Lucian, Electrum, Henry Watson Fowler (Translator), Francis George Fowler (Translator), 1

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[1] You have no doubt a proper faith in the amber legend—how it is the tears shed by poplars on the Eridanus for Phaethon, the said poplars being his sisters, who were changed to trees in the course of their mourning, and continue to distil their lacrimal amber. That was what the poets taught me, and I looked forward, if ever fortune should bring me to the Eridanus, to standing under a poplar, catching a few tears in a fold of my dress, and having a supply of the commodity.

Electrum. Lucian. Henry Watson Fowler (Translator), Francis George Fowler (Translator). Medford, MA, USA. 2023-08-01.

Current edition Perseus

Swans and Amber (English) (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 3. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.)

Editions (1)

Περὶ τοῦ Ἡλέκτρου ἢ Κύκνων Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 1. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1913.) — 1 focus

[1] Ἠλέκτρου πέρι καὶ ὑμᾶς δηλαδὴ ὁ μῦθος πέπεικεν, αἰγείρους ἐπὶ τῷ Ἠριδανῷ ποταμῷ δακρύειν αὐτὸ θρηνούσας τὸν Φαέθοντα, καὶ ἀδελφάς γε εἶναι τὰς αἰγείρους ἐκείνας τοῦ Φαέθοντος, εἶτα ὀδυρομένας τὸ μειράκιον ἀλλαγῆναι ἐς τὰ δένδρα, καὶ ἀποστάζειν ἔτι αὐτῶν δάκρυον δῆθεν τὸ ἤλεκτρον. τοιαῦτα γὰρ ἀμέλει καὶ αὐτὸς ἀκούων τῶν ποιητῶν ᾀδόντων ἤλπιζον, εἴ ποτε γενοίμην ἐπὶ τῷ Ἠριδανῷ, ὑπελθὼν μίαν τῶν αἰγείρων ἐκπετάσας τὸ προκόλπιον ὑποδέξεσθαι τῶν δακρύων ὀλίγα, ὡς ἤλεκτρον ἔχοιμι.

Translations (1)

Amber, or the Swan Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 1. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1913.) — 1 focus

[1] With regard to amber, you doubtless share the general belief in the story that poplars on the banks of the river Eridanus shed tears of it in grief over ‘ Phaethon; and that these poplars are the sisters of Phaethon, who out of sorrow for the boy were changed into trees and still drip tears—of amber! Such tales, when I heard them from the lips of the poets, made me expect that if ever I got to the Eridanus, by going underneath one of the poplars and holding out a fold of my cloak I could supply myself with amber by catching a few of their tears.

Lucian Electrum 1

Henry Watson Fowler (Translator), Francis George Fowler (Translator)

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