Chapter G to Galere of G by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Galahad or Sir Galaad (g hard). Son of Sir Launcelot and Elaine, one of the Knights of the Round Table, so pure in life that he was successful in his search for the Sangrail. Tennyson has a poem on the subject, called The Holy Grail.

"There Galaad sat, with manly grace,
Yet maiden meekness in his face."
Sir W. Scott: Bridal of Triermain, ii. 13.

Galaor (Don). Brother of Amadis of Gaul, a gay libertine, whose adventures form a strong contrast to those of the more serious hero.

Galate'a A sea-nymph, beloved by Polypheme, but herself in love with Acis. Acis was crushed under a huge rock by the jealous giant, and Galatea threw herself into the sea, where she joined her sister nymphs. Carlo Maratti (1625-1713) depicted Galatea in the sea and Polypheme sitting on a rock. Handel has an opera entitled Acis and Galatea.

Galathe (3 syl.). Hector's horse.

"There is a thousand Hectors in the field;
Now here he fights on Galathe his horse,
And there lacks work."
Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida, v. 5.

Galaxy (The). The "Milky Way." A long white luminous track of stars which seems to encompass the heavens like a girdle. According to classic fable, it is the path to the palace of Zeus (1 syl.) or Jupiter. (Greek, gala, milk, genitive, galaktos.)
   A galaxy of beauty. A cluster, assembly, or coterie of handsome women.

Gale's Compound Powdered glass mixed with gunpowder to render it non-explosive. Dr. Gale is the patentee.

Galen (g hard). Galen says "Nay," and Hippocrates "Yea." The doctors disagree, and who is to decide? Galen was a physician of Asia Minor in the second Christian century. Hippocrates - a native of Cos, born B.C. 460 - was the most celebrated physician of antiquity.
   Galen. A generic name for an apothecary. Galenists prefer drugs (called Galenical medicines), Paracelsians use mineral medicines.

Galeotti (Martius). Louis XI.'s Italian astrologer. Being asked by the king if he knew the day of his own death, he craftily replied that he could not name the exact day, but he knew this much: it would be twenty- four hours before the decease of his majesty. Thrasullus, the soothsayer of Tiberius, Emperor of Rome, made verbally the same answer to the same question.

" `Can thy pretended skill ascertain the hour of thine own death?'"

" `Only by referring to the fate of another,' said Galeotti.

" `I understand not thine answer,' said Louis.

" `Know then, O king,' said Martius, `that this only I can tell with certainty concerning mine own death, that it shall take place exactly twenty-four hours before your majesty's.' " Sir W. Scott: Quentin Durward, chap. xxix.

Galerana (g hard), according to Ariosto, was wife of Charlemagne. (Orlando Furioso, bk. xxi.) (See Charlemagne.)

Galere (2 syl.). Que diable allait-il faire dans cette galère? (What business had he to be on that galley?) This is from Molière's comedy of Les Fourberies de Scapin. Scapin wants to bamboozle Géronte out of his money, and tells him that his master (Géronte's son) is detained prisoner on a Turkish galley, where he went out of curiosity. He adds, that unless the old man will ransom him, he will be taken to Algiers as a slave. Géronte replies to all that Scapin urges, "What business had he to go on board the galley?" The retort is given to those who beg money to help them out of difficulties which they have brought on themselves. "I grant you are in trouble, but what right had you to go on the galley?"    Vogue la Galère. (See Vogue.)