kamien węgielny, stać się kamieniem węgielnym, otworzyć puszkę pandory(Oleśkiewic 2007: 64).
Based on this expression, its verb version arises clear / clear / scrub / scrub the Augean stables, which also has three main meanings: book... 1) with great effort to put things in order in a heavily polluted, clogged, littered place, room; 2) to put things in order in some. an institution, organization, etc., where confusion and complete confusion in the conduct of business reigns; 3) put in order, sort out the papers that have accumulated in disorder (BMS 2005: 337).
This expression is closely related to the ancient Greek legend of the sixth of the twelve labors of Hercules, which was first recorded by the Roman historian Diodorus of Siculus. In the country of Elis lived the powerful king Augeas, the son of the sun god Helios. In his barnyard, he kept bulls of amazing beauty and strength, donated to him by his father. This barnyard hasn't been cleaned for years. Only Hercules could clear it - he destroyed the wall that surrounded the courtyard on both sides, took the water of two full-flowing rivers Alpheus and Peneus there. The water carried away all the manure in one day. The expression “barnyard” was translated into Russian inaccurately by the word “stables” (BMS 2005: 337).
In the component composition of this phraseological unit, however, there are some differences: the word stables, which is found in Russian, Ukrainian ( augіevі stainі) and Polish ( stajnia augiaszowa) variants of phraseological units; in Czech and Slovak replaced by the word chlév / chliev: augiášův chlév / augiášov chliev.
As L. Stepanova notes: “zřejmě při přebírání tohoto frazému zvolily ruština i čeština různé lexémy s přihlédnutím k tomu, které byly v období převzetíkventovanjě. V čestině například je substantivum chlév aktivnější ve tvoření frazémů a je komponentem rčení s blízkým významem, srov. je tam jako ve chlévě, udělat chlívek někde aj. "(Stepanova 2004: 66). The same can be said about the Slovak language, which is indirectly proved by J. Mlacek, who in the mentioned component saw a problem in the penetration of phraseological units takú radu za chliev kladú into literary language (Mlacek 2007: 88). The point is that the word chliev in itself serves as a very expressive, even rude description of a place in which complete confusion reigns. Therefore, its use as part of a phraseological unit augiášov chliev promotes the expansion of its imaginative potential, and thereby expressiveness. Word barn, in addition, has a very negative assessment in other languages, in itself denoting a dirty place where complete confusion reigns:
And what, the spouse will return to you again?
Wife, I say, will return to you?
Why would she be in this stable, may I ask?
So you were beating her so she wasn't in the barn? So they were chasing her from the barn?
(....) A dress on a wife is worse than a dirty rag. Hair got caught in tea, bed - and don't talk. I see, really a pig barn.
(Ouspensky: Incurable)
This is also proved by stable comparisons, such as like a cow shed; like bread"About a dirty, neglected, untidy and uncomfortable room"; stink / stinks like a barn‘About a room with stale air and a pungent, unpleasant odor’ (Mokienko 2003: 464). Almost identical stable turns are found with the word stable: like a stable; as dirty as in a stable; stink / stinks like a stable(Ibid: 184).
If we consider this phraseological unit in non-Slavic languages, the situation will turn out to be even more confusing: in German, this phraseological unit exists in the variant Augiasstal... Interesting from the point of view of figurativeness is the fact that in the German language the word barn-Schweinstall(lit. a pigsty) is also used in the sense of 'a dirty place, a place where confusion reigns' Frauen hinterlassen die Küche eher wie ein Schweinstall als die Männer
Die Männer sind cool, wenn sie kochen und das essen bratet eine zeit lang, waschen sie nebenbei noch das Geschirr und räumen auf (from the chat of an Arabian commune living in Germany) (the corresponding comparison also exists in Russian), but the phraseological unit contains the word stable - Stall.
German explanatory dictionaries of Greek mythology explain that Hercules cleansed Rindstall(lit. stable) ,
and this word is sometimes replaced with just a word Stall,
from there and the corresponding Russian expression. And since some bilingual dictionaries lead to the Czech word chlév as a possible translation of the word Stall, you can call it the full equivalent of Czech.
There is an equivalent in English Augean stable- word stable in translation means a stable, but it is also used to designate a barn, since the word pigsty - ‘ barn ’ in English it is used extremely rarely. The considered phraseological unit is an example of how languages master and develop antique plots, since ancient Greek historians, such as Pausanias, describe only that Hercules cleared the "place with manure" without naming it barnyard, i.e. give a general meaning.
In addition to the fact that the language into which the phraseological unit falls can influence it and contribute to the change of its components, as it was in the given case, it can also contribute to a greater spread of the turnover. About phraseological unit keep the snake in the bosom, which is truly international and its presence in different languages does not cause any surprise, in the BMS Russian phraseology dictionary you can read: “An expression from an ancient Greek parable about a farmer who found a frozen snake and put it in his bosom. Having warmed up, she stung her savior. In Russian, she gained popularity thanks to the Russian folk speech, where there were already turns fed the snake on its neck and axillary snake» (BMS 2005: 252). In the Slovak language, the situation seemed to be identical: J. Skladana notes that phraseological unit existed in the Slovak language púšťať si zmiju do pazuchy(Skladaná 1993: 73).
As already mentioned, phraseological units exist in all studied languages: Czech. hřát si hada na prsou; Slovak. chovať si hada na prsiach; floor. hodować zmiję na piersi; ukr. vigoduvati / vіdіgrіty zmіyu bіlja/ colo (svogo) ́ heart/ for a pause; English warm a snake in one’s bosom; German eine Schlange am Busen nä hren; in Spanish, we managed to find only an analogue of non-antique origin dar de comer al diablo(lit. 'to treat the devil'); it. allevarsi la sepre in seno.
