Phraseologisms from ancient greece list. What phraseological units came to us from antiquity
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Phraseologisms of ancient Greek origin Teacher of the Russian language and literature Osintseva T.S.
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Phraseologisms are stable combinations of words that are close in lexical meaning to one word.
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Phraseologisms have existed throughout the history of the language. Already from the end of the 18th century, they were explained in special collections and explanatory dictionaries under various names ( idioms, 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.
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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.
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Tantalum torment - intolerable torment from the consciousness of the proximity of the desired goal and the impossibility of achieving it. (An analogue of the Russian proverb: "The elbow is close, but you won't bite"). Tantalus is a hero, the son of Zeus and Pluto, who reigned in the region of Mount Sipila in southern Phrygia (Asia Minor) and was famous for his wealth.
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According to another version, he distributed nectar and ambrosia stolen from the gods to his loved ones. There are several variants of the myth. According to one version, Tantalus was married to the daughter of the god of the golden river Pactola. Taking advantage of the favor of the Olympian gods, he was honored to take part in their feasts, but he repaid them with ingratitude: he divulged among the people the secrets of the Olympians he had heard. The third version of the myth: in order to experience the omniscience of the gods, Tantalus invited them to his place and served them the meat of his murdered son Pelop as a treat. Those, however, immediately understood Tantalus's plan and resurrected the slain. He was left, however, without a scapula, which Demeter absentmindedly ate, immersed in sorrow for her disappeared daughter Persephone.
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According to Homer, Tantalus was punished for his crimes in the underworld with eternal torment: standing up to his throat in water, he cannot get drunk, since the water immediately recedes from his lips; fruit-laden branches hang from the trees around him, which heave upward as Tantalus reaches out his hand.
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Augean stables are a heavily littered, polluted place, usually a room 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.
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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. N. Budykin. Sisyphus.
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Singing praises is immoderate, enthusiastic praise, praise someone or something. Arose from the name of dithyrambs - songs of praise in honor of the god of wine and vine Dionysus, chanted during processions dedicated to this deity.
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Golden rain - large sums of money. The expression originated from the ancient Greek myth of Zeus. Captivated by the beauty of Danaë, daughter of the Argos king Acrisius, Zeus penetrated her in the form of a golden rain, and from this connection Perseus was born later. Danae, showered with rain of gold coins, is depicted in the paintings of many artists: Titian, Correggio, Van Dyck, etc. Hence the expressions "golden rain is pouring," "golden rain will be pouring." Titian. Danae.
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Throwing thunder and lightning - scold someone; speak angrily, irritably, 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.
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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. Jean Baptiste Regno. Ariadne and Theseus.
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Achilles' heel is a weak side, a weak point of something. 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 Hyginus, reports that the mother of Achilles, the sea goddess Thetis, in order to make the body of her son 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. Peter Paul Rubens. Death of Achilles.
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The gifts of the Danaans (Trojan horse) are insidious gifts that bring death with them for those who receive them. Arose from the Greek legends about the Trojan War. After a long and unsuccessful siege of Troy, the Danaans 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. The priest Laocoon, who knew about the cunning of the Danaans, when he saw this horse, 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. Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo. Trojan horse march to Troy.
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Between Scylla and Charybdis - to be between two hostile forces, in a position where danger is threatening from both sides. 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 piercing screech, a screeching of a young puppy like that, A monster announces the whole neighborhood ... Not a single sailor could pass her unharmed With an easy ship: all gaping jaws of teeth, At once she kidnaps six people from the ship. .. Closely you will see another rock ... The whole sea under that rock is terribly disturbed by Charybdis, Three times a day absorbing and three times a day spewing out Black moisture. Do not dare approach when he swallows: Poseidon himself will not save him from faithful destruction ... "(Homer's Odyssey). Johann Heinrich Füssli. Odysseus before Scylla and Charybdis.
Phraseology is one of the branches of linguistics that studies stable word combinations. Surely each of us is familiar with the expressions "to beat the thumbs up", "to lead by the nose", "like a bolt from the blue", "slipshod", etc. But how many of us have ever thought about where they came from? our language? I bring to your attention a small selection of phraseological units with their meanings and history of origin, thanks to which you may learn something new and be able to make your speech more expressive and varied.
