The meaning and origin of the expression Procrustean bed. Procrustean bed: the meaning of phraseology, its origin

Phrasiologism has its origin in the ancient Greek myth about the criminal Procrustes (other names are Damast, Polypemon), who robbed on the way from the ancient Greek city of Megara, located 40 kilometers northwest of Athens, to these same Athens. Procrustes caught travelers, laid them in a certain shape (bed), and if the bed was short for the unfortunate, the monster cut off his legs, if it was long, he pulled it out to the desired size.

In a more accurate presentation of the myth (if you delve into Wikipedia), it is indicated that the sadist Procrustes had two beds: large and small. In the first he put short prisoners, in the second - tall ones. That is, no one had a chance to escape the torment.

Procrustes seems to have been the son of Poseidon, that is, the brother of the ancient Greek hero Theseus, who killed him. Although on the other hand the origin of Theseus is dark

“The king of Athens, Aegeus, from the clan of Erechtheus, married twice, but had no children from any wife. He had already begun to turn gray, and he had to meet a lonely and joyless old age. And so he went to Delphi to ask the oracle about how to get him a son and heir to the throne? The oracle gave Aegeus a dark answer, which he could not explain to himself; therefore, from Delphi, he went by a direct road to Troezeny, to King Pittheus, glorious in his wisdom: he harbored the hope that Pittheus would clarify to him the divination of the oracle.

Having delved into the words of the foreshadowing, Pittheus saw that the Athenian king was destined to have a son who, by his valiant deeds, would gain great glory among people. In order to make his own family part of this glory, Pittheus married his daughter Ephra to the Athenian king, but when Ephra gave birth to a son, Pittheus spread the rumor that the father of the born baby was Poseidon, the god of the sea. The baby was named Theseus. Aegeus, shortly after the marriage with Ephra, left Troezeny and again retired to Athens: he was afraid that his closest relatives, the fifty sons of Pallas, would not seize his power

Leaving Trozens, Aegeus buried a sword and a pair of sandals in the ground under a heavy stone block and ordered Ephra: when their son grows up and reaches such strength that he will be able to move a block of stones from their place - let her then make him get the sword buried in the ground and sandals and with these signs he will send him to Athens. Until then, Theseus was supposed to know nothing about his origin.

Feat of Theseus

“When Theseus was sixteen years old, his mother took him to a stone, on which he was to test his strength. Without difficulty, the young man lifted a heavy block and pulled out a sword and sandals from under it. Then Ephra revealed to her son who his father was, and ordered to go to him in Athens. A strong and courageous young man immediately began to equip himself for the journey.

Mother and grandfather asked Theseus to go to Athens by sea, and not by land: the sea route was safer, and many monstrous giants lived along the dry route to Athens, many wild animals roamed. In the old days, Hercules cleansed the earth of unclean monsters, but Hercules is in captivity, in Lydia, and monsters and villains freely committed all sorts of atrocities. Listening to the speeches of his mother and grandfather, young Theseus decided to take on the service to which, before him, Hercules devoted himself.

... Behind Eleusis, Theseus met with the fierce Damast. He had a bed on which travelers who got into his house were supposed to lie down: if the bed was short for them, Damast chopped off their legs; if the bed was long, he beat and stretched out the traveler's legs until the bed was sufficient for him. Therefore, Damast was also called Procrustes - a stretcher. Theseus forced him to lie down on a terrible bed, and since the gigantic body of Damast was longer than the bed, the hero chopped off his legs, and the villain ended his life in terrible torment.

The myth of Procrustes is not original: there is a legend in the Babylonian Talmud that the inhabitants of Sodom had a special bed for travelers. The guest was placed in it and his legs were chopped off if they were longer than the bed, and they tried to stretch the limbs if they were shorter. For such atrocities, God destroyed the city of Sodom along with the inhabitants

The scheme under which the phenomena of life are forcibly adjusted.

If a person or phenomenon is artificially adjusted to a predetermined measure and thereby broken, distorted its essence, they say about such a situation: “Procrustean bed”.

For example, one might say "the Procrustean bed of theory." This means that life is more diverse and more complex than theories that try to explain it and drive life into a rigid framework.

The expression "Procrustean bed" owes its appearance to a rather terrible character in ancient Greek mythology.