2.2.2.3. Different development of the image
Describing biblical phraseological units, we have already noted that initially, in some cases, the language assimilates an image, on the basis of which a phraseological unit appears afterwards. The identical process can also be observed in the group of antique phraseological units. The best proof of this process is phraseological comparisons, in which proper names are found, taken from the myths of antiquity. An example is Russian comparisons with the word siren- in the dictionary of Russian comparisons, you can find four such turns: like a siren‘About seductive, sexy woman’; seduce like a siren‘About a woman energetically, ingeniously and cleverly seducing smb. a man '; dangerous as a siren"About a person dangerous with his speeches and writings"; sweetheart like a siren‘About a gifted orator or a talented writer’ (Mokienko 2003: 388). Again, as the above examples prove, one can see in the development of the image one of the reasons for the differences.
The difference in the specifics of mastering is generally found most often in the group of biblical and antique phraseological units with proper names that represent certain symbols. Apart from others, M. Yankovichova is engaged in symbols in phraseology, who notes that “it is characteristic of symbols that, as a rule, they are not associated with one meaning, but with two or more meanings, and that they are in certain systemic relationships with each other” (Yankovichova 2001: 422). The cited article, unfortunately, does not consider biblical and ancient symbols, referring to the fact that “the pan-European character of Russian phrases in the component composition of which they occur is obvious” (Ibid.).
As in the case of biblical phraseological units, so here one can observe a situation when the same image, assimilated by different peoples, leads to the emergence of different phraseological units. One of such completely international images is the image of Argus. On the basis of the myth of Argus in the Russian language, the Russian PU itself appears. argus steadfast... It has no equivalents in any of the studied languages. However, on the basis of this image, another phraseological unit arises - Argus eyes which can be found in Czech, Slovak, Polish and German: Czech .: argusovo oko; words. argusovo oko; floor. argusowe oczy, argusowe oko; German Argusaugen.
It is used about smb. sharp-sighted, suspicious, vigilant eyes, and, for example, in German, unlike most phraseological units of ancient origin, phraseological units are used quite often. So, in the news of one of the German TV stations one could hear on 12.4.2007 that the fulfillment of political promises wird mit Argusaugen beobachtet 9 (this will be watched by the eyes of Agrus).
In phraseology different nations the name of the god of wine and fun among the ancient Greeks and Romans, Bacchus, also came across - his fame is evidenced, among other things, by the fact that the image of this god can be found in many wineries.
In the Russian language, on the basis of this image, a phraseological unit was created to be under Bacchus, which is used in the meaning 'to be drunk, drunk' (compare the common phraseological model under a degree; under the fly; under the chef / chef with the same value), then Backhus fan; in Czech FE holdovat Bakchovi; in german glü cklig, wie Bakchus auf dem Fass sein(phraseological units with completely different meanings: phraseological units holdovat Bakchovi used in the meaning 'to drink wine', German FE glü cklig, wie Bakchus auf dem Fass sein (lit. ′ ′ to be happy as Bacchus on trial ′ ′) in the meaning of ′ ′ to be very happy ′ ′). This image is absent in English and Slovak phraseology.
Another such striking example is the symbol of the sphinx. In Greek mythology, the Sphinx is a monster with the face and chest of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of a bird, who lived on a rock near the city of Thebes. The Sphinx lay in wait for travelers and made riddles for them, killing those who did not solve them. When the Thebes king Oedipus solved the riddles given to him, the monster took his own life. (BMS 2005: 232). Russian phraseology took from the said narration precisely the image of the riddle that the Sphinx was guessing: in the Russian language there is phraseological unit riddle of the sphinx.
The phraseology of the Czech and Slovak languages reflects a different image - the silence of the sphinx in phraseological units mlčet jako sfinga, mlčať ako sfinga. In English phraseology, we could not find the image of the sphinx, the German language created on the basis of the narrative about the sphinx PU, reflecting its mystery - rä tselhaft wie eineSphinx sein. Thus, all languages have their own, non-equivalent phraseological units based on the same symbol, but with different mastery. The originality of the perception of antique symbols by the Russian people contributed to the emergence of such antique phraseological units as: cunning Odysseus, the work of Danaides, the work of Penelope, the bonds of Hymen, the Parnassian horse, the age of Astrea and many others, which, as a result of the special reception by each language of the symbol, are non-international.
As for the frequency of the use of antique phraseological units, we can say that it is so low that most of the phraseological units of ancient origin do not know most of the speakers at all. According to the results of a survey that we conducted in one Slovak secondary school, the phraseological unit Scylla a Charybda went out of use to such an extent that not only none of the students, but even the teacher of the Slovak language was not able to describe its meaning. In most cases, the students were also unaware of such expressions as man to man wolf or Trojan horse. This confirms the fact noted by J. Mlacek that the number of actively used phraseological units is decreasing (Mlacek 2007: 320). During the search for equivalents to Russian phraseological units of ancient origin, we encountered great difficulties, since antique phraseological units in recent years, with rare exceptions, are almost not recorded in dictionaries. Almost the only use of phraseological units sink into oblivion, which we have stumbled upon so far, was its use in the article by A.N. Shustov on the origin of Russian phraseological unit golden age:
Most likely, only the traditional golden and silver (maybe still Iron) ages will remain in the Russian language for a long time, and the rest will sink into oblivion as curious author's neologisms
(N.A. Shustov: from the golden age to the clay)
On the Internet, it was possible to come across this expression rarely, in the overwhelming majority of cases in foreign web pages:
The capital's public transport should also rise in price. To sweeten the bitter pill are the promises of installing new pedestrian traffic lights, expanding dedicated bus lanes and giving priority to trams. However, the city authorities did not accept any binding document. As "PRAVO" writes, promises can "sink into oblivion" right after the new year. The result is that the number of serious accidents in Prague is increasing every year, and the townspeople are increasingly complaining about traffic jams in which passenger transport is idle.
