Phraseological units of ancient mythology. Phraseological units of ancient Greece

Kalugin Danila

This work is devoted to the meaning and history of phraseological units borrowed from ancient Greek mythology

Download:

Preview:

https://accounts.google.com

Slides captions:

Preview:

To use the preview of presentations, create an account for yourself ( account) Google and sign in: https://accounts.google.com

Slides captions:

Myths of Ancient Greece as a source of phraseological units Author: Kalugin Danila, student of grade 6 A, MBOU "Kireevskaya gymnasium" Sixth regional scientific and practical conference of students of secondary schools "Steps into science-2014" Section No. 6 "Linguistics" Project work

The expressions that came into our speech from the myths of Ancient Greece have become an important component of the Russian language and are often used by people who have no idea what these combinations originally meant and where they came from in our speech. This is my hypothesis. In accordance with the hypothesis, I determined the purpose of this work - to identify phraseological units that have passed into our language from the mythology of Ancient Greece, the study and interpretation of their origin, the explanation of their meaning in modern Russian. To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set: to get acquainted with the concepts of "phraseology" and "phraseology"; find out the main sources of phraseological units; via " Phraseological dictionary» find phraseological units that originated from ancient Greek mythology; define them lexical meaning; read the myths that have become the source of phraseological units; trace the similarity of the situation or image with modern meaning and the use of phraseology; find works of painting or graphics illustrating phraseological units and their mythological sources.

Achilles' heel This legend has long occupied the minds of people. Thanks to her, the tendon located on the leg above the calcaneus is called "Achilles" by anatomists, and the expression "Achilles heel" has long been used to denote a weak, vulnerable place in a person. Carlo Albicini

The expression "fly up to Helikon" means: to become a poet, to be carried away by poetry (iron.) To fly up to Helikon Illustration from the Internet

Sword of Damocles The words "Sword of Damocles" remind us of an impending danger that could fall at any second. Richard Westall

Gifts of the Danaans Since ancient times, these words began to sound everywhere as a call to vigilance, to alertness, against flattery, hypocritical gifts and any false fawning. Illustration from the Internet

To sink into oblivion "to sink into oblivion" means: to disappear from memory, to be swallowed up by eternal oblivion. Illustration from the Internet

Procrustean bed It happens that someone tries to fit some work of art or science, contrary to the meaning, to one or another external requirement, to drive it into an artificial framework. Illustration from the Internet

Augean stables The expression "Augean stables" began to apply to everything neglected, polluted to the last limit, and in general to denote a great mess. Illustration from the Internet

Arcadian idyll and Arcadian shepherdesses "Arcade idylls" were remembered for a long time, and therefore they began to derisively call "Arkadian shepherds" carefree people, leading a carefree existence in the bosom of nature. Boris Olshansky

Barrel of Danaid And we call "barrel of Danaid" any aimless, endless work. John William Waterhouse

Age of Astrea Later, this expression began to characterize every happy streak of life, a time of joy. Salvator Rosa

Labors of Hercules Is it any wonder if after this for millennia people call any work requiring superhuman strength "the labor of Hercules", they talk about "Herculean efforts" and in general the most powerful strongmen are called "Hercules". Boris Valeggio

The Golden Fleece

Two-faced Janus We have long forgotten about the virtues of the god Janus. When we call someone "two-faced Janus", we mean: insincere, two-faced person. Illustration from the Internet

Lucullus feast So we say, amazed at the abundance and refinement of the table, the multitude of dishes, the luxury of the meal. Illustration from the Internet

Between Scylla and Charybdis "Being between Scylla and Charybdis" means a hopeless situation, when certain death threatens from two sides at once. Illustration from the Internet

Throwing thunder and lightning Later, this expression became figurative and now means (as well as “throwing thunderbolts”): to rage, rage, smash someone (usually the weakest). Boris Valeggio (detail)

Olympic calmness (greatness) We have “Olympic calmness” or “greatness” - imperturbable, ultimate, like ancient god. Illustration from the Internet

Panic fear (horror) We still remember Pan: we talk about panic, we use the words "alarmist", "panic". M. Vrubel

Prometheus fire We say: "The torments of Prometheus", wanting to describe endless suffering; we talk about Promethean fire when we want to characterize the spirit of nobility, courage and talent. J.Kossiris

Penelope's Fabric We call the work of Penelope any endless work, the results of which are destroyed as it progresses. "Fabric of Penelope" means cunning, and the very name "Penelope" has become a symbol of a wife's fidelity to an absent husband. John William Waterhouse

Cornucopia This is the horn, having become a symbol of an inexhaustible source of treasures, and was nicknamed the cornucopia. The expression "as from a cornucopia" means: with extraordinary generosity, in huge numbers. Vladimir Kush

Sisyphus's labor The punishment of Sisyphus was terrible not so much by the difficulty as by the senselessness of his work. Titian

Tantalum torments People call tantalum torments the suffering caused by the proximity of something extremely necessary, desired, which is nearby, at hand, and yet inaccessible. Bernard Pekar

The apple of discord The expression “apple of discord” remained in memory of this, meaning any cause of disputes and strife. They also sometimes say "the apple of Eris", "the apple of Paris". You can often hear the words "throw an apple of discord between several people." Alexey Golovin

Pandora's box Remembering this, we now call "Pandora's box" everything that can serve as a source of grief and disaster if careless. Boris Valeggio

Nature. Loans. in the 16th century from lat. lang., where natura "nature" is Suf. derived from natum "born" (from nascor "I am born"). Wed nature.
"boat, canoe", Ukrainian kayuk. Borrowed from the Tat., Tur., Crimean-Tat., Kazakh.

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

Skilla (ancient Greek Σκύλλα, in Latin transliteration Scylla, lat. Scylla) and Charybdis (ancient Greek Χάρυβδις, transcription of Charybdides is acceptable) are 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 depicted as a sea deity (ancient Greek δία Χάρυβδις), living in a strait under a rock at an arrow's flight distance from another rock that served as the seat of Scylla.

Comparison of Skilla with Charybdis served as the formation of a proverb, equivalent to the Russian "out of the fire and into the frying pan":

Phraseological units from ancient Greek myths

Phraseologism "Sisyphean labor" meaning

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

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

The Sisyphean expression labor began to denote hard, exhausting, useless work.

Phraseologism "Apple of discord" meaning

According to ancient Greek myth, once the goddess of discord, Eris, 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 Hera, Aphrodite and Athena. The goddesses argued over which of them should own it. Each considered herself the most beautiful. The son of the Trojan king Paris, who was invited to be a judge, gave the apple to Aphrodite, and in gratitude she helped him kidnap the wife of the Spartan king Helen. Because of this, the Trojan War broke out.

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

MEDUSA'S LOOK

If a person is unpleasant in communication and not liked by others, then it is often said that he has the look of Medusa.

Medusa Gorgon - a monster on whose head snakes wriggled, and instead of feet there were copper hooves. If a person looked at her, then he immediately turned into stone.