The robber Procrustes (stretching) subjected the travelers he caught to terrible torture. He laid them on the couch and saw if it fit them in length.

If a person turned out to be shorter, then Procrustes pulled him out, twisting his limbs out of the joints, if longer, he chopped off his legs.

The literature of the forties... not knowing any freedoms, languishing hourly on the Procrustean bed of all sorts of shortenings, it did not renounce its ideals, did not betray them.

PROCRUSTEAN BED

The scheme under which the phenomena of life are forcibly adjusted.

Answer from the working element[guru]
In Greek mythology, there was such a character Procrustes. who measured everyone by his bed, and whoever was longer, cut off his legs.

Answer from Mishka Shengelia[newbie]
PROCRUST'S BED, in Greek mythology, the bed on which the giant robber Procrustes forcibly laid travelers: he chopped off those parts of the body that did not fit in the tall ones, stretched the bodies in the small ones (hence the name Procrustes - "stretching").
Procrustes-Polypemon himself had to lie on this bed: the hero of ancient Greek myths, Theseus, having defeated Procrustes, acted with him in the same way as he did with his captives ...
For the first time, the story of Procrustes is found in the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (I century BC).
In a figurative sense - an artificial measure that does not correspond to the essence of the phenomenon.

Answer from Anna Sirik[newbie]
This phraseological unit is of ancient Greek origin. There was a robber there, whose name was Procrustes. And he had a bed that you were squeezing, then stretching. The robber was a sadist and I put my aunts on this bed. If the growth of the unfortunate was less than the bed, then he was stretched along the length, while the person was played alive. And if it was hotter then they cut off those parts of the body that stuck out. No one could defeat the Procrustes, only Hercules put him on this bed and cut off his head. Now this phraseological unit is used as an example of what does not fit into a generally pleasant framework. Also Procrustes, the character of the myths of ancient Greece, the robber is also known under the name of home or Polybius, who lay in wait for Travelers on the road between Megara and Athens, he will deceitfully ban his house of travelers, then he put them on his bed and those to whom it was shortly cut off their legs and who were big legs I stretch out longer than this bed

Answer from Ekaterina Vladimirova[newbie]
Crap

Answer from Ludmila Shurchkova[newbie]
In Greek mythology, there was such a character Procrustes. who measured everyone by his bed, and whoever was longer, cut off his legs.

Answer from Yergey Zhilenko[newbie]

Procrustes (dr. - Greek Προκρούστης "stretching") - a character in the myths of Ancient Greece, a robber (also known as Damast or Polypemon), who lay in wait for travelers on the road between Megara and Athens. He tricked travelers into his house. Then he laid them on his bed, and for those for whom it was short, he chopped off the legs, and for those who were large, he extended his legs - along the length of this bed.

Answer from Olga xarhenko[newbie]
I

Answer from Kostya Ostankin[newbie]

Answer from Yuliya Omasheva[newbie]
The expression "Procrustean bed" has become winged and means the desire to fit something under a rigid framework or artificial measure, sometimes sacrificing something significant for this. It is one of the types of logical errors
Procrust (dr. - Greek ??????????? "stretching") - a character in the myths of Ancient Greece, a robber (also known as Damast or Polypemon), who lay in wait for travelers on the road between Megara and Athens. He tricked travelers into his house. Then he laid them on his bed, and for those for whom it was short, he chopped off the legs, and for those who were large, he extended his legs - along the length of this bed.

Answer from Kirill Popov[newbie]
In Greek mythology, there was such a character Procrustes. He measured everyone according to his bed, whoever was larger than that bed he bit off his head and legs, and whoever was less stretched him from which he died.

Answer from Yergey Borisovich[active]
The expression "Procrustean bed" has become winged and means the desire to fit something under a rigid framework or artificial measure, sometimes sacrificing something significant for this. It is one of the types of logical errors
Procrust (dr. - Greek ??????????? "stretching") - a character in the myths of Ancient Greece, a robber (also known as Damast or Polypemon), who lay in wait for travelers on the road between Megara and Athens. He tricked travelers into his house. Then he laid them on his bed, and for those for whom it was short, he chopped off the legs, and for those who were large, he extended his legs - along the length of this bed.