http://www.radio.cz/cz/clanek/98005/limit
The favorite slogan of the Ministry of Health - "Smoking is harmful to your health" - may sink into oblivion. Scientists have invented cigarettes that do not harm either the smoker or others. The favorite slogan of the Ministry of Health - "Smoking is harmful to your health" - may sink into oblivion. Scientists have invented cigarettes that do not harm either the smoker himself or those around him.
http://readme.es/?act=vote&id=648745
An exception with regard to low frequency of use is, for example, phraseological unit life is struggle, which can be found in all studied languages: Czech .: život je boj; words. život je boj; floor. życie ludzkie jest ciaglą wałką; ukr. life - tse struggle; English life is a battle; German Leben ist ein Kampf; isp. la vida es una lucha; it. la vita é una continua battaglia.
2.3. TO alcoves and half-calves
Phraseological tracing papers are a fairly numerous group, which is already noted by V. N. Telia, who writes: "the phraseological composition, like the vocabulary of the language, includes a huge number of borrowed phrases" (Telia 1975: 25). This fact is also noted by the already mentioned ND Fomina and MA Bakina, who, in addition, note their role in the formation of the international phraseological fund of different languages: “a significant group of Russian phraseology is made up of phraseological units borrowed or copied from other languages. Among them are phraseological units that have become international ”(Fomina, Bakina 1985: 25). The Russian language has also expanded the composition of international phraseological units, for example, by introducing phraseological units Potemkin villages and phraseological unit dead Souls... The first expression is associated with the name of Prince G.A. Potemkin, statesman of the times of Catherine II. After the annexation of the Crimea to Russia, the Empress made a trip to Novorossiya in 1787. According to the stories of foreigners, in order to show her the prosperity of the land entrusted to him by the empress, Potemkin ordered to build fake, ostentatious villages with painted huts on her route to the Crimea. These villages were called "Potemkin" (BMS 2005: 187-188). Phraseologism is used in the meaning of ‘ostentatious, imaginary well-being, ostentatious brilliance, eyewash’ (Ibid.) Phraseologism is found in Czech, Slovak, and for example, English Czech. potěmkinské vesnice; words. poteminské dediny; English village of Potemkin... In the Russian language, there are a large number of phraseological units that arose by tracing, and the original language was most often French. A lot of phraseological units also came from French into English and German, Czech is dominated by tracing papers from German. ND Fomina and MA Bakina propose to divide the borrowed phraseological units into two groups: 1) phraseological units borrowed from Slavic languages; 2) phraseological units borrowed from non-Slavic languages (Fomina, Bakina 1985: 25).
N. D. Fomina and M. A. Bakina in their book '' Phraseologymodern Russian language '' divide the entire phraseological composition of the Russian language into two groups: the original Russian phraseological units and the borrowed ones, and the borrowed phraseological units, according to their definition, “are stable combinations, catchphrases that came into the Russian language from other languages” (Fomina, Bakina 1985: 25). A more precise definition of phraseological cripples is given by Solodukho.
The great civilization of the ancient Greeks left a rich historical and cultural heritage to mankind. She gave the world unsurpassed masterpieces of art, including in literature (myths and poems). Have you ever wondered how much modern words and expressions have Greek roots, and what do they mean?
Phraseologisms from the myths of Ancient Greece
Phraseologism is an established phrase that can only be understood in its entirety. Special kind phraseological units are verbal turns of speech 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 "winged expressions" can be safely inserted into the topic of conversation, wishing to emphasize feelings and attitude towards an object or phenomenon.
Phraseologisms of Ancient Greece: examples
"Achilles' heel". Indicates a vulnerable, weak point. Thetis dipped her son Achilles into the wonderful waves of Styx to make the boy invulnerable. However, while bathing, she held her son's body by the heel, from this the heel became the most vulnerable point of Achilles. In the future, it was in the heel that Paris mortally wounded him.
« Ariadne's thread
"- what helps to get out of a difficult situation. This expression comes from the myth of Theseus. The hero had to fight 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 get out of the terrible house of the Minotaur.
« Gordian knot
"- this phrase is used when they want to point out a solution to a complicated problem in a simple way. The Phrygians, choosing a ruler, turned to the oracle. He told them to wait for the first person who would pass in the direction of the temple of Zeus with a cart. Gordius became king, and he put his cart within the walls of the temple, tying it with a reliable intricate knot. The oracle prophesied that the one who untied the plexus of Gordius would be the ruler of Asia. without hesitation, he cut the knot with his sword.
« Medusa's Gaze
"- so they say when a person creates an unpleasant, bad atmosphere when communicating with him. According to legend, there were three sisters - the Gorgons. They looked disgusting: snakes moved on their heads instead of hairs, copper hooves rested against the ground instead of legs. The worst of them was Medusa the Gorgon. From her gaze, people turned stone. The hero Perseus managed to outwit the monster in battle. He took a mirror shield, so he could not look at the monster, watching him in the reflection. Perseus managed to chop off the Gorgon's head, after which he hung it on the shield.
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Phraseologisms from the myths of Ancient Greece
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DAMOKLOV sword - a constantly threatening danger hanging over someone with visible well-being. According to ancient Greek legend, the Syracuse tyrant Dionysius I the Elder (late 5-4 centuries BC) offered the throne for one day to his favorite Damocles, who considered Dionysius the happiest of mortals. In the midst of the fun at the feast, Damocles suddenly saw a naked sword hanging on a horse's hair above his head, and realized the illusion of well-being.
