''Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi'' is a Latin phrase, literally "

What What or WHAT may refer to: * What, an English interrogative word * "What?", one of the Five Ws used in journalism Film and television * ''What!'' (film), also known as ''The Whip and the Body'', a 1963 Italian film directed by Mario Bava * ...

is permissible for

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

is not permissible for a cow". The '' locus classicus'' (origin) for the phrase is the novella '' Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing'' (1826) by

Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

, although it is not entirely clear that Eichendorff coined the phrase himself. In his play '' Heauton Timorumenos'',

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a playwright during the Roman Republic. He was the author of six Roman comedy, comedies based on Greek comedy, Greek originals by Menander or Apollodorus of Carystus. A ...

, a playwright of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

, coined a similar phrase, ''Aliis si licet, tibi non licet'' ("to others it is permitted; to you it is not permitted"). The phrase is often translated as "Gods may do what cattle may not". It indicates the existence of a

double standard A double standard is the application of different sets of principles for situations that are, in principle, the same. It is often used to describe treatment whereby one group is given more latitude than another. A double standard arises when two ...

(justifiable or otherwise), and essentially means "what is permitted to one important person or group, is not permitted to everyone."

Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt (born Johanna Arendt; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a German and American historian and philosopher. She was one of the most influential political theory, political theorists of the twentieth century. Her work ...

used the phrase as a title and theme for a well-known profile of

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

References

{{italic title Latin words and phrases 1820s neologisms 1820s quotations Quotations from literature Metaphors referring to cattle Cattle in religion

See also

References