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

BARREL DANAID

A barrel of Danaids is a meaningless, useless work.

As the ancient Greek legend says, a long time ago King Danai sat on the Libyan throne, who had fifty beautiful daughters. And the gods gave the Egyptian king Egypt fifty sons, whom he planned to wed with the daughters of Danae. But the Libyan king opposed the will of Egypt and, together with his daughters, fled. 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 the father's command. The beautiful Hypermnestra sincerely fell in love with the handsome Linkei 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 are forever doomed to pour water into a bottomless barrel, trying to fill it.

ATTIC SALT

Attic salt - (bookish) - 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. "All of them were ... sprinkled with the salt of wit ..." - wrote Cicero.

PROMETHEUS FIRE

Prometheus fire - (bookish) the spirit of nobility, courage, an unquenchable desire to achieve high goals.

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

ARIADNE'S THREAD

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

OLYMPIAN CALM

Olympic calmness - imperturbable calmness.

Olympus is a mountain in Greece, where, as it is told in Greek myths, the gods lived. In Sophocles, Aristotle, Virgil and other authors, Olympus is the vault of heaven inhabited by the gods. The Olympians are immortal gods, always preserving 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. A reminder of the need for revenge.

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

PANDORA'S BOX

Pandora's Box. Allegorically - "a source of misfortune, trouble." 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 the box, and human misfortunes flew out

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 (torturer). He caught passers-by and adjusted them to his bed: if a person was longer, they cut off his legs, if shorter, they pulled him out.

THE GOLDEN FLEECE

The Golden Fleece is gold, wealth that they seek to master.

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

BACK TO YOUR PENATES

To return to their penates - to return under their own roof.

What does penates mean and why do people return to them? The ancient Romans believed in kind, cozy gods who lived in every house and guarded it, a kind of brownie. They were called penates, they were revered, treated to 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 his penates,

Vladimir Lensky visited

The neighbor's monument is moderate.

TWO-FACED JANUS

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

GREEK GIFT

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

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

FABRIC PENELOPE

Penelope's fabric is about sophisticated cunning.

Penelope, the wife of Odysseus (the hero of Homer's Odyssey), promised to choose from among the suitors who molested her after she finished weaving a veil for her old father-in-law Laertes. But every night she unraveled everything that she managed to do in a day. When her cunning was revealed, Odysseus returned and killed 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 beautiful 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 golden age phraseologism is still alive - this is how we call the most the best time, the days of the heyday of something.

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

CORNUCOPIA

The cornucopia is an endless source of wealth, wealth.

The ancient Greek myth tells that the cruel god Kronos did not want to have children, as he was afraid that they would take away his power. Therefore, his wife gave birth to Zeus in secret, instructing the nymphs to take care of him, Zeus was fed with the milk of the divine goat Amalthea. Once she, clinging to a tree, broke off her horn. The nymph filled it with fruits and gave it to Zeus. Zeus gave the horn to the nymphs who raised him, promising that whatever they wished would come out of it.

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

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

THE BOND OF HYMENEUS

The bonds of Hymen are mutual obligations that living together imposes on spouses, or, simply, matrimony itself, marriage.

Bonds are fetters, what bind a person or tie one 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 Hymen was the god of marriage, the patron saint of weddings.

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

Judge what kind of roses

Hymen will prepare for us ... -

when it comes to their possible marriage.

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

tantalum flour

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

AUGEAN STABLES

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

GORDIAN KNOT

To cut the Gordian knot - boldly, energetically solve a difficult matter.

I HAVE EVERYTHING I HAVE WITH ME

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

PANIC FEAR (HORROR)

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

PALMA

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

RIDE A PEGASUS

Saddle Pegasus - become a poet, speak poetry

UNDER THE AUSPICES OF

To be under the auspices - to use 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.

PILLARS OF HERCULES (PILLARS)

To say "reached the pillars of Hercules" means reached the extreme limit.

MENTOR TONE

"Mentor tone" - mentoring, arrogant tone.

In Greek mythology, the Augean Stables are the vast stables of Augius, king of Elis, which have not been cleaned for many years. They were cleansed 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 is what helps to find a way out of a predicament.

The expression originated from the Greek myths about the hero Theseus, who killed the Minotaur. At the request of the Cretan king Minos, the Athenians were obliged to send seven boys and seven girls to Crete every year to be eaten by the Minotaur, who lived in a labyrinth built for him, from which no one could get out. To accomplish a dangerous feat, Theseus was helped by the daughter of the Cretan king Ariadne, who fell in love with him. Secretly from her father, she gave him a sharp sword and a ball of thread. When Theseus and the boys and girls doomed to be torn to pieces were taken to the labyrinth, Theseus tied the end of the thread at the entrance and went along the intricate passages, gradually unwinding the ball. After killing the Minotaur, Theseus found his way back from the labyrinth by a thread and led out all the doomed from there.

3. Achilles' heel - a weak spot.

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

4. Barrel Danaid - endless work, fruitless work.

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

5. The age of Astrea is a 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, has been shining 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 accomplished the famous twelve labors. On the opposite coasts of Europe and Africa, near the Strait of Gibraltar, he placed the “Pillars of Hercules (pillars)”. So in ancient world called the rocks - Gibraltar and Jebel Musa. These pillars were considered “the edge of the world”, beyond which there is no way. Therefore, the expression “to reach the Pillars of Hercules” began to be used in the sense: to reach the limit of something, to extreme point. The expression "Herculean labor, feat" is used when talking about any business that requires extraordinary efforts.

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

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

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. The sword of Damocles is a looming, threatening danger.

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

10. Gifts of the Danes. - "insidious" gifts, bringing with them death for those who receive them.

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

The expressions originated from Greek legends about the Trojan War. The Danans (Greeks), after a long and unsuccessful siege of Troy, resorted to a trick: they built a huge wooden horse, left it at the walls of Troy, and pretended to swim away from the coast of Troy. The priest Laocoön, 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, who hid inside the horse, went out, killed the guards, opened the city gates, let in their comrades who returned on ships, and thus captured Troy.

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

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

12. Golden fleece - gold, wealth, which they seek to master.

Argonauts are brave sailors and adventurers.

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

13. 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 entire past life. The name of the river has become a symbol of oblivion.

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

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

15. Torments of Tantalus - 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, proud of his position, he offended the gods, for which he was severely punished. According to Homer (“The Odyssey”, II, 582-592), his punishment was that, thrown into Tartarus (hell), he always experiences unbearable pangs of thirst and hunger. He stands up to his neck in water, but the water recedes from him as soon as he bows his head to drink. Branches with luxurious fruits hang over him, but as soon as he stretches out his hands to them, the branches deviate.

16. Narcissus - a person who loves only himself.

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

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

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

18. Olympians are arrogant, inaccessible people.

Olympian bliss is the highest degree of bliss.

Olympian calm - calm, unperturbed by anything.

Olympic greatness - solemnity with manners.