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The origin of zoomorphism is the white crow. As you know, a black sheep is called people who stand out sharply against the background of the team with their behavior, appearance or attitude. Often nature makes mistakes and blunders that modern science interprets as failures in the genetic code or mutations. It is for this reason that sometimes there are individual individuals whose color is unusual for animals of this species. The most common examples are perhaps white rabbits and mice. Periodically, information comes in that here and there white foxes, fish and even toads have been seen. The reason for this phenomenon is the absence in the hair and skin of the pigment responsible for the color. Such deviations were called by a special term - albinism. Accordingly, animals suffering from this ailment are albinos. And it's very rare to find an albino crow. The ancient Roman poet Juvenal, using this fact, uttered his famous pearl: “A slave can become a king, prisoners can wait for a triumph. Only the lucky one of such a rare white crow ... ”. So the authorship of the phrase so widely used today belongs to a Roman who lived 2,000 years ago. By the way, this expression has an eastern analogue - "white elephant". Albinism is extremely rare among elephants, so in South-East Asia elephants with white skin are considered sacred animals
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REST ON LAURUSES. The expression comes from the name of a simple laurel tree. According to Greek legend, the nymph Daphne, fleeing from Apollo, turned into a laurel tree. Since then, this plant has become the tree of Apollo, the god of poetry and the arts. The winners were crowned with laurel branches and laurel wreaths. To "reap laurels" means to win success. "To rest on our laurels" means to stop striving for further success, to rest on what has already been achieved.
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FEMIDA FEMIDA. ~ Libra of Themis is a symbol of justice. ~ Temple (altar) of Themis - judgment. - [The case] occupied us at the trial so that we did not expect to be free for the holiday, and therefore I only came home to eat and sleep, and spent all days and part of the nights at the altar of Themis. Leskov. ~ Servants (priests, sons) of Themis are judges. - They finally reached the square where the offices were located ... From the windows of the second and third floors ... the incorruptible heads of the priests of Themis were protruding. Gogol. - Here the names of artists and artists mixed with each other - with the names of the sons of Themis and Mars. V. Krestovsky.
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The apple of discord Peleus and Thetis, the parents of the hero of the Trojan War, Achilles, forgot to invite the goddess of discord Eris to their wedding. Eris was very offended and secretly threw a golden apple on the table, at which the gods and mortals were feasting; it read: "The fairest." A terrible dispute arose between three goddesses: the wife of Zeus - the Hero, Athena - the virgin, the goddess of wisdom, and the beautiful goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite. “The young man Paris, the son of the Trojan king Priam, was chosen as judge between them. Paris awarded the apple to the goddess of beauty. Grateful Aphrodite helped Paris to kidnap the wife of the Greek king Menelaus, the beautiful Helen. To avenge such an offense, the Greeks went to war against Troy. As you can see, Eris' apple actually led to contention. The memory of this remained the expression "apple of discord", meaning any cause of disputes and strife. They also sometimes say "apple of Eris", "apple of Paris". You can often hear the words "throw an apple of discord between several people." The meaning of this is perfectly understandable.
Augean stables
In Greek mythology, the Augean stables are the vast stables of Augeus, the king of Elis, which have not been cleaned for many years. They were cleaned in one day by the hero Hercules (Hercules): he sent a river through the stables, the waters of which carried away all the manure. This myth was first reported by the Greek historian Diodorus of Siculus (1st century BC). The expression "Augean stables" that has arisen from this is used to denote a very dirty room, as well as severe neglect, debris, disorder in affairs that require great efforts to eliminate them; it became winged in antiquity (Seneca, Satyr on the death of Emperor Claudius; Lucian, Alexander).
Ariadne's thread
An expression that means: a guiding thread, a guiding thought, a way to help get out of a difficult situation, to solve a difficult question. It arose from Greek myths about the Athenian hero Theseus, who killed the Minotaur, a monstrous half-bull, half-man. The Athenians were obliged, at the request of the Cretan king Minos, to send seven youths 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 get out. Theseus were helped to accomplish a 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 boys and girls doomed to be torn apart were taken to the labyrinth. Theseus tied the end of the thread at the entrance and walked along the tangled 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 from there (Ovid, Metamorphoses, 8, 172; Geroids, 10, 103).
Achilles' heel
In Greek mythology, Achilles (Achilles) is one of the most powerful and brave heroes; he is sung in Homer's Iliad. The post-Homeric myth, transmitted by the Roman writer Gigin, reports that the mother of Achilles, the sea goddess Thetis, in order to make her son's body invulnerable, dipped him into the sacred river Styx; while dipping, she held him by the heel, which was not touched by the water, so the heel remained Achilles' only vulnerable spot, where he was mortally wounded by Paris's arrow. The expression "Achilles '(or Achilles') heel" arising from this is used in the sense: a weak side, a weak point of something.
Barrel Danaid
Danaids in Greek mythology - fifty daughters of the king of Libya Danaus, with whom his brother Egypt, the king of Egypt, was at enmity. Fifty sons of Egypt, pursuing Danae, who had fled from Libya to Argolis, forced the fugitive to give them his fifty daughters as their wife. On their wedding night, Danaids, at the request of their father, killed their husbands. Only one of them decided to disdain her father. For the crime committed, forty-nine Danaids were, after their death, destined by the gods to forever fill a bottomless barrel with water in the underworld of Hades. Hence the expression "the barrel of Danaids", used in the sense: constant fruitless labor, and also - a container that can never be filled, arose. The myth of the Danaids was first expounded by the Roman writer Hyginus (Fables, 168), but the image of a bottomless vessel was found earlier among the ancient Greeks. Lucian was the first to use the expression "the barrel of Danaides."
Age of Astrea
In Greek mythology, Astrea 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, shines in the constellation of the Zodiac. The expression "age of Astrea" is used in the meaning: happy time.
