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

another fi ne mess
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church and enjoy the respect deserving the anointed of
the Lord.
another fi ne mess See laurel and hardy.
Anschluss (anshlbs) <strong>The</strong> enforced annexation of
another country, company, or ga ni za tion, etc. <strong>The</strong>
original Anschluss (meaning “junction” or “union”
in German) was the annexation of Austria by Nazi
Germany in March 1938. Many observers were worried
that Serbia was planning an “Anschluss” against its
neighbor.
Antaeus (anteebs) A powerful person who has to
renew his or her strength periodically. <strong>The</strong> allusion
is to the giant Antaeus, who, according to Greek
mythology, was in the habit of killing any opponent
who could not defeat him at wrestling. <strong>The</strong>
son of Poseidon and the earth goddess Gaea, he
depended for his strength on being in contact with
the earth, so when Hercules held him off the
ground, he was powerless to prevent himself being
strangled to death. <strong>The</strong> big man was uneasy in the
abstract realms of thought, needing, like Antaeus, to keep
his feet fi rmly on the ground.
anthropophagi (anthrbpofbgi) Cannibals. According
to Greek mythology, the Laestrygones were a
race of cannibalistic anthropophagi (meaning “eaters
of human beings”) encountered by the Greek
hero Odysseus, who only narrowly escaped them.
“And of the Cannibals that each other eat, / <strong>The</strong>
Anthropophagi, and men whose heads / Do grow
beneath their shoulders” (William Shakespeare,
Othello, 1603–04).
Antichrist A person who opposes Christ or is
the implacable enemy of all that is good. <strong>The</strong> Antichrist
is described in the Bible as the enemy of
Christ (1 John 2:18–21), who will infl ict great
wickedness upon the world prior to being overcome
in a fi nal battle by Christ at the Second
Coming. <strong>The</strong> Antichrist denies the fundamental
truths about Jesus Christ; instead, Christ coming
is seen as a sign of the “last days.” Similar biblical
fi gures include the “man of lawlessness” (2 <strong>The</strong>ssalonians
2:3–12) and the beast (Revelation 11:7).
<strong>The</strong> title “Antichrist” has been bestowed upon
many notorious fi gures and institutions over the
centuries, among them the Roman emperors Caligula
and Nero, the Roman Empire in general,
Muhammad, the papacy, Napoléon Bonaparte, and
Adolf Hitler. His excesses over the years had turned him
into an Antichrist- type fi gure as far as the rest of his
family was concerned.
Antigone (antigbnee) Archetype of a woman who
sacrifi ces herself for her family. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to
the Greek myth about Antigone, daughter of Oedipus
and his mother, Jocasta. Antigone was condemned
to death by being buried alive for having
given burial rites to the body of her brother Polyneices
against the order of her uncle, King Creon of
<strong>The</strong>bes. Antigone committed suicide. “As Antigone
said, ‘I am neither a dweller among men nor ghosts’ ”
(Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure, 1895).
Antiphates’ wife (antifayteez) Epitome of ugliness.
According to Greek mythology, the wife of
Antiphates, leader of the cannibalistic Laestrygones,
was appallingly ugly. Not since Odysseus laid
eyes upon Antiphates’ wife had any man been so revolted
by the physical form of a woman.
Antisthenes See cynic.
Antony and Cleopatra (antbnee, kleeopatrb)
Archetypes of doomed lovers. <strong>The</strong> Roman general