The popular expression is Procrustean bed. The meaning of the phraseological unit Procrustean bed. Who is Procrustes

The hero Theseus is the son of King Aegeus. - Procrustean bed. - Medea wants to poison Theseus. - Ariadne's thread in the labyrinth of the Minotaur. - Ariadne, abandoned by Theseus. - Black Sails: the myth about the name of the Aegean Sea. - Amazonomachy. - Theseus and Pirithous in the kingdom of shadows. - Death of Theseus.

Hero Theseus - son of King Aegeus

The main character of almost all heroic Athenian myths is Theseus. The Athenians wanted to embody in Theseus, just as the Dorians did with Hercules, all the exploits and great deeds of the Athenian mythological cycle. But the Athenian hero Theseus never enjoyed such fame among all the Greeks as Hercules, although to give glory and splendor to the name of Theseus, feats were attributed to him that were an exact copy of s.

Theseus is the son of the Athenian king Aegeus and Ephra, a descendant of. Theseus was born near Trezena, and he was raised by his grandfather, the wise Pittheus. taught Theseus horse riding, shooting and various gymnastic exercises.

Aegeus, going to Athens, put his sword and sandals under a large and heavy stone and told his wife to send Theseus to him only when he moved this stone and found the sword and sandals.

Sixteen-year-old Theseus picked up the stone, armed himself with a sword, put on sandals and went to Athens to seek his father and glory.

An antique bas-relief located in the Campanian Museum depicts the young hero Theseus, surrounded by his family, lifting a stone.

Approaching Athens, Theseus was ridiculed by a crowd of young Athenians for his long clothes, which were considered a sign of effeminacy among the ancient Athenians. The hero Theseus, who was called the red girl, decided not to show himself to Father Aegeus before he covered his name with glory.

PROCRUSTEAN BED

All the surrounding areas of Athens in that mythical era were inhabited by robbers who robbed and killed passers-by and terrified the country with their atrocities.

First of all, Theseus went to Epidaurus, where the villain Periphetus was rampant. Periphetus killed all passers-by with a copper club. The hero Theseus killed Periphetus and took his club for himself.

Then Theseus went to the Isthmus of Corinth and killed another robber there, Sinis. The robber Sinis had the habit of tying all the travelers who fell into his hands by the arms and legs to the tops of two trees. Theseus subjected Sinis to the same fate. Several antique vases and bas-reliefs depict this heroic feat. Theseus also established the Isthmian Games in honor of the god (Neptune). Returning from the Isthmus of Corinth, near Eleusis, Theseus killed the terrible Crommion pig Faye, who was devouring people.

the villain Procrustes possessed no less original mania. Procrustes apparently wanted all people in the world to be the same height as him. Procrustes had a bed on which he laid his prisoners. If it turned out that Procrustes’ captives did not fit on Procrustes’ bed, then he cut off their heads or legs. On the contrary, if Procrustean bed turned out to be too long, the robber Procrustes pulled the legs of his captives by force until he tore them off.

Having killed Procrustes, Theseus went to fight with Sciron, who threw the travelers he had robbed from the top of a cliff onto the sandy shore of the sea. There the robber Sciron kept turtles, which he fattened with human meat. Theseus gave Skiron over to be eaten by the turtles in the same way.

Thus, retribution, that primitive expression of justice among the ancient Greeks, plays a prominent role in all the myths about the exploits of Theseus. The hero Theseus is in the myths of ancient Greece, like Hercules, a champion of truth, a guardian of the law, a patron of the oppressed and a formidable opponent of all enemies of humanity.

Having cleared Attica of villains, Theseus decided that he could now appear before his father Aegeus, and went to Athens.

Medea wants to poison Theseus

The king of Athens, Aegeus, was then completely dependent on the sorceress Medea, with whom Aegeus married.

Medea feared the influence of her hero-son on Aegeus. Seeing that Aegeus did not recognize Theseus, Medea persuaded the king to give the stranger a cup of poisoned wine during the feast.

