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

Satan
416
Satan (saytbn) <strong>The</strong> dev il. <strong>The</strong> word is a Hebrew
term that actually means “the enemy” or “the
accuser” ( Job 1:6). In the New Testament Satan is
described as a tempter (Matthew 4:1–11, Mark
1:11–13, and Luke 4:4–13), “the prince of this
world” (John 12:31), and “the prince of the power
of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). He seeks to undermine
the kingdom of God, and he opposes and tests
believers. <strong>The</strong> New Testament also presents the
death of Jesus Christ on the cross as the decisive
moment of Satan’s defeat ( John 12:31), which
will be confi rmed when Jesus Christ returns and
Satan is punished and his work destroyed (Revelation
20:10). In the works of John Milton, he is
identifi ed as the fallen angel who challenges the
rule of God in heaven and is exiled to hell as punishment
for the rebellion he leads. His many other
titles include Prince of Darkness and Old Nick.
He sat on top of the company like Satan presiding over
hell. See also beelzebub; lucifer.
Saturday <strong>The</strong> seventh day of the week. It was
named after Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture.
Tradition has it that weddings take place on
Saturday.
Saturn (satern) <strong>The</strong> sixth planet from the Sun.
It was named after the Roman god of agriculture
and vegetation, equivalent to the Greek Cronos
and thus also representing time. According to legend
Saturn was once a king of Italy who presided
over a golden age of peace and plenty. “Thus, in
reviewing the horoscope which your Lordship
subjected to my skill, you will observe that Saturn,
being in the sixth House in opposition to
Mars, retrograde in the House of Life, cannot but
denote long and dangerous sickness, the issue
whereof is in the will of Heaven, though death
may probably be inferred” (Sir Walter Scott,
Kenilworth, 1821). See also saturday; saturnalian;
saturnine.
saturnalian (saternayleebn) Of or relating to
wild, unrestrained revelry. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to the
Roman festival of Saturnalia, during which the harvest
was celebrated—reputedly an occasion of much
licentiousness and debauchery. All the schools and
law courts were closed, and slaves were temporarily
released from the strict rules that governed
their lives to enjoy feasts at which they dressed up
in the clothes of their masters. <strong>The</strong> festival was
named after Saturn, the god of agriculture. “Altogether
this time of trouble was rather a Saturnalian
time to Kezia; she could scold her betters
with unreproved freedom” (George Eliot, <strong>The</strong> Mill
on the Floss, 1860).
saturnine (saternin) Having a gloomy, taciturn
temperament. <strong>The</strong> word is an allusion to the planet
saturn, which was traditionally supposed to exert
a depressive infl uence. “He stands for a moment,
saturnine in the ruddy light, to see who is present,
looking in a singular and rather deadly way at Sir
Howard; then with some surprise and uneasiness
at Lady Cicely” (George Bernard Shaw, Captain
Brassbound’s Conversion, 1900).
satyr (sayter) A lecher; a man who exhibits
abnormally strong sexual desire. According to
Greek mythology satyrs were minor deities of the
forest, depicted as having the bodies of unusually
hairy men, the legs and feet of goats and short
horns on their head. Representing the raw power
of nature, they attended upon the god Dionysus
and were notorious for their lustful ways. “ ‘This is
the face of a satyr.’ ‘It is the face of my soul’ ”
(Oscar Wilde, <strong>The</strong> Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891). See
also hyperion to a satyr.