LUCIAN
541
LUCIAN^
Contemplanteg, is a very elegant dialogue, but of a graver turn than the preceding ; it is a picture of the smallness of mankind when viewed from a philosophic as well as a physical height. The KaTcnzXovq )) TvpavvoQ, Kataplus sice Tyrannus, is, in fact, a dialogue of the dead. "OvtipoQ i] 'AXtKrpvuiv, Somnium seu Gallus, just- ly reckoned among the best of Lucian's. Ai'c KUTijyo- povi^ttroc, Bis Accusatus, so called from Lucian's being arraigned by Rhetoric and Dialogue, is chiefly valuable for the information it contains of the author's life and literary pursuits. We may here also mention the Kpo- vocoXwv, Crono-Solon, and the 'ETriaroXai Kqovikui, Epistolce Satiirnales, which turn on the institution and customs of the Saturnalia. Among the dialogues which may be regarded as mere pictures of manners, without any polemical tendency, may be reckoned "Epioreg ; 'ETaipiKul AidXoyoi, Dialogi Meretricii; H\dlov j) Ev- Xai, Navir/ium seu vota. Among the dialogues which cannot be placed in any of the above three classes are the EiKuvig, Imar/ines, which some suppose to have been addressed to a concubine of Verus, and which Wieland conjectures to have been intended for the wife of Mar- cus Antoninus ; Yirip twv Eikoviov, Pro Imaginibus, a defence of the preceding, with the flatter^' of which the ladj' Avho was the subject of it pretended to be displeased. Tut.apiQ, Toxaris, on friendship; 'Ava\apaig, Anachar- sis, an attack upon the Greek gymnasia; Ilipl 6pxi)(T£- wg. Be Saltatione: this piece is hardly worthy of Lu- cian, but contains some curious particulars of the art of dancing among the ancients. AuiKt^ig tvqoq 'Hatocoi', Dissertaiio cum Ilesiodo, the genuineness of which is doubted. YI. Miscellaneous Pieces. — These bear in their form some analogy to the modern essay: Tlpbg Tvv etTTovra YIpofxiBtvg d tv Xuyotg, Ad eum qui dixe- rat Prometheus es in Verbis ; Tltpl bvaibiv, De Sacriji- ciis, against the absurdities of the heathen worship, and especially of the Egyptian. Yltpl twv tTil //icrSfp avj'- 6vTiov,De ifercede Conductis ; 'AKoXoyia Tripl twv i-ivi ft. avv., Aj}ologia pro de Merc. Cond.; 'YTvip tov tv t?j vpocjayopiixTd TT-raicri-iaToc, Pro Lapsu in Sulutando, a playful little piece, though containing some curious learning. Ylepi -n-tvSrovg, De Luctu, in opposition to the received opinion concerning the infernal regions. lipbg (iTraidevTov, Adve?-sus Indoctum, is a bitter at- tack upon a rich man who thought to acquire a charac- ter for learning by collecting a large libraiy. Utpl tov fii) paSiug wtaTiveiv oiaftoXi), Aon iemei-e credendum esse Belationi. YII. Poejis. — These consist of two mock tragedies, TpayoTtoSaypa and 'QKinrovg, and about fifty epigrams, the genuineness of some of which is considered doubtful. The following works, which have sometimes been ascribed to Lucian, are considered by the most eminent critics as spurious : 'AXkvojv t) TTtpi M(Tai.iop(pwaHoc, Ilalctjon seu de Transformatio7ie, deemed to be by Leo the Academician ; Ilcpi Trjg 'Aa- TpoXoyiag, Be Asti-olor/ia ; Ilipi Tijg 'Slvpbjg ^eoi', De Bea Syria ; 'K.vviKog, Cynicus ; XapiSi]iiog t] TTtpi kciX- Xoiig, Charidemus sen de Pulchro ; tikpwv f) iripi rrjg opDX'lc Toii 'laSffiov, Nero, seu de Fossione Isthmi.
It is probable that the greater part of Lucian's rhe- torical pieces, as well as some others, are lost. "His writings have a more modern air than those of any other classic author; and the keenness of his wit, the richness yet extravagance of his humor, the fertility and live- liness of his fancy, his proneness to scepticism, and the clearness and simplicity of his style, present us with a kind of compound between Swift and Voltaire. There was abundance to justify his attacks in the systems against which they were directed, yet he established nothing in their stead" (Dyer, in Smith, s. v.).
Ediiions. — Lucian's works- were first published (in Greek) at Florence in 1496, folio, from rather incorrect MSS. ; a corrected edition was brought out at Venice by Antoni Francini in 1535 (2 vols. 8vo), verj- good and scarce. The first edition of the Greek text with a Lat- in version appeared at Basle in 1563 (4 vols. 8vo), the result of the work of several savans: the parts of Eras-
mus, T. !Morus, J. IMicyllus, are deserving of praise; this is not the case with that of Vincent Obsopoeus. The notes by Sambucus are considered of no account, but those of Gilbert Cousin are highly esteemed. In 1730 the distinguished philologist, Tib. Hemsterhuys, began to print his excellent edition ; but dying in 1736, before a quarter of it had been finished, the editorship was as- signed to J. F. Keitz, a much less capable man : it ap- peared at Utrecht in 1743 (4 vols. 4to ; republished by Schmidt, at Mittau, 1776-1780, 8 vols. 8vo). This edi- tion contains a large number of valuable notes; the last volume is a lexicon. A mucli. esteemed edition is that of Deux-Ponts, 1789-93, 10 vols. 8vo, which is a careful reprint of Hemsterhuys's edition, the lexicon being re- placed by an index, and the 10th volume containing the various readings compiled by BeUn de Ballu from the SISS. in the Koyal Librarj' of Paris. In 1800 Schmie- der published at Halle a text without translation, with various readings compiled from the libraries of France and Germany. Tliere were to appear commentaries in connection with it, which, however, were not published. This edition is much esteemed, although some of the various readings are thought to have been collected without sufficient care. The edition of Lehmann (Lpz. 1821-31, 9 vols. 8vo), with a latge number of notes, is of great use for the correct understanding of the text. A much esteemed edition is that of C. .Jacobitz (Lpz. 1837- 41,4 vols. 8vo) ; the text was estabUshed with the aid of the most valuable INISS. and with the greatest care. Dindorf published in 1840, at Paris, a Greek text of Lu- cian, with a Latin version, but no notes, which forms part of the Bibliotheca Grceca, and stands deservedly high. Separate pieces of Lucian's have been often pub- lished.