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

Ishtar
242
Hagar, who was the Egyptian maidservant of
Sarah. According to Genesis 16–25, Sarah allowed
Hagar to become pregnant by Abraham as she
believed herself barren, but the two women quarreled,
and after Sarah gave birth to Isaac, Hagar
and her son were thrown out of the house and sent
into the desert, hence the adoption of Ishmael’s
name (or the term Ishmaelite) for anyone who is
expelled from society. God saved the pair from
death from thirst by providing them with a well of
water. Ishmael in his turn had 12 sons. <strong>The</strong> Ishmaelites
were a tribal people who lived in Edom
(Psalm 83:6); God’s promise that Ishmael’s
descendants would become a great nation (Genesis
17:20; 21:17–18) has traditionally been
thought to be fulfi lled through the Arab peoples. If
a person is described as having a hand against
every man, this is a reference to a prophecy given
by an angel at the time of Ishmael’s birth to the
effect that he was fated to become an outlaw: “his
hand will be against every man, and every man’s
hand against him” (Genesis 16:12). “I am an Ishmael
by instinct as much as by accident of circumstances,
but if I keep out of society I shall be less
vulnerable than Ishmaels generally are” (Samuel
Butler, <strong>The</strong> Way of All Flesh, 1903).
Ishtar (ishtahr) Personifi cation of love or fertility.
Ishtar was the goddess of love in Babylonian
and Assyrian mythology, equivalent to the Roman
Venus. In her sequined costume and veils she came down
the stairs like Ishtar descending to earth.
Isis See lift the veil of isis.
island race, the <strong>The</strong> British nation. <strong>The</strong> phrase
echoes William Shakespeare’s Richard II (1595), in
which En gland is described as a “sceptr’d isle,” but
appears to have made its fi rst appearance in its
usual form as the title of a poem by Sir Henry
Newbolt in 1898. “<strong>The</strong> aircraft was an enemy, and
the two men who climbed down onto the concrete
were enemies, also, two of the nameless killers
who had tried to ‘break this island race’ ”
(Frank Kippax, <strong>The</strong> Butcher’s Bill, 1992).
Islands of the Blest Heaven; paradise. <strong>The</strong> Greek
epic poet Hesiod (eighth century b.c.) identifi ed
paradise by this name and placed the location of
the islands in the far west, at the end of the known
world. Elsewhere they were dubbed the Fortunate
Islands, or Isles, or Happy Islands. Here
chosen heroes could spend eternity relaxing in
pleasant surroundings. This part of the world is so
beautiful and so peaceful it could be mistaken for an
earthly paradise, and many call these isles the Islands of
the Blest. See also elysian fi elds.
Isocrates (isokrateez) Archetype of a great orator.
Isocrates (436–338 b.c.) was a celebrated orator
of ancient Athens and a famous teacher of the
arts of eloquence. Among those to be likened to
Isocrates was Esprit Fléchier (1632–1710), the
bishop of Nîmes, who was well known for his
funeral orations and dubbed the French Isocrates.
After his address to the Senate the young man was quickly
recognized as a leading fi gure on the po liti cal stage, the
Isocrates of his party.
Isolde See tristan and isolde.
Israel (izreebl, izraybl) <strong>The</strong> name of the Jewish
state established in Palestine in 1948. <strong>The</strong> name
means “God fi ghts” and, according to Genesis
32:28, was bestowed upon Jacob after he wrestled
with an angel. Jacob was the father of 12 sons,
each of whom became the found er of one of the
12 tribes of Israel. <strong>The</strong> word Israel thus came to be