The Facts on File Dictionary of Allusions - Green Valley High School

previously failed to make much of an impact is
suddenly transformed into a great success. “This
was another powerful signal that primary education
had ceased to be the Cinderella of the education
ser vice in Leeds” (R. Alexander, Policy and
Practice in Primary Education, 1992).
Circe (sersee) A dangerous temptress. According
to Homer’s Odyssey (c. 700 b.c.), Circe was a beautiful
enchantress of the island of Aeaea who was in
the habit of transforming men who approached
her palace into swine. Several of Odysseus’s companions
suffered such a fate but Odysseus remained
immune to Circe’s power with the help of Hermes,
who advised him to protect himself by eating some
of a mysterious herb called “moly,” and obliged her
to restore his men to their original form. Odysseus
subsequently remained with the enchantress
for a year, during which time he visited the underworld
with her assistance, before continuing on
his voyage. “Wolf Larsen it was, always Wolf
Larsen, enslaver and tormentor of men, a male
Circe and these his swine, suffering brutes that
grovelled before him and revolted only in drunkenness
and in secrecy” (Jack London, <strong>The</strong> Sea- Wolf,
1904).
circle the wagons To form a defensive posture
against a threat of some kind. <strong>The</strong> phrase dates
back to the pioneering journeys undertaken by
migrants to the American West in the 19th century,
when wagon trains were customarily drawn
up into circles for defense each night to guard
against attack by hostile Native American tribes.
<strong>The</strong> image of pioneers resisting attack from within
their circles of wagons became a standard image of
Western movies in the 20th century. <strong>The</strong> White
House has decided to circle the wagons against this sustained
media attack.
Cisco Kid (sisko) Archetypal cowboy hero. <strong>The</strong>
Cisco Kid fi rst appeared in the guise of a Mexican
bandit in a short story by O. Henry called “<strong>The</strong>
Caballero’s Way” in 1907. Depicted as a Wild West
version of robin hood, he went on to appear in a
host of early silent movies, radio shows, and tele vision
series. In that big hat and that shirt he looks just
like the Cisco Kid.
cities of the plain See sodom and gomorrah.
Citizen Kane (kayn) Archetype of a hugely
wealthy but personally troubled tycoon. <strong>The</strong> 1941
movie Citizen Kane, starring Orson Welles as newspaper
proprietor Charles Foster Kane, was controversially
based upon the life of publishing
magnate William Randolph Hearst (1863–1951)
and regularly tops polls as the greatest movie ever
made. <strong>The</strong> press have decided to depict him as a second
Citizen Kane, but the truth is more complicated than
that. See also rosebud.
city of refuge A place of safety from one’s enemies.
<strong>The</strong> allusion is to Exodus 21:13 and Joshua
20:3, which describe how Moses and Joshua
named six cities of refuge “that the slayer that killeth
any person unawares and unwittingly may fl ee
thither: and they shall be your refuge from the
avenger of blood” (Joshua 20:3). People who had
committed accidental hom i cide were admitted to
one of these walled cities (Ramoth, Kedesh, Bezer,
Shechem, Hebron, and Golam) in order to evade
those who might seek vengeance. “He has been
deprived of his city of refuge, and, in my humble
opinion, has suffered infi nite wrong!” (Nathaniel
Hawthorne, <strong>The</strong> House of the Seven Gables, 1851).
city on a hill Utopia; a utopian community or
shining example of some kind. <strong>The</strong> phrase comes
city on a hill
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