Any person, even without a literary education, should know what they are Augean stables and their significance. The story is like this.

In ancient Greek mythology, King Augeas had huge herds. All of them were kept in special stables. It should be clarified here that stables are usually reserved for horses. However, at Avgiy there were mainly bulls and goats.

For many years (according to some sources, 30 years), manure was not taken out of these stables, so terrible chaos was created there. In order to clear the barnyard of a lot of dirt, King Avgiy hired a famous character - Hercules (aka Hercules). It was this task that became one of, because the work was beyond the power of anyone else.

How did Hercules cleanse the Augean stables? Our hero was not only incredibly strong, but also smart. Therefore, in order not to clean the neglected buildings manually, he in a cunning way diverted water from two rivers there, which simply washed away all the manure from there.

For this feat, Augeas had to pay a tenth of all his numerous flocks. However, he did not do so. And really, why is this, because the stables have already been cleaned!

True, then the mighty Hercules killed him.

Augean stables - the meaning of phraseology

Surely you already guess what the expression "Augean stables" means. From the previous text, this follows quite logically. But we will explain. Three values ​​should be highlighted.

Now you know what the Augean Stables are, as well as the meaning of this phraseological unit.

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 the hero Heracles (Hercules): he sent a river through the stables, the waters of which carried away all the manure. This myth was first reported by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC). The expression “Augean stables”, which arose from here, is used to denote a very dirty room, as well as severe neglect, clogging, disorder in matters that require great effort to eliminate them; it became winged in antiquity (Seneca, Satire on the death of Emperor Claudius; Lucian, Alexander).

Achilles' heel

In Greek mythology, Achilles (Achilles) is one of the most powerful and brave heroes; He is sung in Homer's Iliad. The post-Homeric myth, transmitted by the Roman writer Hyginus, reports that the mother of Achilles, the sea goddess Thetis, in order to make her son's body invulnerable, dipped him into the sacred river Styx; 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. The expression “Achilles (or Achilles) heel”, which arose from here, is used in the meaning: a weak side, a vulnerable spot of something.

Strizhak Valentin

The work was presented at the school conference "Intellectuals-2011".

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Municipal budgetary educational institution

Secondary school No. 7 of the city of Okha, Sakhalin Region

WINGED WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS IN THE MYTHS OF ANCIENT GREECE

2011

The word is not a sparrow, it will fly out - you will not catch it.

In history lessons we studied the mythology of Ancient Greece. I can’t say that I got acquainted with myths for the first time - being an elementary school student, I read a collection of myths of antiquity with pleasure. But then I was struck by the fact that in everyday speech we often use such well-known expressions as “Augean stables”, “Achilles heel”, “Sunk into oblivion”, “Everything in Tartarara”, “Gorgon's view” and others, and as it turned out , the origin of these famous words is connected with the plots of ancient mythology. I wanted to find as many such expressions in ancient Greek myths as possible, and this became the topic of my research.

In their efforts to explain and understand the universe and nature, the ancient Greeks invented stories that have come down to our times as myths. Ancient Greece . These stories explained everything unknown and incomprehensible with the help of the Gods, who controlled the forces of nature. The gods had all human vices (greed, jealousy, anger, etc.) and superhuman abilities. Myths are not just a fiction, a fairy tale, they reflect the ideas of ancient people about the just structure of the world, about relations between people, myths teach to solve moral problems that confront people living at all times, are eternal.

Greek myths (from the Greek. mythos - prediction, legend) - this is a story about gods and heroes who have come to us from the depths of centuries.

For some, Greek mythology is a beautiful fairy tale, for some it is history.

She inspires people of art to the greatest works.

Everyone finds something of their own, understandable and dear to him alone.

By the way, myths should be taken seriously, as, for example, Heinrich Schliemann, who was very respectful of Homer's work and loved to read his Iliad. This love led him to a great discovery - he found ancient Troy, in the existence of which most famous scientists did not believe. And Schliemann not only dug up Troy in Turkey, but also the ancient tombs of kings in Mycenae, and also found the treasures of Priam.

Without realizing it, we sometimes talk about titanic efforts and gigantic sizes (and after all, titans and giants are the offspring of the goddess of the Earth who fought the Greek gods), about panic fear (and these are the tricks of the god Pan, who loved to induce unaccountable horror on people) , about Olympic calm (which the ancient gods possessed - the inhabitants of the sacred Mount Olympus) or about Homeric laughter (this is the unbridled thunderous laughter of the gods, described by the poet Homer). Common comparisons include likening a mighty and strong man to Hercules, and a brave and determined woman to an Amazon.