Fortunately for Theseus, the hero took out his sword to cut the meat, and Father Aegeus, recognizing him by the sword, snatched the goblet from Theseus, which the hero was about to bring to his lips. The cruel Medea was forced to flee from Athens.

Many ancient bas-reliefs depict the scene of this feast. Aegeus snatches the cup from Theseus, and Medea stands in the distance, waiting for the effect of the drink she has poisoned.

Ariadne's Thread in the Minotaur's Labyrinth

Theseus helped Father Aegeus get rid of his nephews who were challenging him for the Athenian throne. Theseus then went to look for the wild Marathon bull that was ravaging the country. Theseus brought the Marathon bull alive to Athens and sacrificed it to Apollo. This marathon bull, caught by Theseus, was nothing more than one caught at one time by Hercules, and then released by him.

Returning to Athens, Theseus was struck by the sadness that dominated there. Theseus was answered to his questions that the time had come to send tribute to King Minos on the island of Crete.

Several years ago, Minos accused Aegeus of killing his son, and begged his father to punish the entire country of Aegeus. The Lord of the Gods sent a plague on her. The oracle asked by the Athenians said that the plague would end only when they promised to annually send seven girls and seven boys to the island of Crete to be devoured by the monster Minotaur, the son of Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, and a bull. Now the time has come to send this tribute for the third time.

Theseus volunteered to go among the young men and kill the monster Minotaur. It was not easy to fulfill this promise, because the Minotaur had extraordinary power. In addition, King Minos, not wanting to show him off, kept the Minotaur in a cage built by the inventor Daedalus. Any mortal who found himself in the labyrinth of the Minotaur could no longer get out of it, so confusing were all the entrances and exits there.

Theseus, aware of the danger of the enterprise, went before leaving for advice from the oracle of Apollo, who in turn advised Theseus to resort to the protection of the goddess.

Aphrodite inspired Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, to love the beautiful hero. Ariadne gave Theseus a ball of thread. End Ariadne's threads remained in her hands so that Theseus could then use this guiding thread to find a way out of the labyrinth. Theseus managed, thanks to his dexterity, to kill the terrible Minotaur and, thanks to Ariadne's thread, to get out of the labyrinth.

In gratitude for his deliverance, Theseus built a temple to the gods in Troezen.

According to many scientists - researchers of mythology, the victory of Theseus over the Minotaur is, as it were, a symbol of the fact that the ancient Greek religion, becoming more and more soft and humane, began to strive for the destruction of human victims.

Ancient art quite often depicted the victory of Theseus over the Minotaur. Of the newest artists, Antonio Canova sculpted two sculptural groups on this mythological theme, which are in the museum in Vienna.

Ariadne abandoned by Theseus

When Theseus left the island of Crete, Ariadne, daughter of Minos, followed him. But Theseus, probably not wanting to incur the displeasure of the Athenians by marrying a foreigner, left Ariadne on the island of Naxos, where the god Dionysus saw him.

Such treachery of the hero of the myths of ancient Greece in relation to the girl who saved his life is a very unclear and unexplained act in mythology.

Some myths say that Theseus did this in obedience to orders, while others say that Dionysus himself asked Theseus not to take Ariadne, whom he had chosen as his wife, far away.

The myth of Ariadne, abandoned by Theseus, served as a theme for many works of ancient art. In Herculaneum they found a picturesque image on the wall representing Ariadne on the shore; Theseus's ship moves away in the distance, and the god Eros, standing next to Ariadne, sheds tears with her.

When at the beginning of the 18th century the fashion spread to paint portraits of modern people, giving them the attributes and poses of heroes of ancient mythology and surrounding them with appropriate settings, the French artist Larguilier depicted the modern actress Duclos in the image of Ariadne, but in a dress with hoops and with a huge plume of feathers on her head .