Let's start with such a well-known expression as "Augean stables" used to describe a very dirty place that will take a lot of effort to clean. Phraseologism originates from the times of Ancient Greece, where King Augeus lived, who was very fond of horses, but not caring for them: the stables where animals lived did not see cleaning for about thirty years. According to legend, Hercules (Hercules) entered the service of the king, who received an order from Avgius to clean out the stalls. For this, the strongman used the river, the flow of which he sent to the stables, thereby getting rid of the mud. Impressive, right?
"Alma Mater"(from lat. "mother-nurse")
In ancient times, students used this phraseological turnover, describing the educational institution, which, as it were, “nourished”, “raised” and “educated” them. Currently, it is used with a certain amount of irony.
"Achilles' heel"(weak, vulnerable spot)
The source of this phraseological unit is ancient Greek mythology. According to legend, Thetis - the mother of Achilles - wanted to make her son invulnerable. To do this, she dipped him into the sacred river Styx, forgetting, however, about the heel by which she held the boy. Later, while fighting his enemy Paris, Achilles received an arrow in that heel and died.
"Gogol to walk"(walk around with a very important look, self-confident)
No, this expression has nothing to do with the famous Russian writer, as it might seem at first. Gogol is a wild duck that walks along the shore with its head thrown back and protruding chest, which prompts comparison with a man trying to show all his importance.
"Nick down"(very good to remember something)
In this expression, the word "nose" does not at all mean a part of the human body. In ancient times, this word was used to refer to plaques on which all kinds of marks were made. People carried it with them as a reminder.
"Get away with your nose"(get away with nothing)
Another phraseological unit associated with the nose. However, like the previous one, it has nothing to do with the organ of smell. This expression takes its origin from Ancient Rus where bribery was widespread. People, dealing with the authorities and hoping for a positive outcome, used "bribes" (bribes). If the judge, manager, or clerk accepted this "nose", one could be sure that everything would be resolved. However, if the bribe was rejected, the petitioner left with his "nose".
"Pandora's Box"(source of troubles and misfortunes)
The ancient Greek myth says: before Prometheus stole fire from the gods, people on earth lived in joy and did not know any troubles. In response, Zeus sent a woman of unprecedented beauty to the earth - Pandora, giving her a casket in which all human misfortunes were kept. Pandora, yielding to curiosity, opened the chest and scattered them all.
"Filkin's certificate"(a document of no value, a meaningless piece of paper)
This phraseological turnover is rooted in the history of the Russian state, or rather, during the reign of Ivan IX the Terrible. Metropolitan Philip, in his letters to the emperor, tried to convince him to soften his policy, to cancel the oprichnina. In response, Ivan the Terrible only called the Metropolitan "Filka", and all his letters - "Filkin".
These are just some of the phraseological units of the Russian language, which have a very interesting story... I hope that the material presented above turned out to be useful and interesting for you.
Augean stables
*1. a heavily clogged, dirty place, usually a room where everything is lying around in disarray;
* 2. something that is in an extremely neglected state, in disarray, etc. Usually about some organization, about complete confusion in the conduct of business.
From the name of the huge stables of the Elide king Auge, not 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.
Annibal's oath
* a firm determination to be irreconcilable in relation to someone or something, to fight with someone or with something to the end.
On behalf of the Carthaginian general Hannibal (or Annibal, 247-183 BC), who, according to legend, while still a boy, vowed to be an implacable enemy of Rome all his life. Hannibal kept his oath: during the Second Punic War (218-210 BC), the troops under his command inflicted a number of heavy defeats on the troops of Rome.
Arcadian idyll
* a happy serene life, a peaceful, unclouded existence.
From the name of Arcadia - the central mountainous part of the Peloponnese, whose population in ancient times was engaged in cattle breeding and agriculture, and which in the classical literature of the 17th-18th centuries. portrayed as a happy country where people live a serene, carefree life.
Attic salt
* subtle, graceful wit, graceful joke; mockery.
According to the name of the ancient Greek region of Attica, the former center of mental and spiritual life of that time and famous for its rich and subtle culture.
Pillars of hercules
* an extreme limit, a border of something, an extreme in something.
Originally - the name of two rocks on the shores of Europe and Africa near the Strait of Gibraltar, according to ancient legend, erected by Hercules on the border of the world.
Gordian knot
* intractable, confusing matter, task, some kind of difficulty. Also
Cut (cut) the Gordian knot
* resolve a complex and confusing issue boldly, decisively and immediately.
From the name of a complex, tangled knot tied, according to one of the legends, by the Phrygian king Gordius, which no one was able to untie. According to the prediction of the oracle, who managed to untangle this knot was to become the ruler of all Asia. The legend told by ancient Greek writers tells that only Alexander the Great managed to accomplish this - he cut the knot in half with a sword.
