What is the Augean stables. What is the meaning of phraseologism `Augean stables`

Have you had such a case in your life when some person, entering the room, exclaimed: “Yes, these are some kind of Augean stables!”. And this expression from that moment does not give you rest. What is its meaning, what did you want to say by using it? You did not ask this question to the speaker of this phraseological unit? Not? And it is not necessary that you are not considered an idiot - how, like an adult, but does not 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 parsing of a phrase

First, we will consider it, as always, from the linguistic side - we will do a syntactic analysis of the phrase "Augean stables". A boring and rather boring part, of course, but you can’t do 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, consider each word in this phraseological unit as a part of speech. Let's start with the stables. "Stables" - is a plural noun, answers the question "what". In the singular, the word "stable" is feminine and in the 1st declension. Move on. "Augean" is a plural adjective that answers the question "whose". Derived from the noun "Augius". Those who read ancient Greek mythology, having heard the word, or rather, the name "Augius", will slap their foreheads and run to pull out a long-forgotten book from the farthest shelf. And for those who do not know, in order to understand the meaning of the phraseological unit "Augean stables", you need to read the following paragraph.

The origin of phraseology

Surely everyone has heard of Hercules, who, serving King Eurystheus, performed twelve labors. One of them directly concerned Avgii. That was the name of the son of the sun god Helios. His father gave him power over the tribe of Epeev 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 corral. Many years have passed since then, and it has never been cleaned. Over the years, a lot of manure has accumulated there, which they would not have been able to clean out in a day. This is what Eurystheus entrusted to Hercules. He came to Avgiy and offered his help. But the king only laughed at him. Indignant, Hercules argued with Avgiy: if he removes all the stables of the latter in one day, the king will 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 Peney flowed past him in a stormy stream, from which Hercules dug a canal to the pre-cut opposite wall of the corral and blocked it with a dam. As soon as the flow of water changed, he destroyed the partition. The stream rushed into the stables, carrying all the manure with it. When the water subsided, the pens shone with cleanliness. Seeing that the hero fulfilled his part of the agreement, Avgiy refuses to fulfill his, citing Heracles' disenfranchised position as a slave of Eurystheus. Hercules becomes furious and vows revenge on him. Later, already being 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 the possessions of Avgii remained forever grateful to him for the fact that the hero saved them from the stench that had come from the corrals for years.

Augean stables: meaning

So, we analyze the meaning of the discussed phraseological unit. In myth, these are the huge and terribly dirty pens of King Avgii. And in linguistics, "Augean stables" is a phraseological unit denoting extreme neglect and slovenliness, not only indoors, but also in practice.

The Augean stables are:

Augean stables Augean stables
From ancient Greek mythology. The hero Hercules (Rom. - Hercules) once cleaned the vast stables of the Elis king (Elis - a region of Greece) Avgii, which had not been cleaned for 30 years. Hercules did not do what was expected of him: he did not use his strength, but the energy of two rivers - Alfea 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 did the job in just one day. This was the seventh feat of Hercules during the time when he was in the service of King Eurystheus.
This myth was first expounded by the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (I century BC), and the expression became winged in antiquity: it was used by Seneca (“Satire on the Death of Emperor Claudius”), Lucian (“Alexander”) and others
About a neglected problem, a mess in business, etc.

Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M .: "Lokid-Press". Vadim Serov. 2003.

The Augean Stables In Greek mythology, the Augean stables are the vast stables of Augius, king of Elis, which have not been cleaned for many years. They were cleansed in one day by the hero Heracles (Hercules): he sent 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 here 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

Dictionary of winged words. Plutex. 2004.

What is the meaning of the phraseological unit "Augean stables"?

Where did the expression "Augean stables" come from?

Medved

Phraseologism "Augean stables" originates in the myths of ancient Greece. One of the exploits of Hercules (Hercules) was associated precisely with clearing the stables of King Avgiy, which were overgrown with manure almost above the roof. To cope with the task, Hercules had to change the course of the river, using its current in order to wash away the accumulated sewage. One does not have to admire the ingenuity of Hercules, since the damage to the environment was enormous.

Now the expression "Augean stables" is used mainly if someone has to turn a mountain of seemingly unbearable cases that have been put off for a long time "until better times."

Less often, this expression is used to refer to a dirty neglected place or to refer to extremely neglected cases.

dolphinica

First, let's remember a little who was who.

There was the sun god Helios, he is most often depicted with a crown on his head, similar to the rays of the rising sun. Helios had many sons from different wives, one of the most famous was Phaeton, who was ruined by parental love. Helios indulged the whims of his beloved son and allowed him to sit in his chariot, Phaeton could not cope with the horses and Zeus had to throw lightning at Phaeton to save the earth from fire. Phaeton died.

