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

original sin
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original sin A state of sin considered to be the
innate condition of the whole human race since
the fall of Adam. In modern usage the phrase is
sometimes used more loosely and may refer to a
range of either fundamental or relatively trivial
failings. “ ‘Some people are naturally good, you
know, and others are not. I’m one of the others.
Mrs. Lynde says I’m full of original sin.’ ” (Lucy
Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, 1908).
Orion (brion) A constellation of stars near Canis
Major. Supposedly resembling the fi gure of a giant
with a belt of three stars representing a sword, a
lion’s skin, and a club, it takes its name from that
of a Boeotian giant who was renowned as a hunter
and according to Greek legend was raised to the
stars after his death (in some accounts, slain by the
goddess Artemis). <strong>The</strong> alcohol had gone straight to
her head, and she had to lie down in the grass, gazing up
with bewilderment at distant Orion.
Orphan Annie See little orphan annie.
Orpheus (orfeebs) An archetype of a master
musician. Orpheus, the son of Apollo and Calliope,
was a Thracian lyre player who was instructed
in music by the Muses and became so fi ne a musician
he could enchant wild beasts and even rocks
and trees with his playing. He sailed with the
Argonauts but faced his sternest test when he
attempted to retrieve his wife, Eurydice, from
the underworld after she died from a snakebite.
Having played his lyre to Hades, it was agreed that
he could have Eurydice providing he did not look
back to see her as they returned to the world
above. Unfortunately Orpheus could not resist the
temptation to see if this wife was following him,
and Eurydice was promptly returned to the
underworld. Grief at this loss left Orpheus embit-
tered toward other women, and ultimately he met
his own end when he was torn to pieces by the
women of Thrace in a Bacchanalian frenzy after he
offended them. His skill as a musician is still
remembered, and the adjective orphean denotes
anything melodious or enchanting. After the concert
the critics hailed him as a veritable Orpheus.
Orwellian (orweleebn) Of or relating to the
works of British novelist George Orwell (1903–
50) or reminiscent of the nightmarish future he
depicted in such novels as animal farm (1945)
and Nineteen Eighty- Four (1949). Originally named
Eric Blair, the author called himself Orwell after
the River Orwell in Suffolk, where he lived at one
time. “<strong>The</strong> cult of sport sometimes seems to take
on the quality of an Orwellian nightmare” (Richard
Holt, Sport and the British, 1989). See also big
brother; doublethink; newspeak; room 101;
thought police.
ostracism <strong>The</strong> practice of deliberately excluding
someone from a par tic u lar group, society, etc.,
after he or she has committed a perceived offense
of some kind. <strong>The</strong> word has its origins in the customs
of the ancient Greeks. In order to protect
their demo cratic system from tyrants it was possible
once a year for Greek citizens to name the
one person they wished to see exiled from Athens
for being too powerful or ambitious. <strong>The</strong> “ballots”
were written on shards of broken pottery (in
Greek, ostrakon) and then counted. <strong>The</strong> person
with the most votes was obliged to go into exile
for at least 10 years. <strong>The</strong> custom fell into disuse
after 417 b.c., when two mistrusted politicians,
Alcibiades and Nicias, combined to avoid being
ostracized and instead secured the ostracism of
their harshest critic, Hyperbolus. Persons thus
exiled were not considered disgraced, but the