Sword of Damocles
* danger constantly threatening someone, a nuisance.
The expression arose from the ancient Greek legend about the Syracuse tyrant Dionysius the Elder (432-367 BC), who, in order to teach a lesson to one of his confidants, Damocles, who envied his position, put him in his place during a feast, hanging him over his head Damocles a sharp sword on horsehair as a symbol of the dangers that inevitably threaten the tyrant. Damocles realized how little happy he is who is under eternal fear.
Two-faced Janus
*1. Two-faced person;
* 2. a case having two opposite sides.
In ancient Roman mythology, Janus is the god of time, as well as of every beginning and end, the god of change, movement. He was portrayed with two faces, young and old, which were turned in different directions: the young - forward, into the future, the old - back, into the past.
The riddle of the Sphinx
* a difficult, intractable task that requires a subtle approach, a fair amount of intelligence and competence.
Arose from the myth that tells how the gods sent to Thebes as punishment for the misdeed of one of the city's rulers scary monster- The Sphinx, which is located on a mountain near Thebes (or in the city square) and asked each person who passed the question: "Which living creature walks on four legs in the morning, not two in the afternoon, but three in the evening?" Unable to give a clue, the Sphinx killed and thus destroyed many noble Thebans, including the son of King Creon. The riddle was solved by Oedipus, only he managed to guess that it was a man; In desperation, the Sphinx threw herself into the abyss and crashed to death.
Golden Rain
* large sums of money.
The expression originated from the ancient Greek myth of Zeus. Captivated by the beauty of Danaë, the daughter of the Argos king Acrisius, Zeus penetrated her in the form of a golden rain and from this connection Perseus was born later. Danae, showered with rain of gold coins, is depicted in the paintings of many artists: Titian, Correggio, Van Dyck, etc. Hence the expressions "golden rain is pouring," "golden rain will be pouring."
Sink into oblivion
* to be forgotten, disappear without a trace and forever.
From the name Lethe - the rivers of oblivion in the underworld of Hades; from it the souls of the dead drank water and forgot their whole past life.
Laurels don't let you sleep
* someone has a strong sense of envy of someone else's success.
The words of the ancient Greek commander Themistocles: "Lavra Miltiada do not let me sleep", said by him after the brilliant victory of Miltiades over the troops of the Persian king Darius in 490 BC.
Throwing thunder and lightning
* scold someone; speak angrily, irritably, 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 he disliked with the help of terrifying lightning forged by Hephaestus.
Between Scylla and Charybdis
* in such a position when danger threatens from both sides (to be, to be, to be, etc.). Synonyms: between a hammer and an anvil, between two fires.
From the name of two mythical monsters, Scylla and Charybdis, who lived on both sides of the narrow Strait of Messina and destroyed everyone passing by.
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 using a ball of thread.
Palm tree
* first place among others, due to superiority over all others.
From the custom that existed in Ancient Greece to reward the winner in a competition with a palm branch or wreath.
Sing praises
* excessively, enthusiastically 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.
Procrustean bed
* what is the yardstick for something, to which something is forcibly adjusted or adapted.
Initially, it was a bed on which, according to ancient Greek myth, the robber Polypemon, nicknamed Procrustes ("stretching"), laid the travelers seized by him and stretched the legs of those to whom this bed was large, or cut off the legs of those for whom it was not enough.
Cornucopia
* As if from a cornucopia - in huge quantities, inexhaustible.
In ancient Greek mythology - the wonderful horn of the goat Amalthea, which nursed the baby Zeus with her milk. According to one of the legends, when one day a goat accidentally broke off its horn, the thunderer gave this horn a miraculous ability to be filled with whatever its owner desires. Therefore, the horn of Amalthea has become a symbol of wealth and abundance.
Saddle Pegasus
* the same as to Fly to Helikon - to become a poet, write poetry; feel a surge of inspiration.
By the name of the winged horse Pegasus, the fruit of the connection between the gorgon Medusa and Poseidon, bringing good luck to his rider. With a blow of his hoof, Pegasus knocked out the spring of Hippocrene ("horse spring") on Helikon (the mountain is the abode of the muses), the water of which gives inspiration to poets.
Sisyphean labor
* the same as the Barrel of Danaid - 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.
Pandora's Box
* a source of multiple misfortunes, disasters.