Liberation [worship] Bacchus [Bacchus]
Bacchus (Bacchus) - in Roman mythology - the god of wine and fun. Among the ancient Romans, when making sacrifices to the gods, there was a libation rite, which consisted of pouring wine from a cup in honor of the god. Hence the humorous expression "libation to Bacchus", used in the sense: a drinking bout, arose. The name of this ancient Roman god is also used in other humorous expressions about drunkenness: "worship Bacchus", "serve Bacchus".
Hercules. Hercules labor [feat]. Pillars of Hercules [pillars]
Hercules (Hercules) - the hero of Greek myths (Iliad, 14, 323; Odyssey, II, 266), endowed with extraordinary physical strength; he accomplished twelve feats - he killed the monstrous Lernaean hydra, cleared the stables of Augeus, and so on. On the opposite shores of Europe and Africa, near the Strait of Gibraltar, he set up 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 name of the legendary Greek hero became a household name for a person with great physical strength. The expression" Hercules labor, feat " used when talking about any business that requires extra-ordinary efforts.
Hercules at a crossroads
The expression arose from the speech of the Greek sophist Prodicus (5th century BC), known only in the exposition of Xenophon "Memories of Socrates", 2, 1, 21-33). In this speech, Prodicus told an allegory he had composed about the young man Hercules (Hercules), who was sitting at a crossroads and thinking about the life path that he was to choose. Two women approached him: Affection, which painted him a life full of pleasure and luxury, and Virtue, which showed him the difficult path to fame. The expression "Hercules at the Crossroads" is applied to a person who finds it difficult to choose between two solutions.
Hymen. Bond [chain] Hymen
In ancient Greece, the word "hymen" meant both a wedding song and the deity of marriage, consecrated by religion and law, in contrast to Eros, the god of free love. Allegorically "Hymen", "Ties of Hymen" - marriage, matrimony.
Sword of Damocles
The expression arose from an ancient Greek tradition recounted by Cicero in his Tuskulan Conversations. Damocles, one of the close associates of the Syracuse tyrant Dionysius the Elder (432-367 BC), began to enviously speak of him as the happiest of people. Dionysius, in order to teach the envious lesson, put him in his place. During the feast, Damocles saw a sharp sword hanging from a horsehair above his head. Dionysius explained that this is the emblem of those dangers to which he, as a ruler, is constantly exposed, despite his seemingly happy life. Hence the expression "sword of Damocles" received the meaning of impending, threatening danger.
Greek gift. Trojan horse
The expression is used in the sense: insidious gifts that bring death with them for those who receive them. Arose from the Greek legends about the Trojan War. The Danaans, 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 float away from the coast of Troad. 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, went out, killed the guards, opened the city gates, let in the comrades who had returned on the ships, and thus took possession of Troy (Homer's Odyssey, 8, 493 et e .; Virgil's Aeneid, 2, 15 and sl .). Virgil's hemistich "I am afraid of the Danaans, even those who bring gifts", often quoted in Latin ("Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes"), has become a proverb. Hence the expression "Trojan horse", used in the meaning: a secret, insidious plan, arose.
Two-faced Janus
In Roman mythology, Janus - the god of time, as well as all beginning and end, entrances and exits (janua - door) - was depicted with two faces facing in opposite directions: young - forward, into the future, old - back, into the past. The resulting expression "two-faced Janus" or simply "Janus" means: a two-faced person.
The Golden Fleece. Argonauts
In ancient Greek myths, it is said that the hero Jason went to Colchis (the eastern coast of the Black Sea) to get the golden fleece (golden wool of a ram), which was guarded by a dragon and bulls that spewed fire from their mouths. Jason built the ship "Argo" (fast), after which the participants in this, according to the legend of the first, long voyage of antiquity, were called Argo-navts. With the help of the sorceress Medea, Jason, having overcome all obstacles, safely took possession of the golden fleece. The first to expound this myth was the poet Pindar (518-442 BC). The golden rune is called gold, wealth, which they seek to seize; Argonauts - brave seafarers, adventure seekers.
Cassandra
According to Homer (Iliad, 13, 365), Cassandra is the daughter of the Trojan king Priam. Apollo gave her the gift of divination. But when she rejected his love, he instilled in everyone a distrust of her prophecies, although they always came true; so, she vainly warned the Trojans that the wooden horse, which they brought into the city, would bring them death (Vergili and, Aeneid, 2, 246) (see Gifts of the Danians). The name of Cassandra has become a household name for a person who warns of danger, but who is not believed.
Castor and Pollux
In Greek mythology, Castor and Pollux (Roman Pollux) are the sons of Zeus and Leda, twins. In the "Odyssey" (II, 298) they are referred to as the children of Leda and Tyndareus, the son of the Spartan king. According to another version of the myth, Castor's father is Tyndareus, and Pollux's father is Zeus, therefore the first, born of a mortal, is mortal, and the second is immortal. When Castor was killed, Pollux began to beg Zeus to give him the opportunity to die as well. But Zeus offered him a choice: either to stay on Olympus forever without a brother, or to spend one day with his brother on Olympus, the other in Hades. Pollux chose the latter. Their names have become synonymous with two irresistible friends.
Summer. Sink into oblivion
In Greek mythology, Lethe is the river of oblivion in Hades, the underworld; the souls of the dead, upon arrival in the underworld, drank water from it and forgot their whole past life (He-siod, Theogony; Virgil, Aeneid, 6). The name of the river has become a symbol of oblivion; the expression “sink into oblivion” arising from this is used in the meaning: to disappear forever, to be forgotten.
Mars. Son of Mars. Field of Mars
In Roman mythology, Mars is the god of war. Figuratively: military, belligerent person. In the same sense, the expression "son of Mars" is used; the expression "Field of Mars" in the meaning: battlefield. One of the parts of the city on the left bank of the Tiber, intended for military and gymnastic exercises, was also called in ancient Rome. In Paris, this name is given to the square in the western part of the city, which was originally used for military parades. In St. Petersburg, this was the name of the square between the Summer Garden and the barracks of the Pavlovsky Life Guards Regiment, on which large military parades were held under Nicholas I and later.