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

19. Panic fear - sudden, intense fear, causing confusion.

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

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

In the myth of the famous sculptor Pygmalion, it is said that he openly expressed his contempt for women. Enraged by this, the goddess Aphrodite made him fall in love with a statue of a young girl Galatea, created by him, and doomed him to the torments of unrequited love. Pygmalion's passion was, however, so strong that it breathed life into the statue. The revived Galatea became his wife.

21. Prometheus fire - sacred fire burning in the human soul; unquenchable desire to achieve high goals.

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

22. Penelope's work is an endless work (fidelity of the wife).

The expression originated from Homer's Odyssey. Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, remained faithful to him during many years of separation from him, despite the harassment of 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 weaving, and at night she unraveled everything that she had woven during the day and went back to work.

23. Sphinx riddle - something unsolvable.

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

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

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

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

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

26. Apple of discord - the cause of the dispute, enmity.

The goddess of discord, Eris, rolled a golden apple between the guests at the wedding feast with the inscription: “To 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 kidnap Helen, the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus, which caused the Trojan War.

27. Pandora's box - a source of misfortune, great disasters.

Once people lived without knowing any misfortunes, illnesses and old age, until Prometheus stole fire from the gods. For this, the angry Zeus sent a beautiful woman to earth - Pandora. She received from Zeus a chest 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 about Zeus, who, captivated by the beauty of Danae, the daughter of the Argos king Acrisius, appeared to her in the form of a golden rain, after which her son Perseus was born.

29. Cyclops - one-eyed

Cyclopes are one-eyed blacksmith giants, strong men, cannibals, cruel and rude, living in caves on mountain tops, engaged in cattle breeding. The Cyclopes were credited with building gigantic buildings.

WORKS

A.S. Pushkin

PROPHET

Spiritual thirst tormented,

In the gloomy desert I dragged, -

And a six-winged seraph

He appeared to me at a crossroads.

With fingers as light as a dream

He touched my eyes.

Prophetic eyes opened,

Like a frightened eagle.

He touched my ears,

And they were filled with noise and ringing:

And I heard the shudder of the sky,

And the heavenly angels flight,

And the reptile of the sea underwater course,

And the valley of the vine vegetation.

And he clung to my lips,

And tore out my sinful tongue,

And idle and crafty,

And the sting of the wise snake

In my frozen mouth

He invested it with a bloody right hand.

And he cut my chest with a sword,

And took out a trembling heart,

And coal burning with fire

He put a hole in his chest.

Like a corpse in the desert I lay,

And God's voice called out to me:

"Arise, prophet, and see, and listen,

Fulfill my will

And, bypassing the seas and lands,

Burn the hearts of the people with the verb."

Notes

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

The poem was originally part of a cycle of four poems, under the title "Prophet", of anti-government content, dedicated to the events of December 14th. M. P. Pogodin explained to P. A. Vyazemsky in a letter dated March 29, 1837: “He wrote “Prophet” when he was going to Moscow in 1826. There should be four poems, the first one has just been printed (“We languish with spiritual thirst, etc.”) "(" Links ", VI, 1936, p. 153). The remaining three poems were destroyed and have not reached us.

The version of the first verse of the "Prophet" - "We torment the Great Sorrow", which is available in Pushkin's note, apparently refers to the original edition of the well-known text.

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

Finger- finger

Zenica- Pupil, eye.

opened up– opened

prophetic- Foreseeing the future, prophetic

Gorniy(flight) - Located in the sky.

Vegetation– growth

Right hand - right hand, sometimes even a hand

Vizhd- look

Listen- Listen to someone, direct attention to someone.

The theme of the poem:

The moment of writing the poem refers to 1826. It's multidimensional poetic work refers to a series of poems, the key themes of which are the problem of the spiritual realization of the poet 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 who is especially close to the throne of God and glorifies him, indicates immersion in the Old Testament space; he appears to the hero “at a crossroads”, which also emphasizes the sacredness and universality of the issues under consideration. According to the Old Testament ideas described in the Book of the prophet Isaiah, one of the seraphim cleanses the prophet's lips by touching them with hot coal, which he takes with tongs from the sacred altar, thereby preparing him for the fulfillment of the mission of service. The theme of fire receives large-scale development 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 single out the generating root srp “burn”, “burn”, “burn”. The second part of the poem occupies twenty lines and is dedicated 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 for "and". The final part consists of six lines and expresses the idea of prophetic ministry; in it, the voice of God, calling to the lyrical hero, sums up a kind of result of the accomplished reincarnation. The poem is written in iambic tetrameter with periodic significant interruptions in the form of spondees and pyrrhic, with double, cross and embracing rhyming with male and female rhymes; at the rhythmic-metrical 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,

It will grow old in inaction.

We are rich, barely from the cradle,

The mistakes of the fathers and their late mind,

And life is already tormenting us, like a smooth path without a goal,

Like a feast at someone else's holiday.

Shamefully indifferent to good and evil,

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

In the face of danger shamefully cowardly

And before the authorities - despicable slaves.

So skinny fruit, ripe before its time,

Not pleasing our taste, nor our eyes,

Hanging between flowers, an orphaned stranger,

And the hour of their beauty is its fall hour!

We dried up the mind with fruitless science,

Taya enviously from neighbors and friends

Unbelief ridiculed passions.

We barely touched the cup of pleasure,

But we did not save our young forces;

From every joy, fearing satiety,

We have extracted the best juice forever.

Dreams of poetry, creation of art

Sweet delight does not stir our mind;

We greedily keep in the chest the rest of the feeling -

Buried by avarice and useless treasure.

And we hate, and we love by chance,

Sacrificing nothing to either malice or love,

And some kind of secret cold reigns in the soul,

When the fire boils in the blood.

And our ancestors are boring luxury fun,

Their conscientious, childish depravity;

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

Looking back mockingly.

We will pass over the world without noise or trace,

Nor the genius of the work begun.

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

A descendant will offend with a contemptuous verse,

The mockery of the bitter deceived son

Over the squandered father.

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

The main theme of the poem is the social behavior of a person. The theme is revealed in Lermontov's Characteristics of the Generation of the 1930s given here. This generation, which grew up under 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 from the cradle, by the mistakes of our fathers ...”). The new generation has moved away from participation in public life and has delved into the pursuit of "sterile science", it is not disturbed by questions of good and evil; it shows "shameful cowardice in the face of danger", is "contemptible slaves before the authorities." Neither poetry nor art speaks to these people. Their fate is bleak:

Crowd gloomy and soon forgotten

We will pass over the world without noise or trace,

Not throwing for centuries a fruitful thought,

Nor the genius of the work begun.

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

Severely censuring his generation for this indifference, for departing from the socio-political struggle, Lermontov, as it were, calls him to moral renewal, to awakening from spiritual hibernation. Lermontov, acting as an accuser, echoes Ryleev in this, who, with the same denunciation, addressed his contemporaries evading the political struggle in the poem "Citizen".

