- "The most beautiful." Three goddesses - Venus, Minerva and Juno - entered the struggle for the right to possess the cherished fruit. However, none of those present at the festival dared to choose the only owner of the apple, fearing to incur the wrath of the remaining two goddesses. Then they decided that the prize should be awarded to them by the son of Hecuba and Priam - Paris. A young man in infancy was abandoned in the mountains, because. according to the prediction of the oracle, he will cause war and devastation in his native. But Paris was saved, raised and taught his craft by a simple shepherd. The beautiful nymph Enon fell in love with the young man, and he reciprocated. But, leaving his beloved, Paris hurried to the mountain, where the goddesses were waiting for his decision. Minerva, who appeared first, promised in exchange for apple bestow wisdom. He promised to give the fruit to Juno, but when he saw the beautiful Venus with her magic belt, and heard that in exchange for apple she will give him a bride, the same beauty as herself, without hesitation gave apple to her. Minerva and Juno were furious and promised to avenge the decision. In an effort to fulfill her promise, Venus sent Paris to Troy in order to open up to her parents and go with the fleet to Greece. Relying completely on the words of the goddess, the young man abandoned the beautiful Oenone and went with a group of young shepherds to take part in the celebration in Troy. By participating in competitions, he attracted the attention of Cassandra, who was his sister and had the gift of prophecy. Pointing out Paris to her family members, she told about his origin and warned that the young man would destroy his family. However, the parents did not fear and, wanting to make amends to their son, sought to do whatever he wished. But, without ceasing to listen to Venus, Paris takes a fatal step, setting off with the fleet to Greece, where the goddess helped him kidnap the wife of the Spartan king, Helen. Because of this, the Trojan War was unleashed, which destroyed the city and destroyed the whole of Paris. The expression “ apple discord”, is an example of a phrase that lives for centuries and has no statute of limitations. At present, this statement has become a kind of euphemism for any insignificant thing or any event that can lead to the most unpredictable, large-scale, and sometimes destructive consequences in the future. The expression has become denoting the cause of the quarrel and enmity.
Sources:
- apple of discord meaning of phraseologism in 2019
Regular apples are one of the most popular fruits in the world. And this is not surprising, because they are very tasty and have a lot of useful properties. It's hard to imagine a kitchen without such a fruit. European nations. In addition, the apple is a symbol that is closely associated with cultural traditions, art and folklore of many nations.
The apple is a universal symbol
Oddly enough, such a simple fruit - an apple - has a lot of meanings and culture. different countries. For some nations, it means spring rebirth and joyful love, while for others it means discord and forbidden fruit. The dual nature of love between and a man is also symbolized by this stone fruit.
An example is the apple of the ancient Roman goddess Ceres, which plunges people into a passionate frenzy. He is opposed by another symbol - a romantic and tender "apple tree".
IN folklore an apple means hope for a very successful marriage and strong family bonds. Many winged "apple" expressions have entered the cultural fund of the Russian language.
The apple is the forbidden fruit
There is a well-known saying that the forbidden fruit is always sweet. According to the Bible, the apple gave people knowledge, the ability to distinguish between good and evil. But it also led the first people on earth to fall into sin.
Eve not only dared to pick and taste this fruit, but also to pass it on to Adam. The consequence was terrible - exile to earth from paradise. Nevertheless, the apple also represents heavenly bliss. Many researchers believe that the name of the legendary island of Avalon, translated from the Welsh (Welsh, Cymric) language, means "apple".
Apple is a symbol of eternal youth
The apple is often mentioned in legends and myths. various peoples as a symbol of unfading and beauty.
Many Russian folk tales also tell about the ability of such fruits to return and preserve youth.
The ancient Greek hero Hercules obtained these magical fruits from the nymph sisters of the Hesperides, which promised their owner eternal youth. In addition, the Scandinavian god Loki also did not want to. And to prevent this process, he simply stole rejuvenating apples.