From the ancient Greek myth about Pandora, according to which people once lived without knowing any misfortunes, illness and old age, until Prometheus stole fire from the gods. For this, an angry Zeus sent to earth beautiful woman- Pandora; she received from God a casket in which all human misfortunes were locked. Despite Prometheus's warning not to open the chest, Pandora, spurred on by curiosity, opened it and scattered all the misfortunes.
To the question Give examples (5) of phraseological units from the myths of ancient Greece and their meanings. given by the author Yoonya Sachenko the best answer is you can do this:
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 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 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, in order to make the body of her son 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.
Answer from 22 answers[guru]
Hey! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: Give examples (5) phraseological units from the myths of ancient Greece and their meanings.
Answer from Vitriol[newbie]
helped out))
Answer from European[newbie]
The apple of discord - the cause of the 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.
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Achilles' heel - a vulnerable spot The mother of Achilles, the sea goddess Thetis, in order 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.
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Two-faced Janus - two-faced man Janus is the god of every beginning and end, of entrances and exits. He was depicted with two faces facing opposite directions: young - forward, into the future, old - back, into the past.
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Narcissus is a man 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.
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Pygmalion and Galatea - about passionate love without reciprocity The myth of the famous sculptor Pygmalion 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. Lively Galatea became his wife
Answer from Vika votinova[newbie]
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Answer from philosophical[active]
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Answer from Oleg L[active]
Phraseologisms of mythical origin and their meaning "Achilles' heel" weak, vulnerable spot in a person "apple of discord" is the cause of enmity, disputes, disagreements between anyone. "Narcissistic narcissist" - a narcissist; face, admires himself. - "marital ties." "Cornucopia" - great variety, wealth. "Cross the Rubicon" - make an irreversible step, a decisive act, cross the line, the limit. "Damocles sword" is used when it comes to constant mortal danger. "Tantalum torment "- endure terrible suffering due to the inability to achieve the desired goal" Augean stables "- extreme neglect, dirt, disorder." Procrustean bed "characterizes a contrived yardstick, under which the facts of Diisnost are forcibly adjusted. Danaid's barrel is an empty, endless work." Ariadne's thread "Means a pointer, a guiding thread, salvation." Herculean feat "is a matter that requires great efforts." Cyclopean structure "is used when they talk about a huge building nie. "To saddle Pegasus" - to become a poet. "Sisyphean labor" is called fruitless, hard, endless work. "Pandora's box" means the source of misfortune, calamity, trouble. "Panacea" - a remedy not only for diseases, but also for all problems. Homeric laughter - uncontrollable, loud laughter. "Gordian knot" means a complex or confusing matter that is difficult to solve; to cut the Gordian knot - to solve a complex issue in a radical way. The Gordian knot is also considered a symbol of non-kinking. "Apples of the Hesperides" are valuable baggage. "Promethean fire" is used when it characterizes the spirit of nobility, courage and talent, and "Prometheus of torment" when it comes to suffering in the name of a high goal. “All-seeing eye” is the ability to notice everything, see, quickly learn about everything. "Worldwide flood" is used when it comes to a flood or plum. "Arcadian idyll" means a harmonious, happy, cloudless life.
Answer from Artyom Korablin[newbie]
uu bpb
Answer from Natalia[newbie]
thanks for the words
Answer from Lime Tomira[newbie]
Priests of Themis
Judges
In Greek mythology, Themis is the goddess of justice. She was portrayed as a woman holding a balance in one hand and a sword in the other. The blindfolds symbolized her impartiality, the arguments of the accusation and defense were evaluated on the scales, and the guilty were punished with the sword.
Panic fear
Sudden, unaccountable fear that grips a person
Pan in mythology is the god of flocks and shepherds. Pan is able to instill such fear in a person that he will run headlong wherever they look, without even thinking that the road will lead to inevitable death. -
Achilles' heel
Weak point, weak side
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.
Augean stables
1) Very dirty place, neglected room
2) Extreme disorder in business
In Greek mythology, these stables are the huge possessions of the king of Elis - Augia, 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.
Tantalum flour
Suffering from the consciousness of the proximity of the desired goal and the inability to achieve it
Tantalus is the name of King Sipilus in Phrygia, as well as the son of Zeus and Queen Pluto from ancient Greek mythology. So he was a favorite of the gods, and as a result of which he had access to their advice and feasts, which was the further reason for his punishment. And there are several versions according to which the gods hated him, and as a result made him suffer in hell.