Black Sails: the myth about the name of the Aegean Sea

Theseus's absent-mindedness was the reason for the death of Aegeus: the son promised his father, if he defeated the Minotaur, to replace the black sails of the ship with white ones, but forgot to do this. King Aegeus, seeing the returning ship of Theseus with black sails and believing that his son had died, threw himself from a high tower into the sea, which from then on was called the Aegean.

Amazonomachy

Theseus, having ascended the throne of his father, first took up the organization of his state, and then went with Hercules on a campaign against.

Theseus married the Amazon queen Antiope, with whom he had a son, Hippolytus. But, returning to his homeland, Theseus left the Amazon Antiope to marry Phaedra, Ariadne’s sister.

The angry Amazons decided to take revenge for the insult inflicted by Theseus on their queen, and raided Attica, but were defeated and destroyed. This war with the Amazons (Amazonomachy), which the Athenians considered one of the most important facts in their heroic history, is reproduced in countless monuments of ancient art.

Close ties of friendship connected Theseus with the king of the Lapiths, Pirithous, who invited him, along with other noble Athenians, to his wedding with Hippodamia. During the wedding feast, a famous incident occurred, from which Theseus emerged victorious.

Pirithous helped Theseus kidnap Helen, but her brothers took her sister away from Theseus and gave her as a wife to the Spartan king Menelaus.

Pirithous, in turn, asked Theseus to go with him to Pluto’s dwelling and help him kidnap the goddess Persephone, for whom Pirithous had a strong love. It was not easy to fulfill such a request, but friendship imposes certain responsibilities. Theseus, willy-nilly, had to agree and go down to Hades with Pirithous.

This attempt, however, ended not only sadly, but also shamefully for the friends, because the gods, angry at such insolence, punished Theseus and Pirithous as follows. Arriving in Hades, both friends sat down to rest on the stones; when Theseus and Pirithous wanted to get up, they, despite all their efforts, could not do it. Friends Theseus and Pirithous, by the will of the gods, stuck to the stones on which they were sitting.

And only Hercules, when he came to Hades to get Kerberos (), begged the god Pluto to allow him to free Theseus.

As for the king of the Lapiths, Pirithous, Hercules did not even think about getting him out of such a difficult and awkward situation.

Death of Theseus

Theseus ended his earthly career very sadly: he went to Skyros to visit King Lycomedes, who, jealous of Theseus’ strength and courage, decided to destroy him. King Lycomedes of Skyros pushed Theseus off the cliff, and the glorious hero died.

There were two famous paintings of Theseus in Athens. One of them was written by Parrhasius, and the other by Euphranor. The artist Euphranor said that Theseus Parrhasius ate roses, while his Theseus ate meat.

This apt remark, says the Roman writer Pliny the Elder, very characteristically and correctly determined the direction of the two rival art schools of ancient Greece.

A beautiful antique statue of Theseus has survived to this day.

ZAUMNIK.RU, Egor A. Polikarpov - scientific editing, scientific proofreading, design, selection of illustrations, additions, explanations, translations from ancient Greek and Latin; all rights reserved.

The idiom “Procrustean bed,” as you might guess from the name, came to us from ancient times, when a bed was called a bed, more precisely, from Ancient Greece, whose myths gave linguists many phraseological units. Over time, this name acquired several meanings; scientists even found out that the Hellenes retained the name of the owner in only one of the variants.

Procrustean bed - meaning of phraseology

As a phraseological unit, the Procrustean bed is a symbol of a certain standard, a framework into which they forcefully try to push someone or something, for the sake of accepted standards. Over time, this phraseological unit 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 else's benefit.

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

Procrustean bed - what is it?

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

1. To stretch the bodies as if on a rack.
2. With a secure attachment for cutting off arms and legs.

Who is Procrustes?

Stories about who Procrustes was vary somewhat. From myths it is known 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 route 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 (overpowering).
3. Procoptus (truncator).