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

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

Griboyedov "Woe from Wit"

"Woe from Wit" - a comedy in the verses of A. S. Griboyedov - a work that made its creator a classic of Russian literature. It combines elements of classicism and romanticism and realism, new for the beginning of the 19th century.

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

Text history:

Around 1816, Griboedov, returning from abroad, found himself in St. Petersburg at one of the secular evenings and was amazed at how the whole audience admired everything foreign. That evening she surrounded with attention and care some chatty Frenchman; Griboyedov could not stand it and made a fiery diatribe. While he was speaking, someone in the audience announced that Griboedov was crazy, and thus spread the word all over Petersburg. Griboyedov, in order to take revenge on secular society, conceived the idea of writing a comedy about this.

Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm"

"Thunderstorm" - a play in five acts by Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky

History of creation

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

The personal drama of the writer is also connected with the writing of the play "Thunderstorm". In the play's manuscript, next to Katerina's famous monologue: “And what dreams I had, Varenka, what dreams! Or golden temples, or some extraordinary gardens, and everyone sings invisible voices…”, there is Ostrovsky’s note: “I heard from L.P. about the same dream…”. L.P. is the actress Lyubov Pavlovna Kositskaya, with whom the young playwright had a very difficult personal relationship: both had families. The 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 (all of them 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 by A. N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm"

In 1848, Alexander Ostrovsky went with his family to Kostroma, to the Shchelykovo estate. The natural beauty of the Volga region struck the playwright, and then he thought about the play. For a long time it was believed that the plot of the drama "Thunderstorm" was taken by Ostrovsky from the life of the Kostroma merchants. Kostromichi 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 heroes of the play are endowed with symbolism: Kabanova is a heavy, heavy 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"; Barbara, which is opposed to her, is a "barbarian".

In the play "Thunderstorm" the writer described the state of provincial society in Russia on the eve of reforms. The playwright examines such issues as the position of a woman in the family, the modernity of Domostroy, the awakening in a person of a sense of personality and dignity, the relationship between the “old”, oppressive, and “young”, mute.

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

The name "Thunderstorm" can be considered from several positions. Thunderstorm is a natural phenomenon, and nature plays an important role in the composition of the play. So, it complements the action, emphasizes the main idea, the essence of what is happening. For example, a beautiful night landscape corresponds to a date between Katerina and Boris. The expanses of the Volga emphasize Katerina's dreams of freedom, a picture of cruel nature opens when describing the suicide of the main character. Then nature contributes to the development of action, as if pushing events, stimulates the development and resolution of the conflict. So, in the scene of a thunderstorm, the elements induce Katerina to public repentance.

So, the name “Thunderstorm” emphasizes the main idea of the play: self-esteem awakening in people; the desire for freedom and independence begins to threaten the existence of the old order.

The world of Kabanikhi and the Wild comes to an end, because in the “dark kingdom” a “beam of light” appeared - Katerina is a woman who cannot put up with the oppressive atmosphere that reigns in the family, in the city. Her protest was expressed in love for Boris, in an unauthorized departure from life. Katerina preferred death to existence in a world where she was “sick of everything”. She is the first lightning of that 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 Dikoi use his ideas only to justify their tyranny and tyranny. They failed to convey to their children the true faith in the inviolability of their rules of life. Young people live according to the laws of their fathers as long as they can achieve a compromise through deceit. When oppression becomes unbearable, when deception saves only partially, then a protest begins to awaken in a person, he develops and is able to break out at any moment.

Katerina's suicide woke up a man in Tikhon. He saw that there is always a way out of the current situation, and he, the most weak-willed of all the characters described by Ostrovsky, who unquestioningly obeyed his mother all his life, accuses her of 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 storm 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 Katerina's protest, renewal will also come: the oppressive and subjugating orders will probably be replaced by a society of freedom and independence.

But the storm occurs not only in nature, but also in Katerina's soul. She committed a sin and repents of it. Two feelings struggle in her: fear of the Boar and fear that “death will suddenly find you, as you are, with all your sins ...” In the end, religiosity, fear of retribution for sin prevail, and Katerina publicly confesses her deed sin. None of the inhabitants of Kalinovo 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 - if only everything was “covered”. However, recognition does not bring relief to Katerina. As long as she believes in Boris's love, she is able to live. But, realizing that Boris is no better than Tikhon, that she is still alone in this world, where everything is “embarrassing” to her, she finds no other way out than to rush into the Volga. Katerina broke the religious law for the sake of freedom. The storm also ends in renewal in her soul. The young woman completely freed herself from the shackles of the Kalinovsky world and religion.

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

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

1. a heavily littered, polluted place, usually a room where everything is lying in disarray;

2. something that is in an extremely neglected state, in disarray, etc. Usually about some organization, about a complete mess in the conduct of business.

· · ·

From the name of the huge canyons of the king of Elis Avgei, not cleaned for many years. Cleaning them was only possible for the mighty - the son. The hero cleared the Augean stables in one day, directing the waters of two turbulent rivers through them.

a firm determination to be irreconcilable towards someone or something, to fight someone or something to the end.

· · ·

On behalf of the Corthaginian commander Annibal (or Hannibal, 247-183 BC), who, according to legend, as a boy swore to be an implacable enemy of Rome all his life. 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.

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 serene, carefree lives.

subtle, elegant wit, elegant joke; mockery.

· · ·

By the name of the ancient Greek region of Attica, which was the center of the mental and spiritual life of that time and became famous for its rich and subtle culture.

extreme limit, limit of something, extreme in something.

· · ·

Originally - the name of two rocks on the shores of Europe and Africa near the Strait of Gibraltar, according to ancient legend, erected on the border of the world.

intractable, complicated matter, task, some kind of difficulty. Also Cut (cut) the Gordian knot– resolve a complex, confusing issue boldly, decisively and immediately.

· · ·

From the name of a complex, tangled knot tied, according to one of the legends, by the Phrygian king Gordius, which no one was able to untie. According to the oracle, the one who managed to unravel this knot was to become the ruler of all Asia. The legend, told by ancient Greek writers, tells that only Alexander the Great managed to do this - he cut the knot in half with a sword.

a constant threat to someone, a nuisance.

· · ·

The expression arose from the ancient Greek legend about the Syracusan tyrant Dionysius the Elder (432-367 BC), who, in order to teach a lesson to one of his entourage, Damocles, who envied his position, put him in his place during the feast, hanging over his head Damocles sharp sword on a horsehair as a symbol of the dangers that inevitably threaten the tyrant. Damocles realized how little happy he is who is under eternal fear.

1. two-faced person; 2. a case that has two opposite sides.

· · ·

In ancient Roman mythology, Janus is the god of time, as well as of every beginning and end, the god of change, movement. He was depicted with two faces, young and old, which were turned in different directions: young - forward, into the future, old - back, into the past.

a complex, intractable task that requires a subtle approach, a fair amount of intelligence and competence.