Sword of Damocles
Constantly threatening danger
The Usirakuz tyrant Dionysius the Elder was a favorite and saint, his close associate Damocles. But what has the sword to do with it? The fact is that Damocles was jealous of his king and it seemed to him that Dionysius's life was happy and easy. But at the same time, Dionysius the Elder always noticed the envy of Damocles and, as a result, decided to show him that in fact it is not so easy to rule the kingdom as it seems at first glance.
At one of the feasts, Dionysius ordered Damocles to be temporarily placed on the throne and to show all the honors that are due to the present ruler. Damocles was glad of this. But in the midst of the fun, he noticed a sword hanging over his head. But the sword did not just hang, but hung by a thread and could break off at any moment and, accordingly, inflict death on Damocles. With this situation, Dionysius wanted to prove that being a ruler is not as easy as it seems.
Sink into oblivion
Disappear without a trace, an abyss who knows where, etc.
In Greek mythology, there was a river of oblivion - Lethe, which flowed in the underworld. When the soul of a deceased person tasted the water from this source, it forever forgot about earthly life. This phraseological unit from the myths of Ancient Greece means - disappear without a trace, an abyss who knows where, etc.
pillars of Hercules
The highest, extreme degree of anything
The Greeks believed that at the very end of the world, on the shores of the endless empty ocean, over the Strait of Gibraltar, there were two stone pillars (in the old way - pillars); them here during one of his wanderings were approved by the great Hercules as a sign that there is no further way for man.
Ariadne's thread
A way to help find a way out of a difficult situation
Ariadne in mythology is the daughter of Pasiphae and a Cretan king named Minos. When Prince Theseus came to Crete, doomed, along with other guys, to be eaten by the Minotaur, the girl fell in love with him. And the Minotaur lived in the Labyrinth, where there were a huge number of transitions. Entering there once, a person would never get back. Ariadne gave Theseus a large ball of thread, which the guy unwound, getting to the monster. Having killed the Minotaur, Theseus easily left the room thanks to the threads.
Answer from Nazar Starodubov[newbie]
Augean stables
1. a heavily clogged, dirty place, usually a room where everything is lying around in a mess;
2. something that is in an extremely neglected state, in disarray, etc. Usually about an organization, about a complete mess in the conduct of business.
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From the name of the huge canyons of the Elidian king Avgius, not 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.
Annibal's oath
a firm determination to be irreconcilable with someone or something, to fight with someone or with something to the end.
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On behalf of the Corfhagen commander Annibal (or Hannibal, 247-183 BC), who, according to legend, while still a boy, vowed to be an implacable enemy of Rome all his life. Annibal kept his oath: during the Second Punic War (218-210 BC), the troops under his command inflicted a number of heavy defeats on the troops of Rome.
Arcadian idyll
a happy serene life, a peaceful, unclouded existence.
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From the name of Arcadia - the central mountainous part of the Peloponnese, whose population in ancient times was engaged in cattle breeding and agriculture, and which in the classical literature of the 17th-18th centuries. portrayed as a happy country where people live a serene, carefree life.
Attic salt
subtle, graceful wit, graceful joke; mockery.
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According to the name of the ancient Greek region of Attica, the former center of mental and spiritual life of that time and famous for its rich and subtle culture.
Barrel Danaid
the same as Sisyphean labor - useless, endless labor, fruitless work.
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In ancient Greek mythology, Danaides are fifty daughters of the Libyan king Danae, forty-nine of whom were punished for being killed by order of their father in the first wedding night their husbands, were forever doomed in the underground kingdom of Hades to pour water into a bottomless barrel.
Take off to Helikon
the same as Saddle Pegasus - to become a poet; feel a surge of inspiration.
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From the name of Mount Helikon in Greece, considered by the ancient Greeks to be the habitat of the muses.
Pillars of hercules
an extreme limit, a border of something, an extreme in something.
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Originally - the name of two rocks on the shores of Europe and Africa near the Strait of Gibraltar, according to ancient legend, erected by Hercules on the border of the world.
Gordian knot
intractable, confusing matter, task, some kind of difficulty. Also, Cut (cut) the Gordian knot - resolve a complex confusing issue boldly, decisively and immediately.
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From the name of a complex, tangled knot tied, according to one of the legends, by the Phrygian king Gordius, which no one was able to untie. According to the prediction of the oracle, who managed to untangle this knot was to become the ruler of all Asia. The legend told by ancient Greek writers tells that only Alexander the Great managed to accomplish this - he cut the knot in half with a sword.
Sword of Damocles
danger constantly threatening someone, a nuisance.
