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Problem

The emphasis here is on a dilemma or predicament that needs resolving by contrast with the closely linked theme Difficulty, which is concerned more with a task requiring considerable effort to accomplish. •See also

Danger.

Buridan's ass Buridan, a French scholastic philosopher of the end of the 12th century, is credited with the following sophism: if a hungry ass were placed exactly between two hay-stacks in every respect equal, it would starve to death, because there would be no motive why it should go to one rather than to the other. 'Like Buridan's ass between two bundles of hay' is said of a person who cannot decide between two courses of action and who adopts neither.

So she continued to brood and suffer, standing flat as Buridan's Ass between equal

bundles of hay . . .

ALEXANDER THEROUX Adultery, 1987

Catch-22 Joseph Heller's 1961 novel Catch-22 deals with the dilemma of an American airforce bombardier who wishes to avoid combat duty. In order to do so, he has to be adjudged insane, but since anyone wishing to avoid combat duty is obviously sane, he must therefore be fit for duty. A Catch-22 is therefore any situation or dilemma from which there is no escape because of two mutually incompatible conditions.

'Our particular problem is that until we can find some witnesses, we can't prove it was murder and not suicide, and we can't get the manpower to do the sort of investigation we need to find witnesses until we can show that it was murder.' 'Catch twenty-two,' Mackay said triumphantly.

CYNTHIA HARROD-EAGLES BlOOd LlmS, 1 9 9 6

Some say debt relief undermines a country's credit worthiness. This is a classic Catch 22 because we know that while countries remain heavily indebted they find it hard to attract investment.

The Observer, 1997

Cordian knot Gordius was a peasant who was chosen king of Phrygia, whereupon he tied the pole of his wagon to the yoke with an intricate knot. An oracle prophesied that whoever undid it would become the ruler of all Asia. Alexander the Great is said to have simply cut through the knot with his sword. Hence a Gordian knot is a complex problem or task, and 'to cut the Gordian knot' is to solve a seemingly inextricable problem by force or by evading the conditions that caused the problem in the first place.

The book rang with the courage alike of conviction and of the entire absence of conviction; it appeared to be the work of men who had a rule-of-thumb way of steering between iconoclasm on the one hand and credulity on the other; who cut Cordian knots as a matter of course when it suited their convenience.

SAMUEL BUTLER The Way of All Flesh, 1903

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Turning to Salinas, she smiled again. 'No matter how you play him, Victor, Ricardo's sort of a tar baby. I suggest that you consider him more carefully before you imagine the jury weeping!

RICHARD NORTH PATTERSON Eyes of a Child, 1995

The trouble is that both men are tar babies, contaminating anyone who deals with them.

The Observer, 1996

Prometheus

In Greek mythology, Prometheus was a Titan, the brother of Atlas, seen in many legends as the champion of humankind against the gods. In some stories he actually made the first men by making figures of clay which, with the help of Athene, he brought to life. He first angered Zeus when he was asked to arbitrate in a dispute between men and gods over which portion of a sacrificial bull should be given to the gods and which portion should be kept by men. Prometheus divided the carcass into two bags, one containing the flesh, which he made unappealing by covering it with the bull's stomach, the other containing the bones, which he covered with fat to make it look like meat. He thus tricked Zeus into choosing the bag containing the bones, which would thereafter be the gods' portion. In anger Zeus withheld fire from men, saying that they could eat their flesh raw. Prometheus responded by going to Olympus himself and stealing some fire hidden in a stalk of fennel, which he gave to men. He also improved their lives by teaching them arts and sciences. To avenge himself on men, Zeus instructed Hephaestus to make a clay woman, Pandora, who brought to earth all the evils and diseases that have since plagued man. As a punishment for his disobedience to the gods, Zeus had Prometheus chained to a rock, where each day an eagle tore out his liver, which grew again each night. He was eventually rescued by Hercules, who shot the eagle with his bow and arrow.

Various aspects of the Prometheus story are dealt with throughout the book.

•See Cunning, Life: Generation of Life, Punishment, Rebellion and Disobedience, and Suffering.

Prophecy

Prophecy is a central element in both the Old Testament and the classical world. Prophecies are not always believed and, when enigmatic, not always interpreted correctly. In the majority of cases, when names such

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as BELSHAZZAR, CASSANDRA, and JEREMIAH are invoked, it is bad news that is being predicted, usually death or disaster. By contrast, allusions to

NOSTRADAMUS can be fairly neutral. • See also Dreams, Pessimism.