· · ·

It arose from a myth that tells how Thebes, as a punishment for the misconduct of one of the rulers of the city, was sent by the gods scary monster- which is located on a mountain near Thebes (or in the city square) and asked each passerby the question: “Which of the living creatures walks on four legs in the morning, in the afternoon - not two, but three in the evening?”. Unable to give a clue, the Sphinx killed and thus killed many noble Thebans, including the son of King Creon. Oedipus solved the riddle, only he managed to guess that it was a man; The Sphinx threw herself into the abyss in despair and fell to her death.

large sums of money.

· · ·

The expression originated from the ancient Greek myth about. Captivated by the beauty of the daughter of the Argos king Acrisius, Zeus penetrated her in the form of a golden rain, and from this connection Perseus was born in the future. Danae, showered with a rain of golden coins, is depicted in the paintings of many artists: Titian, Correggio, Van Dyck, etc. Hence the expressions “golden rain is pouring”, “golden rain is pouring”.

be forgotten, disappear without a trace and forever.

· · ·

From the name Lethe - the river of oblivion in the underworld; from it the souls of the dead drank water and forgot their whole past life.

one experiences a feeling of intense envy for one's success.

· · ·

The words of the ancient Greek commander Themistocles: “The Lavra of Miltiades 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.

scold someone; speak angrily, irritably, reproaching, denouncing someone or threatening him.

· · ·

It arose from ideas about the supreme god, who, according to myths, dealt with his enemies and people who were objectionable to him with the help of forged lightning, terrifying in their power.

in a position where danger threatens from two 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, and who lived on both sides of the narrow Strait of Messina and destroyed all those passing by.

that helps to find a way out of a predicament.

first place among others due to superiority over all others.

· · ·

From the ancient Greek custom of rewarding the winner of a competition with a palm branch or wreath.

to exalt, to rave about, to praise someone or something.

· · ·

It arose from the name of dithyrambs - laudatory songs in honor of the god of wine and vine, sung during processions dedicated to this deity.

something that is a measure 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 he captured and stretched out the legs of those for whom this bed was large, or cut off the legs of those for whom it was small.

As if from a cornucopia - in huge quantities, inexhaustible.

· · ·

In ancient Greek mythology - the wonderful horn of the goat Amalthea, who nursed the baby 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 wishes. Therefore, the horn of Amalthea became a symbol of wealth and abundance.

Augean stables

*one. a heavily littered, polluted place, usually a room where everything is lying in disarray;
*2. something that is in an extremely neglected state, in disarray, etc. Usually about some organization, about a complete mess in the conduct of business.

From the name of the huge stables of the king of Elis Avgei, not cleaned for many years. Cleaning them was only possible for the mighty Hercules - the son of Zeus. The hero cleared the Augean stables in one day, directing the waters of two turbulent rivers through them.

Annibal's Oath

* a firm determination to be irreconcilable with respect to someone or something, to fight with someone or something to the end.

On behalf of the Carthaginian commander Hannibal (or Annibal, 247-183 BC), who, according to legend, as a boy swore to be an implacable enemy of Rome all his life. Hannibal kept his oath: during the Second Punic War (218-210 BC), the troops under his command inflicted a number of heavy defeats on the troops of Rome.

arcadian idyll

* happy serene life, peaceful, unclouded existence.

Attic salt

* subtle, elegant wit, elegant joke; mockery.

By the name of the ancient Greek region of Attica, which was the center of the mental and spiritual life of that time and became famous for its rich and subtle culture.

Pillars of Hercules

* extreme limit, border of something, extreme in something.

Initially - 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.

From the name of a complex, tangled knot tied, according to one of the legends, by the Phrygian king Gordius, which no one was able to untie. According to the oracle, the one who managed to unravel this knot was to become the ruler of all Asia. The legend told by ancient Greek writers tells that only Alexander the Great managed to do this - he cut the knot in half with a sword.

Sword of Damocles

* a constant threat to someone, a nuisance.

The expression arose from the ancient Greek legend about the Syracusan tyrant Dionysius the Elder (432-367 BC), who, in order to teach a lesson to one of his confidants, Damocles, who envied his position, put him in his place during the feast, hanging over his head Damocles sharp sword on a 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

*one. Two-faced person;
*2. a case with two opposite sides.

Riddle of the Sphinx

*a complex, intractable task that requires a subtle approach, a fair mind and competence.

It arose from a myth that tells how the gods sent a terrible monster to Thebes as a punishment for the misconduct of one of the rulers of the city - the Sphinx, which was located on a mountain near Thebes (or in the city square) and asked each passing question: "Which of the living creatures 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 killed many noble Thebans, including the son of King Creon. Oedipus solved the riddle, only he managed to guess that it was a man; The Sphinx threw herself into the abyss in despair and fell to her death.

Golden Rain

* large sums of money.

The expression originated from the ancient Greek myth of Zeus. Captivated by the beauty of Danae, the daughter of the king of Argos Acrisius, Zeus penetrated her in the form of a golden rain, and from this connection Perseus was born in the future. Danae, showered with a rain of golden coins, is depicted in the paintings of many artists: Titian, Correggio, Van Dyck, and others.

Sink into oblivion

* be forgotten, disappear without a trace and forever.

From the name Lethe - the river of oblivion in the underworld of Hades; from it the souls of the dead drank water and forgot their whole past life.

Laurels won't let you sleep

*someone feels intense envy of someone else's success.

The words of the ancient Greek commander Themistocles: "The Lavra of Miltiades 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.

Throw thunder and lightning

*to scold someone; speak angrily, irritably, reproaching, denouncing someone or threatening him.

It arose from ideas about Zeus - the supreme god of Olympus - who, according to myths, dealt with his enemies and people who were objectionable to him with the help of thunderbolts, terrifying in their power, forged by Hephaestus.

Between Scylla and Charybdis

* in a position where danger threatens from two 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 killed everyone passing by.

Ariadne's thread, Ariadne's thread

*what helps to find a way out of a predicament.

Named after Ariadne, the 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, safely get out of the underground labyrinth with the help of a ball of thread.

palm

* first place among others, as a result of superiority over all others.

From the ancient Greek custom of rewarding the winner of a competition with a palm branch or wreath.

sing praises

*immoderately, enthusiastically praise, praise someone or something.

It arose from the name of dithyrambs - laudatory songs in honor of the god of wine and the vine of Dionysus, sung during processions dedicated to this deity.

Procrustean bed

*what is a measure 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 he captured and stretched out the legs of those for whom this bed was large, or chopped off the legs of those for whom it was small.

Cornucopia

* As if from a cornucopia - in huge quantities, inexhaustible.

In ancient Greek mythology - the wonderful horn of the goat Amalthea, who 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 wishes. Therefore, the horn of Amalthea became a symbol of wealth and abundance.

Saddle Pegasus

* the same as Fly to Helikon - become a poet, write poetry; feel inspired.