All these are winged words (ἔπεα πτερόεντα). This name goes back to Homer, in whose poems it occurs many times (“He uttered a winged word”; “They exchanged winged words among themselves quietly”). Homer called words "winged" because from the mouth of the speaker they seem to fly to the ear of the listener. Sources of winged expressions can bemyths, folklore, literatureor speeches of famous people. It can bequotesor figurative expressions that appeared on their basis.

I would like to talk about some of the winged words and expressions, the source of which was the myths of the ancient Greeks.

Augean stables.

In Greek mythologyAugean stables- extensive stablesaugia, the king of Elis, which for many years were not removed. They were cleared on the same dayHercules: he directed the river Alpheus through the stables, the waters of which carried away all the sewage. This myth was first reported by the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus. The expression "Augean stables" that arose from here means an extremely neglected room, as well as, in a figurative sense, affairs that are in extreme disorder.

Thread of Ariadne.

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Winged words and expressions in the myths of Ancient Greece Completed by: STRIZHAK VALENTIN, student of grade 5 A, secondary school No. 7, Okha

Greek myths (from Greek mythos - prediction, legend) are a story about gods and heroes that have come to us from time immemorial.

Myths are not just a fiction, a fairy tale, they reflect the ideas of ancient people about the just structure of the world, about relations between people, myths teach how to solve moral problems that confront people living at all times.

By the way, myths should be taken seriously, as, for example, Heinrich Schliemann, who was very respectful of Homer's work and loved to read his Iliad. This love led him to a great discovery - he found ancient Troy, in the existence of which most famous scientists did not believe.

Winged words - ἔπεα πτερόεντα We owe this expression to Homer. He called words "winged" because from the mouth of the speaker they seem to fly to the ear of the listener.

Thread of Ariadne Ariadne is the daughter of the Cretan king Minos. When Prince Theseus arrived in Crete from Athens, along with young men doomed to be eaten by the Minotaur, Ariadne fell in love with him. The Minotaur was in the Labyrinth - a palace with so many passages that it was impossible to get out of it. Ariadne gave Theseus a ball of thread, which he unwound as he entered the Labyrinth. Having killed the Minotaur, Theseus was able to get out of the Labyrinth along the unwound thread.

Thread of Ariadne In a figurative sense, the thread of Ariadne is a guiding thread, an opportunity that helps to get out of a difficult situation.

Achilles' heel Achilles is one of the most powerful and brave heroes; He is sung in Homer's Iliad. Achilles' mother, the goddess Thetis, wishing to make her son immortal, immersed him in the sacred waters of the river Styx; and only the heel, by which Thetis held him, did not touch the water and remained vulnerable. In this heel, Achilles was mortally wounded by the arrow of Paris.

Achilles' heel The expression "Achilles' heel" is used in the sense of: a weak, vulnerable spot.

Trojan horse This expression is used in the meaning: insidious gifts that bring death to those who receive them. Originated from Greek legends about the Trojan War. The Danaans, after a long and unsuccessful siege of Troy, resorted to a trick: they built a huge wooden horse, left it near the walls of Troy, and pretended to swim away from the shores of Troy.

Trojan horse The Trojans 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.

The Augean Stables In Greek mythology, the Augean stables are the vast stables of Augius, king of Elis, that have not been cleaned for many years. They were cleansed in one day by Hercules, who directed the river Alpheus and its waters through the stables and carried away all the impurities. The expression that arose from here speaks of an extremely neglected room, and also, in a figurative sense, of affairs that are in extreme disorder.

Argonauts. The Golden Fleece Ancient Greek myths tell of how the hero Jason went to get the Golden Fleece - the golden skin of a magical ram - which was guarded by the dragon of the king of Colchis. Jason built the ship "Argo" and, having gathered the greatest heroes, who, after the name of the ship, became known as the Argonauts, set off. Having overcome many adventures, Jason obtained the Golden Fleece.

Argonauts. The Golden Fleece Since then, the "Golden Fleece" is called gold, the wealth that they seek to master, and the "Argonauts" - brave sailors, adventurers.

Between Scylla and Charybdis, Scylla and Charybdis are two monsters that lived on both sides of a narrow strait and killed sailors passing between them. Hence the expression "between Scylla and Charybdis" is used in the meaning: to be between two dangers, between two fires.

Panic fear Pan - the god of herds, the patron saint of shepherds - can send such fear when a person rushes headlong to run, not making out the road, through forests, over mountains, along the edge of abysses. It happened that Pan inspired a whole army with such fear, and it turned to flight.

