Phraseologism Augean stables meaning

Augean stables— King Augeas lived in Ancient Greece. He was a passionate horse lover. Three thousand horses stood in his stables. However, their stalls had not been cleaned for thirty years and were overgrown with manure up to the roofs.
Fortunately, the legendary strongman Hercules (the Romans called him Hercules) entered the service of King Augeas, to whom the king instructed to clean the stables, since no one else was able to do this.
Hercules was not only powerful, but also smart. He diverted the river to the gates of the stables, and a stormy stream washed away all the dirt from there.
Expression Augean stables we use it when we want to talk about extreme neglect and pollution.

Option 2: 1. A very polluted place, a neglected room. In figurative speech: something littered with papers, books, unnecessary things not needed for work. “This opportunity happened (he did not answer the letter) because our desk represents the Augean stables and only now I could find a piece of paper.” Mussorgsky. Letter to V.V. Stasov, March 31, 1872.
2. Extreme disorder in business. “What were the main manifestations, remnants, remnants of serfdom in Russia by 1917? Monarchy, class, land ownership and use, position of women, religion, oppression of nationalities. Take any of these Augean stables... you will see that we have cleaned them clean." V. I. Lenin.
3. Clean (clean) Augean stables. “Then Kirov patted Ilyushin on the shoulder. - And you gather the fighters. I’ll come for half an hour and talk (about cleaning the regiment and mobilizing communists into the guard). Well, be healthy! Let’s clean out your Augean stables together.” G. Kholopov. Lights in the bay.
From the literal phrase Augean stables, i.e. the huge stables of Augeas, king of Elis. According to myth, these stables, which had not been cleaned for 30 years, were cleaned by Hercules in one day, channeling the waters of the stormy Alpheus River through them.
Another version:
AUGEAN STABLES. A very dirty, neglected place that requires a lot of effort to clean.
“When Raya opened the pantry once a week to clean the Augean Stables, both roosters shot bullets out and, realizing that their time in freedom was very limited, they tried to do as many dirty tricks as possible” (A. Kanevsky).
(The expression comes from Greek mythology. The Augean stables belonged to King Oedipus Augeas and were not cleaned for many years. They were cleared of manure by Hercules, who directed the river through the stables. This myth was first found by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus in the 1st century BC)

In Greek mythology, the Augean stables are the vast stables of Augeas, the king of Elis, which were not cleaned for many years. They were cleansed in one day by the hero Hercules (Hercules): he directed a river through the stables, the waters of which carried away all the manure. This myth was first reported by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC). The expression that arose from this is used to denote a very dirty room, as well as severe neglect, litter, disorder in matters that require great effort to eliminate them; it became winged in ancient times (Seneca, Satire on the death of Emperor Claudius; Lucian, Alexander).

"Augean Stables" quote:

True, he had impulses... to clamp down on bribery, to replace embezzlers with decent people, but he was not Hercules to cleanse these Augean stables (I. A. Goncharov, Memoirs, 2, 14).

What were the main manifestations, remnants, remnants of serfdom in Russia by 1917? Monarchy, class, land ownership and use, position of women, religion, oppression of nationalities. Take any of these “Augean stables” ... you will see that we have cleaned them clean (V.I. Lenin, To the four-year anniversary of the October Revolution, Complete Works, vol. 44, p. 145).

Winged words and expressions on

The language of any people, despite all the connections that exist between them and their origin from the same root, is unique. By the richness of the vocabulary one can judge the cultural development of a particular society or state; by the speech of each person one can judge how fully he uses the cultural traditions of his people.

In order to more fully and figuratively express one’s thoughts, the language is actively used. They are already established (stable) phrases with the help of which a person can display the entire complex range of his experiences - irony, ridicule, love, sarcasm.

