"Fear the Danes who bring gifts": the history of the appearance and the meaning of the popular expression

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

Often while watching a movie or news, you can hear the famous expression: "Beware of the Danes who bring gifts." The meaning, however, of this phrase is not entirely clear. Who are the Danaans and why should one be so wary of their gifts? The fact is that the expression is more than one thousand years old, and therefore modern man does not understand the meaning. However, to understand the meaning of the phrase, it is enough to recall the ancient legends.

The myth of Troy and the very gift of the Danaans

Modern man about the existence of the once majestic Troy, the Danes and their "gift" became known from Homer's poem "The Iliad". However, the expression "Fear the Danes who bring gifts" can still be found in the work of another Greek poet - Virgil. Both of them retell the same myth about the siege and capture of the city of Troy. The legend is so instructive that the phrase from it simply could not help but become winged.

So what happened in ancient Greece, asDo you remember this event today? In the 13th century BC, a war broke out between the Danaans (ancient Greeks descended from the mythical king Danae) and the Teucres (inhabitants of Troy and the Hittite kingdom). The reason for this is the love of young Paris for the beautiful Helen, whom he stole from the king of the Danaans, Menelaus. Tom had no choice but to go to war against Troy. According to the myth, the siege of the ancient city lasted more than one year, but the inhabitants steadfastly held the line. Everything changed when the Danes decided to go for a trick.

So, one morning the Trojans saw that there were no Danaans. They also noticed a beautiful statue of a horse left by the besiegers as a gift. They decided that the enemy admitted defeat and admired the courage and stamina of the unconquered Troy. The statue was so large that it was necessary to open the gate and dismantle part of the fortress wall in order to bring it into the city. No one suspected anything, except for the priest Lacoon. It was he, according to the myth, who said as a warning: "Beware of the Danaans who bring gifts." Nobody listened to him, and at night the Danaans hiding inside the horse opened the gates with their fellow tribesmen. Thus fell majestic Troy.

And what does it all mean?

More than one thousand years have passed since then, but at different times one could hear these words. And not only in personal correspondence and fiction, but also in entertainment films. So, in the popular Hollywood action movie "The Rock" the hero of Sean Connery utters this very phrase in response to the suggestion of the FSB officers. What did he want with it?to tell? The same as others when they say: "Fear the Danes who bring gifts." The meaning of this phrase for modern man is as follows. Today, such gifts are synonymous with deceit, treachery and deceit. Most often, the expression is used when they want to protect themselves from false gifts that bring only misfortunes and troubles to the new owner. Quite often, the phrase is not fully pronounced, speaking only about the gifts themselves or the Danes, because it is already clear what was meant.

History teaches nothing

Although the myth of the capture of Troy was told by Virgil and Homer as a warning to posterity, a similar story was repeated over and over again. Moreover, the "Trojan horse" was given more than once even to the highest-ranking officials. So, to organize a tapping of the American Embassy, one of its employees was presented with a magnificent wooden eagle. With its help, the KGB for 6 years freely received information, so to speak, first-hand, until they accidentally found a bug inside it during cleaning. And it was in the middle of the 20th century.

And this is far from the only case when the insidious gifts of the Danaans were presented as a gift. How many times unwanted members of the royal families received poisoned clothes and food that killed them slowly and imperceptibly. With the advent of intelligence and counterintelligence, the expression "Fear the Danes who bring gifts" has become even more relevant. All friendly gifts were carefully checked, but this, as history has shown, did not always save.

And herecomputers?

But to whom the Trojan horse is familiar not only from legends, but also to active computer users. But the fact is that often users are prompted to download an interesting file to their hard drive (most often a video or a game), and a virus program is also loaded with it. True, it is very similar to the gift of the Danes? As a result, the attacker gains access to the information of interest to him or uses the program to send spam. The owner himself may not suspect anything.

Of course, you can follow the advice: "Fear the Danes who bring gifts" - and not download unverified information to your computer. However, this is not always possible. It is much easier and more convenient to install a special anti-virus program so that not a single "Trojan horse" penetrates. A good antivirus will not only reject suspicious files, but also cure already infected ones.

Instead of a conclusion

Sometimes a phrase taken out of context takes on a completely different meaning, especially over time. And the expression "Fear the Danes who bring gifts" (Latin: Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes) still reminds of the deceit of people.