CONTACT ME: One faction, led by Cleon, advocated executing all of the men in the city and enslaving the women and children, while another faction (one spokesman was Diodotus) preferred more moderate treatment in which only men who had been identified as ringleaders would be executed. Much excited, we crept right out into our monster’s mouth, stood inside the teeth, and beheld the most extraordinary spectacle I ever looked upon — giants of a hundred yards in height rowing great islands as we do triremes. Some were well-grown, smooth-skinned, shapely, handsome fellows, others rough, short, and ugly; some apparently made of gold, others of common cheap stuff. Sailing on, we had left the nest some five and twenty miles behind, when a miracle happened. [4] Nightlong | Gr. These philosophers disbelieved in the judgment of the senses, and so, holding that was no criterion or standard of truth, kept their judgment in suspense, and could never reach a definite conclusion. A. M. Harmon. But our arrows and javelins were too much for them, and they fled back to the island, few of them unwounded. There is a Government House in the middle of the city, where the Governor sits all night long calling the roll-call; anyone not answering to his name is capitally punished as a deserter; that is to say, he is extinguished. Very soon we seemed quite close to the Isle of Dreams [1], though there was a certain dimness and vagueness about its outline; but it had something dreamlike in its very nature; for as we approached it receded, and seemed to get further and further off. There is moreover at no great distance a salt lake two or three miles round, producing all sorts of fish; in this we swim and sail, in a little boat of my building. The commentary is almost exclusively grammatical, explaining subordinate clauses, conditions etc., and explaining unusual verb forms. The pumpkin is dried and hollowed out by removal of the pulp, and the boat is completed by the addition of cane masts and pumpkin-leaf sails. His wife was either Eurydice or Anaxibia; their children included Peisistratus, Thrasymedes, Pisidice, Polycaste, Stratichus, Aretus, Echephron, and Antilochus. As to Cinyras and his associates, Rhadamanthus interrogated them to find whether they had more accomplices, and, being assured to the contrary, had them whipped with mallow twigs, bound, and dismissed to the place of the wicked. Gellius, Aulus, John C. Rolfe, Aulus Gellius, and Aulus Gellius. There were many twists and turns along the way as I never truly knew what to expect next. 2004. William Heinemann; New York: The Macmillan Co. 1913. They had taken three of the boldest of my crew into their confidence; Cinyras said not a word to his father, knowing that he would put a stop to it. I am aware that what I am to relate must sound improbable; but I cannot help it. That is Empedocles. They have no bodies, but are intangible and unsubstantial — mere form without matter; but, though incorporeal, they stand and move, think and speak; in short, each is a naked soul, but carries about the semblance of body [1]; one who did not touch them would never know that what he looked at was not substantial; they are shadows, but upright [2], and colored. [2] Precepts | Only the first of the three is an actual Pythagorean precept. At a Greek symposium, Kraters were placed in the center of the room. $9.99. True History masquerades as a clinical account of the travels of the narrator and his companions. We had a fine ship, with a mixed cargo for Italy; you may have seen the wreckage in the whale’s mouth. [1] Tricked out as kings of Gods or what not | Lucian often uses dream sequences to show munificent, unrealistic, and unfulfillable promises. [1] Marvel | This interlude into “marvels” has parallels with Herodotus when he tangentially speaks on various topics. I had further provided a good supply of arms, secured the best navigator to be had for money, and had the ship — a pinnace [3] — specially strengthened for a long and arduous voyage. [1] Broken fetters, overpowered guard, invading island | Perhaps a satirical take on the Myth of Er: Plato Republic 615d-616a: “‘For indeed this was one of the dreadful sights we beheld; when we were near the mouth and about to issue forth and all our other sufferings were ended, we suddenly caught sight of him and of others, the most of them, I may say, tyrants. [2] Pillar of Heracles | The Pillars of Heracles were Mount Abyla in Mauritania and Calpe in Spain, one on either side of the Fretum Gaditanam, now the Straits of Gibraltar. [3] Suspended | In the same manner as Gulliver's island of Laputa, a kingdom devoted to the arts of music and mathematics that was suspended in the sky; from this passage it is not improbable that Swift borrowed the idea. I pray you, let us know your tale, who you are and how you entered.’ Then he said that, before he asked or answered questions, he must give us such entertainment as he could; so saying, he brought us to his house — a sufficient dwelling furnished with beds and what else he might need —, and set before us green-stuff and nuts and fish, with wine for drink. As we reached the Moon, we were met and welcomed by our comrades and King Endymion, all weeping for joy. Now I am myself vain enough to cherish the hope of bequeathing something to posterity; I see no reason for resigning my right to that inventive freedom which others enjoy; and, as I have no truth to put on record, having lived a very humdrum life, I fall back on falsehood — but falsehood of a more consistent variety; for I now make the only true statement you are to expect — that I am a liar [2]. Such are the adventures that befell me up to our arrival at that other continent: our sea-voyage; our cruise among the islands and in the air; then our experiences in and after the whale; with the Heroes; with the dreams; and finally with the Ox-heads and the Ass-shanks. The victors pursued some way, but, as it was now evening, returned to the disabled ones, secured most of the enemy’s, and recovered their own, of which as many as eighty had been sunk. [1] Dolphins | Follows tradition of men riding dolphins. [1] Ctesias | He wrote also thirty books of the Persian History. But while we were deliberating, a great storm arose, which dashed us, a complete wreck, on the shore. I am now to put on record the novelties and singularities which attracted my notice during our stay in the Moon. The time I was there, I surveyed my own people and the whole of my native country; whether they saw me also, I cannot say for certain. In his sleep he thought that he was bound in fetters, but these, of their own accord, fell from off him, so that he was loosed, and could stretch his legs as freely as he wished.”17). Illustrated by William Strang, J.B. Clark, and Aubrey Beardsley with an introduction by Charles Whibley, 1902. Translated with and Introduction and Notes by Keith Sidwell. The satire is directed rather at the popular notion of the spirits of the dead as shadowy human forms, according to the descriptions in Homer and Virgil. According to Strabo, a statue of Eunomus with the grasshopper and the lyre was erected at Locri. [1] Two trophies | Originally the word trophy, derived from the Greek tropaion, referred to arms, standards, other property, or human captives and body parts (e.g. [12] Nestor | The son of Neleus and Chloris and the King of Pylos. Their number I cannot bring myself to write down, for fear of exciting incredulity. [3] Intercourse | The insinuation of the use of sexual objects was omitted from some early modern editions of Lucian. He became king after Heracles killed Neleus and all of Nestor's siblings. The choirs are of boys and girls, conducted and led by Eunomus the Locrian [3], Arion of Lesbos [4], Anacreon [5] and Stesichorus [6]; this last had made his peace with Helen, and I saw him there. We had found nothing to eat; the general opinion was for slaughtering the prisoners; but I refused to accede to this [2], and kept them in bonds till an embassy came from the Ox-heads to ransom them; so we understood the motions they made, and their tearful supplicatory lowings. [1] Horse-vultures | Literally Hippogypi from hippos, horse, and gyps, vulture. Once upon a time I gathered together the poorest people in my kingdom and undertook to plant a colony on the Morning Star, which was empty and uninhabited. It began in this way. At last we reached it and sailed into Slumber, the port, close to the ivory gates where stands the temple of the Rooster [2] It was evening when we landed, and upon proceeding to the city we saw many strange dreams. According to legend they were once a continuous mountain, which Heracles rent asunder. Nauplius secured us admission, however, and then we saw the chastisement of many kings, and many common men; some were known to us; indeed there hung Cinyras [2], swinging in eddies of smoke. These articles shall be engraved on a pillar of electrum [2], which shall be set up on the border in mid-air. The high contracting parties shall found the colony of Lucifer in common, and shall permit persons of any other nationality to join the same. Of these some sat along each side of the island, rowing with big cypresses, from which the branches and leaves were not stripped; in the stern, so to speak, was a considerable hillock, on which stood the helmsman with his hand on a brazen steering-oar of half a mile in length; and on the deck forward were forty in armor, the combatants; they resembled men except in their hair, which was flaming fire, so that they could dispense with helmets. He, therefore, could not be entirely indifferent to it. Odyssey 7.114: “Of these the fruit perishes not nor fails in winter or in summer, but lasts throughout the year; and ever does the west wind, as it blows, quicken to life some fruits, and ripen others.”18). Many of them we felt that we had seen in our world, and sure enough these came up and claimed us as old acquaintance; they took us under their charge, found us lodgings, entertained us with lavish kindness, and, not content with the magnificence of this present reception, promised us royalties and provinces. With Hyacinth I suspected that he was in love; at least he was forever poking questions at him. [1] Organs are removable | Perhaps an allusion to Thucydides. Lucian's True History is a classic of ancient Greek fantasy literature, considered by some to be the first Sci-Fi story ever written. This must be supposed in order to make sense of the