Greek mythology is an inexhaustible source of fascination.
Its multitude of gods, heroes and creatures have shaped many cultures.
On this World Ancient Greek Day,
Le Figaro
invites you to look back at some of our daily expressions which directly reflect this influence.
To discover
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Fall into the arms of Morpheus
Because he is the son of Hypnos, sleep, and Nyx, night, it is hardly surprising that Morphe is the god of dreams.
With his butterfly wings, he flits silently from one end of the Earth to the other to put mortals to sleep, by brushing them with a poppy leaf.
This also explains the term
“morphine”
, with its soporific properties derived from this same plant.
Here are humans plunged into a sleep populated by dreams.
Falling asleep in deep sleep is therefore
“falling into the arms of Morpheus”
, the embrace being a classic image in literature to talk about sleep.
Filling the barrel of the Danaids
Imagine a hole that keeps digging itself.
Now you are trying to fill it, but its substance is always eluding you a little more.
Constantly starting work again, a constantly emptied bank account, the public debt... We could say that these are classic
“barrels of the Danaids”
.
These fifty daughters of the king of Argos, Danaos, are condemned to an eternal and terrible punishment: endlessly filling a jar whose bottom is pierced.
What did they do to deserve such an ending?
Danaus, king of Argos, has a brother, Egyptos, king of Egypt, who on his side has fifty sons.
Despite the discord between the two, the Danaïdes are asked to marry by the boys.
Their father Danaos is reluctant to accept this idea.
He then asks each of his daughters to kill their husband on their wedding night.
Which could only send them to Hell...
Also read: Caroline Fourgeaud-Laville: “We can’t do without learning Greek”
Sisyphus' rock
This myth made famous by Albert Camus resembles the punishment of the Danaids.
Sisyphus is condemned to push a stone to the top of a mountain, from where it always ends up falling.
Founder and king of Corinth, his cunning insolence attracts the wrath of the gods.
When Thanatos, death, comes to get him, he succeeds in chaining him.
Zeus then sends Ares to take the brazen person by force to the underworld.
To escape his end, Sisyphus finds a clever stratagem.
He asks his wife not to plan a funeral for him.
And now, in the underworld, he insults his wife for being unworthy, and asks permission to return among mortals to settle this matter.
Clean the Augean Stables
The Augean stables, which include 3,000 oxen, are monstrous with dirt.
The owner, ruler of the kingdom of Elide in the Peloponnese, has not cleaned them for thirty years.
The task is colossal, even impossible.
Hercules seems to be the perfect victim to overcome this exhausting work.
And must accomplish it in one day.
Hercules then diverts two rivers Alpheus and Perea, with his superhuman strength, which carry away the mass of dung and manure cluttering the stables.
A radical solution.
“Cleaning the Augean stables”
therefore means implementing radical solutions in a corrupt and abusive environment.
Or, quite simply, overcome a mountain of dirt.
Also read Why we need to reread Plato and Aristotle to debate correctly
The torture of Tantalus
Another unbearable punishment.
Tantalus is, however, a protégé of the gods, son of Zeus and the nymph Pluto.
Until he served them the corpse of his son at a banquet during times of scarcity.
Another version accuses him of having stolen nectar and ambrosia from the table of the gods to make mortals taste them.
Either way, it's a mistake.
Zeus then ties him to a post, above a river.
When Tantalus bends down to drink, the river level drops and the water moves away.
When he tries to grab some fruit that is within reach of his hands, a gust of wind blows the branches away.
An ordeal of disappointed hopes.
To experience Tantalus' torture is to see one's desires always on the verge of being realized, and each time disappointed.