"Panic fear" - unaccountable, sudden, uncontrollable fear, covering a person or many people, causing confusion. This is where the word "panic" came from. Panic fear

Sisyphean labor According to ancient Greek mythology, the king of Corinth Sisyphus was the most cunning and intelligent of all people on earth. He built a city and reigned there for many years. With his cunning and intelligence, he amassed great wealth and ceased to respect the gods. For insulting the Olympian gods, Sisyphus was punished: in the underworld, he was sentenced to roll a heavy stone up the mountain, which, barely reaching the top, rolled down, and all the work had to be started anew. And again Sisyphus, in sweat and dust, drags a stone up the mountain.

Sisyphean labor The expression is used in the meaning: hard, endless and useless work.

Apple of Discord The goddess of discord, Eris, threw a golden apple with the inscription "the most beautiful" to the three goddesses: Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. The mortal youth Paris had to award the apple to the most worthy. Hera promised Paris power and wealth, Athena - wisdom and military glory, and Aphrodite - to marry the most beautiful woman. And Paris recognized the most beautiful of the goddesses Aphrodite. Fulfilling her promise, the goddess helped Paris kidnap the most beautiful of mortal women, Helen. This kidnapping started the Trojan War.

Apple of discord The expression "apple of discord" means: the cause of the dispute, discord.

Pandora's Box For the wedding, Zeus gave Pandora a box that contained all human vices, misfortunes, misfortunes and illnesses, but forbade him to open it. But Pandora, despite the ban, opened it, and all disasters spread over the earth. Only one Hope remained at the bottom of the vessel.

Pandora's Box We now call "Pandora's box" everything that can serve as a source of grief and disaster if carelessly.

Throw thunder and lightning This expression means - to speak angrily, irritably, reproaching, denouncing or threatening someone people objectionable to him with the help of lightning, terrifying in its power, forged by Hephaestus.

Ancient Greeks, ancient Greeks, The Greeks have become famous forever. Even sometimes surprise takes: Well, what a famous people! They fought bravely with enemies, They created wise myths, Prometheus, Hercules, and Atlas are familiar to any of us from childhood. The ancient Greeks plied the sea, They found time for sports. And they also invented the Olympic Games in the old days! The Greeks built theaters and temples, The Greeks staged comedies and dramas. And look now, what was their sculptural skill! Well, the most amazing thing, brothers, is that we could speak to them! "Physics", "space", "jellyfish", "strategist" - I would have understood these Greek words in an instant! You say: "asphalt", "stadium" and "dynamo" - You will say it in Greek directly! "Library", "theater", "beryl" - So, by the way, the Greek spoke!

Thank you for your attention!

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 the hero Heracles (Hercules): he sent a river through the stables, the waters of which carried away all the manure. This myth was first reported by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (I century BC). The expression that arose from here is used to denote a very dirty room, as well as severe neglect, clogging, disorder in matters that require great effort to eliminate them; it became winged in antiquity (Seneca, Satire on the death of Emperor Claudius; Lucian, Alexander).

"Augean Stables" quote:

True, he had impulses ... to clamp down on bribery, to replace embezzlers with decent people, but he was not Hercules to clear these Augean stables (I. A. Goncharov, Memoirs, 2, 14).

What were the main manifestations, remnants, remnants of serfdom in Russia by 1917? Monarchy, estates, land ownership and land use, the position of women, religion, oppression of nationalities. Take any of these "Augean stables" ... you will see that we have cleaned them completely (V. I. Lenin, On the Fourth Anniversary of the October Revolution, Complete Collected Works, vol. 44, p. 145).

Winged words and expressions on

© Ushakova O.D., 2004

© Publishing House "Litera", 2007

Dear friends!

Phraseological dictionary is in your hands. Phraseologisms are stable combinations of words that are similar in lexical meaning to one word. Therefore, phraseological units can often be replaced with one word, less expressive.

Compare: beat the buckets- idle; Nick down- remember; rub glasses- deceive, etc.

The Russian language is unusually rich in phraseological phrases. They make our speech more figurative, emotional and colorful.

Phraseological turns were formed in different ways. For example, a large number of set phrases have come into use from professional speech: beat the buckets, get into a mess, sharpen the laces, pull the gimp(from the speech of artisans); red string, chalkboard to chalkboard(connected with the history of the book), etc.

Many phraseological combinations were created on the basis of proverbs and sayings: hunger is not an aunt, hand washes hand.

Some expressions came into the language from myths, folklore, literary works: Augean stables, Achilles' heel, scales of Themis(from the myths of Ancient Greece); megillah(from Russian folk tales); broken trough(from "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" by A. S. Pushkin); monkey labor(from the fable of I. A. Krylov “Monkey and Glasses”), etc.

A lot of phraseological units owe their origin to the distant past of our country, connected with the history of Russia. Understanding “why we say that” is always interesting. Sometimes the story of the birth of a particular combination of words is a fascinating read in itself.

