The tall poppy syndrome is a cultural phenomenon in which people hold back, criticise or sabotage those who have or are believed to have achieved notable success in one or more aspects of life, particularly intellectual or cultural wealth; "cutting down the tall

poppy A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, '' Papaver somniferum'', is the source of the narcotic drug o ...

". Commonly, in Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, "cutting down the tall poppy" is used to describe those who deliberately put down another for their success and achievements. In Japan, a similar common expression is "the nail that sticks up gets hammered down". In the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, this expression is "don't put your head above ground level" (''boven het maaiveld uitsteken''), with the cultural phenomenon being named '' Maaiveldcultuur''. In

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, this expression is known as "''chaquetear''" ('pull the jacket'). In Sweden, this expression is known as

Law of Jante The Law of Jante (, da, Janteloven )Norwegian nb, Janteloven , nn, Jantelova; is, Jantelögin; fo, Jantelógin; sv, Jantelagen ; fi, Janten laki . is a code of conduct created in fiction by the Danish-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose and h ...

. The Law of Jante comes with "rules" such as "you're not to think you are anything special".

Etymology

The concept originates from accounts in

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

' '' Histories'' (Book 5, 92f),

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

's ''

Politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

'' (1284a) and

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

's ''

Ab urbe condita libri The work called ( en, From the Founding of the City), sometimes referred to as (''Books from the Founding of the City''), is a monumental history of ancient Rome, written in Latin between 27 and 9 BC by Livy, a Roman historian. The wor ...

'' (Book I, ch.54), with reversed roles, referring to Periander's advice to Thrasybulus of Miletus via a herald. The specific reference to poppies occurs in Livy's account of the tyrannical

Roman king The king of Rome ( la, rex Romae) was the ruler of the Roman Kingdom. According to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus, who founded the city in 753 BC upon the Palatine Hill. Seven legendary kings are said to have ruled Rome until 509 ...

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. He is said to have received a messenger from his son

Sextus Tarquinius Sextus Tarquinius was the third and youngest son of the last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, according to Livy, but by Dionysius of Halicarnassus he was the oldest of the three.Roman Antiquities Book 4.69 According to Roman tradition, ...

asking what he should do next in

Gabii Gabii was an ancient city of Latium, located due east of Rome along the Via Praenestina, which was in early times known as the ''Via Gabina''. It was on the south-eastern perimeter of an extinct volcanic crater lake, approximately circular ...

, since he had become all-powerful there. Rather than answering the messenger verbally, Tarquin went into his garden, took a stick and symbolically swept it across his garden, thus cutting off the heads of the tallest

poppies Poppies can refer to: *Poppy, a flowering plant * The Poppies (disambiguation) - multiple uses *'' Poppies (film)'' - Children's BBC remembrance animation *"Poppies", a song by Patti Smith Group from their 1976 album '' Radio Ethiopia'' *"Poppies", ...

that were growing there. The messenger, tired of waiting for an answer, returned to Gabii and told Sextus what he had seen. Sextus realised that his father wished him to put to death all of the most eminent people of Gabii, which he then did.

References

External links

* {{wiktionary-inline, tall poppy
Flogging the tall-poppy syndrome
Australian culture Canadian culture New Zealand culture Political terminology Sociological terminology Social status Lucius Tarquinius Superbus

Etymology

See also

References

Further reading

External links