sentence. [4] The idea that Homer was blind derives from the Homeric Hymn to Apollo in which the bard says: “Remember me in after time whenever anyone of men on earth, a stranger who has seen and suffered much, comes here and asks of you: “Whom think ye, girls, is the sweetest singer that comes here, and in whom do you most delight?” Then answer, each and all, with one voice: “He is a blind man, and dwells in rocky Chios: his lays are evermore supreme.”27). Lucian was unaware of the continent of Australia. [6] Odysseus | In the Iliad, Odysseus is represented as wily and glib of tongue. On their right was about an equal force of Sky-gnats [1] — archers mounted on great gnats; and next them the Sky-pirouetters [2], light-armed infantry only, but of some military value; they slung monstrous radishes at long range, a wound from which was almost immediately fatal, turning to gangrene at once; they were supposed to anoint their missiles with mallow juice. But those that come forth through the gate of polished horn bring true issues to pass, when any mortal sees them.”36), The whole place is embowered in wood, of which the trees are poppy and mandragora [1], all thronged with bats; this is the only winged thing that exists there. Taraxion tou Mataogeous, Fright, the son of vain-hope or Disappointment. The central part is inhabited by the Crays [5] and the Flounderfoots [6], the latter warlike and extremely swift. On the other hand, their right had the better of our left, the Sky-gnats pressing on right up to our infantry. The scholiast missed the memo that the True History is composed of lies and hyperbole. The waiting and handing is done by the winds, except only the filling of the wine-cup. True History Decrypted: Full Text and Commentary of Lucian's True History Frank Redmond. Lucian accuses them of bad taste in so doing. Odysseus took the opportunity to come unobserved by Penelope and give me a letter for Calypso in the isle Ogygia. It came on open-mouthed, agitating the sea far in front, bathed in foam, and exhibiting teeth whose length much surpassed the height of our great phallic images [2], all pointed like sharp stakes and white as elephants’ tusks. [1] Cinyras (or Kinyras) | A Greek reader would notice that the word kino, which means “copulate”, is an insinuation that he will suffer frustration from pent up sexuality and lust. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of nine lyric poets. [2] Iambulus's Oceanica | Nothing is directly left of the works of Iambulus. It was risky work, but in the end we routed and chased them to their dens. I refused, asking that we might be sent down to the sea again; and finding that he could not prevail, he entertained us for a week, and then sent us on our way. I did it in a fit of melancholy.”28), Icaromenippus 13: “At this moment of depression — I was very near tears — who should come up behind me but Empedocles the physicist? Another thing, they have artificial parts that are sometimes of ivory and sometimes, with the poor, of wood, and make use of them in their intercourse [3]. He died fighting bravely in a border war with the Eleusinians, and was honored with a public funeral. It was stated that many of them had started to follow persons travelling to the island, but, their energy failing, had abandoned the journey half-way and gone back. [4] Diluting the strength of our spirituous food | The Greeks mixed wine with water in the Krater prior to drinking. Zeus rescued the fetal Dionysus by sewing him into his thigh. When funds ran out, friends deserted and Timon was reduced to working in the fields. Register a free business account; Editorial Reviews About the Author. [2] Some of them made further amorous advances; and two of my comrades who yielded to these solicitations found it impossible to extricate themselves again from their embraces; the man became one plant with the vine, striking root beside it; his fingers turned to vine twigs, the tendrils were all round him, and embryo grape-clusters were already visible on him. [3]. I think that would not be unpleasant. The vines were covered with fruit, but the drink we squeezed from it was milk instead of wine. Shortly after, as my hostess was serving me, I saw that in place of human feet she had ass’s hoofs; whereupon I drew my sword, seized, bound, and closely questioned her. 5. [4] Flea-archers | Literally Pfllotoxotoe, pulici sagittarii, Flea-archers. And with it all there mingled a volume of human sound, a sound not of tumult, but rather of revels where some flute, and some praise the fluting, and some clap their hands commending flute or harp. There was also a broad low one, as much as sixty miles in length, and straight in our course. Paperback. 