There is a version that Procrustes had a son, Sinis, who took after his parent: he attacked travelers and tore them into pieces, tying them to the tops of trees. Some researchers argue that Sinis is not the son of the 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 “Bed of Procrustes.” In support of the theory, various sources confirm that Sinis was killed by the same hero as Procrustes.

Procrustean bed - a myth

It is difficult to understand from the legends why the villain Procrustes came up with such “entertainment” with receiving guests, but the mechanism was created by an original one. I met travelers, invited them to the house to relax and spend the night, but instead of a comfortable bed, they ended up in hell. Procrustes' trestle bed was a place for torture; the prisoner's body was secured with reliable clamps. If the victim was short, the robber stretched him as if on a rack. If a traveler came tall, then Procrustes cut off his arms and legs with a sword, and eventually his head. In this sadistic way, the owner tried to force the prisoner into a 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 supposedly happened near the Cephisus River, when the hero was establishing order in Attica, destroying monsters and villains. According to one version, Theseus met the robber by chance and almost fell into his trap. According to another version, he was looking for a criminal purposefully in order to stop his atrocities, which Procrustes did not know about. Based on these hypotheses, descriptions of Theseus’ feat also differ:

1. The king fell into a trap, but managed to cut the fastenings with the invincible sword with which he had once killed the Minotaur. Then he pushed Procrustes onto the bed and cut off his head.
2. Theseus knew about the cunning device and managed to push the owner onto the trestle bed. 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 a head.”

A Procrustean bed is a kind of framework into which they are trying to insert something by force; a self-selected requirement to which other similar ones are trying to fit; an incorrect measure that they are trying to apply despite everything; an artificially created norm that operates in a voluntaristic manner.

This expression has its roots in the myths of Ancient Greece. In one of them you can read about a bandit element named Procrustes (who also had such names as Polypemon, Damaste). He was engaged in real robbery, and this was not enough for him, and he invented for himself " interesting"entertainment. He went about his vile business on the road, about forty kilometers from Athens, which led to the city of Megara. This scoundrel made a special torture machine into which he put the caught travelers. If the size of the bed was too large for the victim, then he pulled her out to the required size, and if it was not enough, he cut off the poor fellow’s legs.

If we look at Wikipedia, we can read a more detailed description of this myth there. It turns out that this pervert and murderer had two beds, one small and the other large. He placed tall travelers in the first, and short people in the second. Therefore, not a single person had any chance to survive. According to rumors, Procrustes was a close relative of Poseidon, and accordingly was the brother of the well-known Theseus, who actually finished him off. Let’s not delve into these mythical jungles; much is unclear there and is the topic of a separate article.

Read also: the meaning of the expression Sisyphean labor

"The Athenian king Aegeus was married twice, but neither of them brought him a child. He became weak and had to face his old age alone. In his declining years, he decided to make a long journey to the Delphic Oracle to find out how to get him a son. He, as usual, became dark and answered in a completely incomprehensible way. Therefore, reluctantly, Aegeus went to the city of Trezena, where lived a man known for his wisdom and intelligence far beyond the borders of Greece. He cherished the hope that he would interpret the words of the oracle to him.

Having conveyed the foreshadowing verbatim, Pittheus was able to understand the hidden meaning, which meant that the elderly king from Athens was destined to have a son who, with his amazing exploits and good deeds, would earn himself great fame and glory. To cling to this glory, Pittheus marries his beautiful daughter Ephra to King Aegeus, who gave birth to a son from him. So that part of the glory would touch the family of Pittheus, he began to spread rumors everywhere that the father of the born son was not the Athenian king at all, but the god of the sea himself - Poseidon. The baby was given a name - Theseus. After his wedding, King Aegeus decided to return to his palace in Athens, so he left the hospitable city of Trezna, because he feared for his crown, because 50 sons of Pallant remained in Athens, who were eager to take power from him.

