Lucian of Samosata, Muscae Encomium, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 3

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[3] As for her body, the head is very delicately attached to the neck and so is easily moved, not fixed like the head of a grasshopper. The eyes are prominent, and have much the quality of horn, The breast is solid, and the legs grow right out of the waist, which is not at all pinched* up, as in wasps. As in them, the abdomen is armoured and resembles a corselet in having flat zones and scales. She differs, however, from the wasp and the bee, in that her weapon is not the hinder-part, but the mouth, or rather the proboscis; for, like the elephant, she has a trunk with which she forages, seizing things and holding them tenaciously, since it is like a tentacle at the end. A tooth protrudes from it with which the fly inflicts bites in order to drink the blood, for although she drinks milk, she likes blood also. The bite causes no great pain. Though she has six feet, she walks with only four and uses the two in fwont for all the purposes of hands. You can see her standing on four legs, holding up something to eat in her hands just as we human beings do.

Muscae Encomium. Lucian of Samosata. Austin Morris Harmon (Translator). United States. Perseus 5.0.

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

The Fly (English) (Lucian, Vol. 1. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1913.)

Editions (1)

Μυίας Ἐγκώμιον Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 1. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1913.) — 3 focus

[3] τὸ δὲ ἄλλο σῶμα ἡ μὲν κεφαλὴ λεπτότατα τῷ αὐχένι συνέχεται καὶ ἔστιν εὐπεριάγωγος, οὐ συμπεφυκυῖα ὡς ἡ τῶν ἀκρίδων· ὀφθαλμοὶ δὲ προπετεῖς, πολὺ τοῦ κέρατος ἔχοντες· στέρνον εὐπαγές, καὶ ἐμπεφύκασιν αὐτῇ τῇ ἐντομῇ¹ οἱ πόδες οὐ κατὰ τοὺς σφῆκας πάνυ ἐσφιγμένῃ.² ἡ γαστὴρ δὲ ὠχύρωται καὶ αὐτῇ³ καὶ θώρακι ἔοικεν ζώνας πλατείας καὶ φολίδας ἔχουσα. ἀμύνεται μέντοι οὐ κατὰ τοὐρροπύγιον ὡς σφὴξ καὶ μέλιττα, ἀλλὰ τῷ στόματι καὶ τῇ προβοσκίδι, ἣν κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς ἐλέφασι καὶ αὐτὴ ἔχουσα προνομεύει τε καὶ ἐπιλαμβάνεται καὶ προσφῦσα κατέχει κοτυληδόνι κατὰ τὸ ἄκρον ἐοικυῖαν. ἐκ δὲ αὐτῆς ὀδοὺς προκύπτει, ᾧ κεντοῦσα πίνει τοῦ αἵματος — πίνει μὲν γὰρ καὶ γάλακτος, ἡδὺ δὲ αὐτῇ καὶ τὸ αἷμα — οὐ μετὰ μεγάλης ὀδύνης τῶν κεντουμένων. ἑξάπους δὲ οὖσα τοῖς μὲν τέσσαρσι βαδίζει μόνοις, τοῖς δὲ προσθίοις δυσὶ καὶ ὅσα χερσὶ χρῆται. ἴδοις ἂν οὖν αὐτὴν ἐπὶ τεττάρων βεβηκυῖαν ἔχουσάν τι ἐν τοῖν χεροῖν μετέωρον ἐδώδιμον, ἀνθρωπίνως πάνυ καὶ καθʼ ἡμᾶς.

Translations (1)

The Fly, an Appreciation Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata. Vol. 3. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 3 focus

[3] As for the rest of its person, the head is very slenderly attached by the neck, easily turned, and not all of-one piece with the body as in the locust; the eyes are projecting and horny; the chest strong, with the legs springing freely from it instead of lying close like a wasp’s. The belly also is well fortified, and looks like a breastplate, with its broad bands and scales. Its weapons are not in the tail as with wasp and bee, but in its mouth and proboscis; with the latter, in which it is like the elephant, it forages, takes hold of things, and by means of a sucker at its tip attaches itself firmly to them. This proboscis is also supplied’ with a projecting tooth, with which the fly makes a puncture, and so drinks blood. It does drink milk, but also likes blood, which it gets without hurting its prey much. Of its six legs, four only are for walking, and the front pair serves for hands; you may see it standing on four legs and holding up a morsel in these hands, which it consumes in very human fashion.

Lucian of Samosata Muscae Encomium 3

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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