Between Scylla and Charybdis
According to the legends of the ancient Greeks, two monsters lived on the coastal rocks on both sides of the Strait of Messina: Scylla and Charybdis, who devoured seafarers. Scylla,
... barking incessantly,
A shrill squeal, like a young puppy squeal,
The monster announces the whole neighborhood. To approach her
It is scary not for people alone, but for the most immortal ...
Not a single sailor could pass her unharmed
With an easy ship to pass: all gaping jaws of teeth,
At once she kidnaps six people from the ship ...
You will see another rock close ...
The whole sea under that rock is terribly disturbed by Charybdis,
Absorbing three times a day and ejaculating three times a day
Black moisture. Don't you dare come near when it is swallowing:
Poseidon himself will not save the faithful from death ...
(Homer's "Odyssey", 12, 85-124. Translation by V. A. Zhukovsky.)
The expression "between Scylla and Charybdis" that has arisen from this is used in the meaning: to be between two hostile forces, in a position where danger threatens from both sides.
Minerva [Pallas] emerged from the head of Jupiter [Zeus]
Minerva - in Roman mythology, the goddess of wisdom, the patroness of sciences and arts, identified with the Greek goddess Pallas Athena, who, according to myths, was born from the head of Jupiter (the Greek parallel to him is Zeus), emerging from there fully armed - in armor, a helmet, with a sword in the hand. Therefore, when they talk about someone or something that supposedly appeared immediately completely finished, this appearance is compared with Minerva, who came out of the head of Jupiter, or with Pallas, who came out of the head of Zeus (Hesiod, Theogony; Pindar, Olympian odes, 7, 35).
Morpheus. Morpheus's embrace
In Greek mythology, Morpheus is the son of the god Hypnos, the winged god of dreams. His name is synonymous with sleep.
Tantalum flour
In Greek mythology, Tantalus, the king of Phrygia (also called the king of Lydia), was a lover of the gods, who often invited him to their feasts. But, being proud of his position, he insulted the gods, for which he was severely punished. According to Homer ("Odyssey", II, 582-592), his punishment consisted in the fact that, being thrown into Tartarus (hell), he always experiences intolerable torments of thirst and hunger; he stands up to his throat in water, but the water recedes from him as soon as he bows his head to drink; branches with luxurious fruits hung over him, but as soon as he stretches out his hands to them, the branches deflect. Hence the expression "torment of Tantalus" arose, which has the meaning: intolerable torment due to the inability to achieve the desired goal, despite its proximity
Narcissus
In Greek mythology - a handsome young man, the son of the river god Kephis and the nymph Leirio-py. 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 (Ovid, Metamor-phozy, 3, 339-510). His name has become a household name for a person who admires himself, narcissistic. M.E.Saltykov-Shchedrin called the liberal chatters of his day, who are in love with their own eloquence, Narcissists, those "sowers of progress" who argued with the government bureaucracy for insignificant reasons, covering up chatter about "holy deeds", "the light of the future." and so on, their personal interests ("New Narcissus, or in love with himself." "Signs of the time").
Start with Leda's eggs
In Greek mythology, Leda, the daughter of Festius, king of Aetolia, struck Zeus with her beauty, who appeared to her in the form of a swan. The fruit of their union was Helen (Iliad, 3, 426; Odyssey, II, 298). According to the later version of this myth, Elena was born from one egg of Leda, and her brothers, the twins Castor and Pollux, from another (Ovid, Geroids, 17, 55; Horace, Satyrs, 2, 1, 26). Later, after marrying Menelaus, Helen was kidnapped by Paris and thus turned out to be the culprit of the Greeks' campaign against Troy. The expression "to start with Leda's eggs" goes back to Horace (65-8 BC), who ("On the Art of Poetry") praises Homer for not starting his story about the Trojan War ab ovo - not from an egg (of course, the myth of Leda), not from the very beginning, but immediately introduces the listener in medias res - into the middle of things, into the very essence of de la. It should be added to this that the expression "ab ovo" among the Romans was a proverbial; in full: "ab ovo usque ad mala" - from beginning to end; literally: from egg to fruit (a Roman meal began with eggs and ended with fruit).
Nectar and ambrosia
In Greek mythology, nectar is a drink, ambrosia (ambrosia) is the food of the gods, which gives them immortality (Odyssey, 5, 91-94). Figuratively: an unusually tasty drink, an exquisite dish; the highest pleasure.
Olympus. Olympians. Olympic bliss, greatness, tranquility
Olympus is a mountain in Greece, where, as it is told in Greek myths, the gods lived (Go-mer, Iliad, 8, 456). The later writers (Sophocles, Aristotle, Virgil) have Olympus as the vault of heaven, inhabited by the gods. Olympians are immortal gods; figuratively - people who always preserve the majestic solemnity of their appearance and imperturbable peace of mind; also called people arrogant, inaccessible. Hence a number of expressions arose: "literary Olympus", "musical Olympus" - a group of recognized poets, writers, musicians. Sometimes these expressions are used ironically, playfully. "Olympic bliss" - the highest degree of bliss; "Olympic greatness" - solemnity in manners, in all appearance; "Olympian calm" - calmness is nothing unperturbed.
Panic fear
The expression is used in the meaning: unaccountable, sudden, intense fear that grips many people, causing confusion. Arose from Greek 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 the troops rushing from this to flight. From here the word "panic" arose.
Parnassus
In Greek mythology, Parnassus is a mountain in Thessaly, the seat of Apollo and the muses. In a figurative sense: a collection of poets, the poetry of a people. The Parnassian Sisters are muses.
