David and Goliath. Meaning, origin, examples of the use of phraseological units

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Winged words, phraseological units. Meaning, history of origin, examples of use

Winged words, phraseological units

Directory / Winged words, phraseological units

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David and Goliath

Bible
Bible

Phraseologism: David and Goliath.

Meaning: About opponents who are strikingly different from each other in their physical and moral qualities.

Origin: From the Bible. The Old Testament (1:17) speaks of the Philistine giant Goliath, with whom the young hero David confronted. He was incomparably weaker than the enemy and would have been defeated if he fought Goliath on an equal footing. David defeated Goliath by killing him with a stone thrown from his sling.

Random phraseology:

My Leuctra and Mantinea.

Meaning:

About the work of a lifetime, about work that can glorify the name of the person who accomplished it.

Origin:

From the history of ancient Greece. The expression owes its birth to the great ancient Greek (city-state of Thebes, Boeotia region) commander Epaminondas (c. 418-362 BC). Once the army of Sparta invaded another Greek region - Boeotia. The meeting of the Spartans with the army of the Boeotian commander Epaminondas took place near the town of Leuctra. The number of horsemen of the opposing forces was equal - one thousand each, but the Spartans had more foot soldiers - 10 thousand against 6 thousand Boeotians. To compensate for this shortcoming, Epaminondas built his army in the form of a poker: a narrow phalanx, consisting of militia, who were ordered not to advance, but only to hold a blow, to defend themselves, and a column of fifty short lines of selected warriors at the end of this phalanx. The Boeotian leader hoped that this shock column would do the main thing - destroy the enemy phalanx. And the "end of the poker" played its role - the ranks of the Spartans mixed up under his blow, the control of the army was lost, and the Boeotians won. It was a complete rout: even the king of the Spartans, Cleombrotus, was killed in the battle - the first and only case in the history of Sparta. A few years later, the battle between the Boeotians and the Spartans took place again, this time at Mantinea. And again Epaminondas won a complete victory, thanks to already tested tactics. The ancient Greek historian Xenophon wrote: “Epaminondas moved the army in a narrow part, like a warship, believing that in the place where he managed to break through the line of the enemy’s location, he would inflict a final defeat on the entire enemy army. And indeed, he was not mistaken in his calculations: having won victory in the place where he crashed into the ranks of the enemy, he put to flight the entire enemy army. But the joy of the Boeotians was overshadowed by the mortal wound of Epaminondas. He was dying, and since he had no heirs, his companions lamented that there would be no one to continue his glory. To this he replied that he left his fellow citizens "two of his daughters - Leuctra and Mantinea", that is, his two victories - the main thing in his life. The commander thus wanted to say that as long as the memory of them is alive, his name will also be remembered. He left his compatriots and his tactics, which were used by military leaders of all subsequent times. Since it is impossible to be strong along the entire front, it is necessary to achieve a decisive advantage in the main direction of attack, and on the others - only to pin down the enemy forces. This tactic was also used by Napoleon.

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