What does Procrustean bed mean? phraseology meaning. The meaning of the phraseological unit Procrustean bed

Answer from Ore element[guru]
In Greek mythology there was such a character as Procrustes. who measured everyone according to his bed, and whoever was longer had his legs cut off.

Answer from Mishka Shengelia[newbie]
PROCRUSTES' BED, in Greek mythology, a bed on which the giant robber Procrustes forcibly laid travelers: the tall ones cut off those parts of the body that did not fit, the small ones he stretched the bodies (hence the name Procrustes - “stretcher”).
Procrustes-Polypemon himself had to lie down on this bed: the hero of ancient Greek myths Theseus, having defeated Procrustes, did to him the same way as he did to his captives...
The story of Procrustes was first found in the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC).
In a figurative sense, it is an artificial measure that does not correspond to the essence of the phenomenon.

Answer from Anna Sirik[newbie]
This phraseological unit is of ancient Greek origin. There was a robber there whose name was Procrustes. And he had a bed that you squeezed and then stretched. The robber was a sadist and I put my aunts on this bed. If the unfortunate person was shorter than the bed, then they stretched him along the length, while playing the person alive. And if it was hotter, then those parts of her body that were sticking out were cut off. No one could defeat Procrustes, only Hercules put him on this bed and cut off his head. Now this phraseology is used as an example of something that does not fit into a pleasant framework at all. Also Procrustes, a character in the myths of ancient Greece, the robber is also known under the name of the house or Polybius, who lay in wait for Travelers on the road between Megara and Athens, he deceived his house of travelers, then he laid them on his bed and those whose legs were cut off short, and those whose legs were too big, I stretched them out. longer than this bed

Answer from Ekaterina Vladimirova[newbie]
Crap

Answer from Lyudmila Shurchkova[newbie]
In Greek mythology there was such a character as Procrustes. who measured everyone according to his bed, and whoever was longer had his legs cut off.

Answer from Yorgey Zhilenko[newbie]

Procrustes (ancient Greek Προκρούστης “stretching”) is a character in the myths of Ancient Greece, a robber (also known as Damaste or Polypemon), who lay in wait for travelers on the road between Megara and Athens. He deceived travelers into his house. Then he laid them on his bed, and those whose legs were short, cut off their legs, and those whose legs were too long, he stretched their legs along the length of this bed.

Answer from Olga xarhenko[newbie]
I

Answer from Kostya Ostankin[newbie]

Answer from Omasheva Yulia[newbie]
The expression “Procrustean bed” has become popular and means the desire to fit something into a rigid framework or artificial standard, sometimes sacrificing something essential for this. Is a type of logical error
Procrustus (ancient Greek ????????????? “stretching”) is a character in the myths of Ancient Greece, a robber (also known as Damastus or Polypemon), who lay in wait for travelers on the road between Megara and Athens. He deceived travelers into his house. Then he laid them on his bed, and those whose legs were short, cut off their legs, and those whose legs were too long, he stretched their legs along the length of this bed.

Answer from Kirill Popov[newbie]
In Greek mythology there was such a character as Procrustes. He measured everyone according to his bed; whoever was larger than the box, he bit off his head and legs, and whoever was smaller, he stretched him and died from it.

Answer from Yergey Borisovich[active]
The expression “Procrustean bed” has become popular and means the desire to fit something into a rigid framework or artificial standard, sometimes sacrificing something essential for this. Is a type of logical error
Procrustus (ancient Greek ????????????? “stretching”) is a character in the myths of Ancient Greece, a robber (also known as Damastus or Polypemon), who lay in wait for travelers on the road between Megara and Athens. He deceived travelers into his house. Then he laid them on his bed, and those whose legs were short, cut off their legs, and those whose legs were too long, he stretched their legs along the length of this bed.

Answer from Proslav Parfilov[newbie]
the man robber Procrustes lured guests and laid them on the bed; if the person did not fit, then his legs were cut off, and if he was short, then he pulled him out

Answer from Guzel Rakhmatullina[newbie]
Procrustean bed is a cruel framework. Previously, there was such a ruler, Procrutus. He lured travelers to his home. There were two beds prepared there - one large, the other not so much. Procrustes laid tall people on a small bed, and chopped off the limbs that did not fit. And Procrustes laid small people on a large bed and stretched them out.

