What is a riddle? This is a metaphorical expression

The riddle is something mysterious and inexplicable, attracting and enchanting - if this phenomenon is natural or social; Experience of wisdom accumulated over the centuries - if this is oral folk art.

The biggest secret

According to the explanatory dictionaries, the riddle is an allegorical, metaphorical utterance containing a description of one object by means of another similar to it. On the basis of similar features or properties, a person must guess what is actually being talked about. It's these verbal formulas that kids love so much! With this, everything is clear. But quite often the word riddle has nothing to do with folk art. To this concept resorted, in order to emphasize the mystery, the incomprehensibility of this or that phenomenon. What are some examples of the riddle in figurative meaning? Well, at least the following: "There must be some mystery in a woman ...". It seems that there is no need to explain the meaning of this well-known phrase. A highlight in the fair sex is those qualities that make it unpredictable and at the same time attractive for men. "Elasticity" of women's consciousness, the ability to find a compromise in situations on the verge of survival, as well as the desire to save a loved one nearby - this is what creates the notorious female riddle.

Mysteries and puzzles of nature

What is a riddle? It may be some miracle of nature, for example, the northern lights. Once bright sparks in the sky, painted in different colors, caused a mystical horror and at the same time admiration of the forces of nature, their power and diversity. However, unexplained phenomena in nature remain ever less, because science seeks to explain the world. Sometimes she succeeds, and sometimes - not very much. And then the learned men sigh, spread their hands and say: "This is a mystery for science!" Well, for example.

There are several versions of the origin of life on Earth, the disappearance of mammoths, giant lizards, who once inhabited our planet and were masters on it. The appearance of a man - a creature of a weak physically and therefore unnecessary, but eventually transformed the world and actually subordinated it to himself - was one of the serious mysteries for scientists. There were theories of Darwin and Marx.

But theories are subject to regular reviews due to the fact that they are not confirmed by practice. For example, no monkey for a million years has become a man for the second time. But on the contrary - please (in a figurative sense, of course). Moreover, it turned out that the closest "homo sapiensu" by genotype is an animal - a pig. As for K. Marx, then ... the theory of communist society collapsed with the collapse of the USSR.

That is why most of the quirks of nature can not be fully understood. Consequently, the meaning of the word riddle can be explained in the following way: it is a mystery that a person can comprehend over time.

Mysteries of history and religion

Paradoxes of history will also help explain what a mystery is.

The most popular secret since the end of the XIX century is the location of Atlantis - a fabulous country of abundance, whose inhabitants were incredibly rich, so much so that even their houses were built of gold and silver. The first mention of it refers to the IV century BC. E. (Dialogues of Plato). Since then, people are looking for a sunken island on which an ancient civilization could once exist.

Presumably Atlantis was located in the Aegean Sea, near Crete. In the northern part of the island, the ancient structures of the Minoan culture revered bulls, as described in the description of Plato. Perhaps the descendants of the great inhabitants of Atlantis, who were saved during the disaster, settled in this territory.

Or part of Atlantis was Troy, also considered a myth, while the German scientist Schliemann did not excavate in Turkey. Already in the twentieth century, scientists discovered in the Bermuda area a mysterious structure of tightly fitted to each other, identical in height and smoothly polished stones laid out in the form of a fragment of the letter G. A version appeared that it is a road that went to the bottom along with the island.

The truth is very close

So, what is a riddle? These are phenomena that the most talented researchers are not yet able to explain. Secrets, on which modern science works, are connected with the knowledge of the human soul. Faith in the gods always helped people survive in the most difficult conditions. Vera made a person almost invulnerable. Yogis walk on hot coals. Shamans, putting themselves in a trance, predict the events with an accuracy of minutes. The saints are raised to disciple the disciples on the right path.

No matter how science resisted the miracles shown by the church, it can not explain the origin of the Holy Fire. He descends from heaven for Easter at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the place where Christ was allegedly buried. Every year the fathers of the church are suspected of fraud, and the patriarch and representative of the Armenian-Gregorian church entering there are subjected to thorough examination. The area surrounding the Holy Sepulcher is carefully guarded - both before and during the ceremony of the descent of the Holy Fire. But no deception has ever been found. At the height of the prayer, blue lights appear on the stone bed of Christ , from which the patriarch lights the torch and carries it to the world. Holy fire is a divine miracle and one of the mysteries for science.

The Mystery of the Sphinx

In the ancient Greek myths, a winged monster, called the Sphinx, blocked the way for pilgrims going to Thebes. It asked them a question, and if the answer was not received, a terrible death awaited the travelers. Many must have heard such an expression - the riddle of the Sphinx. Its meaning is very simple - a tricky task, which only the smart can cope with. By the way, according to legend, the clever question was correctly answered only by Oedipus, and the monster, unable to withstand disappointment, committed suicide. Now even children well know this clue ("Who walks in the morning on 4 legs, in the afternoon - on 2, in the evening - on 3?"). Of course, man!

A giant stone sculpture of a lion with a human face has been in Giza for many centuries, next to the pyramids. This sphinx was built in the era of the Old Kingdom of the fourth dynasty of pharaohs. The length of the sculpture is 73 meters, the height is about 20 meters. Paws and trunk are made of calcareous rocks, and the head is made of solid stone.

There is a suggestion that it was carved from a rock, which had previously served as a quarry. Obviously, nature tried to place it so that once a year the shadow of the sphinx at its upper point coincides with the top of the main pyramid at the time of sunrise.

The statue is also interesting because it resembles the face of the pharaoh Khafre, opposite to the pyramid-tomb of which is located. The whole complex, together with the sphinx, is a hieroglyph that keeps the message, which has not yet been unraveled by science. Why does the giant keep a stone temple in its paws? Why did Thutmose IV unearth this giant from the sands in the era of the New Kingdom and lands around it? Is it true that the sphinx helped him to become the ruler of Egypt for this? The riddle!

Smart games

As mentioned above, children just love to guess and solve riddles. This is a great way to interesting and useful to spend time. And how pleasant it is to put the parents at a dead end with some "complicated-precomplex" question! The significance of puzzles for children is huge! First of all, they develop logically, they learn to think outside the box. In addition, oral folk art contains the social experience accumulated over many centuries. They reveal the meaning of simple things, forcing yourself to think about their content. That's what a mystery is!