When leaving, Aegeus did not forget about his son; he decided to give him an unusual gift. Finding a large rock near the city, he buried two sandals and a sword under it. And after that he told his wife that when Theseus became strong enough to move this huge rock and get the sword and sandals hidden there, then let her send him to Athens. Until this day, Theseus was forbidden to talk about his origin".

Feat of Theseus

"Theseus grew up all these years like an ordinary boy until he turned 16 years old. The mother, seeing how strong her son had grown up, went to her to the block under which the sword and sandals were securely hidden so that he could test his strength. The guy showed his best side, lifting the heavy rock without any tension and then taking out sandals and a sword from under it. After this, Efra told him about his origin, told him who his real father was and sent him to Athens. Inspired by stories about great battles and mighty warriors, this young man began to get ready for the journey.

Athens could be reached in two ways, by land and by sea. Since traveling by sea was much safer, his mother insisted on this particular route, because all along the road to Athens he could meet huge monsters, which so inopportunely began to multiply intensively. Previously, Hercules kept an eye on the number of these dangerous creatures, but since he was now in captivity, there was no one to monitor their population and they committed the most heinous crimes. After listening to his grandfather and mother, Theseus became thoughtful and decided to play the role that Hercules had previously played.

Having passed the city of Eleusis, Theseus came across the evil robber Damastus. This lawless man had a special bed on which travelers passing by were obliged to lie down. If the bed was too big for them, he beat them and at the same time stretched their legs, but in short, he simply cut off their legs. This man also had another name, he was called Procrustes, which means puller. However, with Theseus everything turned out exactly the opposite. He forced Procrustes himself to lie down in this bed, and since this robber was of great stature, he cut off his legs and he died from loss of blood, experiencing extreme pain."

The myth about Procrustes and his bed is not original. For example, in the Talmud from Babylon there is an interesting legend that the inhabitants of the city of Sodom had a special bed for travelers. When a traveler was forcibly tied to it and if he was longer than the bed, then his limbs were cut off, and if he was shorter, then his legs were stretched out. It was for these disgusting acts that this city was wiped off the face of the earth along with all its inhabitants.

Bed of Procrustes video

Philologist, candidate of philological sciences, poet, member of the Union of Writers of Russia.
Publication date: 10/07/2018

Set expressions help to express thoughts, feelings, and attitudes to what is happening most clearly, quickly and beautifully. The implied figurative meaning does not always lie on the surface, and sometimes, without having an idea about the origin of the expression, it is impossible to even assume its correct meaning. This category includes the phrase "Procrustean bed".

At first glance, it may seem that the phrase describes someone’s place to sleep, however, it, as befits all phraseological units, hides a figurative meaning. Let’s try to figure out what subtext the stable expression carries...

The meaning of phraseology

“Procrustean bed” means certain rigid frameworks into which something or someone is forcibly adjusted; we can talk about appearance, behavior, and adherence to traditions. In modern speech, a stable expression is synonymous with a generally accepted pattern, rule, standard, something that is followed and adjusted to, despite common sense.

This often happens in relationships between parents and children, for example, when, passionate about the humanities or creative sciences, a child’s father and mother, against his will, are sent to study in a class with a physics and mathematics focus only because it is necessary in their opinion, because “ grandfather was an engineer, father was an engineer and you will be an engineer.”

At this moment, parents are thinking about continuing family traditions; no one thinks that for him studying technical sciences is a “Procrustean bed”, a pre-existing template that he does not want to follow.

The same phraseological unit can be found in the description of a person’s work process, for example, a person working according to strict job descriptions and standards, hungry for creativity in his work, can say that he is in a Procrustean bed, implying a lack of freedom of action in their work, limited by standards.

The phraseological unit is borrowed from ancient Greek mythology. It is worth noting that it is also used in foreign languages: in English the expression sounds “Procrustean bed”, in French “lit de Procruste”, in German “Prokrustesbett”. Each phrase in its foreign language representation retains the image of Procrustes, respectively, leaving the meaning of the phraseological unit unchanged: the framework into which someone is driven against their will.