4.7 out of 5 stars 16. Finding their friends defeated, they sent a messenger after Phaethon to bring him back, and, themselves in perfect order, charged the disarrayed Moonites [4], who had left their ranks and were scattered in pursuit or pillage; they routed the whole of them, chased the King home, and killed the greater part of his birds; they tore up the trophies, and overran the woven plain; I myself was taken, with two of my comrades. [2] A waterspout | Epicurus in his Letter to Pythocles explains the etiology of waterspouts: “Fiery whirlwinds are due to the descent of a cloud forced downwards like a pillar by the wind in full force and carried by a gale round and round, while at the same time the outside wind gives the cloud a lateral thrust; or it may be due to a change of the wind which veers to all points of the compass as a current of air from above helps to force it to move; or it may be that a strong eddy of winds has been started and is unable to burst through laterally because the air around is closely condensed. Search only in Lucian. [2] Cretan Rhadamanthus | In Greek mythology, Rhadamanthus was a wise king, the son of Zeus and Europa. [2] Galatea the Nereid | One of the fifty Nereids, or Sea-Nymphs; so-called on account of the fairness of their skin. 3. [4] Hellebore treatment | Hellebore was used by the ancients as a treatment for paralysis, gout, and other diseases, but most particularly for insanity. Word Counts by Language; Greek (279,397 words) Documents: Lucian. Thomas Francklin. He was said to have had a golden thigh. Scintharus was to navigate her. Nyctiporus, night-wanderers. These latter, however, arrived, most unfortunately for us [6], after the battle was decided; the slingers failed altogether, and are said to have felt the resentment of Phaethon, who wasted their territory with fire. Next morning they sacrificed on the whale’s back, buried their dead there, and sailed off rejoicing, with something corresponding to our paean. I had scarcely gone half a mile when I came upon a shrine, which its inscription showed to have been raised to Poseidon; a little further were a number of graves with pillars upon them, and close by a spring of clear water; we also heard a dog bark, saw some distant smoke, and conjectured that there must be a habitation. One of the translators of Lucian, Thomas Francklin, bemoaned in his introduction to True History, “We cannot but lament that the humour of many of the references has been lost to us; therefore, Lucian’s True History cannot be half as pleasurable as when it was first written, but there are enough remaining allusions which we understand to secure it from being unrelatable.” This work, True History Decrypted, attempts to take those “remaining allusions” and make them relatable to the modern reader. A Krater is a large vase which was used to mix wine and water. Odyssey 10.312: “So she spoke, but I, drawing my sharp sword from beside my thigh, rushed upon Circe, as though I would slay her.”42) Odyssey 12.42-46: “Whoso in ignorance draws near to them and hears the Sirens' voice, he nevermore returns, that his wife and little children may stand at his side rejoicing, but the Sirens beguile him with their clear-toned song, as they sit in a meadow, and about them is a great heap of bones of moldering men, and round the bones the skin is shriveling.”43). The method was this: they float on their backs, erect a sail, and then, holding the sheets with their hands, catch the wind. December 2020: Note that volume 7 has about 100 pages missing beggining at page 353 (seems all scans of that volume on archive are missing those pages). The pretext for war was to be non-payment of the tribute, which was on the point of falling due. [18] Plato | His leaving and quitting Elysium to go live in his own republic is a stroke of true humor. On the enemy’s side, Phaethon occupied the left with his Horse-ants; they are great winged animals resembling our ants except in size; but the largest of them would measure a couple of acres. The dialogues are breezy and fun to read with relatively simple sentence structure. Zeus promises to smite their ship with a lightning bolt, and cleave it in pieces in the midst of the ocean. A river, called the Somnambule [2], flows close by, and there are two springs at the gates, one called Wakenot [3], and the other Nightlong [4]. [1] Exercise | The advantages arising from the athletic exercises practiced in Greece and sometimes their downsides are set forth Lucian's dialogue Anacharsis. It will give you some idea of their size if I state that each of their quill-feathers is longer and thicker than the mast of a large merchantman. We did not wait to be attacked, but charged them near Poseidon’s temple with loud shouts, which echoed as in a subterranean cave. Etymology from gala, milk. We were intending to continue our voyage, when we were discovered and detained by the Horse-vultures [1], as they are called. These troops are usually employed as skirmishers [6]. Here we were surprised to find Cloud-cuckoo-land [5]; we were prevented from landing by the direction of the wind, but learned that the King’s name was Crookbeak, son of Fitz–Ousel. The Wind-coursers are infantry, moving through the air without wings; they affect this by so girding their shirts, which reach to the ankle, that they hold the wind like a sail and propel their wearers’ ship-fashion. [1] The mallow plant is associated with the dead and was considered sacred by Pythagoreans. When these ripen, they harvest them and shell out the men. A few days later, when we had emerged from the milk into blue salt water, we saw numbers of men walking on the sea; they were like ourselves in shape and stature, with the one exception of the feet, which were of cork; whence, no