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

<strong>The</strong>mis
460
and Louise, driving all self- respecting males into the
shadows.
<strong>The</strong>mis (theemis) Personifi cation of justice. <strong>The</strong>mis
was identifi ed in Greek mythology as the daughter
of Uranus and Gaea and respected as the goddess
of law and order, alongside her husband Jupiter. She
is perhaps best known today through her visual
repre sen ta tion, conventionally holding a cornucopia
and a pair of scales. “By next day’s post, the
solicitor sent the case to London, a chef- d’oeuvre
of its kind; and in which, my in for mant assured me,
it was not necessary on revisal to correct fi ve words.
I am not, therefore, conscious of having overstepped
accuracy in describing the manner in which Scottish
lawyers of the old time occasionally united the worship
of Bacchus with that of <strong>The</strong>mis” (Sir Walter
Scott, Guy Mannering, 1815).
<strong>The</strong>on’s tooth (theeonz) A sharp or penetrating
criticism. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to the ancient Roman
poet <strong>The</strong>on, who was noted for his biting satires. It
was clear that both actors were suffering acutely from the
poisonous imprint of <strong>The</strong>on’s tooth in that morning’s
reviews of the per for mance.
<strong>The</strong>ramenes, sandals of See wear the sandals
of theramenes.
there is a time and a place for everything See
time and place for everything.
there is no joy in Mudville See casey at the bat.
there is no peace for the wicked See no peace
for the wicked.
there is nothing new under the sun See nothing
new under the sun.
there’s gold in them thar hills <strong>The</strong>re are opportunities
to be taken advantage of. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to
the gold rushes that took place at various locations
in the late 19th century, when there was literally
gold to be found in the hills, although the phrase
itself probably dates only from Western movies of
the 1930s and 1940s. Thousands of businesses have
opened sites on the Internet, sensing there’s gold in them
thar hills.
there’s the rub That is where the problem lies.
This is a quotation from hamlet’s famous to be
or not to be soliloquy in William Shakespeare’s
tragedy Hamlet (c. 1600): “To sleep, perchance to
dream. Ay, there’s the rub; / For in that sleep of
death what dreams may come, / When we have
shuffl ed off this mortal coil, / Must give us pause.”
<strong>The</strong> word “rub” in this sense refers to an obstacle
or obstruction, specifi cally an unevenness of the
ground. <strong>The</strong>re’s the rub—if no one tidies up the house,
we will end up living in a pigsty.
there was no more spirit in her See queen of
sheba.
there were brave men before Agamemnon See
brave men before agamemnon, there were.
<strong>The</strong>rmopylae (thermopblee) A decisive battle or
moment, especially when facing overwhelming
odds. It was at the narrow pass of <strong>The</strong>rmopylae
in <strong>The</strong>ssaly (the only route connecting north and
south Greece) that Leonidas and 300 Spartans
heroically held off a much larger invading Persian
army in 480 b.c., fi ghting to the death after
being betrayed by a Greek traitor. <strong>The</strong>ir courage
became a symbol of Spartan indomitability. <strong>The</strong>
word itself means “ hot gates.” “He would much
prefer not to die. He would abandon a hero’s or