Lucian (ca. 120190 CE), the satirist from Samosata on the
Euphrates, started as an apprentice sculptor, turned to rhetoric
and visited Italy and Gaul as a successful travelling lecturer,
before settling in Athens and developing his original brand of
satire. Late in life he fell on hard times and accepted an official
post in Egypt.
Although notable for the Attic purity and elegance of his Greek
and his literary versatility, Lucian is chiefly famed for the
lively, cynical wit of the humorous dialogues in which he satirises
human folly, superstition and hypocrisy. His aim was to amuse
rather than to instruct. Among his best works are "A True Story"
(the tallest of tall stories about a voyage to the moon),
"Dialogues of the Gods" (a 'reductio ad absurdum' of traditional
mythology), "Dialogues of the Dead" (on the vanity of human
wishes), "Philosophies for Sale" (great philosophers of the past
are auctioned off as slaves), "The Fisherman" (the degeneracy of
modern philosophers), "The Carousal" or "Symposium" (philosophers
misbehave at a party), "Timon" (the problems of being rich), "Twice
Accused" (Lucian's defence of his literary career) and (if by
Lucian) "The Ass" (the amusing adventures of a man who is turned
into an ass).
The Loeb Classical Library edition of Lucian is in eight
volumes.
General
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