The history of phraseology goes back to antiquity. The king of Epirus, Pyrrhus, achieved victory in the battle with the Romans, but at the cost of too many sacrifices of his army. “Another such victory and I will be left without an army,” exclaimed Pyrrhus, when the Romans retreated, and he counted the losses. And indeed, a year later, the Romans took revenge, the army of Pyrrhus was defeated
Epirus and Pyrrhus
Ioannina is the capital of modern Epirus
Epirus is a region in the northwest of the Peloponnese peninsula on the coast of the Ionian Sea. Today it is divided between Greece and Albania. In ancient times, Illyrian tribes lived on this territory, later assimilated by the Greeks and Italians. Today, the Albanians and part of the Croats consider themselves to be the descendants of the Illyrians. The Illyrians had a state. It existed from the 5th to the 2nd century BC and fell under the blows of the Romans. The battle, after which King Pyrrhus acknowledged his Pyrrhic victory, took place in Italy, near the city of Auscula (now Ascoli Satriano) in 279 BC. In it, both troops suffered heavy losses - 15 thousand people each, but the Romans, firstly, retreated to their camp in order, and secondly, they had more opportunities to restore combat readiness, while Pyrrhus lost the best part of the army, which was difficult to replace
"Pyrrhic victory" and "Cadmean victory"
Before our era, the concept of "Pyrrhic victory" did not exist. On the other hand, there was another phraseological unit close to it in meaning - “Cadmeian victory”. Ancient intellectuals owe its appearance to the ancient Greek playwrights, who described in their tragedies the struggle of the brothers Eteocles and Polynices for power over Thebes, a rich and powerful city in central Greece. Both brothers died in one of the fierce battles (Cadmus is the legendary founder of Thebes)
*** Ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (90 - 30 BC): “Cadmeian victory is a saying. It means that the victors failed, while the vanquished were not endangered because of the magnitude of their strength. King Pyrrhus lost many of the Epirotes who came with him, and when one of his friends asked how he assessed the battle, he replied: “If I win another such victory over the Romans, I will not have a single warrior left of those that came with me"("Historical Library". Book XXII)
*** Ancient Greek geographer Pausanias (110-180 AD): “The army of the Argives came to the center of Boeotia from the center of the Peloponnese, and Adrastus gathered allies for himself from both Arcadia and Messenia. In equal measure, mercenaries from the Phocians and Phlegia from the country of the Minians came to the Thebans. In the battle of Ismenia, in the first encounter, the Thebans were defeated, and, being put to flight, they fled and hid behind the walls of the city. Since the Peloponnesians did not know how to take walls by assault, they carried out their attacks rather with enthusiasm than with knowledge of the matter, and the Thebans, hitting them from the walls, killed many of them; and then, going out of the city, they attacked the rest of them, thrown into confusion, and defeated them, so that all the army perished except Adrast. But for the Thebans themselves, this case was not without great losses, and therefore the victory, which turned out to be disastrous for the winners, is called the Cadmeian (Cadmian) victory ”(“Description of Hellas”, IX, 9, 1)
"Pyrrhic victories" in history
Application of the expression "Pyrrhic victory"
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“The impresario greeted Rachmaninov with a respectfully-joking bow. - I confess, you won ... But no matter how it turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory. - Serious trials await you ... The entire collection from my concerts will go to the Red Army Fund ”(Nagibin“ The Bells ”)
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“The Russian government won the victory of Pyrrhus due to a lack of understanding of the people” (Gorky “To the workers of all countries”)
King Pyrrhus. Source: commons.wikimedia.org
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory that was won at too high a price, the result of which did not justify the effort and money invested.
Origin of expression
The origin of the expression is associated with the battle of Ausculum (in 279 BC). Then the Epirus army of King Pyrrhus for two days attacked the Roman troops and broke their resistance, but the losses were so great that Pyrrhus remarked: “One more such victory, and I will be left without an army.” Another version of the same phrase is known: "Another such victory, and we were lost."
The Secret of War Elephants
In this battle, Pyrrhus won thanks to the presence in his army of war elephants, against which at that time the Romans did not yet know how to fight and therefore were powerless in front of them, “as if before rising water or a destructive earthquake,” as he wrote. Plutarch. The Romans then had to leave the battlefield and retreat to their camp, which, according to the customs of those times, meant a complete victory for Pyrrhus. But the Romans fought courageously, so the winner that day lost as many soldiers as the vanquished - 15 thousand people.