Pegasus
In Greek mythology, the winged horse of Zeus; under the blow of his hoof on Mount Helikon, the source of Ipokren was formed, inspiring poets (Hesiod, Theogony; Ovid, Metamorphoses, 5). A symbol of poetic inspiration.
Pygmalion and Galatea
In the ancient Greek myth of the famous sculptor Pygmalion, it is said that he openly expressed his contempt for women. The goddess Aphrodite, enraged by this, made him fall in love with the statue of the young girl Galatea, created by him himself, and doomed him to the torments of unrequited love. The passion of Pygmalion was, however, so strong that it breathed life into the statue. The lively Galatea became his wife. On the basis of this myth Pygmalion, they began to call a person who, by the strength of his feelings, the direction of his will, contributes to the rebirth of another (see, for example, the play by Bernard Shaw “Pygmalion”), as well as a lover who meets the cold indifference of his beloved woman.
Prometheus. Promethean fire
Prometheus in Greek mythology is one of the titans; he stole fire from heaven and taught people to use it, thereby undermining faith in the power of the gods. For this, an angry Zeus ordered Hephaestus (the god of fire and blacksmithing) to chain Prometheus to a rock; the eagle that flew in every day tormented the liver of the chained titan (Hesiod, Theogony; Aeschylus, Chained Prometheus). The expression "Promethean fire" that arose on the basis of this myth is used in the meaning of: sacred fire burning in the soul of a person, an inextinguishable striving to achieve high goals in science, art, social work... The image of Prometheus is a symbol of human dignity and greatness.
Penelope's work
The expression originated from Homer's Odyssey (2, 94-109). Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, during many years of separation from him remained faithful to him, despite the harassment of suitors; she said that she was postponing a new marriage until the day when she finished weaving the coffin for her father-in-law, Elder Laertes; She spent the whole day at the weaving, and at night everything that she had knitted in the day was dismissed and again set to work. The expression is used in the meaning: fidelity of the wife; never-ending work.
Sphinx. Sphinx riddle
In Greek mythology, the Sphinx is a monster with the face and chest 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 could not figure them out. When the Theban king Oedipus solved the riddles given to him, the monster took his own life (Hesiod, Theogony). Hence the word "sphinx" got the meaning: something incomprehensible, mysterious; "Sphinx riddle" - something insoluble, mine.
Sisyphean labor. Sisyphean work
The expression is used in the sense: hard, endless and fruitless work. It arose from Greek mythology. The Corinthian king Sisyphus was sentenced by Zeus to eternal torment in Hades for insulting the gods: he had to roll a huge stone onto the mountain, which, having reached the top, again rolled down. For the first time the expression "Sisyphean labor" is found in the elegy (2, 17) of the Roman poet Proportion (1st century BC)
Titans
In Greek mythology, the children of Uranus (heaven) and Gaia (earth), who rebelled against the Olympian gods, for which they were thrown into Tartarus (Hesiod, Theogony). Figuratively titans are humans, distinguished by strength, gigantic power of mind, genius; titanic - huge, grandiose.
Philemon and Baucis
In the ancient Greek legend, processed by Ovid (Metamorphoses, 8, 610, etc.), there are a couple of modest elderly spouses who warmly welcomed Jupiter and Mercury, who came to them in the form of weary travelers. When the gods, angry that the rest of the inhabitants of this area did not show them hospitality, flooded it, the hut of Philemon and Baucis, unharmed, was turned into a temple, and the spouses became priests. At their request, they died at the same time - the gods turned Philemon into an oak, Baucis into a linden. Hence Philemon and Baucis became synonymous with the inseparable pair of old spouses.
Fortune. Wheel of Fortune
Fortune - in Roman mythology, the goddess of blind chance, happiness and misfortune. She was portrayed with a blindfold, standing on a ball or wheel and holding a steering wheel in one hand, and a cornucopia in the other. The steering wheel indicated that fortune was in control the fate of man, cornucopia - for prosperity, the abundance that she can give, and the ball or wheel emphasized her constant variability. Her name and the expression "wheel of Fortune" are used in the meaning: chance, blind happiness.
Fury
In Roman mythology - each of the three goddesses of vengeance (in Greek myth.-Erinia). Aeschylus, who brought Erinius onto the stage, portrayed them as disgusting old women with snakes for hair, with bloodshot eyes, protruding tongues and bared teeth. A symbol of vengeance, figuratively a vicious angry woman.
Chimera
In Greek mythology - a fire-breathing monster, described in different ways. Homer in the Iliad (6, 180) reports that it has the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a dragon. Hesiod in "Theogony" claims that it is a chimera about three heads (lion, goat, dragon). Allegorically, a chimera is something unreal, the fruit of consideration.
Cerberus
In Greek mythology, a three-headed dog guarding the entrance to the underworld (Hades). He was first described in the "Theogony" of the ancient Greek poet Hesiod; speaks about her Virgil ("Aeneid", 6) and others. Hence the word "cerberus" (Latin form; Greek Kerber) is used in a portable meaning: a fierce, vigilant guard, and also - an evil dog.
Circe
Circe (Latin form; Greek Kirke) - according to Homer, an insidious sorceress. The Odyssey (10, 337-501) tells how, with the help of a magic drink, she turned Odysseus's companions into pigs. Odysseus, to whom Hermes gave a magic plant, defeated her spell, and she invited him to share her love. Having made Circe swear that she would not think anything bad against him and would return a human form to his companions, Odysseus declined to her proposal. Her name has become synonymous with a dangerous beauty, an insidious seducer.
Apple of discord
This expression in the meaning: the subject, the cause of the dispute, enmity, was first used by the Roman historian Justin (II century A.D.). It is based on Greek myth. The goddess of discord Eris rolled a golden apple between the guests at the wedding feast with the inscription: "The most beautiful." Among the guests were the goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, who argued about which of them should get 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 to kidnap Helen, the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus, which caused the Trojan War.