By the name of the winged horse Pegasus, the fruit of the relationship of the Gorgon Medusa with Poseidon, bringing good luck to his rider. With a blow of a hoof, Pegasus knocked out on Helikon (the mountain - the abode of the muses) the source of Hippocrene ("horse spring"), the water of which gives inspiration to poets.

Sisyphean labor

* the same as the Bochka Danaid - useless, endless hard work, fruitless work.

The expression came from the ancient Greek legend of Sisyphus, a famous cunning man who was able to deceive even the gods and constantly came into conflict with them. It was he who managed to chain Thanatos, the god of death, sent to him, and keep him imprisoned 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 up the mountain, which, reaching the top, inevitably fell down, so that all work had to be started anew.

Pandora's Box

* source of multiple misfortunes, disasters.

From the ancient Greek myth of Pandora, according to which people once lived without knowing any misfortunes, illness and old age, until Prometheus stole fire from the gods. For this, the angry Zeus sent a beautiful woman, Pandora, to earth; she received from God a casket in which all human misfortunes were locked. Despite Prometheus' warning not to open the casket, Pandora, spurred on by curiosity, opened it and scattered all the misfortunes.

Phraseologisms from ancient Greek myths Phraseologism “Sisyphean labor” meaning - page No. 1/2

Comparison of Skilla with Charybdis served as the formation of a proverb, equivalent to the Russian "out of the fire and into the frying pan":

Phraseological units from ancient Greek myths

Phraseologism "Sisyphean labor" meaning

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

The Sisyphean expression labor began to denote hard, exhausting, useless work.

Phraseologism "Apple of discord" meaning

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

MEDUSA'S LOOK

If a person is unpleasant in communication and not liked by others, then it is often said that he has the look of Medusa.

Medusa Gorgon - a monster on whose head snakes wriggled, and instead of feet there were copper hooves. If a person looked at her, then he immediately turned into stone.

BARREL DANAID

A barrel of Danaids is a meaningless, useless work.

ATTIC SALT

Attic salt - (bookish) - an elegant joke, refined wit.

PROMETHEUS FIRE

Prometheus fire - (bookish) the spirit of nobility, courage, an unquenchable desire to achieve high goals.

ARIADNE'S THREAD

OLYMPIAN CALM

Olympic calmness - imperturbable calmness.

TSAR! REMEMBER THE GREEKS

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

PANDORA'S BOX

PROCRUSTEAN BED

THE GOLDEN FLEECE

The Golden Fleece is gold, wealth that they seek to master.

BACK TO YOUR PENATES

To return to their penates - to return under their own roof.

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

Returned to his penates,

Vladimir Lensky visited

The neighbor's monument is moderate.

TWO-FACED JANUS

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

GREEK GIFT

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

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

FABRIC PENELOPE

Penelope's fabric is about sophisticated cunning.

GOLDEN AGE

And although these naive beliefs have long since sunk into oblivion, the phraseologism of the golden age is still alive - this is how we call the best time, the days of the heyday of something.

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

CORNUCOPIA

The cornucopia is an endless source of wealth, wealth.

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

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

THE BOND OF HYMENEUS

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

Bonds are fetters, something that binds a person or ties one living being to another. There are a lot of words of this root: “prisoner”, “knot”, “bridle”, “burden”, etc. Thus, we are talking about something like “ligaments” or “chains”, while in Ancient Greece God was called Hymen marriage, patron of weddings.

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

Judge what kind of roses

Hymen will prepare for us ... -

when it comes to their possible marriage.

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

tantalum flour

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

AUGEAN STABLES

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

GORDIAN KNOT

To cut the Gordian knot - boldly, energetically solve a difficult matter.

I HAVE EVERYTHING I HAVE WITH ME

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

PANIC FEAR (HORROR)

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

PALMA

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

RIDE A PEGASUS

Saddle Pegasus - become a poet, speak poetry

UNDER THE AUSPICES OF

To be under the auspices - to use 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.

PILLARS OF HERCULES (PILLARS)

To say "reached the pillars of Hercules" means reached the extreme limit.

MENTOR TONE

"Mentor tone" - mentoring, arrogant tone.

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

3. Achilles' heel - a weak spot.

4. Barrel Danaid - endless work, fruitless work.

5. The age of Astrea is a happy time, time.

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

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

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

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. The sword of Damocles is a looming, threatening danger.

10. Gifts of the Danes. - "insidious" gifts, bringing with them death for those who receive them.

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

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

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

12. Golden fleece - gold, wealth, which they seek to master.

Argonauts are brave sailors and adventurers.

13. To sink into oblivion - to disappear forever, to be forgotten.

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

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

15. Torments of Tantalus - suffering due to unsatisfied desires.

16. Narcissus - a person who loves only himself.

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

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

18. Olympians are arrogant, inaccessible people.

Olympian bliss is the highest degree of bliss.

Olympian calm - calm, unperturbed by anything.

Olympic greatness - solemnity with manners.

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

19. Panic fear - sudden, intense fear, causing confusion.

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

21. Prometheus fire - sacred fire burning in the human soul; unquenchable desire to achieve high goals.

22. Penelope's work is an endless work (fidelity of the wife).

23. Sphinx riddle - something unsolvable.

24. Sisyphean labor is endless, ethereal (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 up the mountain, which, having reached the top, again rolled down.

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

26. Apple of discord - the cause of the dispute, enmity.

27. Pandora's box - a source of misfortune, great disasters.

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

29. Cyclops - one-eyed

WORKS

A.S. Pushkin

PROPHET

Spiritual thirst tormented,

In the gloomy desert I dragged, -

And a six-winged seraph

He appeared to me at a crossroads.

With fingers as light as a dream

He touched my eyes.

Prophetic eyes opened,

Like a frightened eagle.

He touched my ears,

And they were filled with noise and ringing:

And I heard the shudder of the sky,

And the heavenly angels flight,

And the reptile of the sea underwater course,

And the valley of the vine vegetation.

And he clung to my lips,

And tore out my sinful tongue,

And idle and crafty,

And the sting of the wise snake

In my frozen mouth

He invested it with a bloody right hand.

And he cut my chest with a sword,

And took out a trembling heart,

And coal burning with fire

He put a hole in his chest.

Like a corpse in the desert I lay,

And God's voice called out to me:

"Arise, prophet, and see, and listen,

Fulfill my will

And, bypassing the seas and lands,

Burn the hearts of the people with the verb."

Notes

The version of the first verse of the "Prophet" - "We torment the Great Sorrow", which is available in Pushkin's note, apparently refers to the original edition of the well-known text.

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

Finger- finger

Zenica- Pupil, eye.

opened up– opened

prophetic- Foreseeing the future, prophetic

Gorniy(flight) - Located in the sky.

Vegetation– growth

Right hand- right hand, sometimes even a hand

Vizhd- look

Listen- Listen to someone, direct attention to someone.

The theme of the poem:

The moment of writing the poem refers to 1826. This multidimensional poetic work belongs to a series of poems, the key themes of which are the problem of the spiritual realization of the poet and the problem of the essence of poetry.

