Meaning of Stratagem (What it is, Concept and Definition)

What is Stratagem:

It is known as stratagem a skillful and cunning action, which operates through deception or surprise, and through which one seeks to achieve or avoid somethingusually in war.

The word, as such, comes from Latin strategyand this in turn from the Greek στρατήγημα (stratḗgēma), derived from στρατηγός (stratēgós), which translates ‘general of an army’, ‘strategist’.

In this sense, a stratagem can be a military operation or maneuver that deceives or confuses the enemy to lead him to an unfavorable or disadvantageous situation.

There are no established rules for stratagems, they vary depending on the moment, the events and the opportunities that arise, as well as the ingenuity of the person who conceives them.

Outside the military sphere, on the other hand, a stratagem refers to the deceptions or tricks with which a person achieves something. For example: “The candidate gained the presidency through that vile stratagem.”

Synonyms of stratagem They would be: ruse, deception, ruse, cunning, ruse.

In Englishstratagem translates stratagem. For example: “One way of looking at speech is to say it is a constant stratagem to cover nakedness”(Harold Pinter)”.

Stratagem in the Bible

The Bible, for its part, mentions the word stratagem several times in some of its passages to refer to the deceptions devised by unfaithful men or by Satan to confuse the hearts of men and their faith in God: “So that we may no longer be fluctuating children, carried everywhere by every wind of doctrine, by the stratagem of men who cunningly use the tricks of error to deceive, but that following the truth in love, we may grow in everything in him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians, 4: 14-16).

Trojan Horse Stratagem

The most famous stratagem in the history of literature is that of the Trojan horse. During the siege of the walled city of Troy, the Greeks gave, as a gift, a huge wooden horse that was interpreted by the Trojans as a sign of their victory. Within it, however, were hidden some of the greatest Greek warriors. During the night, they got out of their horses and opened the gates of the fortified city, whereupon Troy was defeated. The one who conceived the plan was the cunning Odysseus, also known as Ulysses. This episode appears narrated in the Odyssey and in other works of classical antiquity, such as Aeneid.

See also Trojan Horse.