Expression predecessors
Before Pyrrhus, the expression "Cadmean victory" was in common use, based on the ancient Greek epic "Seven against Thebes" and found in Plato in his "Laws". interpretation this concept can be found in the ancient Greek writer Pausanias: telling about the campaign of the Argives against Thebes and the victory of the Thebans, he reports:
"... but for the Thebans themselves, this case was not without great losses, and therefore the victory, which turned out to be disastrous for the winners, is called the Cadmeian." (c) "Description of Hellas", book. IX.
Epirus is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe between present-day Greece and Albania. Epirus was part of ancient Hellas with the Acheron and Kokytos rivers and the Illyrian population. To the north of Epirus was Illyria, to the northeast - Macedonia, to the east - Thessaly.
To the south were the regions of Ambracia, Amphilochia, Acarnania, Aetolia.
Philologist, candidate of philological sciences, poet, member of the Writers' Union of Russia.
Publication date: 04/01/2019
Many catchphrases penetrate our speech, breaking through the granite slabs of millennia. Indeed, they are as old as the world.
The most mysterious seem to modern native speakers of those phraseological units, the roots of which must be sought deep in the past. Such artifacts include the expression "Pyrrhic victory". Let's try to understand its history!
The meaning of phraseology
When we hear the phrase "Pyrrhic victory" we should not think that we are talking about a magnificent feast in honor of the winners. This phraseological unit comes from the name of the ancient Greek king Pyrrhus, which we will talk about later.
But the meaning of the idiom is this: “Pyrrhic victory” is a victory bought at too high a price. Such a triumph does not bring joy and is more like a defeat.
the brightest historical example such a victory can serve as the capture of Moscow by Napoleon in 1812. We all remember how the dream of conquering the Russian capital turned out for the French emperor.
Formally, the enemy got what he wanted, but in fact it was a trap, thanks to which our compatriots managed to completely change the course of the war and put the French to flight.
The expression is applicable in everyday situations. It can be used when talking about a person who has received a new appointment, having gone over the heads of colleagues, losing their friendship and respect.
The origin of phraseology
The legendary battle that gave rise to our phraseological unit took place in the 3rd century BC. at the town of Auskul on the Apennine Peninsula.
As Plutarch testifies, the war between the Epirus king Pyrrhus and the Roman legions went on with varying success, until the first went on an active offensive. For two days of a fierce attack, the Epirotians managed to force the Roman troops to retreat.
After some time, the Roman army was replenished with fresh troops and managed to recover, while Pyrrhus's resources were completely depleted: the best warriors were thrown into the attack.
In the historical literature, Pyrrhus is criticized for shortsightedness. In the excitement of the duel, the commander was not always able to predict what step would be next.
Because of this quality of the famous military leader, victory followed by failure came to be called Pyrrhic. However, the king of Epirus had not only shortcomings. It is known that it was he who reformed some of the nuances of combat.
For example, he began to enclose the territory of the military camp with a moat and a palisade, whereas earlier it was simply furnished around the perimeter with traveling carts.
The king also became famous for involving giant elephants in the course of the battle, which terrified the enemy. Sweeping away everything in their path, the animals opened battles, overwhelming with their greatness.
As you can see, Pyrrhus loved triumphs, but not everyone brought him glory.
Synonymous expressions
It is curious that before the Pyrrhic failures there was a saying "Cadmeian victory" with a similar meaning.
Plato and Pausanias describe the protracted war started by Cadmus, the king of Thebes, ending the story with the following conclusion: “and for the inhabitants of Thebes, this was not without major losses, therefore the victory, disastrous for the winners, is called Cadmeian.”
A similar, but not synonymous meaning is the idiom "Trojan horse", associated with the capture of Troy. This idiom is related to the “Pyrrhic victory” by the semantics of a trap, a trap, something that becomes in time not what it seemed.
Here are a few more Russian-language and borrowed synonyms:
- it is not worth it;
- the game is not worth the candle;
- rejoice early.
So that the victory does not turn out to be pyrrhic, think about the price of success: maybe in some battles it will be more worthy to lose?
Pyrrhic victory Pyrrhic victoryAccording to the ancient Greek historian Plutarch, the king of Epirus Pyrrhus in 279 BC. e., after his victory over the Romans at Asculum, he exclaimed: "Another such victory, and we are lost." Another version of the same phrase is known: "One more such victory, and I will be left without an army."
In this battle, Pyrrhus won thanks to the presence in his army of war elephants, against which at that time the Romans did not yet know how to fight and therefore were powerless before them, “as if before rising water or a destructive earthquake,” as Plutarch wrote. The Romans then had to leave the battlefield and retreat to
their camp, which, according to the customs of those times, meant a complete victory for Pyrrhus. But the Romans fought courageously, so the winner that day lost as many soldiers as the defeated - 15 thousand people. Hence this bitter confession of Pyrrhus.
