Through thorns to the stars: what does this mean and why?

The Russian language is rich in various phraseological units. There are a lot 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 vivid example is the catch phrase: "Through thorns to the stars". What does this mean and why did these words turn into a turn? These questions are quite interesting both from the point of view of use in colloquial speech and in relation to literary use.

Origin

The roots of this expression usually refer to the well-known Latin Per aspera ad astra, which, in turn, is attributed to Lucius Seneque, who used it in his work "The Violent 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 position, despite any blows to fate. Apparently, this encourages scientists to point out the source of precisely the words Seneca, who, as is known, not only was 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 time you meet such a conviction in your philosophical position.

Through thorns to the stars: what does this mean?

Returning to the quoted phrase: Per aspera ad astra, one can see the meaning originally embedded in it. In translation, it sounds like this: "to the stars, overcoming difficulties on the way." Indeed, there is a clear stoic attitude. Another option, found in the translations of "Hercules", is "the way from the earth to the stars is not smooth". However, these are nuances of interpretation within the framework of the language into which the literary work is translated. Be that as it may, hence the basic meaning of the phraseological phrase "Through thorns to the stars". What this means for Seneca itself can be guessed simply by proceeding from the stoic way of thinking and the corresponding attitude to the life of the author.

Obviously, this movement is upward, towards the goal of its existence, its achievement with the involvement of all forces released to man by nature, despite the obstacles, large or small. After all, this is the meaning of life for a true Stoic. Also, mention should be made of the appearance in the Russian version of the turnover of the interesting word "thorns". It means a thorn, a plant with spines, and also in a figurative sense, difficulty, adversity, etc. It's not so easy to walk along a road overgrown with such plants. Apparently, to enhance the effect, this word was added. In the Russian language this option was fixed.

Consider the following nuance associated with the winged expression "Through thorns to the stars." What does this mean if we imagine that the stars are not a goal, but something that is almost unattainable, a fantasy? What, in general, are the stars for man at the present stage of technology development. In this case, there is another interpretation, which is rarely mentioned 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 was only on the meaning of the phrase "Through thorns to the stars" (what does this mean).

Pronunciation

In colloquial speech, and not only, there is often a variety of this phraseology. Instead of "through" it is used "through". In general, the variation is fairly legitimate, although it is sometimes considered incorrect, because the dictionaries offer the first one. It is not necessary to deceive the reader, answering unequivocally, as correctly, but as - no. After all, this is just a stable expression, and changes in language are often so short-lived that this stability of phraseological units turns out to be rather unstable.

But let's return to our statement "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 we presented it. Our phrase sounds better with the word "through", paradoxical though it may sound.

Conclusion

This material does not pretend to a thorough analysis of all the nuances in answering the question: "Through thorns to the stars: what does this mean?". The type of information offered has no edifying purpose, but only gives a generally accepted interpretation.