The Russian language has a lot of words borrowed from French, for example, "adultery. " But does everyone know its meaning? But the expression "to instruct the horns" is clear to everyone. It is used in everyday speech, and in literature, and in countless jokes on the topic of marital fidelity.
Where did the aforementioned expression come from into the Russian language, which became a phraseological phrase? It is not known for certain about this, but explanatory dictionaries mark at least four possible answers to this question. Let's start in order, namely from Ancient Greece.
Goddess revenge
A very long time ago, at a time when the gods of Olympus often descended to the land of Hellas, Actaeon happened to hunt with friends on a hot day near the valley of Gargafia. While friends were resting on the shade of a large tree, Actaeon noticed a grotto on the side of a mountain. He became curious to find out what was inside.
It is a pity, he did not see how, shortly before, the beautiful hunter, the daughter of Latona and Zeus, Artemis, entered the grotto. Only the nymphs stripped the goddess, preparing her for bathing, when Actaeon entered the grotto. No mortal before him had seen the naked beauty of Artemis. For such impudence, the insulted goddess turned Actaeon into a deer, only the mind left him human.
Not recognizing the owner, the dogs chased the deer with branching horns, overtook and torn his body to pieces with fury. Actaeon's friends who arrived in time heard a groan burst from the deer's chest, in which the sound of a human voice was heard. So they did not know who the deer really was and why Artemis decided to set horns for him. Acteon himself later became a symbol of a deceived husband.
Royal reward
Andronicus, the last emperor of Byzantium from the Komnin dynasty, ruled in Constantinople for only two years - from 1183 to 1185, nevertheless he managed to set horns on not one of his courtiers. They say that deceived husbands received hunting grounds as compensation for the insult, and deer horns nailed to the gates of the manor served as a sign confirming their right to own them.
Later, the French kings, also not distinguished by chastity, adopted the Byzantine method of compensation for the insult inflicted. The dishonored nobles were allowed to hunt in the royal forests, and deer horns adorned their estates . From here came the word "cuckold." And if at first they called them the court, whose wife agreed to instruct the spouse with His Majesty, then later they began to call all the deceived husbands. Well, and from France this expression came to Russia.
Other versions
The ancient Germans had a custom according to which a woman put on a helmet with horns on the head of her husband who was going to war. Thus, she became free for some time. In the XV century, everything in the same Germany issued an imperial decree ordering that soldiers who were in the army with their wives wear horns.
However, there are earlier references to horns related to adultery. So, Ovid in one of his works laments the horns that appeared on his head, after he belatedly learned about the betrayal of his beloved. In the 13th century European poetry there are often places where it is said that a horn grows on the forehead of a deceived husband.
As you can see, there are many versions, but they all come down to one answer to the question of what it means to edict horns: it means cheating on a husband or cheating on his wife, as well as hurt someone’s dignity by seducing his bride or wife.
In literature
Literary works and memoirs testify that the expressions “cuckold” and “edify horns” have been used for a long time and everywhere. In addition to the above works of ancient Roman and medieval literature, we also find them in Shakespeare, for example, in the "Windsor Mockers".
On the pages of the works of Pushkin, Chekhov, Krylov, Dostoevsky, Lermontov and in the memoirs of Catherine II there are also several references to horns and cuckolds when it comes to adultery, that is, treason to husband or wife.