Composition and plot:

Lermontov "Duma"

Sadly, I look at our generation!

His future is either empty or dark,

Meanwhile, under the burden of knowledge and doubt,

It will grow old in inaction.

We are rich, barely from the cradle,

The mistakes of the fathers and their late mind,

And life is already tormenting us, like a smooth path without a goal,

Like a feast at someone else's holiday.

Shamefully indifferent to good and evil,

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

In the face of danger shamefully cowardly

And before the authorities - despicable slaves.

So skinny fruit, ripe before its time,

Not pleasing our taste, nor our eyes,

Hanging between flowers, an orphaned stranger,

And the hour of their beauty is its fall hour!

We dried up the mind with fruitless science,

Taya enviously from neighbors and friends

Unbelief ridiculed passions.

We barely touched the cup of pleasure,

But we did not save our young forces;

From every joy, fearing satiety,

We have extracted the best juice forever.

Dreams of poetry, creation of art

Sweet delight does not stir our mind;

We greedily keep in the chest the rest of the feeling -

Buried by avarice and useless treasure.

And we hate, and we love by chance,

Sacrificing nothing to either malice or love,

And some kind of secret cold reigns in the soul,

When the fire boils in the blood.

And our ancestors are boring luxury fun,

Their conscientious, childish depravity;

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

Looking back mockingly.

We will pass over the world without noise or trace,

Nor the genius of the work begun.

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

A descendant will offend with a contemptuous verse,

The mockery of the bitter deceived son

Over the squandered father.

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

Crowd gloomy and soon forgotten

We will pass over the world without noise or trace,

Not throwing for centuries a fruitful thought,

Nor the genius of the work begun.

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

Griboyedov "Woe from Wit"

Text history:

Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm"

"Thunderstorm" - a play in five acts by Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky

History of creation

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

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 by A. N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm"

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 name "Thunderstorm" can be considered 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, a beautiful night landscape corresponds to a date between Katerina and Boris. The expanses of the Volga emphasize Katerina's dreams of freedom, a picture of cruel nature opens when describing the suicide of the main character. Then nature contributes to the development of action, as if pushing events, stimulates the development and resolution of the conflict. So, in the scene of a thunderstorm, the elements induce Katerina to public repentance.

So, the name “Thunderstorm” emphasizes the main idea of the play: self-esteem awakening in people; the desire for freedom and independence begins to threaten the existence of the old order.

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

Goncharov "Oblomov"

History of creation

The novel was conceived in 1847 and was written for 10 years. In 1849, in the almanac "Literary collection with illustrations" at the "Contemporary" was published the chapter "Oblomov's Dream" as an independent work.

Work on the novel was slow, in the late 40s Goncharov wrote to the publisher A. A. Kraevsky:

“Having carefully read what was written, I saw that all this had gone to the extreme, that I had taken up the subject in a wrong way, that one thing had to be changed, another should be released<...>I have a thing developed in my head slowly and heavily.

The novel "Oblomov" was first published in full only in 1859 in the first four issues of the journal "Domestic Notes". The beginning of work on the novel belongs to an earlier period. In 1849, one of the central chapters of Oblomov, Oblomov's Dream, was published, which the author himself called "the overture of the entire novel." The author asks the question: what is "Oblomovism" - the "golden age" or death, stagnation? In "Dream..." motifs of static and immobility, stagnation prevail, but at the same time one can feel the author's sympathy, good-natured humor, and not just satirical denial. As Goncharov later claimed, in 1849 the plan for the novel Oblomov was ready and the draft version of its first part was completed. “Soon,” wrote Goncharov, “after the publication in 1847 in Sovremennik of Ordinary History, Oblomov’s plan was already ready in my mind.” In the summer of 1849, when Oblomov's Dream was ready, Goncharov made a trip to his homeland, to Simbirsk, whose way of life retained the imprint of patriarchal antiquity. In this small town, the writer saw many examples of the “dream” that the inhabitants of the fictional Oblomovka slept with. Work on the novel was interrupted due to world tour Goncharov on the frigate Pallada. Only in the summer of 1857, after the travel essays "Pallada 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 to work on the last, fourth, part of the novel, the final chapters of which were written in 1858. However, while preparing the novel for publication, in 1858 Goncharov rewrote Oblomov, supplementing it with new scenes, and made some cuts. Having completed work on the novel, Goncharov said: "I wrote my life and what I grow into it."

Goncharov admitted that the influence of Belinsky's ideas affected the design of Oblomov. Belinsky's speech on Goncharov's first novel, An Ordinary Story, is considered the most important circumstance that influenced the idea of the work. There are also autobiographical features in the image of Oblomov. By his own admission, Goncharov, he himself was a sybarite, he loved serene peace, giving birth to creativity.

Published in 1859, the novel was hailed as a major social event. The Pravda newspaper, in an article dedicated to the 125th anniversary of Goncharov's birth, wrote: "Oblomov appeared in an era of public excitement, a few 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. Ever since the critic Pisarev declared after the release of the novel that it “in all likelihood would constitute an epoch in the history of Russian literature,” and prophesied the common sense of the types introduced in it, there is not a single literate Russian who does not know at least approximately what such a bummer. Roman was lucky: a month after the 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 the practice of revolutionary democracy, besides being an extremely jealous and suspicious person, fully agreed with Dobrolyubov’s article “What is Oblomovism?”.

“The impression that this novel made in Russia with its appearance is indescribable,” Prince P. Kropotkin recalled forty years later. “All educated Russia read Oblomov and discussed Oblomovism.

The study of Oblomovism in all its manifestations made Goncharov's novel immortal. Main character- Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, a hereditary nobleman, a smart, 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 medium 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, Andrey Stolz, says about him: "This is a crystal, transparent soul." But all these positive character traits are opposed by such qualities as lack of will and laziness.

To understand the reasons for the emergence of such a phenomenon as Oblomovism, you need to remember "Oblomov's Dream". In him, Ilya Ilyich sees his parents, his family estate and all its life. It was a way of life that had not changed for decades; everything seemed to freeze, fell asleep in this estate; life went slowly, measuredly, lazily and sleepily. Nothing disturbed Oblomov's life. When describing the life of the landowner's estate, Goncharov often uses the words "silence", "stagnation", "peace", "sleep", "silence". They very accurately convey the very atmosphere of the house, where life went on without changes and unrest from breakfast to lunch, from afternoon sleep to evening tea, from dinner - again until morning, where the most memorable event was how Luka Savelich unsuccessfully slid down the hill in winter sled and hurt his forehead. We can say that the life of the Oblomovites was defined in one word - “stagnation”, it was a typical existence of a Russian provincial landowner's 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 the article “What is Oblomovism?”, Ilya Ilyich was brought up not just as a nobleman, but precisely as a Russian master who “does not need to fuss every day, does not need to work in the name of“ daily bread ”. Ilya Oblomov must be regarded as a peculiar result of the upbringing of many generations of Oblomovs, as a product of the “petrified kingdom” of Russian life itself. This upbringing and this way of life killed everything living, everything immediate, accustoming a person to sleepy doing nothing; moreover, they equally affected both the master and the courtyard. In this sense, the image of Oblomov's servant, Zakhar, is very important. Ilya Ilyich says, turning to him: “Yes, brother, you are an even greater Oblomov than I myself!” This is a very accurate remark; Zakhar is, as it were, “Oblomov squared”: all the worst qualities of Oblomov are brought to caricature sizes by Zakhar.