Answer from Oksana Teslenko[newbie]
This phraseological unit is of ancient Greek origin. There was a robber there whose name was Procrustes. And he had a bed that kept shrinking and stretching. The robber was a sadist and laid his victims on this bed. If the unfortunate person was shorter than the bed, then they stretched him along the length, while tearing the person alive. And if the victim was larger, then those parts of her body that stuck out were cut off. No one could defeat Procrustes and only Hercules laid him on this bed and cut off his head. Now this phraseological unit is used as an example of something that does not fit into the generally accepted framework.

Answer from Yovetlana Varavka[newbie]
Procrustean bed is:
From ancient Greek myths. Procrustes (Greek for "stretcher") is the nickname of a robber named Polypemon. He lived by the road and tricked travelers into his house. Then he laid them on his bed, and those whose legs were short, cut off their legs, and those whose legs were too long, he stretched their legs along the length of this bed.
Procrustes himself, Polypemon, had to lie down on this bed: the hero of ancient Greek myths, Theseus, having defeated Procrustes, did to him the same way as he did to his captives...
The story of Procrustes is first found in the ancient Greek ischo-ricist Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC).
Allegorically: an artificial standard, a formal template, into which real life, creativity, ideas, etc. are forcibly adjusted.

A Procrustean bed is a kind of framework into which they are trying to insert something by force; a self-selected requirement to which other similar ones are trying to fit; an incorrect measure that they are trying to apply despite everything; an artificially created norm that operates in a voluntaristic manner.

This expression has its roots in the myths of Ancient Greece. In one of them you can read about a bandit element named Procrustes (who also had such names as Polypemon, Damaste). He was engaged in real robbery, and this was not enough for him, and he invented for himself " interesting"entertainment. He went about his vile business on the road, about forty kilometers from Athens, which led to the city of Megara. This scoundrel made a special torture machine into which he put the caught travelers. If the size of the bed was too large for the victim, then he pulled her out to the required size, and if it was not enough, he cut off the poor fellow’s legs.

If we look at Wikipedia, we can read a more detailed description of this myth there. It turns out that this pervert and murderer had two beds, one small and the other large. He placed tall travelers in the first, and short people in the second. Therefore, not a single person had any chance to survive. According to rumors, Procrustes was a close relative of Poseidon, and accordingly was the brother of the well-known Theseus, who actually finished him off. Let’s not delve into these mythical jungles; much is unclear there and is the topic of a separate article.

Read also: the meaning of the expression Sisyphean labor

"The Athenian king Aegeus was married twice, but neither of them brought him a child. He became weak and had to face his old age alone. In his declining years, he decided to make a long journey to the Delphic Oracle to find out how to get him a son. He, as usual, became dark and answered in a completely incomprehensible way. Therefore, reluctantly, Aegeus went to the city of Trezena, where lived a man known for his wisdom and intelligence far beyond the borders of Greece. He cherished the hope that he would interpret the words of the oracle to him.

Having conveyed the foreshadowing verbatim, Pittheus was able to understand the hidden meaning, which meant that the elderly king from Athens was destined to have a son who, with his amazing exploits and good deeds, would earn himself great fame and glory. To cling to this glory, Pittheus marries his beautiful daughter Ephra to King Aegeus, who gave birth to a son from him. So that part of the glory would touch the family of Pittheus, he began to spread rumors everywhere that the father of the born son was not the Athenian king at all, but the god of the sea himself - Poseidon. The baby was given a name - Theseus. After his wedding, King Aegeus decided to return to his palace in Athens, so he left the hospitable city of Trezna, because he feared for his crown, because 50 sons of Pallant remained in Athens, who were eager to take power from him.

When leaving, Aegeus did not forget about his son; he decided to give him an unusual gift. Finding a large rock near the city, he buried two sandals and a sword under it. And after that he told his wife that when Theseus became strong enough to move this huge rock and get the sword and sandals hidden there, then let her send him to Athens. Until this day, Theseus was forbidden to talk about his origin".

Feat of Theseus

"Theseus grew up all these years like an ordinary boy until he turned 16 years old. The mother, seeing how strong her son had grown up, went to her to the block under which the sword and sandals were securely hidden so that he could test his strength. The guy showed his best side, lifting the heavy rock without any tension and then taking out sandals and a sword from under it. After this, Efra told him about his origin, told him who his real father was and sent him to Athens. Inspired by stories about great battles and mighty warriors, this young man began to get ready for the journey.

Athens could be reached in two ways, by land and by sea. Since traveling by sea was much safer, his mother insisted on this particular route, because all along the road to Athens he could meet huge monsters, which so inopportunely began to multiply intensively. Previously, Hercules kept an eye on the number of these dangerous creatures, but since he was now in captivity, there was no one to monitor their population and they committed the most heinous crimes. After listening to his grandfather and mother, Theseus became thoughtful and decided to play the role that Hercules had previously played.