Contemporaries compared Pyrrhus to a dice player who always makes a good throw, but does not know how to use this luck. As a result, this feature of Pyrrhus killed him. Moreover, an ominous role in his death was played by his own “miracle weapon” - war elephants.
When Pyrrhus's army besieged the Greek city of Argos, his warriors found a way to infiltrate the sleeping city. They would have captured it completely bloodlessly, if not for the decision of Pyrrhus to bring war elephants into the city. They did not pass through the gates - the battle towers installed on them interfered. They began to take them off, then put them on the animals again, which caused a noise. The Argives grabbed their weapons, fighting began in the narrow city streets. There was general confusion: no one heard orders, no one knew who was where, what was happening on the next street. Argos has become a huge trap for the Epirus army.
Pyrrhus tried to get out of the "captured" city as soon as possible. He sent a messenger to his son, who was standing near the city with a detachment, with an order to urgently break part of the wall so that the Epirus warriors would quickly leave the city. But the messenger misunderstood the order, and the son of Pyrrhus moved to the city to help his father. So two oncoming streams collided at the gate - those retreating from the city and those who hurried to their aid. To top it all off, the elephants rebelled: one lay down right at the gate, not wanting to move at all, the other, the most powerful, nicknamed Nikon, having lost his wounded driver friend, began to look for him, rush about and trample on both his own and other people's soldiers. Finally, he found his friend, grabbed him with his trunk, put him on his tusks and rushed out of the city, crushing everyone he met.
In this turmoil, Pyrrhus himself died. He fought a young Argos-sktsm warrior whose mother, like all the women of the city, stood on the roof of her house. Being near the place of the fight, she saw her son and decided to help him. Having broken the tiles from the roof, she threw them at Pyrrhus and hit him in the neck, which was not protected by armor. The commander fell and was finished off on the ground.
But, besides this "sad-born" phrase, Pyrrhus is also known for some achievements that enriched the military affairs of that time. So. he was the first to enclose the military camp with a defensive rampart and a moat. Before him, the Romans surrounded their camp with wagons, so its arrangement usually ended.
Allegorically: a victory that came at a very high cost; success equal to defeat (iron.).
Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M .: "Lokid-Press". Vadim Serov. 2003.
Pyrrhic victory Epirus king Pyrrhus in 279 BC defeated the Romans at the Battle of Ausculum. But this victory, as Plutarch (in the biography of Pyrrhus) and other ancient historians tell, cost Pyrrhus such great losses in the army that he exclaimed: "Another such victory, and we are lost!" Indeed, in the following year, 278, the Romans defeated Pyrrhus. Hence the expression "Pyrrhic victory" in the meaning: a dubious victory that does not justify the sacrifices incurred for it.
Dictionary of winged words. Plutex. 2004.
What does "pyrrhic victory" mean?
Maxim Maksimovich
There is a region of Epirus in Greece. Epirus king Pyrrhus in 280 BC. e. waged a long and brutal war with Rome. Twice he managed to win victories; in his army there were war elephants, and the Romans did not know how to fight with them. Nevertheless, the second victory was given to Pyrrhus at the cost of such sacrifices that, according to legend, he exclaimed after the battle: “Another such victory - and I will be left without an army!”
The war ended in defeat and the retreat of Pyrrhus from Italy. The words “Pyrrhic victory” have long since become a designation for success, bought at such a high price that, perhaps, defeat would have been no less profitable: “Victory fascist troops near Yelnya and Smolensk in 1941 turned out to be "Pyrrhic victories".
~ Fish ~
Ausculum, a city in the North. Puglia (Italy), near which in 279 BC. e. there was a battle between the troops of the Epirus king Pyrrhus and the Roman troops during the wars of Rome for the conquest of South. Italy. The Epirus army broke the resistance of the Romans within two days, but its losses were so great that Pyrrhus said: "one more such victory and I will have no more warriors." Hence the expression "Pyrrhic victory".
The expression "Pyrrhic victory" has also become winged. How did it come about? What does it mean?