But from Girmina, Helios had two sons, and one of them was called Avgiy. His father gave Avgius a herd of beautiful bulls, but it so happened that no one was cleaned in the corral with bulls for 30 years. And at one moment Hercules turned up, who, on a dare, undertook to clear the corral in 24 hours. If Hercules won the argument, then he could get a tenth of the herd. Hercules was not only a strong man, Hercules was very smart. He directed the flow of the rivers to the stables and the water cleared the paddock from the accumulated manure. True, Hercules won the argument, but the bulls were not given to him and the agreement was considered unfulfilled, because everyone expected that the hero would work with his hands, but he worked with his head.

The expression "Augean stables" is now a catch phrase and means it is an extremely neglected state of affairs or a very dirty room that needs general cleaning, where several people can manage, but not one.

And the leader of the world proletariat, Vladimir Lenin, called estates, monarchy, the Augean stables, which must be completely cleaned out.

This expression came into our lives from the myths of ancient Greece. There was a demigod named Hercules, an incredible strong man. He was known for having performed 12 feats that were considered beyond the power of man. So one of these feats was the clearing of the stables of King Avgiy. Avgiy was a great lover of horses and kept three thousand horses in the stables, and for exactly thirty years no one cleaned up after them, so that the stables were overgrown to the very roof. Only Hercules could cope with cleaning the stables, but that's not the point. The expression itself has come to mean a long-abandoned work that has been accumulated over the years, but which suddenly the time has come to do it. Dealing with such a neglected case is sometimes no easier than cleaning out real stables. It is in this sense that the expression is used in the modern world.

fox hunter

The matter is very ancient. Covered in a web of history and mythology. According to one legend, King Augius was an avid horse breeder, just a fan - there were about three thousand horses in his personal stables. However, it is not known for what reason, for 30 years no one cleaned these stables, the place was constantly vacant. And when Hercules tried to make himself an image, that is, to become famous in the field of exploits, the king instructed him to clean them up. Hercules led the river Alfea inside the stables and the stream of water washed away all the horse excrement. Since that time, the expression "Augean stables" has been used for any very neglected business or polluted object. That is - to the last limit crap. Absolutely.

Frau Irkins

The expression "Augean stables", which has become a phraseological unit that has firmly entered the Russian language, is rooted in ancient Greece, namely, in mythology. As you know, Hercules, the famous ancient Greek demigod hero, performed a dozen valiant feats. Clearing the Augean stables was the sixth feat on this list.

According to the myth, King Augius had many horses, and his stables were hopelessly neglected, extremely polluted with the dung of the king's horses. The success of such a complex task as clearing the stables seemed impossible, but Hercules managed to achieve it. It was not physical strength that had to be used, but resourcefulness and cunning.

Today, the Augean stables are a neglected state of affairs, problems and work that have accumulated over a long period of time, and sometimes a very dirty room.

Zergud

In one of the 12 labors, Hercules cleared the stables of King Avgii by breaking down the wall and directing the channels of two rivers into them. The myths describe that manure was not removed from these stables for thirty years. And not horses lived there, but several thousand bulls, so it would be more correct to call these premises not stables, but stables. However, it was the “Augean stables” that became a popular expression. It is used to describe the extreme degree of disorder.

Elena bow

Augean stables, this phraseological unit in our time means a great neglect in business, a great mess. The Greek king Avgiy had many horses, loved them very much and had about three thousand of them in the stable, no one was able to put things in order in these stables. Until the king hired the strongman Hercules, who turned the river into a stable and all the dirt was carried away by the stream of water.

Ludwigo

Cleaning the Augean stables was the sixth labor of Hercules, the ancient Greek demigod hero, which is not surprising, since King Augeas had not cleaned his stables for so long that they became unnecessarily dirty. Thus, the expression denotes a matter that requires painstaking and long resolution, which is complex and difficult.

Elena-kh

Augean stables - this idiom is still used today, it means a strong mess, a mess, neglect in work. It is difficult to clean up a stable of manure that has accumulated there for decades, and it is also difficult to sort out many old cases, not only about cleaning.

Strymbrym

As we know, one of the exploits of Hercules was precisely to clear the stables from manure that had not been removed for a long time, which turned out to be a very difficult task. Currently, this phraseological unit is used as a solution to many old questions.

What does the idiom "Augean Stables" mean?