Origin of phraseology

To make the meaning of sustainable turnover more clear, it is worth looking into ancient mythology and learning about the legend, the main characters of which were the robber Damastus with the nickname Procrustes (the nickname literally translates as “stretching”), and the Greek hero Theseus.

The story begins with the journey of the hero - the son of Efra, who hoped to find his father. Theseus chose the most difficult path - through the Isthmus, where he encountered many obstacles, including a collision with the “puller” Procrustes.

The villain, the son of Neptune, was famous for the torture he subjected travelers to. The giant lured them to his home, invited them to rest on his bed, and, if it was large, he literally stretched their body with the help of weights to the size of his bed, but if, on the contrary, it was small, then he cut off his legs. Theseus turned out to be more cunning and wiser, he defeated the robber and put him on an eminent bed. It is noteworthy that it was not enough for him, and the young man killed the villain in a similar way, cutting off his limbs. Thus, the “puller” fell from his own method of torture.

Depiction of the murder of Procrustes by Theseus, c. 420-410 BC e.

Today, this expression can also denote the desire for unification and standardization.

Procrustean bed is an expression that can be found in countless literary works. Of course, in oral everyday communication this phraseological unit is used quite rarely. But the meaning and history of its origin are quite interesting.

What is a Procrustean bed? In order to find out this, it is necessary to turn to ancient history, or more precisely, to the myths of Ancient Greece.

Procrustean bed - a little history

At one time, Procrustes was considered one of the most famous robbers of Greece. The cruelty of his atrocities was literally amazing. By the way, in the works of various historians and art critics this character is mentioned under different names. He is known to history both as Damaste and Polypemnon. The very name Procrustes means “stretching.”

This robber lived in Attica and hunted people on the road between Athens and Megara. To begin with, Procrustes deceived lonely travelers into his home. Here he offered them a hearty dinner and a warm bed.

But in return for what he promised, he laid his guest on the bed. His further atrocities depended on the victim himself. If his prey was a short man for whom the bed was too large, he would tie him up and then beat him with a huge hammer, breaking bones and stretching joints until the man’s height began to harmonize with the size of the bed.

With tall people, for whom the Procrustean bed was too small, the robber treated him completely differently. He cut off all the spilling parts until the person fit on the bed.

Procrustes ended his life in the same way as his victims. The hero of ancient Greek myths Theseus laid him on the bed and cut off his head.

In fact, ancient Greek myths are not entirely accurate in this regard. There is another legend. Some sources say that Procrustes had a son by Silea, who was named Sinis. He also grew up to be a violent man who attacked people in the forest in the Isthmus of Corinth.

Sinis bent two trees and tied the limbs of a person to them, and then released them. Thus, his victims were simply torn apart. It is believed that Sinis was also killed by Theseus, and he died in the same way as he killed his victims.

Today it is not known for sure whether Sinis was the son of Procrustes, or whether he is the same person. Be that as it may, the robber died at the hands of Theseus - all sources are clear on this score. But the expression “Procrustean bed” remains to this day

Procrustean bed: the meaning of the catchphrase

So, we figured out how the expression itself arose. But what does it mean? Procrustean bed is a phraseological unit with very deep roots. It denotes a kind of standard by which they try to fit or adapt something by force.

This catchphrase is used if they want to emphasize the desire to forcibly fit something into a rigid framework, while sacrificing something really important and significant.

Quite often used in art. Thus, the artists tried to emphasize that it was simply impossible to fit the irrational nature of creativity into some limited concepts. Forcibly trying to do this will only lead to misunderstanding or loss of the original meaning. Creative people quite rightly believe that it is impossible to fit or adjust all endless phenomena under some previously prepared conservative theories.

The Procrustean bed precisely denotes these very boundaries, the limitations of the system, too rigid templates and an artificially invented measure.

Of course, in everyday communication this expression should not be used too often. It is not always appropriate, and not every person will be able to understand its true meaning.