Roma Subbotin
Pyrrhic victory
There is a region of Epirus in Greece. Epirus king Pyrrhus in 280 BC. e. waged a long and brutal war with Rome. Twice he managed to win victories; in his army there were war elephants, and the Romans did not know how to fight with them. Nevertheless, the second victory was given to Pyrrhus at the cost of such sacrifices that, according to legend, he exclaimed after the battle: "Another such victory - and I will be left without an army!" The war ended with the defeat and retreat of Pyrrhus from Italy. The words “Pyrrhic victory” have long since become a designation of success, bought at such a high price that, perhaps, a defeat would have been no less profitable: “The victories of the fascist troops near Yelnya and Smolensk in 1941 turned out to be Pyrrhic victories.
Bulat haliullin
The Roman Republic was at war with Greece in 200-300 BC. e.
The king of a small Greek state (Epirus) was Pyrrhus
In one of the campaigns, his army defeated the army of Rome, but suffered monstrous losses.
As a result, he lost the next battle, and then he himself was killed by a piece of a tiled roof during street fighting.
Kikoghost
When Pyrrhus in 279 BC e. won another victory over the Roman army, examining it, he saw that more than half of the soldiers died. Astonished, he exclaimed: "Another such victory, and I will lose the whole army." The expression means victory equal to defeat, or victory for which too much has been paid.
Nadezhda sushitskaya
A victory that came at too high a cost. Too many losses.
The origin of this expression is due to the battle of Ascullus in 279 BC. e. Then the Epirusian army of King Pyrrhus for two days attacked the Roman troops and broke their resistance, but the losses were so great that Pyrrhus remarked: “One more such victory, and I will be left without an army”
The king who won at too high a cost. What answer?
Athanasius44
Pyrrhic victory- an expression that entered all the dictionaries of the world and appeared more than 2 thousand years ago, when the king of Epirus Pyrrhus was able to defeat the Romans at the town of Ausculum during his raid on the Apennine Peninsula. In a two-day battle, his army lost about three and a half thousand soldiers, and only the successful actions of 20 war elephants helped him break the Romans.
King Pyrrhus, by the way, was a relative of Alexander of Mecedon, was his second cousin, so he had someone to learn from. Although in the end he lost the war with the Romans, he returned to his place. And after 7 years, during an attack on Macedonia, he was killed in the city of Argos, when a woman from the defenders of the city threw tiles at him from the roof of a house.
Vafa Aliyeva
Pyrrhic victory - this expression owes its origin to the battle of Ausculum in 279 BC. e. Then the Epirusian army of King Pyrrhus for two days attacked the Roman troops and broke their resistance, but the losses were so great that Pyrrhus remarked: “One more such victory, and I will be left without an army.”
Tamil123
We are talking about the king of Epirus and Macedonia - King Pyrrhus. He fought with Ancient Rome. King Pyrrhus suffered heavy losses, which is why that war became the idiom "Pyrrhic victory" - a victory on the way to which there were so many losses that the taste of victory is not felt.
Valery146
The Greek king Pyrrhus won the battle with the enemy, losing more than half of his troops and realized that one more such victory and he would have no soldiers left.
Thus, the expression Pyrrhic victory appeared, that is, a victory given at a very large, usually unacceptable price!
Probably it was PYRRHUS. Since then, this victory bears his name and is called the Pyrrhic victory, that is, the sacrifices made for this victory do not in any way correspond to the victory itself, but are equated with defeat. This is how I understand this expression.
Pyrrhic victory
Pyrrhic victory
According to the ancient Greek historian Plutarch, the king of Epirus Pyrrhus in 279 BC. e., after his victory over the Romans at Asculum, he exclaimed: "Another such victory, and we are lost." Another version of the same phrase is known: "One more such victory, and I will be left without an army."
In this battle, Pyrrhus won thanks to the presence in his army of war elephants, against which at that time the Romans did not yet know how to fight and therefore were powerless before them, “as if before rising water or a destructive earthquake,” as Plutarch wrote. The Romans then had to leave the battlefield and retreat to
their camp, which, according to the customs of those times, meant a complete victory for Pyrrhus. But the Romans fought courageously, so the winner that day lost as many soldiers as the defeated - 15 thousand people. Hence this bitter confession of Pyrrhus.
Contemporaries compared Pyrrhus to a dice player who always makes a good throw, but does not know how to use this luck. As a result, this feature of Pyrrhus killed him. Moreover, an ominous role in his death was played by his own “miracle weapon” - war elephants.
When Pyrrhus's army besieged the Greek city of Argos, his warriors found a way to infiltrate the sleeping city. They would have captured it completely bloodlessly, if not for the decision of Pyrrhus to bring war elephants into the city. They did not pass through the gates - the battle towers installed on them interfered. They began to take them off, then put them on the animals again, which caused a noise. The Argives grabbed their weapons, fighting began in the narrow city streets. There was general confusion: no one heard orders, no one knew who was where, what was happening on the next street. Argos has become a huge trap for the Epirus army.