Many phraseological units have already become so firmly established in people’s daily lives that they don’t even think about their origin, but many of them have very interesting facts and stories behind them. An example is the idiom “Augean stables”, the origin of which is associated with one of the famous

As one of the ancient Greek myths tells us, the famous ruler of the country - King Augeas - was famous for his passion for horses, the number of which reached three thousand. However, his love for these noble animals went very poorly with his reluctance to clean their stalls, which for thirty years had become overgrown to the very roof with choice manure. Thus, on the one hand, the “Augean stables” are a symbol of neglect, pollution, and neglect of menial, but no less important, work.

The famous hero Hercules was able to cope with the problem of King Augeas, to whom the ruler instructed to clean the stables, since, in his opinion, such a volume of work was beyond the power of any mere mortal. The meaning of the phraseological unit “Augean stables” is largely due to the method that the famous strongman decided to use: realizing that it was almost impossible to cover the entire scope of work in the traditional way, Hercules changed the course of the river. And the stormy stream brilliantly coped with the task in just a few hours.

Based on this, the meaning of the phraseological unit “Augean stables” implies an absolute disorder in affairs, which can only be dealt with if some non-trivial solution is applied. Moreover, most often this expression is used not in relation to any individual person, but about the state of affairs of the entire society as a whole.

However, recently another meaning of the phraseological unit “Augean stables” has appeared. It began to be understood as the contamination of a person’s inner world, when he lost almost all moral guidelines in life and turned into an ordinary consumer who lives solely for the sake of eating well and sleeping sweetly. “Clearing out the Augean stables” means understanding oneself, returning those basic guidelines that illuminated the lives of many generations of people.

The fact that the meaning of the phraseological unit “Augean stables” has several meanings emphasizes the richness of the Russian language, its flexibility, constant improvement and development along with the development of society and the state itself.

Augean stables

Augean stables
From ancient Greek mythology. The hero Hercules (Roman - Hercules) once cleaned out the vast stables of the Elis king (Elis - region of Greece) Augeas, which had not been cleaned for 30 years. Hercules did not act as expected of him: he did not use his strength, but the energy of two rivers - Alpheus and Peneus. First he blocked them with dams, and then directed the water to the stables. A powerful stream washed away all the impurities, and thus Hercules completed the job in just one day. This was the seventh labor of Hercules during his time in the service of King Eurystheus.
This myth was first stated by the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC), and the expression became popular in ancient times: it was used by Seneca (“Satire on the death of Emperor Claudius”), Lucian (“Alexander”) and etc.
About a neglected problem, disorder in business, etc.

Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M.: “Locked-Press”. Vadim Serov. 2003.

Augean stables

In Greek mythology, the Augean stables are the vast stables of Augeas, the king of Elis, which were not cleaned for many years. They were cleansed in one day by the hero Hercules (Hercules): he directed a river through the stables, the waters of which carried away all the manure. This myth was first reported by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC). The expression “Augean stables” that arose from this is used to denote a very dirty room, as well as severe neglect, litter, disorder in matters that require great effort to eliminate; it became winged in ancient times

Dictionary of catch words. Plutex. 2004.

See what “Augean stables” are in other dictionaries:

The mythological king of Elis, the son of the sun, had stables in which there were 3,000 bulls, and which had not been cleaned for 30 years, and only Hercules could clean them by drawing a river through them: hence something unusually neglected, polluted,... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Disorder Dictionary of Russian synonyms. Augean stables noun, number of synonyms: 1 disorder (127) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin... Synonym dictionary

Modern encyclopedia

In Greek mythology, the huge and heavily polluted stables of the king of Elis, Augeas, were cleansed of uncleanness in one day by Hercules, who directed the waters of the river into them (one of his 12 labors). In a figurative sense, extreme disorder, neglect... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

The huge and heavily polluted stables (not cleaned for 30 years) of King Augeas of Elis, cleansed of uncleanness in one day by Hercules, who directed the waters of the Alpheus River into them (see the labors of Hercules). // ON THE. Kuhn: KING AUGIA'S ANIMAL FARD (SIXTH LABOR) (Source: ... ... Encyclopedia of Mythology

In Greek mythology, the huge and heavily polluted stables of the king of Elis, Augeas, were cleansed of uncleanness in one day by Hercules, who directed the waters of the river into them (one of his 12 labors). In a figurative sense, extreme disorder, neglect. Political... ... Political science. Dictionary.

