PHRASEOLOGICAL

UNITS OF
ANCIENT GREEK
P R E PA R E D B Y: Z H O R A B E K A .
C H E C K E D B Y : A B R A M O VA G .
 MEDUSA'S LOOK
• If a person is unpleasant in communication and not liked by
others, then it is often said that he has the look of Medusa.
• Medusa Gorgon - a monster on whose head snakes wriggled,
and instead of feet there were copper hooves. If a person
looked at her, then he immediately turned into stone.
• Perseus managed to defeat the monster. To kill Medusa, the
hero had to show remarkable ingenuity: during the battle, he
used a shiny shield that reflected the Gorgon - so Perseus never
looked at the monster. Then he cut off the head of the defeated
Medusa and attached it to the shield. As it turned out, her gaze
could still turn all living things into stone.
 PANDORA'S BOX
• Allegorically - "a source of
misfortune, trouble."
Phraseologism is associated
with the myth of Pandora,
who received from the god
Zeus a closed box filled with
all earthly disasters and
misfortunes. Curious
Pandora opened the box, and
human misfortunes flew out
 THE SWORD OF DAMOCLES
• It came to us from an ancient Greek myth. The
Syracusan tyrant Dionysius the Elder had an
approximate Damocles. Damocles was very jealous of
his master. Dionysius knew about it. One day he decided
to teach Damocles a lesson. During the feast, he ordered
his servants to put his pet on the throne and give him
royal honors. Damocles was ready to jump for joy – his
cherished wish came true. But then he looked up and
froze: right above his head, with the tip down, hung a
heavy sword suspended from a thin horsehair. At any
moment, the sword could fall right on Damocles' head.
"Here, Damocles," said the tyrant, "you consider my
high position enviable, but look now: am I calm on my
throne? Since then, the expression "sword of Damocles"
means the highest danger that can strike at any moment.
 LIBRA THEMIS
• In ancient Greek mythology, Themis is the
goddess of justice. She was always depicted
holding a sword in one hand and a scale in the
other, and always with a blindfold
symbolizing the impartiality with which she
judges people accused of something. Themis
seems to weigh all the arguments of the
prosecution and defense on its scales and
punishes the guilty with a sword. The
expression "libra of Themis" has become
synonymous with justice.
 APPLE OF DISCORD
• According to ancient Greek myth, once the goddess of
discord, Eris, was not invited to a feast. Holding a grudge,
Eris decided to take revenge on the gods. She took a
golden apple, on which was written "the most beautiful",
and imperceptibly threw it between the goddesses Hera,
Aphrodite and Athena. The goddesses argued over which
of them should own it. Each considered herself the most
beautiful. The son of the Trojan king Paris, who was
invited to be a judge, gave the apple to Aphrodite, and in
gratitude she helped him kidnap the wife of the Spartan
king Helen. Because of this, the Trojan War broke out.
• The expression apple of discord has turned into a
phraseological unit denoting the cause of a quarrel, enmity.