Pyrrhus tried to get out of the "captured" city as soon as possible. He sent a messenger to his son, who was standing near the city with a detachment, with an order to urgently break part of the wall so that the Epirus warriors would quickly leave the city. But the messenger misunderstood the order, and the son of Pyrrhus moved to the city to help his father. So two oncoming streams collided at the gate - those retreating from the city and those who hurried to their aid. To top it all off, the elephants rebelled: one lay down right at the gate, not wanting to move at all, the other, the most powerful, nicknamed Nikon, having lost his wounded driver friend, began to look for him, rush about and trample on both his own and other people's soldiers. Finally, he found his friend, grabbed him with his trunk, put him on his tusks and rushed out of the city, crushing everyone he met.
In this turmoil, Pyrrhus himself died. He fought a young Argos-sktsm warrior whose mother, like all the women of the city, stood on the roof of her house. Being near the place of the fight, she saw her son and decided to help him. Having broken the tiles from the roof, she threw them at Pyrrhus and hit him in the neck, which was not protected by armor. The commander fell and was finished off on the ground.
But, besides this "sad-born" phrase, Pyrrhus is also known for some achievements that enriched the military affairs of that time. So. he was the first to enclose the military camp with a defensive rampart and a moat. Before him, the Romans surrounded their camp with wagons, so its arrangement usually ended.
Allegorically: a victory that came at a very high cost; success equal to defeat (iron.).
Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M.: "Lokid-Press". Vadim Serov. 2003 .
Pyrrhic victory
Epirus king Pyrrhus in 279 BC defeated the Romans at the Battle of Ausculum. But this victory, as Plutarch (in the biography of Pyrrhus) and other ancient historians tell, cost Pyrrhus such great losses in the army that he exclaimed: "Another such victory, and we are lost!" Indeed, in the following year, 278, the Romans defeated Pyrrhus. Hence the expression "Pyrrhic victory" in the meaning: a dubious victory that does not justify the sacrifices incurred for it.
Dictionary of winged words. Plutex. 2004
Synonyms:
See what "Pyrrhic victory" is in other dictionaries:
Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov
PYRRHIC VICTORY. see victory. Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov
Exist., number of synonyms: 2 wins (28) losses (12) ASIS Synonym Dictionary. V.N. Trishin. 2013 ... Synonym dictionary
Pyrrhic victory- wing. sl. Epirus king Pyrrhus in 279 BC e. defeated the Romans at the Battle of Ausculum. But this victory, as Plutarch tells (in the biography of Pyrrhus) and other ancient historians, cost Pyrrhus such great losses in the army that he ... ... Universal optional practical Dictionary I. Mostitsky
Pyrrhic victory- Book. A victory discounted by excessive losses. The impresario jumped up and greeted Rachmaninoff with a respectfully jocular bow. I confess that you won... But no matter how it turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory. Serious trials await you ... All the collection from my ... ... Phrasebook Russian literary language
Pyrrhic victory- a stable combination A dubious victory that does not justify the sacrifices made for it. Etymology: After the name of the Epirus king Pyrrhus (Greek Pyrros), who defeated the Romans in 279 BC. e. a victory that cost him enormous losses. Encyclopedic ... ... Popular dictionary of the Russian language
Pyrrhic victory- Victory, given at the cost of such huge losses that it becomes doubtful or not worth it (from historical event victory of King Pyrrhus over the Romans at the cost of huge losses) ... Dictionary of many expressions
Campaign of Pyrrhus A Pyrrhic victory, a victory won too dearly; victory equals defeat. This expression owes its origin to the battle of Ausculum in 2 ... Wikipedia
- (on behalf of the Epirus king Pyrrhus, who won a victory over the Romans in 279 BC, which cost him huge losses) a dubious victory that does not justify the sacrifices made for it. New dictionary foreign words. by EdwART, 2009 … Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
Pyrrhic victory- bookstore a victory that cost too many sacrifices, and therefore tantamount to defeat. The expression is associated with the victory of the Epirus king Pyrrhus over the Romans (279 BC), which cost him such losses that, according to Plutarch, he exclaimed: “Another one ... ... Phraseology Handbook
Books
- Demyansk battle. "Stalin's missed triumph" or "Hitler's Pyrrhic victory"?", Simakov Alexander Petrovich. This battle was the longest battle of the Great Patriotic War, which dragged on for a year and a half, from September 1941 to March 1943. This bloody battle was announced by both sides...