Uranus

A place that hasn't been cleaned in years. =)
Because the stables of the ancient Greek king Avgei were not cleaned for many years. And one of the exploits of Hercules was precisely that he cleared them by changing the course of the river and directing its course through these very stables. =)

Once upon a time in the country of Elis, according to an ancient Greek legend, King Augius, a passionate lover of horses: three thousand horses neighed in his stables. However, the stalls in which the horses were kept had not been cleaned for thirty years, and they were overgrown with manure up to the very roof.
Fortunately, the fabulous strongman Heracles (among the Romans he was called Hercules) entered the service of King Avgius, whom the king instructed to clean the stables, which no one else could do.
Hercules was as cunning as he was powerful. He diverted the bed of the Alfea River through the gates of the stables, and a stormy stream washed out all the dirt from there in a day.
The Greeks ranked this act among the most glorious exploits of Hercules and sang along with his other eleven labors (see "Hercules Labors"), and the expression "Augean stables" began to be applied to everything neglected, polluted to the last limit, and in general to denote a great mess.
The Greek legend that tells of Hercules cleaning the Augean stables has lived for centuries; even now we often say, for example, like this: “Well, to clean the Augean stables in your closet, you need Herculean work! »
So, this popular expression was born in ancient Greece. You will soon see that from the same source - Greek myths - we received many other popular expressions.

Vermicelli

1) a heavily polluted, cluttered, clogged place (as a result of prolonged neglect), a room where there is a complete mess.
2) about any institution, organization, etc., where disorder and chaos reign, complete confusion in the conduct of business.
3) about badly neglected cases, disorderly accumulation of papers and documents.
Look for more about the exploits of Hercules. Do you know where this expression came from?

Wanderer

Avgiy (dr. - Greek Αὐγέᾱς, “shining”) (Avgey. / Avgeas.) - in ancient Greek mythology, the king of the Epeev tribe in Elis, the son of Helios and Girmina, had numerous herds, for which huge stables were built in the barnyard (so called "Augean stables", which actually contained primarily bulls and goats). Mentioned in the "Iliad" in the story of Nestor (XI 701).

What does the expression "Augean stables" mean and how did it come about?

Hercules was in the service of one king, in order to leave the service he had to perform a certain number of feats. Well, the king drove Hercules throughout Hellas. Sent once to King Avgiy. Avgiy was distinguished by a particularly vile character and uncleanliness, in his huge horses there were heaps, excuse me, of manure. And he sent Hercules to clean the stables. Hercules was also not a bastard, he blocked a couple of rivers and sent water through the stables. The manure was all washed away. Both kings were terribly dissatisfied with this turn - they failed to humiliate Hercules, in retaliation this deed was not counted as a foul-smelling feat.

Just nastya

Hercules was given the task of cleaning out the stables of King Augeus, which had 3,000 horses and had not been cleaned for 30 years. The job is not pleasant. Therefore, the expression Augean stables refers to something painfully neglected and dirty.

Z v e n k a

The expression "" is a phraseological unit of a book style, which means a neglected, rubbish-filled place, completely overgrown with centuries-old dirt. "Augean stables" are called areas, rooms, and individual places in a room (for example, a cluttered corner, table, bed, closet). For example: His bed was an Augean stable, because there was not a single empty centimeter on it.

A disorderly and completely unplanned arrangement of affairs is also called "Augean stables." For example: Unemployment, drug addiction, drunkenness - any of these Augean stables is terrible and requires immediate cleaning.

The history of the expression originates in ancient Greek mythology, according to which Hercules (Hercules) cleansed the 30-year-old dirt of the stables of King Avgei with the help of the waters of the seething Alpheus River.

Now we often see the expression "cleanse the Augean stables." It means an immediate, radical cleansing of some place or phenomenon from everything unnecessary, already experienced, littering both the place and human minds.

The expression is not so poetic, therefore, in lyrical works we will not meet it often. But in journalism - please, and as much as you like. That is, it is not only "writing", but also "journalistic". The second is more often.

The expression "Augean stables" owes its origin to ancient Greek mythology, namely the myths about the exploits of Hercules. This demigod hero managed to clean out the famous stables of King Avgii, in which no one had cleaned for 30 years and they were simply overgrown with sewage from the elite stallions standing in them. Hercules acted quite practically, redirecting the waters of the nearby river to the stables and all the sewage was simply washed away by a stream of water. Currently, this phraseological unit is used when it comes to work that has been accumulated for a long time, constantly postponed, and requires a lot of effort to complete it.

reepicheep

In my opinion, this is from the book "Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece". The main character in the legend is Hercules with his courage and strength.