Having passed the city of Eleusis, Theseus came across the evil robber Damastus. This lawless man had a special bed on which travelers passing by were obliged to lie down. If the bed was too big for them, he beat them and at the same time stretched their legs, but in short, he simply cut off their legs. This man also had another name, he was called Procrustes, which means puller. However, with Theseus everything turned out exactly the opposite. He forced Procrustes himself to lie down in this bed, and since this robber was of great stature, he cut off his legs and he died from loss of blood, experiencing extreme pain."

The myth about Procrustes and his bed is not original. For example, in the Talmud from Babylon there is an interesting legend that the inhabitants of the city of Sodom had a special bed for travelers. When a traveler was forcibly tied to it and if he was longer than the bed, then his limbs were cut off, and if he was shorter, then his legs were stretched out. It was for these disgusting acts that this city was wiped off the face of the earth along with all its inhabitants.

Bed of Procrustes video

Procrustean bed
From ancient Greek myths. Procrustes (Greek for "stretcher") is the nickname of a robber named Polypemon. He lived by the road and tricked travelers into his house. Then he laid them on his bed, and those whose legs were short, cut off their legs, and those whose legs were too long, he stretched their legs along the length of this bed.
Procrustes himself, Polypemon, had to lie down on this bed: the hero of ancient Greek myths, Theseus, having defeated Procrustes, did to him the same way as he did to his captives...
The story of Procrustes is first found in the ancient Greek ischo-ricist Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC).
Allegorically: an artificial standard, a formal template, into which real life, creativity, ideas, etc. are forcibly adjusted.

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Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- in Greek mythology, a bed on which the giant robber Procrustes forcibly laid travelers: the tall ones cut off those parts of the body that did not fit, the small ones he stretched the bodies...
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- Wed. The literature of the forties did not know any freedoms; it was exhausted every hour on the Procrustean bed of all kinds of shortenings. Saltykov. All year round. November 1st...
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"Procrustean Bed" in books

Chapter 3 Procrustean Tester's Bed

From the book Red Falcon author Shmorgun Vladimir Kirillovich

Chapter 3 The tester's Procrustean bed In Moscow, Ivan Fedorov first of all paid his respects to the head of the Aeronautics Research Institute, from whom he received a call, and then met with his mentor in flight test practice Valery Chkalov. Room

18. NOT A PROCRUSTES BED AT ALL

From the book Reality in Advertising by Reeves Rosser

18. NOT A PROCRUSTES BED AT ALL The hero of one of the myths, King Procrustes, had a bed that had to be exactly the right length for any guests. If the guest turned out to be too short, he was pulled up on the rack and stretched, which, by the way, caused him significant

Book II. Modern times and the denial of antifragility (Procrustean Bed)

author Taleb Nassim Nicholas

Book II. Modern times and the denial of antifragility (Procrustean Bed) Chapter 5. Two different categories of chance using the example of the biographies of two brothers. Why Switzerland is not controlled from above. Difference between Mediocristan and Extremestan. Advantages of city-states and

Nonlinearity and “less is more” (and the Procrustean bed)

From the book Antifragile [How to benefit from chaos] author Taleb Nassim Nicholas

Nonlinearity and “less is more” (and the Procrustean bed) Fig. 19. This graph explains both the nonlinearity of the response and the principle of “less is more.” When the dose exceeds a certain amount, the benefits begin to wane. We have seen that everything is nonlinear either

V. In the imperial box

author

VII. In the Masonic lodge

From the book Satanists of the 20th century author Shabelskaya-Bork Elizaveta Alexandrovna

VII. In the Masonic lodge On the corner of two small but elegant streets located in the very center of Berlin (connecting the famous boulevard “Under the Linden Trees” with the central warehouse on “Friedrichstrasse”), there is a small gray house, seeming even smaller from the proximity of those around it

Bed

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (LO) by the author TSB

Procrustean bed

From the book Encyclopedic Dictionary of Catchwords and Expressions author Serov Vadim Vasilievich

From the book 3333 tricky questions and answers author

Procrustean bed of adaptation

From the book Gods in Every Man [Archetypes that control the lives of men] author Jin Shinoda is sick

The Procrustean Bed of Accommodation The adjustment required of men in our patriarchal culture is similar to the Procrustean bed described in Greek mythology. The robber Procrustes, who lay in wait for travelers on the road from Megara to

2.11 Procrustean bed of equalization

From the book Power. Elite, people [Subconscious and managed democracy] author Zykin Dmitry