Oblomov's life is devoid of aspirations for any changes, on the contrary, most of all he appreciates solitude and peace. Oblomov gradually breaks the connection, first with the service, and then with the whole outside world, with society. Bathrobe, shoes and a sofa - that's what contributes to immersion young man into complete apathy. The fact that this person is morally dying, Goncharov makes us understand, describing the life of Oblomov: “A cobweb saturated with dust molded over the glass; mirrors ... could serve as tablets for writing notes on them from the dust for memory”; "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 usual “romantic” dynamics, but unflagging interest remains. The fact is that under the external inactivity of the hero, under the unhurried and detailed descriptions, there is a tense internal action. Its mainspring is Oblomov's stubborn struggle with the life that surrounds him, surging from all sides - a struggle outwardly inconspicuous, sometimes almost invisible, but no less fierce for that.

On the contrary, bitterness only increases due to the fact that vain, in its individual manifestations, life moves slowly and steadily, crushing everything hostile, hostile to it: progress crushes Oblomovism, which is represented in the novel by all inertness.

The meek Ilya Ilyich desperately and to the end fights off the intrusion of life, from its great demands, from labor and from the small pricks of the "malice of the day." Being wrong in his resistance to civic duty, he sometimes turns out to be higher and more right than the vain claims of the then being. And, without throwing off his dressing gown, without leaving the famous Oblomov sofa, he sometimes inflicts well-aimed blows on the enemy who has burst 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! 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. Here is an empty dandy, and a careerist official, and a accusatory writer. The masks are different, but the essence is the same: empty vanity, deceptive activity. It is thanks to the “bringing out” of such “dissimilar persons” that the idea of the illusory intensity of the existence of “business” people, the fullness of their lives becomes more full-blooded and expressive.

No wonder that Oblomov is far from the interests of practical life, he is burdened by her requests, he is not able to protect even his own interests. When, using gullibility, a swindler and blackmailer asks Oblomov about the state of his affairs, Oblomov gives an answer that is stunning in its frankness. “Listen... Listen,” he repeated at a slow pace, almost in a whisper, “I don’t know what corvee is, what rural labor is, what a poor peasant means, what a rich one means; I don’t know what a quarter of rye or oats means, what it costs, in what month and what they sow and reap, how and when they sell it; 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 noteworthy - Oblomov makes his confession" almost in a whisper. Before him, perhaps for the first time, all the tragedy and helplessness of his position appeared. And despite this awareness, Oblomov's death is inevitable.

Goncharov is stern and adamant in analyzing the fate of his hero, although the writer does not hush up his good qualities. “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 fortress Oblomovka, where the hero began his life and was brought up; this is “Vyborgskaya Oblomovka” in the house of Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsyna, where Oblomov ended his inglorious career; this is the serf Zakhar, with his slavish devotion to the master, and a host of swindlers, rogues, hunters for someone else's pie (Tarantiev, Ivan Matveevich, Zated), scurrying around Oblomov and his free income. The serf system that gave rise to such phenomena spoke Goncharov's novel in all its content, was doomed to death, its destruction became an urgent requirement of the era.

She 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 "a difficult school of life." Oblomov is frightened by those high properties of the soul that he must possess in order to become worthy of a girl's love. Olga, trying in vain to save her lover, asks him: “What ruined you? There is no name for this evil ... ”-“ There is ... Oblomovism, ”Ilya Ilyich replies. Oblomov is much more satisfied with another version of the relationship. He finds his “ideal” in the person of Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsa-na, who, without demanding anything from the object of her love, tries to indulge him in everything.

But why is one the best people novel morally pure, honest, kind, cordial Oblomov morally dies? What is the reason for this tragedy? Goncharov, condemning Oblomov's lifestyle, his laziness, lack of will, inability to practice, sees the reasons that gave rise to the phenomenon of Oblomovism, in the conditions of Russian local life, which allowed the landowner not to worry about their 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 getting the satisfaction of his desires not from his own efforts, but from others, developed in him an apathetic immobility and plunged him into the miserable state of a moral slave. This is the essence of Oblomov's tragedy.

But condemning the laziness and apathy of Oblomov, Goncharov is ambivalent about another hero, Andrei Stolz, who would seem to be ideally positive, and does not consider his path of becoming a personality 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 any confidence in me. The author says that he is a magnificent fellow, but I do not believe him ... He is half composed, three-quarters stilted.

Perhaps the origins of the tragedies of both heroes lie in their upbringing. The fault of Stolz's unnaturalness is the “correct”, rational, burgher upbringing.

The Oblomovs are the keepers of the traditions of antiquity. From generation to generation, this Oblomov utopia about a person coexisting harmoniously with nature was passed on. But the author shows the backwardness of patriarchy, the almost fabulous impossibility of such an existence in the contemporary world. Oblomov's dream collapses under the pressure of civilization.

In his rebuke to Zakhar about the way of life of the “others,” Oblomov looks almost like the personification of the typical psychology of a slave owner, confident in his right to do nothing and only consume life's blessings. But now Zakhar, broken by the “pathetic” words of the master, retired, and Oblomov, alone with himself, is already seriously comparing himself with “others” and thinks quite the opposite of what he was explaining to the old uncle with pathos. And the “torturous consciousness” of the truth almost leads him to that terrible word, which, “like a stigma, imprints his life and the true values of the spirit. Oblomov hid from life so diligently that secret pure gold turns into obvious evil for those who depend on him Touching in his slavish devotion, but utterly depraved, exhausted by idleness, Zakhar perishes, and the other three hundred Zakharov, invisible in the novel, ruined by swindlers and “honest figures,” suffer.

Life, like a dream, and a dream, like death - this is the fate of the protagonist of the novel.

Oblomov's "pigeon soul" resolutely denies the world of false activity, hostile to man, life, nature - first of all, the world of active bourgeois business, the world of all predatory and meanness. But this soul itself, as Goncharov shows, in its weakness acts as an element hostile to life. In this contradiction lies the real immortality of the tragic image of Oblomov.

Dobrolyubov showed with all his might that Oblomov was typical not only for conservative, but also for liberal Russia. According to the correct remark of P. A. 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. The translator of Goncharov's works into Danish, P. Ganzen, wrote to him: “Not only at Aduev and Raisky, but even in Oblomov, I found so many familiar and old, so many native. 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 word for all kinds of inertia, inertia and stagnation.