doubt, their name of Corksoles [1]. Our guides described the life and guilt of each culprit; the severest torments were reserved for those who in life had been liars and written false history; the class was numerous, and included Ctesias of Cnidus, and Herodotus. From this Pythagoras alone held aloof, fasting and sitting far off, in sign of his abhorrence of bean-eating [1]. We only touched at one island, on which we also landed. The second was a matrimonial case, the parties Theseus and Menelaus, and the issue possession of Helen. headhunting) captured in battle. [2] Some words were added, commending us to her hospitality. [8] Heavyhead | Gr. [1] Corksoles | Gr. Paperback. Contact Form - I'd love to hear from you. Herodotus 4.76: “So when he came to Scythia he went down into the region called Hylaia (this is along by the side of the racecourse of Achilles and is quite full, as it happens, of trees of all kinds), — into this, I say, Anacharsis went down, and proceeded to perform all the ceremonies of the festival in honor of the goddess, with a kettle-drum and with images hung about himself. It began with the line: Tell now, my Muse, how fought the mighty Dead. [2] Helen consented | In some versions of the abduction of Helen by Paris, Helen is a willing participant. We were present and witnessed the proceedings, and heard lamps defending their conduct and advancing reasons for their lateness. Husband of Penelope, father of Telemachus, and son of Laërtes and Anticlea, Odysseus is renowned for his brilliance, guile, and versatility (polytropos), and is hence known by the epithet Odysseus the Cunning (mētis, or “cunning intelligence”). She did not fall back into the sea, but was suspended [3] aloft, and at the same time carried along by a wind which struck and filled the sails. They are intended to have an attraction independent of any originality of subject, any happiness of general design, and any authenticity in the piling up of fictions. The fable went into great detail about the long and exhausting journey that Lucian and his crew went upon. It was while we were thus engaged that our scouts announced the approach of the Cloud-centaurs, whom Phaethon had expected in time for the battle. The result was that both he and his comrade got away unscathed: for, as a rule, people will not lay a finger on those who show this disposition in war; it is men flying in headlong rout that they pursue.”31). The Athenian assembly wavered; an order for mass execution was issued on the first day of debate but countermanded on the next. He lived in the time of Artaxerxes. They greeted us and welcomed our approach, talking Lydian, Indian, and Greek, most of them the last. Works. With an English translation by A. M. Harmon of Princeton University. This evidence of Dionysus’s sojourn was enough to convince us [3] that the inscription on the pillar was authentic. Badness can be got easily and in shoals; the road to her is smooth, and she lives very near us. I have mentioned the most noteworthy of the company, and add that the most highly respected among them are, first Achilles, and second Theseus. The rout became decisive, great numbers were taken and slain, and blood flowed in great quantities on to the clouds, staining them as red as we see them at sunset; much of it also dropped earthwards, and suggested to me that it was possibly some ancient event of the same kind which persuaded Homer that Zeus had rained blood at the death of Sarpedon [1]. This was sometimes described as the island of Atlantis, very fruitful and populous, and larger than Asia and Africa combined. [6] Skirmishers | Also known as peltasts, a sort of light-armed foot soldier, who principally harassed the enemy by their agility. We passed on our way many countries, and actually landed on Lucifer, now in process of settlement, to water. Endymion had also a contingent from the North of 30,000 Flea-archers [4] and 50,000 Wind-coursers [5]. Phellopodes, cork-footed. It is now seven and twenty years since we were swallowed. Aeolocentaur’s fleet finally won, sinking one hundred and fifty of the enemy’s islands and capturing three with their crews; the remainder backed away, turned and fled. [1] Snuffing up the fumes | Herodotus (4.74) says that the Scythians were accustomed to regale themselves by a particular mode of intoxication, caused by the inhalation of hemp-seed. Their ears are plane-leaves, except with the breed raised from acorns; theirs being of wood. Lucian. This confession is, I consider, a full defense against all imputations. About midnight Menelaus woke up, and finding his wife’s place empty raised an alarm, and got his brother to go with him to King Rhadamanthus. [9] Antiphon the dream-interpreter | Perhaps this was leveled at a dream-interpreter of the time that is no longer known. Homer added to his poems a description of this battle and at my departure handed me the manuscript to bring back to the living world; but it was unfortunately lost with our other property. C. S. Jarram, M.A. [2] “Belly of the leg” | Gr. Lucian presumably knew nothing of a real frozen sea and thought that lighting a fire on the ice an impossibility. I stayed out that day too, and next morning started, the Heroes attending to see me off.