What does the word fury mean? Who are the furies

Often in people's conversations you can hear "Well, fury!" or “Look, this is a real fury!”. From the context of the conversation, it is obvious that people usually use this definition to refer to women who, in their evil insanity, are able to demolish everything in their path, including various kinds of obstacles, and it is better not to fall under their hot hand at such moments.

Furies - who are they?

The goddess, distinguished by a frenzied riot, uncontrollable rage - that's who such a fury is. The definition of the word makes it clear that it comes from the Latin Furiae, furire, which means "to rage, to be angry." From this it is clear that in an allegorical sense, people mean evil, terrible women in their anger and revenge - after all, initially it was the female, and not the male, personified the terrible punishment for the committed sins.

Furies in mythology

These creatures came to us from ancient Roman mythology, and the Romans borrowed them from the Greeks, who called the furies erinia, and later eumenides. And, if the Romans have furies - the goddess of revenge, then the literal translation from Greek gives a completely different definition - respectable, merciful. Where did such discrepancies in the designation of this concept come from?

Furies in Roman mythology

Furious, bloodthirsty, insatiable, never resting terrible creatures with bloodshot faces, forever pursuing a person who has committed an unforgivable act - these are the furies in Roman mythology. Since the Romans borrowed the entire pantheon of gods from the Greeks almost literally, without particularly going into the subtleties and nuances of details and definitions, the furies were endowed with the same functions and that the early Greeks assigned to them. Later, the mocking atheistic Romans called furies, like our contemporaries, women who fell into a violent rage.

Furies in Greek mythology

But among the ancient Greeks, their unstoppable erinnia evolved to eumenides, personifying a fair and impartial court. According to Greek mythology, the goddesses of revenge were born during the first crime committed by the gods - when Kronos, who decided to seize power, killed his father Uranus, the Eumenides arose from the drops of the latter's blood. Initially, the Greeks believed that there were a lot of them - up to thirty thousand, but then Aeschylus in his tragedies brought out only three - Tisiphone (not tired of revenge), Alecto (who does not know how to forgive) and Megara (evil envious).

Goddesses, incessantly thirsting for revenge for the murder - that's what the furies were in ancient Greece. Pallas Athena persuaded the Erinyes to settle forever in Ancient Greece, assuring them that the inhabitants would honor them as one of the most respected goddesses, and the Erinyes had mercy. Later, they personified a strict and impartial trial of those suspected of terrible deeds and were already called Eumenides (venerable, merciful). Aeschylus generally identified them with Moira, goddesses of fate.

What do furies look like?

Terrible old women with hair in the form of snakes, bared teeth and clawed hands outstretched to the criminal - this is what the furies look like in ancient Greek mythology, and indeed, vindictiveness and a thirst for murder cannot look attractive, an envious person cannot be tender and feminine, therefore such images repel, inspire horror and disgust. When they say that someone behaves like a fury in everyday life, people are not inclined to endow this image with positive features.

A fury woman is, as a rule, a person who does not know how to control herself, bringing down all her people on those around her, indiscriminately destroying everything in her path. In fact, in our current understanding, this is hysterical. And hysteria is a mental disorder, and the same ancient Greeks and Romans knew about it. Plato called hysteria "womb rage". Such women look extremely unattractive, this is also evidenced by the popular expression “suddenly became a fury”, when a seemingly outwardly calm woman suddenly, at the wave of a wand, turned into a furious hag.

FURY

FURY

1. A grumpy, angry woman (book). “She… is such and such a fury that God forbid.” A. Ostrovsky . "I found a landowner, an innumerable fool, and a wife - a wicked fury." Fonvizin .

Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935-1940.

See what "FURY" is in other dictionaries:

Furia: Furia in ancient Roman mythology, the goddess of revenge. In ancient Greek mythology, the Erinyes correspond to the furies. Fury grumpy, angry woman (see: Dal, Ushakov) "Fury" fighter of the Royal Air Force of Britain. Giacomo Furia ... ... Wikipedia

See grumpy... Dictionary of Russian synonyms and expressions similar in meaning. under. ed. N. Abramova, M .: Russian dictionaries, 1999. angry, grumpy fury; vixen, witch, evildoer, harpy, Erinnia, revenge, evildoer Dictionary of Russian synonyms ... Synonym dictionary

- (lat. furia, frenzy, frenzy, madness, rage). Goddess of vengeance, one of the three hellish goddesses, punishers of criminals, depicted with whips in their hands and snakes instead of hair; hence in general: an evil grumpy woman. Dictionary of foreign words ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

fury- and, well. furie f. , lat. furia. 1. trans., colloquial. About a very angry, grumpy woman. BAS 1. This fury, using the stupid credulity of her husband for evil, will contribute to the innocent Hippolytus a vile story. Pushk. Refutation to critics... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