Answer from Proslav Parfilov[newbie]
the man robber Procrustes lured the guests and put them on the bed;

Answer from Guzel Rakhmatullina[newbie]
Procrustean bed is a cruel framework. There used to be such a ruler Procrutus. He lured travelers to his home. There were two beds prepared - one large, the other not very much. Procrustes laid tall people on a small bed, and chopped off the limbs that did not fit. And small people Procrustes laid on a large bed and stretched.

Answer from Oksana teslenko[newbie]
This phraseological unit is of ancient Greek origin. There was a robber there, whose name was Procrustes. And he had a bed that shrunk and stretched. The robber was a sadist and laid his victims on this bed. If the growth of the unfortunate was less than the bed, then he was stretched along the length, while tearing the person alive. And if the victim was larger, then those parts of the body that were sticking out were cut off from her. No one could defeat Procrustes and only Hercules put him on this bed and cut off his head. Now this phraseological unit is used as an example of what does not fit into the generally accepted framework.

Answer from Jovetlana Varawka[newbie]
The Procrustean bed is:
From ancient Greek myths. Procrustes (Greek for "stretching") is the nickname of a robber named Polypemon. He lived by the road and tricked travelers into his house. Then he laid them on his bed, and for those for whom it was short, he chopped off the legs, and for those who were large, he extended his legs - along the length of this bed.
Procrustes-Polypemon himself had to lie down on this bed: the hero of ancient Greek myths, Theseus, having defeated Procrustes, acted with him in the same way as he did with his captives ...
For the first time, the story of Procrustes is found in the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (I century BC).
Allegorically: an artificial measure, a formal template, under which real life, creativity, ideas, etc. are forcibly adjusted.

And again the phraseological unit that came to us from the myths of ancient Greece .

Procrustean bed - this is probably the most famous, although by no means the most comfortable bed in the world.

Let's look at the meaning, origin and sources of phraseology, as well as examples from the works of writers.

The meaning of phraseology

Procrustean bed- the measure under which they try to fit any thing

Synonyms: limited framework, yardstick, strict requirements

In foreign languages ​​there are direct analogues of the phraseologism "Procrustean bed":

• Procrustean bed (English)
• Prokrustesbett (German)
• lit de Procruste (French)

Procrustean bed: the origin of phraseology

Procrustes was a robber who tricked travelers into his house on the road between Megara and Athens. Then he laid them on his bed and for those for whom it was large, he stretched out his legs, attaching weights to them, and for those who were short, he cut off the legs along the length of this bed.

But once Procrustes was not lucky to meet young Theseus on the road, who was heading from Troezen to Athens to visit his father King Aegeus. Theseus preferred to lay Procrustes on his bed himself, and since it turned out to be not enough for him, the hero killed the robber in the same way as he himself did with others.

By the way, it was something like Theseus's code of honor: on the way to Athens, he cleared the area from five famous robbers and the Krommion pig, punishing them in the way they dealt with their victims.

Interestingly, Theseus was the brother of Procrustes, their father was the god of the seas Poseidon (and the second, earthly father of Theseus was the king of Athens, Aegeus). But they probably didn't know. In addition, the stormy Poseidon was extremely prolific, the list of his children on Wikipedia has more than 140 characters, including two horses and one ram (Poseidon sometimes appeared to his wives and lovers in unexpected guises, up to a raven). So I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that along the way, Theseus killed a few more of his brothers in Poseidon, who turned onto a bad path.

Sources

There is evidence that for the first time the story of Procrustes is found in the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (I century BC) in the "Historical Library":

“After that, Theseus dealt with Procrustes, who lived in Corydallus in Attica and forced travelers passing by to lie down on a certain bed, after which he cut off the protruding parts of those whose bodies turned out to be longer, and stretched those whose bodies turned out to be shorter (προκρούω) legs, which is why he was nicknamed Procrustes (stretcher).

