After us the flood

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under After Us the Flood (disambiguation) .

Les avantures de Don Quixote , The Hague 1746

Deucalion's Flood , woodcut to Ovid's Metamorphoses by Virgil Solis (1514–1562)

Memorial stone for the 617 Dambuster Squadron of the Royal Air Force

“After us the flood ” is a popular saying that is meant to express indifference to the future. The expression is also used in the singular form "After me the flood" . Karl Marx writes accordingly in Das Kapital. Volume I (1867): “Après moi le déluge! is the vote of every capitalist and every capitalist nation. "

origin

The saying is attributed to the Marquise de Pompadour (1721–1764). During a festival that threatened to be disturbed by the news of the defeat at Roßbach (1757), it is said to «Après nous le déluge! » (“ After us the flood! ”) Have shouted.

Abbé Gabriel Bonnot de Mably wrote in the sixth letter to Marly, dated August 18, 1758 , of his Droits et devoirs du citoyen (1789; “ Citizens ' Rights and Duties”) from the French Parliament :

«L'avenir les inquiète peu: après eux le déluge. »

"The future worries them little: after them the flood."

“Après nous le Déluge” can also be found in the French-language edition of the Don Quixote novel, which was published in 1746 by Pieter de Hondt in The Hague .

According to the Dictionary of Antiquity (1933), the original source is the epigram Anth. Graec. XI 19 of the Straton from Sardis on, which - comparable to Carmen I, 11 of Horace - encourages one to drink and love in the circle of boys, to anoint oneself and to adorn oneself, to enjoy before one is dead and Deucalion ( What is meant is the Greek version of the Flood, which Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha were the only ones to survive) washing away the dead bones.

Translation by Hermann Beckby

Now you must drink and love! Do not sound forever, Democrates

The cups are happy for us, not always a circle of boys laughs at us.

Come on, we anoint the body and press the wreaths into our hair,

before the others at the grave give flowers and scents to us.

Now my bones should enjoy the flow of this wine:

If it is dead and dead, wash it away Deucalion!

original

Καὶ πίε νῦν καὶ ἔρα, Δαμόκρατες οὐ γὰρ ἐς αἰεὶ

πιόμεθ᾿, οὐδ᾿ αἰεὶ παισὶ συνεσσόμεθα.

καὶ στεφάνοις κεφαλὰς πυκασώμεθα, καὶ μυρίσωμεν

αὑτούς, πρὶν τύμβοις ταῦτα φέρειν ἑτέρους.

νῦν ἐν ἐμοὶ πιέτω μέθυ τὸ πλέον ὀστέα τἀμά ·

νεκρὰ δὲ Δευκαλίων αὐτὰ κατακλυσάτω.

Trivia

The No. 617 Squadron (617th Squadron) of the British Royal Air Force , which flew missions against German dams in World War II, still carries après moi, le déluge (French): "After me the deluge" as its motto.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "After us the flood!" In: Duden: Quotes and sayings: origin and current use . tape 12 . Bibliographisches Institut GmbH, 2011, ISBN 3-411-90512-3 , p. 389 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
2. ^ Karl Marx: The capital . Volume I, Section III, 8th, 5th zeno.org . Marx-Engels-Werke 23, p. 285
3. ^ "Après nous le déluge" (Duden.de) .
4. ↑ p. 263 books.google , p. 283 books.google ; archive.org , archive.org
5. ↑ Les principales avantures de l'admirable Don Quichotte , représentées en figures par Coypel [1694–1752], Picart le Romain [1632–1721], et autres habiles maitres: avec les explications des XXXI planches de cette magnifique collection, tirées de l 'original espagnol de Miguel de Cervantes. A La Haie, Chés Pierre de Hondt, 1746. p. 328 books.google
6. ↑ p. 37 books.google
7. ^ P. 555 books.google , Neuer Wettstein p. 399 books.google ; see. also Gottlob Regis p. 209 books.google
8. ↑ Loeb's Classical Library: The Greek Anthology, volume IV, book 11, p. 76 loebclassics.com