Such a phrase means to do overwork, something very difficult and difficult to accomplish.

20.08.2018 18.02.2019 Vladimir Gulyashchikh

This phrase is associated with ancient Greek mythology, namely with the sixth feat of Hercules. " Augean stables” means something overly abandoned, requiring tidying up. Moreover, either in the literal sense (too dirty premises), or figuratively (neglected affairs at the enterprise, in the institution).

In short, the feat of Hercules was that, using his incredible strength, he cleared the large stables of King Augeas. The name of the place itself, which no one cleaned for a very long time, has become a household name. This speech turnover is regularly used in various literary works or popular science and journalistic texts (for example, "Augean stables of academic marketing").

The history of the origin of phraseology

The myth in the now known version was first told by the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (lived in the 1st century BC). According to his version, Augeas was the son of the sun god Helios and the king of Elis. He agreed with Hercules that the hero would clean his stables, which no one had cleaned for about 30 years. According to the myth, there were up to 3,000 heads of cattle in the premises, mostly bulls, it is noteworthy that there were no horses in the stables. In gratitude for the cleaning services, Avgiy promised to give 10% of his herd to Hercules.

Hercules was smart and broke the walls of the stable. And then the hero sent to this place the channels of the rivers, which are called Alpheus and Penya. In a short time, all the manure was washed away.

However, despite this, Avgiy refused to issue the prearranged reward. This later led to a conflict, which, according to different versions of the myth, ended in different ways. In the first version, Hercules killed Avgii and his children (except for one, Phileas, who began to rule Elis). In the second version, Avgiy remained alive, despite the armed clashes with Hercules.

Thus the meaning of the expression "Augean stables" is associated with a really very polluted place. Cleaning it up in real life will require heroic efforts or large financial investments.

Greetings, dear lovers of facts and other interesting things. Today we will tell you briefly about the meaning of the phraseological unit Augean stables. We will look at where this expression came from, and what it means to people in the modern world.

The origin of phraseology

The rise of this phraseological unit originates from the time of the ancient Greek epic, namely the famous hero named Hercules. After all, it concerns one of his twelve labors.

At that time there lived a king named Augeas, who was such a strong lover of horses that his stables numbered thousands of individuals. But apparently he didn’t love them too much, since no one cleaned these very stables for thirty years, because of which they simply mired in huge piles of dirt and manure.

It would not have been possible for one person to cope with this even in 100 years. To accomplish the feat, Hercules had to use not only his strength, but also his ingenuity. He let a stormy river into the stables, thereby washing all this dirt out of it.

By the way, among other things, King Avgiy promised Heragl a tenth of his herd if he fulfilled this order, but in the end he did not keep his word.

Significance for the modern world

Despite the fact that this is just a myth, this expression is very popular today in everyday life. As a rule, phraseology Augean stables is used in the following cases:

• Very dirty and untidy place in the literal sense of the word. That is, this can be said about places that are really disgusting to step into.
• Mess. Even the usual clutter and mess can be called Augean stables, and it is not at all necessary that dirt be present in the literal sense of the word. It can be scattered books, sheets of paper, things, toys, etc.
• A place that hasn't been cleaned in a very long time. Even if there is no mess, but the place has been running for a long time and no one has cleaned it for a long time, then this expression can be used here quite appropriately.

But in whatever context you use this phraseological unit, its essence is the same: dirt and mess. Therefore, if you do not want to be applied to you, then try not only to be neat yourself, but to keep all the places of your stay clean and in order.

One of the twelve works of Hercules, which required (extraordinary) Herculean strength, is the cleansing of the stables of Augeas, king of Elis, which had been neglected for many years. In order to do this work, Hercules led two rivers through these stables and cleaned them out in one day (Great Explanatory Phraseological Dictionary (1904)).

According to ancient Greek legend, Augeus (the king of the Epeians in Elis) was a passionate lover of horses. He had about three thousand horses. However, the stalls in which the horses were kept had not been cleaned for thirty years, and they were overgrown with manure up to the very roof. When Hercules entered the service of King Avgius (among the Romans he was called Hercules), the king instructed him to clean the stables. Hercules came up with an ingenious way to clean the stables. He diverted the channel of the river Alfea to the gates of the stables (blocking the river with a dam), and the flow of water washed out all the dirt from there in a day. By agreement with Avgiy, Hercules was supposed to receive a tenth of his herd as a reward, but Avgiy did not give the promise, and a war broke out between them.

The cleaning of the Augean stables by Hercules is considered the sixth of the twelve labors of Hercules.