From ancient Roman mythology. Furies in ancient Rome were called the three goddesses of vengeance (in Greek erinia). In ancient Greek literature, they were first described by the playwright Aeschylus (525 456 BC) in the form of disgusting old women with bloodshot ... ... Dictionary of winged words and expressions

FURY, and, wives. (colloquial). An evil, quarrelsome woman [by the name of the avenger goddess in ancient Roman mythology]. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

Female angry, violent woman; from Greek divinity. Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary. IN AND. Dal. 1863 1866 ... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

- (Megera) foreign language: violently evil woman Cf. She ... such a fury that God does not punish (to have business with her). Ostrovsky. In a busy place. 1, 3. Cf. I found a landowner, an innumerable fool, and a wicked fury wife, whose hellish temper makes misfortune ... ... Michelson's Big Explanatory Phraseological Dictionary

fury- FURY, and, f Mythological creature in the form of an old ugly woman, one of the three goddesses of revenge (in ancient Roman mythology). The fury avenged the ancient heroes for their exploits ... Explanatory dictionary of Russian nouns

Rage, fury, early. from Peter I; see Smirnov 318. Later also about an angry woman. Through him. Furie fury (since 1600; see Schultz I, 229) or Polish. furia - the same from lat. furia rage, goddess of vengeance: furere rampage... Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language by Max Fasmer

Books

• Major Grom and Red Fury. Volume 7. In the Heart of Darkness
• Major Grom and the Red Fury. Volume 7. In the Heart of Darkness, Gabrelyanov Artem. Igor Grom is an experienced investigator from St. Petersburg, known for his punchy character and uncompromising stance towards criminals of all stripes. But even in an ideal life...

Fury. A kind of Medusa Gorgon with a swarming ball of snakes instead of hair. Furies appeared at the first committed crime. In ancient Greek mythology, when Kronos wounded his father Uranus, drops of blood, falling, gave birth to furies. Creatures born by Gaia are often mentioned in many tales and legends... In Roman mythology they are called furies, in ancient Greek goddesses of vengeance they are called Erinyes. If you believe one of the legends, then the Erinyes are the children of Nikta and Erebus, the deities of night darkness and complete darkness. Their number varies - according to the Orphics, these are the nine daughters of Zeus Chthonius and Persephone, Pseudo - Heraclitus claims that there are thirty thousand of them. Later, one can meet the judgments of the poets that the three of them are the envious Megara, the embodiment of revenge and anger, Tisiphon, who avenges the murder and unforgiving Alecto. The sisters came into the light from the underworld of Hades and Persephone in order to ignite insane, violent malice in them and ignite revenge. Tisiphon punished the guilty by beating them with a whip and intimidating them with vipers. Alecto, having turned into a snake, and saturated with the poison of the Gorgon, penetrated into the chest of the queen of the Latins Amata and caused madness, filling her entire being with anger. Among her crimes is also the case when, having become an ugly hag, she unleashed a terrible bloodshed, influencing Turn, the leader of the rutuls.

There is a myth according to which Orestes was persecuted by the furies because he, on the orders of Apollo, killed his mother. Trying to protect him from the attacks of the angry goddesses, Apollo was able to put them to sleep for a while. Athena-Pallas acted much more reasonably, justifying Orestes with the help of the first trial. But they continued to rage, because they are also goddesses of remorse, punishing a person for committed sins. Athena managed to pacify the seething anger of the Erinyes, convincing them to stay in Attica and promising that all Athenians would henceforth honor them. So the Erinyes, having calmed down, turned to Eumenides and began to live in a cave on the slope of the Athenian acropolis.

Later, the word became a household name, they were often called something evil and furious, belonging to the female sex. Something swift, flying and angry, destroying everything in its path.

In Russian, the word "fury" is quite often used in a different sense. So called angry, nervous, quick-tempered and angry women. Raging for any reason. Husbands are often ironic, calling their frantic little wife such a by no means endearing word. The comparison “turned into a fury” is especially common, that is, they say, suddenly a kind and quiet woman suddenly became grumpy. For me, for example, this is always a strong catalyst. I do not want to be awarded such a nickname and always try to restrain my emotions.

It was curious to watch a video clip of one of the domestic pop groups called "Fury". Here, in the form of a fury, a fatal brunette appeared, distinguished by her appetizing and sexy forms. She also called for an unconventional and free lifestyle. Later, a transvestite appeared, dressed in the same "little black dress" and defiling along the catwalk. Apparently, the definition of "fury" has many other meanings, hitherto unknown to us.

