Lord of the Flies (phrase)
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This article is about the origins and meaning of the phrase. Lord of the Flies is the title of a novel by William Golding.
Lord of the Flies is the English-language translation of the Hebrew word Beelzebub, which in turn is a mistranslation of the name of the Semitic devil Baal-zevuv. Christian references to Beelzebub used the same derivation to describe Satan.
In a less literal sense, to be 'lord of the flies' is to rule over a worthless kingdom; Golding's novel presents a microcosm in which children fight and die to promulgate and dominate a broken, meaningless society.