Pandora's Box
Expression that matters: source of misfortune, great calamities; originated from the poem of the Greek poet Hesiod "Works and Days", which tells that once people lived without any misfortunes, illnesses and old age, until Prometheus stole fire from the gods; for this, once-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 chest and scattered all the misfortunes.
Tenth muse
Ancient mythology consisted of nine muses (goddesses - patrons of sciences and arts). The ancient Greek poet Hesiod in the "Theogony" ("Genealogy of the Gods", 77) for the first time in the sources that have come down to us calls their names. The delimitation of the fields of sciences and arts (lyric poetry, history, comedy, tragedy, dance, love poetry, hymns, astronomy and epic) and their assignment to certain muses was made in a later era (III-I centuries BC. .).
The expression "tenth muse" denotes any area of art, mostly re-emerged and not included in the canonical list: in the XVIII century. so called criticism, in the middle of the XIX century. in Germany - a variety theater, in our time - cinema, radio, television, etc.
Golden Rain
This image arose from the Greek myth of Zeus, who, captivated by the beauty of Danae, the daughter of the Argos king Acrisius, appeared to her in the form of a golden rain, after which her son Perseus was born.
Danae, showered with a rain of gold coins, is depicted in the paintings of many Renaissance artists (Titian, Correggio, Van Dyck, etc.). The expression is used in the meaning: big money. Figuratively, "rain of gold" is the name given to the wealth obtained without difficulty.
Cyclops. Cyclopean buildings
In Greek mythology, one-eyed giants are blacksmiths. The ancient Greek poet Hesiod (8-7 centuries BC) in the "Theogony" ("Genealogy of the Gods") says that they forged lightning and thunder arrows for Zeus. According to Homer ("Odyssey", 9, 475) - one-eyed strong men, giants, people-eaters, cruel and rude, living in caves on the tops of the mountains, engaged in cattle breeding. The Cyclops were credited with building gigantic structures. Hence "cyclops" is used in the meaning of one-eyed, as well as a blacksmith. The "Cyclopean building" is a huge structure.
For some nameless abstract
In works of art, we can often come across very specific phraseological units - expressions, the meaning of which is hidden in legends and ancient myths... Without an excellent orientation in this area of knowledge, it is almost impossible to answer the question of what became famous bed of Procrustes, why Ariadne threads and what passion did they have Danaids To… barrel?
A distinctive feature of phraseological units that came from myths is their extraordinary solidarity with the history of the myth itself.
Expression " barrel danaid"Came to us with the meaning" from utterly useless and endless work". The phraseological unit is the myth of the fifty daughters of the Libyan king Danae... 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, here it was not without a riddle: after all, the murderers became 49 daughters of the king, why then the phraseological unit "denigrates" all 50 girls?
Pillars of hercules Surprisingly, they have nothing to do with "morning" healthy porridge. Pillar of Hercules called in the highest, extreme degree of manifestation of something... Initially, this name had two rocks on opposite shores of the Strait of Gibraltar... According to ancient legend, the pillars were erected by Hercules at the edge of the world as memory of the hero's wanderings across Europe and Africa.
When they talk about the constantly threatening danger literally hanging over someone, the expression “ Sword of Damocles". The ancient Greek legend about Syracuse tyrant Dionysius the Elder, who, in order to teach a lesson to one of his confidants, an envious Damocles, came up with a very "entertaining" way. During the feast, Dionysius put Damocles in his place, hanging over his head a sharp sword as a symbol of the dangers that lie in wait for the tyrant... A great way for those who are trying to feel in their own skin any situation.
Tantalum flour experienced by one who endures suffering from the realization of the proximity of the desired goal and the inability to achieve it. In ancient 
river myth Tantalum- Phrygian king - for insulting the gods they were cruelto nakadhan: Tantalum was doomed to experience the pangs of thirst and hunger, although water and luxurious fruits were next to him.
Ariadne's thread- it way out of a difficult situation; Ariadne's thread is often called guiding thread... The history of expression leads us to the myth of the Minotaur, which the 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 dinner. There were daredevils who tried to free the people from the terrible tribute to the Minotaur, but they all died in maze- the abode of the monster. Only Theseus I was able, by killing the Minotaur, to get out of the maze. His guiding thread was the gift Ariadne- the daughter of King Minos - a thread that helped the hero return home safe and sound.
Procrustean bed- it the measure under which I artificially, forcibly adjust something t. This expression is based on the cruel ancient Greek the myth of the robber Procruste, which the tortured victims, cutting off their legs or, conversely, stretching them out so that the sufferers could accurately "fit" on the robber's bed.
Promethean fire, i.e. unquenchable striving to achieve lofty, noble goals, forever captured the feat of the mythological ancient Greek hero, 
which the stole fire from the divine Olympus and brought it to people.
Apple of discord points to the reason for the quarrel... An expression from ancient Greek the myth of the quarrel of Hera, Athena and Aphrodite about which of them is the most beautiful: the insidious apple was planted on the women and contained the inscription "Most Beautiful", which was indecently offensive for two ladies.
Augean stables are called dirty, neglected place, extreme disorder in business. Associated with these fetid stables is one of exploits of the legendary Hercules. The myth says that the hero volunteered to cleanse the stables of Augeus, king of Elis, in one day. Everything would be fine, but the stables have not been cleaned for 30 years! Hercules nevertheless found a way out of this situation by sending to the stables waters of the stormy river Alfey.
Achilles' heel are called the weakest, most vulnerable point. The reason for this is the myth of ablution of Achilles in the miraculous waters of the river Styx: mother, wanting to make her son invulnerable, washed him in the river, while holding the heel... It was this fatal accident that caused the death of the hero: he was struck at this very unfortunate heel.
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