Augean stables- AUGEAN STABLES, in Greek mythology, the huge and heavily polluted stables of King Augeas of Elis, cleansed of uncleanness in one day by Hercules, who directed the waters of the river into them (one of his 12 labors). In a figurative sense, extreme disorder... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

AUGEAN STABLES. see stable. Ushakov's explanatory dictionary. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 … Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

Augean stables- translation Something very neglected, requiring a lot of work to put in order. In Greek myth. one of the labors of Hercules was cleaning the stables of King Augeas (with the help of a flood). Strength is strength, but wit doesn't hurt... :) wing. sl. In Greek... ... Universal additional practical explanatory dictionary by I. Mostitsky

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Have you ever had a case in your life when some person, entering a room, exclaimed: “Yes, these are some kind of Augean stables!” And this expression has haunted you since that moment. What is its meaning, what did they want to say by using it? You didn’t ask this question to the person who uttered this phraseology? No? And you don’t need to be considered an idiot - why, it seems like an adult, but doesn’t know such elementary things. But different sources interpret it each in their own way. And in this article I will describe the correct and generally accepted meaning of this phraseological unit.

Syntactic analysis of the phrase

First, let's look at it, as always, from the linguistic side - let's do a syntactic analysis of the phrase "Augean stables." A boring and rather annoying part, of course, but you can’t live without it. Thanks to it, you can parse the meaning of each word in this expression in order to further understand the meaning of the latter. But I digress. So, let's consider each word in this phraseological unit as a part of speech. Let's start with the "stables". “Stables” is a plural noun and answers the question “what.” In the singular, the word "stable" is feminine and 1st declension. Go ahead. "Augeans" is a plural adjective that answers the question "whose". Derived from the noun "Augei". Those who read ancient Greek mythology, hearing the word, or rather, the name “Augeas,” will slap themselves on the forehead and run to pull out a long-forgotten book from the farthest shelf. And for those who don’t know, to understand the meaning of the phraseology “Augean stables”, you need to read the next paragraph.

Origin of phraseology

Surely everyone has heard about Hercules, who, while serving King Eurystheus, performed twelve labors. One of them directly concerned Augeas. This was the name of the son of the sun god Helios. His father gave him power over the Epeian tribe and a beautiful herd, in which there were several thousand red and white bulls and one golden one, shining like the sun. The king placed them in a huge pen. Many years have passed since then, and it has never been cleaned. Over the years, a lot of manure has accumulated there, which they couldn’t clean out in a day. This is exactly what Eurystheus instructed Hercules to do. He came to Augeas and offered his help. But the king only laughed at him. The indignant Hercules argued with Augeas: if he cleaned up all the latter’s stables in one day, the king would give him a tenth of his herds. They shook hands, and Hercules immediately went to work. The stables were a long corridor. The rivers Alpheus and Peneus flowed past him in a stormy stream, from which Hercules dug a canal to the pre-cut opposite wall of the enclosure and blocked it with a dam. As soon as the water flow changed, he destroyed the partition. The stream rushed into the stables, taking with it all the manure. When the water subsided, the pens were sparkling clean. Seeing that the hero has fulfilled his part of the agreement, Augeas refuses to fulfill his, citing the powerless position of Hercules as a slave of Eurystheus. Hercules becomes furious and vows revenge on him. Later, already free, he will fulfill his oath. But Eurystheus did not count the cleaning of the Augean stables, answering that the waters of Alpheus and Peneus did the work for him. However, the inhabitants of Augeas's possessions remained forever grateful to him for the fact that the hero saved them from the stench that had been coming from the pens for years.

Augean Stables: meaning

So, let’s analyze the meaning of the phraseological unit under discussion. In the myth, these are the huge and terribly dirty pens of King Augeas. And in linguistics, “Augean stables” is a phraseological unit denoting extreme neglect and sloppiness not only indoors, but also in practice.