Through hardships to the stars: what does it mean and why?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The Russian language is rich in various phraseological units. There are a huge number of expressions that are used, intuitively understanding what they mean, but very rarely think about the actual origin or correct pronunciation, not to mention the adequate literary application. A striking example is the catchphrase: "Through thorns to the stars." What does this mean and why exactly did these words come into circulation? These questions are quite interesting both in terms of colloquial use and literary use.

Origin

The roots of this expression usually refer to the famous Latin Per aspera ad astra, which, in turn, is attributed to Lucius Seneca, who used it in his composition "Furious Hercules". The Roman philosopher, who lived at the beginning of the first century AD, was one of the brightest representatives of Stoicism.

This line of thought obliges followers to maintain a firm stance despiteany blows of fate. Apparently, this inclines scientists to point to the words of Seneca as the source, who, as you know, was not only a strict follower of the teachings of Stoicism, but also went to his death so as not to change his convictions, taking his wife at the same time. Indeed, it is not often in our times that one comes across such conviction in one's philosophical position.

Through hardships to the stars: what does it mean?

Returning to the quoted phrase: Per aspera ad astra, one can see the meaning originally invested in it. In translation, it sounds something like this: "to the stars, overcoming difficulties on the way." Indeed, there is a clear stoic position. Another variant found in the translations of Hercules is "the path from the earth to the stars is not smooth." However, these are already nuances of interpretation within the framework of the language into which the literary work is translated. Be that as it may, this is where the main meaning of the phraseological phrase “Through thorns to the stars” follows. What this means for Seneca himself, one can already guess simply based on the stoic way of thinking and the corresponding attitude to the life of the author.

Obviously, this is an upward movement towards the goal of one's existence, its achievement with the involvement of all the forces released to man by nature, despite obstacles, large or small. After all, this is the meaning of life for a true Stoic. We should also mention the appearance in the Russian version of the turnover of the interesting word "thorns". It means a thorn, a plant with thorns, and also figuratively difficulty,adversity, etc. It is not so easy to walk along a road overgrown with such plants. Apparently, this word was added to enhance the effect. It is this variant that has become entrenched in Russian.

Let's consider the following nuance associated with the popular expression "Through hardships to the stars." What does it mean if we imagine that the stars are not a goal, but something practically unattainable, a fantasy? What, in general, are the stars for a person at the present stage of technological development. In this case, another interpretation appears, which is rarely mentioned in phraseological dictionaries. Namely: a worthy, but seemingly unattainable goal gives rise to even more difficult obstacles.

However, the moments of interpretation are not all the material that can be considered within the title of the article. Indeed, so far the emphasis has been only on the meaning of the phrase “Through thorns to the stars” (what does it mean).

Pronunciation

In colloquial speech, and not only, a variety of this phraseological unit is often found. Instead of "through" is used "through". In general, the variation is quite legitimate, although it is sometimes considered incorrect, since it is the first one that is offered in dictionaries. Do not deceive the reader by answering unambiguously what is right and how is not. After all, this is just a stable expression, and changes in the language are often so fleeting that this stability of phraseological units turns out to be rather unsteady.

But back toour saying "Through thorns to the stars." What does it mean? The property of combining words, from the point of view of pronunciation, is very unstable. As a rule, in a conversation, people rarely use this saying in the form in which we presented it. Our phrase sounds better with the word "through", paradoxically.

Conclusion

This material does not claim to be a full-fledged analysis of all the nuances in answering the question: "Through hardships to the stars: what does this mean?". The type of information offered does not have an edifying purpose, but only gives a generally accepted interpretation.