2.11 Procrustean bed of equalization All animals are equal, but some are more equal. (Orwell) Analyzing the collapse of the socialist system, one cannot avoid considering such a phenomenon as “equalization”. At one time, the theme of equalization was one of the cornerstones in operations

4. Procrustean bed scheme

From the book Nomenclature. The ruling class of the Soviet Union author Voslensky Mikhail Sergeevich

4. Procrustean bed of the scheme Only one thing testifies in favor of the Stalinist scheme of the social structure of the USSR: the fact that every Soviet citizen can really be classified into one of three categories - workers, collective farmers, employees (which is perceived as a synonym

Forecast or Procrustean bed?

From the book Time of Demographic Change. Featured Articles author Vishnevsky Anatoly Grigorievich

Forecast or Procrustean bed? One of the main reasons for practical interest in the theory of demographic transition is that it provides grounds for predicting future demographic trends, albeit in the most general form. It allows you to understand the meaning

How did the expression “Procrustean bed” come about and what does it mean?

From the book The Newest Book of Facts. Volume 2 [Mythology. Religion] author Kondrashov Anatoly Pavlovich

How did the expression “Procrustean bed” come about and what does it mean? The ancient Greeks tell the following about the origin of this expression. Along the coastal road from Troezen to Athens there once lived a robber named Procrustes. In his house there were two beds: one large and the other

Procrustean bed of education.

From the book Healing with Thoughts author Vasyutin Vasyutin

Procrustean bed of education. If upbringing does not allow a person to shed harmful and unnecessary prohibitions, then his attractions may manifest themselves in the form of necrophilia, homosexuality, excitable psychopathy or other forms of perverted behavior. Imperative and

Expression value

“Procrustean bed” is a fairly common phraseology. It originates from ancient times. A story has been preserved about one robber nicknamed Procrustes. This man became famous not for his good deeds, but for his atrocities. Legend has it that he had a special

the bed on which the prisoners were laid. He shortened those who turned out to be larger than this “standard”, cutting off all protruding parts of the body, and lengthened the short ones by twisting their joints. Theseus put an end to the villainy, laying Procrustes on his own bed: he turned out to be a head longer, so he had to be shortened. Over time, the stable expression “Procrustean bed” appeared. Its meaning is the desire to drive any manifestation of individuality into a rigid framework. Most often this happens in culture or art.

Historical excursion

History provides many examples of attempts to squeeze all aspects of human life into an invented framework. This happened both during the deep Middle Ages and in later historical periods, when man already considered himself a civilized and humane being. This is happening now, although it would seem that freedom of speech and personality, the right to self-determination and much more are recognized. We are outraged by the laws of the Middle Ages and the church, which fought for absolute

power drove people into certain limits. Those who did not fit into them were destroyed. This is a prime example of what “Procrustean bed” means. The totalitarian dictatorships of the twentieth century did the same. Everyone over forty remembers well how almost every aspect of a person’s life was controlled, and what happened to those they didn’t like. Why not a Procrustean bed? But something else is surprising: even the democratic structure of state power does not save us from this phenomenon. All the same, there is always a desire to first come up with “standards”, and then adjust everything and everyone to them. And those who are unsuitable should be condemned, “pulled up” or “shortened”, depending on the circumstances.

Cause of the phenomenon

But any government system does not exist on its own. Its basis is the people living in this country. Why do we, each individually a unique personality, try to drive others into a Procrustean bed, acting as a robber-villain? The answer to this phenomenon lies in the thinking of man and his

worldview. In order to accept another person, he must be recognized as an equal, come to terms with someone else's individuality. How many of us are capable of this? To do this, you need to have a fairly broad outlook and flexible thinking. We are always indignant that those around us do not understand us and force us to conform to their idea of morality and the correctness of our actions. For our part, we do the same. We solve other people's problems in one fell swoop, evaluate the behavior of others, condemn, approve. At the same time, we don’t even think about the fact that we simply do not have the moral right to do this. After all, every middle-aged person has his own standards and patterns with which he measures what is happening. This creates a Procrustean bed. And anyone can at any moment find themselves in the role of a villain or a victim.

PROCRUSTEAN BED

a standard to which they strive to forcefully fit, to adapt that which does not fit it. An expression from ancient mythology. Procrustes Polypomenes, son of Neptune, a robber and torturer, caught passers-by and put them on his bed. For those whose legs were longer than the stock, he cut them off, and for those whose legs were shorter, he stretched them out, hanging weights from their legs.

Handbook of phraseology. 2012