"Apple" symbolism in the culture of the Slavs
The apple symbolized not only health, a happy marriage, fertility and prosperity, but also the secret of life and death. It was believed that this particular fruit helps to keep the image of the departed in the memory of the living. In this regard, the ancient Slavs always brought an apple to their ancestors.
The stone fruit was not spared and wedding celebrations. They used not only the fruit itself, but also the branches of the apple tree. To accept an apple as a gift meant consent to. Branches of an apple tree often decorated a wedding festive table.
"Apple"- the expression is mysterious, poetic, intriguing and ambiguous. In any case, there is no consensus on the interpretation of its meaning. It turns out that it is possible various interpretations.
What is this fruit?
There is no consensus on this. On the one hand, in "love" we are talking about an apple. On the other hand, there is a rather well-known version, according to which “love” was called ... tomatoes. And she is not without reason. Tomatoes or tomatoes were brought to Europe in the 16th century from the Americas. And they were really called apples, or rather, “Pomi del Peru”, or the Peruvian apple - this is how the Spaniards dubbed them for their outward resemblance to the fruits known to them.
At first they were considered an ornamental plant, the fruits of which are inedible, but at 18 Europeans already ate them with pleasure. In the UK, these fruits were known as "love apples", this was due to the fact that the Italian expression pomo d "oro, which translated as" Golden Apple", was misunderstood as pomo d" amore and translated as "love apple".
John Gerard, an Englishman, a connoisseur of medicinal plants, was one of those who first decided to grow tomatoes in Europe.
And yet an apple!
But still, the apple itself is also quite consistent with the concept of "apple of love." There are many evidences for this.
The rounded fruit symbolized unity and integrity. The red color of its skin in many nations was associated with love and passion. Apple-tree flowers - pinkish-white and delicate, were used for decorations of the bride and groom as a symbol of the quickly departing and innocence.
In ancient Greece, an apple was special treatment. The mention of this fruit is now and then found in myths. It was the apple with the inscription "Most Beautiful" that became the root cause of the Trojan War - hence famous expression"". Gaia presented Hera with an apple on the day of her marriage to Zeus, and Hercules also had to bring the apples of the Hesperides.
In rites and rituals, the apple also played not last role. Food was prepared from it at celebrations in honor of the goddess Artemis - the eternal. Newlyweds in Athens, before lying down on the marriage bed, shared an apple among themselves. The proposed apple was perceived as a sign of love.
In the Middle Ages, the magical power of apples was not forgotten. An apple, cut across and having a five-pointed cut of the core, was associated by alchemists with the five main elements. In medieval engravings depicting the Fall, it is the apple that Eve holds out to Adam.
Accordingly, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, from which this fruit was plucked, was depicted as an apple tree.
The fruit has been used to make love and love potions, and modern sorcerers, following tradition, also use the apple in their love rituals.
The catchphrase is "the apple of discord" a common phraseological unit not only in colloquial speech, but it can often be found in classical foreign and domestic literature. Many people know the meaning of this expression, but not many know the origin of this idiom. In this article we will try to intelligibly explain the origin this idiom.
The history of the phrase "apple of discord" is very curious and interesting.
This phraseological unit was brought into the Russian language from ancient Greek myths.Legend has it that once the goddess of discord named Eridu was not invited to the wedding of two famous in ancient greece people, Thetis and Peleus. Much later, these newlyweds will become the parents of the legendary Achilles. Angry, Eris throws a golden apple on which is inscribed "the most beautiful." Naturally, the most beautiful women Athena, Hera and Aphrodite. A serious quarrel broke out because all three goddesses wanted to become the owners of such a treasure. The three ladies decided to call young Paris, who was the son of the venerable king Priapus, as a judge.
Paris, without hesitation, gives the apple to the beautiful Aphrodite, although other goddesses at that time offered him all sorts of benefits. However, Aphrodite helped Paris steal beautiful girl Helen, who was the wife of Menelaus. Because of this illegal act, the Trojan War broke out much later.
Historians attribute the expression "apple of discord" to the Roman scientist Justin, who used it to denote a certain subject of dispute. This man lived in the 2nd century AD.