This book was written not only for those who love their native language - it will also help to replenish vocabulary and make students speak more vividly and richly.

In ancient Greece, according to legend, there lived a king named Augeas. He was a passionate lover of horses. Three thousand horses stood in his famous stables. However, the stalls in which these animals were kept were not cleaned for 30 years, and they, of course, were filled with manure up to the very roofs.

Once, an extraordinary strong man Hercules entered the service of King Avgius (among the Romans he was called Hercules), whom Avgii instructed to clean his stables - it was no longer possible for someone else to do this.

Hercules was distinguished not only by his mighty strength, but also by his mind. He solved this problem simply: he diverted a river through the gates of the stables, and its turbulent flow quickly washed away all the dirt from there.

This ancient legend was first told to the world by the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus.

We use the expression "Augean stables" today when we want to talk about extreme neglect and pollution.

This expression is attributed to the great astronomer and physicist Galileo. The Inquisition forced the scientist to renounce the teachings of Copernicus about the movement of the Earth around the Sun. According to legend, after the abdication, Galileo uttered these very words: “And yet she is spinning!”

We use the expression when we boldly and persistently assert and defend our innocence.

Alpha and omega are the names of the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. The expression in a figurative sense denotes the beginning and end of a business. Often it is also used to express a generalization that includes everything that can only be attributed to some person or phenomenon.

The Turkic word "arshin", meaning a measure of length of 16 inches (71.12 centimeters), has long been a Russian word. Until the revolution, Russian merchants and artisans constantly used arshins - wooden and metal rulers 71 centimeters long.

If you imagine what a person who swallowed such a ruler would have looked like, you will understand why this expression was applied to prim and haughty people with a proud posture.

Any weak, vulnerable place of a person in his affections, habits, character is called the Achilles' heel. Where did this expression come from?

Achilles is one of the bravest Greek heroes who besieged Troy, who was not taken by any enemy arrows. The myth tells that the mother of Achilles Thetis, wanting to make her son invulnerable, dipped him, at the time of infancy, into the waters of the sacred river Styx. When the mother dipped Achilles, she held him by the heel (heel), and this part of the child's foot remained vulnerable. Achilles died from the arrow of Paris, which struck his heel.

Bayat is an old Russian word, it means “to speak, to say” (“bayu” - I say).

Another word of the same root is a tale (fairy tale). It turns out that the expression "bayushki-bayu" means telling fairy tales.

So they say about a person who is sharply different from others. For the first time this expression is found in the ancient Roman poet Juvenal:

Rock gives kingdoms to slaves

delivers triumphs to the captives.

However, such a happy

less often than a white crow happens.

“What are you, woman, overeating with henbane?” - the old man asked the old woman in "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" by A. S. Pushkin, indignant at her shameless greed.

Henbane is a fairly common poisonous plant that can be found in backyards and landfills. These are tall shrubs with yellowish, purple-veined flowers and an unpleasant odor. Henbane seeds are like poppy seeds, and whoever eats them is delusional, insane, and may even die.

To people who do all sorts of stupid things, rage, do crazy things, they use this apt folk expression.

In the old days at school, the beginning of a new stage of education was marked by a joint meal - everyone was treated to porridge (this is how the word “classmate” happened, by the way). Naughty and guilty students, instead of treating porridge, were flogged with birch rods - they were “treated” with birch porridge.

The expression “give birch porridge” is used when they want to threaten, warn of a possible punishment for some kind of offense; and, of course, they say it with irony, jokingly.

Once upon a time in Russia, they slurped cabbage soup and ate porridge with wooden spoons, which were made by spoon-makers. Spoon blanks were made by apprentices - they chopped linden or aspen wood on logs. These blanks were called baklush.

To some, such work even now may not seem so trifling and simple. Peasants in the old days considered any work related to the manufacture of wooden things for household use to be an easy task that did not require skill. And beating the buckets was considered just a model of idleness. Since those times, it has gone: to beat the buckets means to do a frivolous, fake business.

In the Hermitage there is a painting by the great Dutch artist Rembrandt "The Return of the Prodigal Son". The painting depicts a happy meeting of a father with a tormented and ragged son, who returned from distant wanderings. This picture is written on the gospel story about a frivolous son who ran away from his father's house. In a foreign land, the young man experienced many difficulties and misfortunes, and when he returned, he was joyfully greeted by his father, who forgave him everything. This story is known as the parable of the prodigal son, and the whole world has known it for many centuries. By the expression "prodigal son" we characterize a person who, out of frivolity, neglected his loved ones, exchanged his home, family, homeland for a foreign land.