inglés
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to take the the bull by the horns, a Procrustean bed, the shirt of Nessus, a sardonic smile or laugh, be a harpy, a chimera, the Medea syndrome, Sisyphean task
"TO TAKE THE BULL BY THE HORNS"
ENGLISH WORD: “to take the bull by the horns”.
CURRENT MEANING: face the difficulties rather than escape them.
ORIGIN: since ancient times the bull was the symbol of the strength and also the danger. In his seventh work, Hercules had to fight with a bull and capture it alive. He got it by jumping over it and grabbing strongly its horns.
Hercules and the bull of Crete. Louvre Museum.
ENGLISH WORD: “a Procrustean bed”, “the bed of Procrustes”, “procrustean”.
CURRENT MEANING: it symbolizes the conformism and an arbitrary standard. It oposses to ergonomic, i.e., someone who has to adapt to objects and not viceversa. In general, when something is procrustean, different lenghts or properties are fitted to an arbitrary standard.
ORIGIN: Procrustes was a bandit who acted in the isthmus of Corinth. He attacked people by stretching them or cutting their legs off, so that he forced them to fit the size of an iron bed. He was killed by Theseus, who submitted it to the torture to which he had subjected their victims.
Theseus and Procrustes. Side A form an Attic red-figure neck-amphora, 470-460 BC.
"THE SHIRT OF NESSUS"
ENGLISH WORD: “the shirt of Nessus”, “Tunic of Nessus”, “Nessus-robe”, or “Nessus` shirt”.
CURRENT MEANING: it represents a source of misfortune from which there is no escape; a destructive influence.
ORIGIN: it comes from a story of love and jealousy. When the centaur Nessus attempted to rape at Deianeira, her husband Heracles wounded him with an arrow, stoping the felony. Nessus, as he lay dying, gave a bit of his blood to her, telling her that his blood would ensure that Heracles would be true to her forever. Later, when Deianeira doubted the love of him, she spread the centaur´s blood on a tunic and gave it to her husband. The tunic burnt his skin and died slowly and painfully.
The abduction of Deianira by Guido Reni. Louvre Museum.
"A SARDONIC SMILE OR LAUGH"
ENGLISH WORD: “a sardonic smile or laugh”.
CURRENT MEANING: a malignant, ironic or sarcastic smile or laugh.
ORIGIN: it has its origin in the legend of Talos. This was a giant man of bronze who Minos had entrusted the mission of protecting the coasts of Crete from foreigners and pirates. If someone could get, he had to overcome the hot embrace of Talos, after introducing his metal body in fire. Such embrace suffered the Sardinians and from this mythical episode comes this expression, because, while held them, he laughed fiercely.
The Giant Talos armed with a stone. Silver didrachm from Phaistos, Crete (ca. 300/280-270BC), obverse.
"BE A HARPY"
ENGLISH WORD: “be a harpy”.
CURRENT MEANING: this term is often used to refer to a nasty and annoying woman that behaves badly.
ORIGIN: the Harpies were devastating monsters with face of woman and wings and body of bird of prey. They had as mission lead the souls, especially those of children, to Underworld. In one of the episodes of the Argonauts, they threw on the delicacies of Phineas and made dirty his food with their excrements.
Aeneas and his companions fighting the Harpies. François Perrier. Louvre Museum.
"A CHIMERA"
ENGLISH WORD: “a chimera“.
CURRENT MEANING: the term chimera has come to describe anything imaginative or implausible, a dream.
ORIGIN: the Chimera was a monster of classical mythology, commonly represented with lion´s head, goat´s body and a serpent´s tail. It was defeated by the hero Belerofonte with a lead-tipped spear.
The Chimera on a red figure Apulian plate. c. 350-340 B.C. Louvre Museum.
"THE MEDEA SYNDROME"
ENGLISH WORD: “the Medea syndrome” or “Medea complex”.
CURRENT MEANING: it alludes to the mother´s compulsion to kill her children, arising from a desire for revenge on her husband.
ORIGIN: in Greek mythology Medea was an enchantress who married Jason after helping him to get the Golden Fleece. Later Jason abandoned Medea for Creusa, the king´s daughter, so Medea, crazy with jealousy, killed Creusa and her children, because it was the most terrible way to damage her husband.
Medea about to Kill her Children. Eugène Delacroix.
"SISYPHEAN TASK"
ENGLISH WORD: “Sisyphean task”.
CURRENT MEANING: nowadays this myth is used as a representation of a life meaningless because it consists of bare repetition.
ORIGIN: the gods punished Sisyphus in the Underworld to climb unceasingly a rock to the top of a mountain, however, when he could reach the top, the huge stone would always roll back down, forcing him to begin again.
Sisyphus. Tiziano. Prado Museum.