Examples from the works of writers

Such were the robbers of antiquity, all those Diomedes, Corinetes, Sinns, Skirones, Procrustes, and it took the demigods to do over them what is so erroneously called justice. Their descendants, equal to them in courage, will remain masters on the mainland and islands of Greece until Hercules and Theseus reappear on earth. (W. Scott, "Count Robert of Paris")

The count's friends, passing by my couch, liked to make fun of her miserable appearance. They called it the Procrustean bed. (A.I. Kuprin, "Alien Bread")

But no, he wrote and explained, we will never change our title of socialist-revolutionaries, we will never accept principled evolutionism, we will never squeeze ourselves into the Procrustean bed of legalism at all costs, we will never renounce the sacred right of every people to revolution! (A.I. Solzhenitsyn, The Red Wheel)

So, the image of the Procrustean bed is very clear and continues to be popular in the fight against formalism and egalitarianism. However, modern Procrustes, who are inclined to apply a single "Procrustean bed" to the variety of life phenomena for some reason not called robbers. But in vain.

The idiom “Procrustean bed”, as you might guess from the name, came to us from ancient times, when the bed was called a bed, more precisely, from Ancient Greece, the myths of which gave linguists a lot of phraseological units. This one eventually received several meanings, scientists even found out that the name of the owner was preserved by the Hellenes in only one of the options.

Procrustean bed - the meaning of phraseology

As a phraseological unit, the Procrustean bed is a symbol of a certain measure, a framework into which they forcibly try to shove someone or something, for the sake of accepted standards. Over time, this phraseological unit has acquired several meanings:

1. Conditions that limit freedom.
2. Moments that complicate the necessary actions.
3. A logical error that distorts an important meaning.
4. A truncated truth presented for someone's benefit.

An uncomfortable bed is also often called a Procrustes bed, but this is the simplest and most common option. In the following centuries, many writers resorted to this aphorism in numerous pamphlets and novels. The Procrustean bed is an example of Saltykov-Shchedrin's use; he called the literature of his time languishing on the Procrustean bed of mocking censorship abbreviations.

Procrustean bed - what is it?

Judging by Greek mythology, the Procrustean bed is a resting place on which the robber Procrustes laid travelers and subjected them to sophisticated torture. He stretched the small ones, and shortened the tall ones with a sword, cutting off the limbs. There is a version that the sadist had two such beds:

1. To stretch the body, as if on a rack.
2. With secure attachment to chop off arms and legs.

Who is Procrustes?

The stories about who Procrustes is vary somewhat. It is known from myths that he was the son of the god Poseidon, who chose a house near the road from Troezen to Athens as his place of residence. According to other sources, Procrustes' lair was located in Attica, on the way between Athens and Megara. Because of his cruelty, Procrustes was called one of the most dangerous robbers in Greece. Various sources mention several names of this sadist:

1. Polypemon (one who causes much suffering).
2. Damast (overcoming).
3. Procoptus (truncator).

There is a version that Procrustes had a son, Sinis, who became a parent: he attacked travelers and tore them to pieces, tying them to the tops of trees. Some researchers argue that Sinis is not the son of a famous robber, but himself, only the Greeks for some reason came up with a different name for the sadist and an unusual place of torture, which was called the “Procrustes bed”. In support of the theory - that Sinis was killed by the same hero as Procrustes, this is confirmed by various sources.

Procrustean bed - myth

From the legends it is difficult to understand why the villain Procrustes came up with such "entertainment" with the reception of guests, but the mechanism was created by the original. He met travelers, invited them to the house to rest and spend the night, but instead of a comfortable bed, they ended up in hell. The trestle bed of Procrustes was a place for torture, the body of the prisoner was fixed with reliable clamps. If the victim was short, the robber stretched him, as if on a rack. If the traveler came tall, then Procrustes cut off his arms and legs with a sword, and in the end - his head. In such a sadistic way, the owner tried to fit the prisoner under the bed.

Who killed Procrustes?

Myths say that the king who defeated Procrustes was named Theseus - the ruler of Athens, one of the great heroes of Greece. This allegedly happened near the Kefis River, when the hero was putting things in order in Attica, destroying monsters and villains. According to one version, Theseus met the robber by chance, and he himself almost fell into his trap. According to another version, he purposefully searched for the criminal in order to stop his atrocities, which Procrustes did not know about. Based on these hypotheses, the descriptions of the feat of Theseus also differ:

1. The king fell into a trap, but managed to cut the fastenings with an invincible sword, with which he had once killed the Minotaur. Then he pushed Procruste on the couch and cut off his head.
2. Theseus knew about the cunning device, managed to push the owner onto the couch. And when the clamps snapped into place, he cut off the head, which did not fit on the bed. This story gave rise to another phraseological unit: "shorten by the head."