Fury is a word that has many lexical meanings. Its history of origin is quite interesting and goes into the deep past. Who are they and what do dragons have to do with this definition - we will find out further in the article.

Etymology of the word

Furia in translation from the Roman language means "furious", "mad". In turn, these words come from the verb furire - "to rage."

Mythology

In Fury, this is the embodiment of revenge, a deity that pursues a person if he has committed a terrible crime. In ancient Greek mythology, these goddesses (there are several of them) are called Erinyes.

Their power is high, and even the demigods, such as the great Hercules, could not escape their punishment. They are not interested in whether a person committed a crime of his own free will, he will be punished in any case. Hercules killed his children and nephews when Hera, who hated him with all her might, sent madness on the hero. In this state, blinded by terrible visions, he committed a monstrous deed. The Furies did not forgive him, since Hercules had the blood of innocents on his hands, and pursued him wherever he went. Only the atonement of guilt through the accomplishment of famous feats and purification from spilled blood saved the hero from the goddesses of vengeance.

The number of furies in different sources is not the same: from one (in Homer) to nine. There are three Erinyes in the poems of later authors. These are the sisters of Alecto, Megara and Tisiphone. According to legend, they were born as a result of the commission of the first crime - when Kronos castrated his father Uranus in the struggle for power. Drops of divine blood and turned into furies (eriny). There are other versions of the origin of these deities: they are the daughters of Nyukta (night darkness) and Kronos.

The appearance is also ambiguous. They were depicted with snakes instead of hair on their heads, with dog muzzles and wings, like bats. In many works of ancient authors, they act as hunters, armed with whips and with torches in their hands.

Their habitat is indicated in different ways - this is a cave near or the underworld of Hades.

So, according to mythology, fury is a synonym for the word "erinia", and denotes the goddess of vengeance. Their number can be different, and they pursue the criminal, torturing him and sending madness.

The second meaning of the word

If you look in reference books or encyclopedias, you can find out another interpretation of the word "fury" - this is the designation of a grumpy, evil woman. In this case, the term is used in a figurative sense. Most often it is used in fiction and quite rarely - in ordinary speech.

Fantastic cinematic world - the third source of the word "fury"

Fantasy connoisseurs, of course, know such a character as Riddick. He is the hero of several films and a computer game. The owner of an exotic appearance - he has super-sensitive eyes that allow him to see in complete darkness. Because of this feature, he is forced to wear dark glasses during the day.

As an adult, he learned about his origin. He is the last of the inhabitants of the planet Furies, whose inhabitants were destroyed by the Necromonger race. This happened because of a prophecy that said that the power of their lord would be overthrown by one of the Furians. To permanently eliminate the threat, the Necromongers killed everyone on the planet. How Riddick could survive is unknown, but one day the prophecy came true. Now he is obsessed with one idea - to find his home planet Furia.

Dragon Night Fury - fact or fiction?

After the release of the cartoon "How to Train Your Dragon", which instantly became incredibly popular among both young and adult viewers, interest in these legendary ones reappeared. Many wondered: "Does the Night Fury really exist?"

To find the answer, let's go back to the original source - the cartoon, and take a closer look at the character we are interested in. The Night Fury is one of the world's rarest young Viking Hiccups. Very smart, has an unusual color - the skin is almost black. with pupils that change shape depending on the mood. On the head of the Night Fury are eight processes that act as ears. With a modest body size, it has large wings, which allows this type of dragon to fly unusually quickly and maneuver dexterously.

Night Fury is an unsurpassed master of marksmanship. The main feature of this smartest creature is the ability to shoot a clot of blue flame, which explodes when it hits the target. He can easily control the strength and speed of his fiery breath.

The Night Fury is a dragon that prefers to hunt and attack at night, when it cannot be seen against the dark sky. That is why it is so named.

On the one hand, I would like to believe in the possibility of the existence of dragons. Probably, everyone would give a lot to see them live. On the other hand, these are extremely dangerous creatures, so it's better to remain mythical characters. However, dragons still exist, although not quite in the guise that legends paint us. There are giant Komodo dragons (monitors) and flying lizards, which are equipped with leather folds on the sides. They can spread into a kind of wings and allow you to glide in the air. In addition to these species, there are many more lizards that are very similar to small dragons.

Conclusion

Fury is a word that has an ancient origin, but has not lost its relevance in our days. It has come a long way of development - from the goddesses of vengeance in the Roman and to the name of your favorite cartoon character.