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The expression arose from the ancient Greek legend about the Syracuse tyrant Dionysius the Elder (432-367 BC), who, in order to teach a lesson to one of his confidants, Damocles, who envied his position, put him in his place during a feast, hanging him over his head Damocles a sharp sword on horsehair as a symbol of the dangers that inevitably threaten the tyrant. Damocles realized how little happy he is who is under eternal fear.
Two-faced Janus
1. a two-faced person; 2. a case having two opposite sides.
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In ancient Roman mythology, Janus is the god of time, as well as of every beginning and end, the god of change, movement. He was portrayed with two faces, young and old, which were turned in different directions: the young - forward, into the future, the old - back, into the past.
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Answer from Anastasia Popova[newbie]
Procrustean bed Forcing to do something In one of the Greek myths tells about the robber Procrustes (torturer). He caught passers-by and adjusted them to fit his bed: if the person was longer, were his legs cut off, if it was shorter? pulled out.
Sisyphus' labor Endless and fruitless work 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 earth.
The enraged Zeus awarded him eternal torment in hell for this: Sisyphus had to roll a huge stone onto a high mountain, which at the top suddenly broke free from his hands and rolled down. And it all started all over again ...
Apple of Discord Subject of enmity or cause of 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.
Cornucopia With extraordinary generosity, in huge 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.
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.
Into the arms of Morpheus To fall asleep In ancient Greek mythology, Morpheus is the god of dreams, the son of the god of sleep Hypnos. Usually he was depicted as a small winged man with closed eyelids and a poppy hanging with flowers. On behalf of this deity, the name of the medicine, morphine, was obtained from poppy heads and used for anesthesia during operations. Since ancient times, the expression "to be in the arms of Morpheus", used with a humorous connotation, means to fall asleep.
Ties of Hymen, Marriage, Ties of Marriage Ties are bonds, that which binds a person or binds one living being 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.
Singing praises Excessively praising, exalting someone or something 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.
Priests of Themis Judges In Greek mythology, Themis is the goddess of justice. She was portrayed as a woman holding a balance in one hand and a sword in the other. The blindfolds symbolized her impartiality, the arguments of the accusation and defense were evaluated on the scales, and the guilty were punished with the sword.
Panic Fear A sudden, unaccountable fear that grips a person Pan in mythology is the god of flocks and shepherds. Pan is able to instill such fear in a person that he will run headlong wherever they look, without even thinking that the road will lead to inevitable death. -
Achilles' Heel Vulnerable point, weak side Thetis dipped her son Achilles into the wonderful waves of the Styx so that the boy would become invulnerable. However, in
Answer from Inna Pupysheva[newbie]
the apple of contention is the cause of the quarrel
Answer from Olga Kurochkina[newbie]
thanks
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 the sailing sailors. Scylla, who possessed six heads, grabbed rowers from sailing ships, and Charybdis, which sucked water into itself 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
The 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 earth.
The enraged Zeus awarded him eternal torment in hell for this: Sisyphus had to roll a huge stone onto a high mountain, which at the top suddenly broke free from 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 did not forget 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. In modern language, it is 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 most the best time, 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 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 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, in order to make the body of her son 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. On their wedding night, 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)”. This is how the rocks were called in the ancient world - 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 life path, which 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)).
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 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 their whole 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 - highest degree 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 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 heavenly angels fly,
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 burning with 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. "(" 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." These people are not told anything by poetry or art. 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 abandoning 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, echoes in this with 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 the scream, this is the groan of a man for whom the absence inner life there is evil, a thousand times the most terrible physical death! .. And who among the people of the new generation will not find in him the clue to his own despondency, mental
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.
Comedy "Woe from Wit" - a satire on the aristocratic Moscow society of the first half of the XIX 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 the famous monologue of Katerina: “What dreams I dreamed, 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. The natural beauty of the Volga region amazed the playwright, and then he thought about the play. 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 considers 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 dignity, 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 Goncharov's first novel, An Ordinary History. 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 newspaper Pravda 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 said after the release of the novel that he, "in all likelihood, will constitute an era 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- Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, a hereditary nobleman, an intelligent, intelligent young man who received a good education and dreamed in his youth of disinterested 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 with all this positive features character is 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 ties, first with the service, and then with the entire outside world, with society. A robe, shoes and a couch are what contributes to the immersion 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 turns out to be 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 the interests of practical life, weighed down by its demands, unable 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 lifestyle, his laziness, lack of will, inability to practical activities, 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 wonderful 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, 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.