Belshazzar Belshazzar, King of Babylon, gave a great banquet for a thousand of his lords (Dan. 5: 1-28). During the banquet they drank from goblets taken from the temple and praised the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the wall the words 'Mené, Mené, Tekel, Upharsin'. Daniel translated the words, explaining to Belshazzar that his reign was over, that he had been weighed in the balance and found wanting, and that his kingdom would be divided and given to the Medes and the Persians. The writing on the wall is thus a herald of doom. • See special entry • DANIEL on p. 86.

This inexplicable incident, this reversal of my previous experience, seemed, like the Babylonian finger on the wall, to be spelling out the letters of my judgment. ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, 1886

And there at the centre of his desk was a large buff envelope with his name printed on it in a hand which was unmistakably Dalziel's. Why did the name Belshazzar suddenly flit into his mind?

REGINALD HILL Child's Play 1987

Calamity Jane Calamity Jane was a nickname given to Martha Jane Burke (c.1852-1903), the famous American frontierswoman, because she is said to have warned that 'calamity' would come to any man who tried to court her. Often dressing in men's clothes, she was renowned for her skill at riding and shooting. Her name can be applied to any female prophet of disaster.

A crepe-hanger is the ultimate in depressing persons; 'wet-blankets', 'gloomy Cus's', 'calamity Janes!

Notes & Queries, 1930

Calpurnia Calpurnia was the wife of Julius Caesar. In Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar (1623), Calpurnia begs Caesar not to go out because many strange or horrible portents have occurred and she believes he is in danger. She has dreamed of his statue

'Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts, Did run pure blood.'

Caesar refuses to heed her warning and is assassinated.

Cassandra In Greek mythology, Cassandra was a daughter of Priam, king of Troy. Apollo loved her and gave her the gift of prophecy. When she resisted his advances, he turned the gift into a curse by ensuring that, although her prophecies were true, they would not be believed. Cassandra foretold the fall of Troy and the death of Agamemnon, fulfilled when his wife, Clytemnestra, murdered him. The name Cassandra can be used to describe anyone whose warnings go unheeded.

Times of change, disruption, and revolution are naturally times of hope also, and not seldom the hopes of something better to come are the first tokens that tell people

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that revolution is at hand, though commonly such tokens are no more believed than Cassandra's prophecies.

WILLIAM MORRIS News from Nowhere and Other Writings, 1886

He said, 'In the Civil Service, I work in a small unacknowledged off-shoot department which was set up sometime ago to foretell the probable outcome of any high political appointment. We also predict the future inevitable consequences of pieces of proposed legislation.' He paused and went on wryly, 'We call ourselves the Cassandra outfit. We see what will happen and no one believes us.'

DICK FRANCIS Come to Grief, 1995

Delphi Delphi was the site of the Delphic Oracle on the slopes of Mount Parnassus in ancient Greece. The pronouncements of the Oracle were made by the Priestess of Apollo, Pythia. They were unclear, often in riddles, and had to be interpreted. A delphic prediction or warning is one that is enigmatic or difficult to interpret.

As for the second prediction, it's not quite so Delphic, but perhaps I can permit myself to claim as foretelling the use of just such enclosures in places like presentday leisure park complexes.

New Scientist, 1994

Isaiah Isaiah was an Old Testament prophet whose prophecies are contained in the Book of Isaiah. He warned the Israelites that they had adopted foreign or unacceptable religious practices and that they should return to their former religious rites. Isaiah predicted the fall of Jerusalem and of Judah.

Jeremiah Jeremiah was an Old Testament prophet whose prophecies are contained in the Book of Jeremiah, and to whom the Book of Lamentations is also traditionally attributed. His prophecies concern the unhappy fate that awaits the Israelites because they have rebelled against God. The name Jeremiah can be applied to someone who predicts doom or disaster.

Laocoon In Greek mythology, Laocoon was a Trojan priest who warned the Trojans not to let the Wooden Horse into Troy: 'Do not trust the horse, Trojans. Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts.' As a punishment from the gods for this attempted intervention, he and both his sons were crushed to death by two enormous sea serpents. • See special entry • TROJAN WAR on p. 392.

Nostradamus Nostradamus is the Latinized name by which Michel de Nostredame (1503-66) is generally known. He was a French astrologer and physician and the author of Centuries (1555), a collection of prophecies written in rhyming quatrains. Although cryptic and obscure, Nostradamus's verses have been interpreted as foretelling prominent global events over a span of more than 400 years.

I spoke last week to the science ficion writer Arthur C. Clarke, the Nostradamus of