Roots
Victory bells
Deepti

IN this season of wins and losses, the roots of ‘victory’ make enthralling reading. The word comes from the Latin ‘vincere’ that means ‘conquer’, this base led to the word ‘victor’ or ‘conqueror’ that went on to create the word ‘victory’. In the 14th century, ‘victory’ replaced the old English word ‘sige’ that meant ‘courageous conquest’. It is interesting to note that ‘sig’ comes from the same language family as the Sanskrit ‘sahas’. Victory initially referred to success achieved in warfare or personal combat but later, the sense expanded to include any instance of triumph or success. In mythology, victory was often deified as the Greek Goddess Nike or the Roman Victoria.

The eponymous expression ‘Pyrrhic victory’ owes its existence to the life and times of the Greek King, Pyrrhus. He invaded Italy and defeated the Roman army twice but at such great cost that he is said to have remarked, ‘One more such victory and we are lost’. Other versions of his significant words are, ‘One more victory and I am undone’, and ‘Another such victory and I must return to Epirus alone’.

In 275 B.C., he fought against the Romans again, but was defeated. Although a great warrior and a second cousin of Alexander the Great, he never lived to revive Alexander’s empire as he had hoped. His name stands immortalised in the phrase ‘Pyrrhic victory’ that has come to mean ‘a victory in which the losses are so great and ruinous that it is no victory at all’.

A similar expression is the phrase ‘Cadmean victory’ that refers to ‘a victory won at as great a cost to the victor as to the vanquished’. ‘Cadmean’ comes from Cadmus, a Phoenician prince in Greek mythology. Near the site where Cadmus was to build Thebes he encountered a dragon. Even though he managed to kill the dragon, only five of his comrades survived, with whom he founded the city of Thebes.