Fish rots from the head: the meaning and origin of the proverb

To emphasize that the atmosphere in anythe team depends on the personality and behavior of the leader, they say the well-known phrase: "The fish is rotting from the head." The proverb exists not only in Russian, but practically in all languages ​​of the world.

The origins of metaphor

There are several versions of the origin of thissayings. Most often it is attributed to the ancient Greek scientist and writer Plutarch, who lived at the end of the 1st – beginning of the 2nd century AD. Presumably the expression “fish rots from the head”, the meaning of which initially had a figurative meaning, is found in the volume work of the ancient philosopher “Comparative biographies”. In this work, Plutarch gave the characteristics of outstanding personalities of his time - Greek and Roman politicians, rulers and generals.

In foreign studieslinguists, it is argued that the phrase "fish rots from the head" was first mentioned in the literature of the XVII century. According to Professor Wolfgang Mieder, the author of the book “The Value of Parables: From Traditional Wisdom to the Notorious Stereotypes,” the appearance of a saying that sounds like “the smell of rotting fish begins to spread from the head,” goes back to 1674. The expression is mentioned in the treatise entitled “Report on travel to New England”. The medieval meaning of metaphor also had an allegorical interpretation: problems in a team of people united by a common cause arise from the fault of their superiors.

Is this statement fair from the point of view of biology?

Opening a school textbook of natural science, you canread that fish, like most living things, have a brain. This organ, however, is very poorly developed, therefore the behavior of cold-blooded inhabitants of rivers and seas is based on unconditioned reflexes. If you think about the literal meaning of the phrase “the fish is rotting from the head,” then we can assume that the brain begins to decompose in the dead crucians or pikes.

But this is far from the case.Any connoisseur of the anatomical structure of fish will say: putrefactive processes occur in the intestine, that is, in the department of the fish carcass, populated by bacteria and microbes that enter the body with food. Indeed, stale fish is easily recognizable by the swollen abdomen and softened skin, through which the rib bones are peeking. Was the ancient Greek philosopher wrong, and after him medieval travelers were mistaken in claiming that the fish was rotting from the head?

Folk observations

Residents accustomed to buying fish in storesAlready gutted or frozen, perhaps unknown way to determine the quality of this useful product. Fishing lovers and experienced housewives, who prefer to buy carps and bream on the market, know that the freshness of fish can be recognized long before the fish belly begins to swell.

It is enough to raise the gill covers andinspect the respiratory system. Red and pinkish gills - evidence that the fish caught no earlier than one or two days. White, and the more gray gills speaks of a stale product. Often, from under the head covers of a fish starting to deteriorate, you can catch a faint, but rather unpleasant smell.

Recall that in the writings of Plutarch and latervariations of the phrase "fish rots from the head" sounds like "the fish starts to smell from above." Based on this, it becomes obvious the validity of this statement. We can safely say that there is no discrepancy between the literal and figurative meanings of the proverb.