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

heroic rescue, typically of a damsel in distress.
“Neil, who never thought of himself as in any
way a Galahad, or a knight errant in shining
armour, saving virgins under attack, nevertheless
felt compelled to investigate, particularly
when the cry came again, more despairing than
ever” (Paula Marshall, An American Princess,
1993).
Galatea (galbteeb) <strong>The</strong> archetype of a beautiful
woman. In Greek myth Galatea was the stone
statue of a perfect woman as created by the sculptor
Pygmalion, who had been repulsed by the
imperfections of mortal women. Aphrodite made
Pygmalion fall in love with his creation but fi nally
took pity on his misery and brought the statue to
life. <strong>The</strong> concept of the artist constructing his ideal
woman is familiar in modern times from the play
Pygmalion (1913) by George Bernard Shaw, which
provided the basis for the pop u lar stage and
motion- picture musicals My Fair Lady (1956 and
1964, respectively). “. . . with a sudden motion
she shook her gauzy covering from her, and stood
forth in her low kirtle and her snaky zone, in her
glorious, radiant beauty and her imperial grace,
rising from her wrappings, as it were, like Venus
from the wave, or Galatea from her marble, or a
beatifi ed spirit from the tomb” (H. Rider Haggard,
She, 1887).
galenical A medicine derived from plant or animal
tissue. <strong>The</strong> word comes from the name of the
Greek physician Galen (a.d. 129–199), whose
ideas exerted a profound infl uence on the development
of medicine for more than 1,000 years.
Galen’s name also appears alongside that of the
equally renowned physician Hippocrates (c. 460–
c. 377 b.c.) in the saying Galen says “Nay” and
Hippocrates “Yea,” which patients have been
known to quote wearily when their doctors disagree.
Some of the most interesting new medicines of
recent years have been of galenical origin.
gall and wormwood Spite; bitterness; feelings of
mortifi cation. <strong>The</strong> phrase is biblical in origin: “And
I said, My strength and my hope is perished from
the LORD: Remembering mine affl iction and my
misery, the wormwood and the gall” (Lamentations
3:18–19). “It was gall and wormwood to his soul
to see that splendid, highly- accomplished woman,
once so courted and admired, transformed into an
active managing house wife, with hands and head
continually occupied with house hold labours and
house hold economy” (Anne Brontë, Agnes Grey,
1847).
Gallio (galeeo) A person who seems completely
indifferent to something, especially a petty offi cial
who refuses to concern himself with matters outside
his immediate province. <strong>The</strong> historical Gallio
(c. 5 b.c.–a.d. 65) was the elder brother of the philos
o pher Seneca and was proconsul of the Roman
province of Achaia in 51–52. While serving in this
capacity he refused to listen to accusations made
against the preaching of the apostle Paul because
the charges against him related to Jewish, not
Roman law (as related in Acts 18:12–13). “And
ne’er was there mair need of poorfu’ preachers
than e’en now in these cauld Gallio days, when
men’s hearts are hardened like the nether millstone,
till they come to regard none of these
things” (Sir Walter Scott, <strong>The</strong> Heart of Midlothian,
1818).
Gallipoli (gblipblee) <strong>The</strong> Allied campaign in the
Dardanelles during World War I. Gallipoli is the
name of the peninsula on which the Allies landed
in April 1915, only to fi nd themselves under heavy
Gallipoli
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