In "Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece" describes:

“Soon, Eurystheus gave a new assignment to Heracles. He had to clear the entire barnyard of Avgius, king of Elis, the son of the radiant Helios, from manure. The sun god gave his son innumerable riches. snow, feet, two hundred bulls were red like Sidon purple, twelve bulls dedicated to the god Helios were white like swans, and one bull, distinguished by its extraordinary beauty, shone like a star. the court, if he agrees to give him a tenth of his flocks. Augeas agreed. It seemed impossible for him to complete such a work in one day. Hercules broke the wall that surrounded the barnyard from two opposite sides, and diverted the water of two rivers, Alpheus and Peneus, into it. The water of these rivers in one day carried away all the manure from the barnyard, and Hercules again laid down the walls.When the hero came to Avgiy to demand a reward, the proud king did not give him the promised ten that part of the herds, and had to return to Tiryns Hercules with nothing.

The great hero took terrible revenge on the king of Elis. A few years later, already freed from the service of Eurystheus, Hercules invaded Elis with a large army, defeated Avgius in a bloody battle and killed him with his deadly arrow. After the victory, Hercules gathered an army and all the rich booty near the city of Pisa, made sacrifices to the Olympic gods and established the Olympic Games, which since then have been celebrated by all Greeks every four years on the sacred plain, planted by Hercules himself with olives dedicated to the goddess Athena-Pallas.

Hercules took revenge on all the allies of Avgiy. The king of Pylos, Neleus, paid especially. Hercules, having come with an army to Pylos, took the city and killed Neleus and his eleven sons. The son of Neleus, Periclimen, was not saved either, to whom Poseidon, the ruler of the sea, gave the gift to turn into a lion, a snake and a bee. Hercules killed him when, turning into a bee, Periclymenes mounted one of the horses harnessed to Hercules' chariot. Only Neleus' son Nestor survived. Subsequently, Nestor became famous among the Greeks for his exploits and great wisdom.

Examples

Repin Ilya Efimovich (1844 - 1930)

"():" Every morning modestly, in some kind of gray coat, this squat man went around all the corners augean stalls of our old, neglected building, and repairs and improvements began everywhere"

Augean stables are called a very dirty room, as well as a mess not only in a room or in a certain place, but also in business. This phraseological unit arose thanks to the well-known ancient Greek myth about one of the exploits of the great hero Hercules.

The origin of the phraseological unit "Augean stables"

In ancient Greek mythology, Augeus is the king of the Epeians in the region of Elis in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. His parents, according to legend, were the sun god Helios and Girmina (according to another version, Navsidama). Augeus became famous throughout Hellas thanks to his rich herds of bulls and goats, inherited from his father. They were kept in the barnyard, in the stables. They were magical animals: three hundred bulls with snow-white hair on their legs, two hundred red bulls, twelve pure white and one sparkling like a star.

The exact number of heads in the herd is unknown, probably there were about three thousand.

Despite their magical origin, the physiology of the animals was quite earthly, and gradually the stables filled with waste products of their life. But no one was involved in cleaning the barnyard, and in a few years the stables had accumulated such an amount of manure that they turned into a fetid, incredibly dirty and terrible place. The sight of these stables scared everyone away, and no one was ready to take on their cleaning, which could take years. Only Hercules, the son of Zeus, took up this task, which, without exaggeration, was called a feat. For this work, Avgiy promised the hero a tenth of his herd, but set an impossible condition - to clear the stables in just one day. The king was sure that no one was able to cope with this matter, but Hercules accepted the offer. The king's son Philea watched the execution of the contract and confirmed that the hero fulfilled his part of the promise. The son of Zeus diverted the channels of the rivers Penei and Alpheus, destroyed the walls of the stables and led a canal through the barnyard, into which water gushed and carried away all the manure in a day. Avgiy was angry and did not want to give the bulls as a reward, and he expelled his son, who spoke in defense of the hero, along with Hercules from the country. This feat was the sixth in the list of the twelve labors of Hercules.

Later, Hercules took revenge on Avgius: he gathered an army, started a war with him, captured Elis and killed the king with an arrow.

The meaning of the phraseological unit "Augean stables"

The content of this myth could have been forgotten for several centuries, but the expression “Augean stables”, which appeared in antiquity, is still alive in the language. So they say about a strong mess, a very dirty, neglected place, a room that requires general cleaning. Also, sometimes the Augean stables are called not only the place, but also the state of affairs: for example, this can be said about the neglected situation in the country or the disorder in the affairs of an organization. In any case, this is a situation that requires either very great efforts to correct, or drastic measures.