Procrustean bed: what does this winged expression mean?

Procrustean bed is an expression that can be found in countless literary creations. Of course, this oral phraseology is rarely used in oral everyday communication. But here the meaning and history of its emergence are quite interesting.

What is a Procrustean bed? In order to find out this, one must turn to ancient history, or rather, to the myths of ancient Greece.

Procrustean bed - a bit of history

In his time, Procrustes was considered one of the most famous brigands in Greece. The cruelty of his atrocities literally amazed. By the way, in the works of various historians and art critics, this character is mentioned under different names. He is known for history both as Damast and as Polypemnon. The very name Procruste in the translation from the ancient Greek language means "stretching".

This robber lived in Attica and hunted people on the road between Athens and Megara. To begin with, Procrust cheated lonely travelers into his house. Here he offered them a hearty dinner and a warm bed.

But instead of the promised, he packed his guest on a couch. His further atrocities depended on the victim himself. If his prey was a short man for whom the bed was too large, then they tied him up and then beat him with a huge hammer, breaking bones and stretching joints until the person's height began to harmonize with the size of the bed.

With tall people, for whom the Procrustean bed was too small, the robber treated quite differently. He cut off all the emptying pieces until the person fit on the bed.

Procrustes ended his life in the same way as his victims. The hero of the ancient Greek myths Theseus laid him on the bed and cut off his head.

In fact, the Greek myths are not entirely accurate on this score. There is one more legend. Some sources say that Procrustes had a son from Silea, who was called Sinis. He also grew up a cruel man who attacked people in the forest, on the territory of the Isthmus of Corinth.

Sinis bent two trees and tied the limbs of a man to them, then released them. Thus, his victims were simply ripped apart. It is believed that Sinis was also killed by Theseus, and he died just as he killed his victims.

To date, it is not exactly known whether Sinis was the son of Procrustes, or is it the same person. Be that as it may, the robber died at the hands of Theseus - on this account all sources are unambiguous. But the expression "Procrustean bed" remains to this day

Procrustean bed: the meaning of the winged expression

So, we figured out how the expression itself came into being. But what does it mean? The Procrustean bed is a phraseology with very deep roots. It denotes a kind of a yardstick under which one tries to adjust something or adjust it in a violent way.

This winged expression is used if one wishes to emphasize the desire to forcefully force something into a rigid framework, while sacrificing something really important and significant.

Quite often this winged expression is used in art. Thus, the artists tried to emphasize that it is simply impossible to adjust the irrational nature of creativity to some limited concepts. Forcible attempts to do this will only lead to misunderstanding or loss of the original meaning. Creative people quite reasonably believe that it is impossible to fit or correct all the endless phenomena under some previously prepared conservative theories.

Procrustean bed exactly denotes these very boundaries, the limitations of the system, too rigid templates and artificially invented measurement.

Of course, in everyday communication this expression should not be used too often. It is not always appropriate, and not everyone can understand its true meaning.