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

own houses, and with a pang he discovered the
name he sought on the cyclopean base of a granite
shaft rearing its aggressive height at the angle of
two avenues” (Edith Wharton, <strong>The</strong> Touchstone,
1900). See also polyphemus.
cynic (sinik) A person who is inclined automatically
to think the worst of people or things. <strong>The</strong>
word was originally applied, for obscure reasons,
to the followers of the Greek phi los o pher Antisthenes
(c. 445–c. 360 b.c.), whose number
included Diogenes (411–322 b.c.). One suggestion
is that the group acquired the name from
kunikos (meaning “doglike”), a reference to their
coarse manners, while another has it that they
used to meet in a school called the Kunosarges
(meaning “white dog”). <strong>The</strong> Cynics rejected the
conventions and standards of society and instead
emphasized self- discipline of the individual. “<strong>The</strong>re
is very little intelligent design in the majority of
marriages; but they are none the worse for that.
Intelligence leads people astray as far as passion
sometimes. I know you are not a cynic” ( Joseph
Conrad, Chance, 1914).
Cynthia (sintheeb) Personifi cation of the Moon.
As a surname of Artemis and Diana in classical
mythology, Cynthia was so called after Mount
Cynthius in Delos, where she was reputed to have
been born. In Elizabethan times the name became
one of the epithets by which several leading poets
addressed Elizabeth I (1533–1603). <strong>The</strong> pale orb of
Cynthia dominated the scene, casting a wan glow over
the lawns leading down to the river.
Cyrano (sirbno) A tragicomic fi gure, especially
one with a large nose. <strong>The</strong> reference is to the
eponymous hero of Edmond Rostand’s verse
drama Cyrano de Bergerac (1897), a multitalented
cavalier with a big nose. <strong>The</strong> play centers on Cyrano’s
heroic self- sacrifi ce when he discovers that
Roxanne, the woman he loves, is in love with
someone else. <strong>The</strong> character of Cyrano was based
on a real person, the French writer and soldier
Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac (1619–55), whose
adventurous life included fi ghting more than 1,000
duels and success as a playwright. With his romantic
persona and misshapen nose he was constantly likened to
Cyrano de Bergerac.
Cyrano
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