IN ancient mythology The Roman Empire can also see the designation of this event.
Based on all of the above, the expression "apple of discord" can mean the subject of a dispute or the cause of enmity. Therefore, in no case let's bring "apples of discord" into your family and disputes and enmity will never arise between you.
Let's take a closer look idiom "apple of discord" .
This is the story of how small apple led to the big war.
Let's consider meaning, origin and sources of phraseology, as well as examples from the works of writers.
The meaning of phraseology
Apple of discord- the cause of the dispute, enmity
Synonyms: the root cause of the conflict, the subject of the dispute
IN foreign languages there are direct analogues of the phraseological unit "apple of discord":
- apple of discord (english)
- Apfel des Paris, Erisapfel (German)
- la pomme de discorde (French)
The apple of discord: the origin of phraseology
In short, we are talking about the masterful provocation of the goddess of discord, Eris, who threw a golden apple with the inscription "Most Beautiful" on the banquet table. It is strange that there were only three applicants for this apple, but it was the elite of Olympus: the goddesses Athena, Hera and Aphrodite. End result: geopolitical catastrophe, Trojan War.
Perhaps everything would have turned out differently if all the gods and goddesses, without exception, Eris, were invited to the wedding feast of the mortal Peleus and the goddess Thetis on Mount Pelion. It is worth recognizing that even now we often “forget” to invite some aunt with a bad temper to a family celebration.
Further, the dispute of the three goddesses could have remained a minor misunderstanding if Zeus had taken responsibility for determining the most beautiful (for example, he would have cast lots and be done with it). But he can be understood, because one of the contenders was his wife, the goddess Hera.
But that's why he decided to delegate this difficult task to Paris, who at that time was grazing a herd on Mount Ida in the vicinity of Troy and did not know that he was the son of King Priam of Troy and his wife Hecuba (the one about whom Shakespeare's Hamlet said: "What is Hecuba to him, what is he Hecuba?")? Strange decision. But the supreme deity knows better.
modest social status and the location of Paris was precisely associated with the expected disastrous consequences for Troy of the visit of three goddesses to him, accompanied by the god Hermes and the ill-fated apple.
Before the birth of Paris, Hecuba had a terrible dream that she gave birth to a torch, from which Troy burned down. The interpreters of dreams explained him in such a way that this son would prepare the death of Troy and the entire kingdom of Priam. Therefore, King Priam ordered one of his shepherds to take the newborn to the top of Ida and leave it there. But the bear nursed the child, and later the shepherd took the boy to him.
Aphrodite's victory at the so-called Judgment of Paris was ensured by two things:
- She promised the young man Paris happiness in love - the possession of the most beautiful of mortal women, Elena. Apparently, for the young man, this was more inspiring than the power and glory promised by Hera and Athena.
- She took care to make a special impression on Paris: she put on a shiny, flowery clothes, soaked in the incense of spring flowers; she styled her hair and decorated it with flowers and gold. Whereas her rivals considered such preparations unnecessary.
Later, Paris accidentally entered the competition held by Priam in memory of him and won them. And sister Cassandra (soothsayer) recognized her brother Paris, to great joy parents and to the grief of Cassandra (she knew well how it would all end, but as always no one listened to her).
With the help of Aphrodite, Paris abducted beautiful Elena, the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus, which led to Trojan War and the death of Paris and almost the entire family of Priam.
Sources
The story of the apple of discord is described in the works of Homer, Stasin, Lycophron, Gigin.
The first to use the expression "apple of discord" in modern sense, became the Roman historian Justin in the 2nd century AD.
Examples from the works of writers
“One might think that you brought a bone of contention in your pocket, my lord, or that you are a brand born of Alfea, which she put in a barrel of powder, for you quarreled among themselves the king, prince and duke, and also many courtiers, before that blessed days without even knowing you existed. (V. Scott, "The Adventures of Nigel")
For example, I know a case when a five-pound banknote served as a bone of contention, and then completely destroyed a half-century attachment between two brothers (W. Thackeray, Vanity Fair)
