Lucian of Samosata, Nigrinus, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 21

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[21] “But I have said that there is food for laughter and amusement in what goes on; let me now explain it. To begin with, are not the rich ridiculous? They display their purple gowns and show their rings and betray an unbounded lack of taste. Would you believe it?—they make use of another man’s ¹ voice in greeting people they meet, expecting them to be thankful for a glance and nothing more, while some, lordlier than the rest, even require obeisance to be made to them: not at long range, though, or in the Persian style. No, you must go up, bow your head, humbling your soul and showing its feelings by carrying yourself to match them, and kiss the man’s breast or his hand, while those who are denied even this privilege envy and admire you! And the man stands for hours and lets himself be duped! At any rate there is one point in their inhumanity that I commend them for—they forbid us their lips!

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

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)

Νιγρίνου Φιλοσοφία Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 1. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1913.) — 21 focus

[21] ὃ δὲ δὴ ἔφην, ὅτι καὶ γελᾶν ἐν τοῖς γιγνομένοις ἔνεστι καὶ ψυχαγωγεῖσθαι, τοῦτο ἤδη σοι φράσω. πῶς γὰρ οὐ γελοῖοι μὲν πλουτοῦντες αὐτοὶ καὶ τὰς πορφυρίδας προφαίνοντες καὶ τοὺς δακτυλίους προτείνοντες καὶ πολλὴν κατηγοροῦντες ἀπειροκαλίαν, τὸ δὲ καινότατον, τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας ἀλλοτρίᾳ φωνῇ προσαγορεύοντες, ἀγαπᾶν ἀξιοῦντες, ὅτι μόνον αὐτοὺς προσέβλεψαν, οἱ δὲ σεμνότεροι καὶ προσκυνεῖσθαι περιμένοντες, οὐ πόρρωθεν οὐδʼ ὡς Πέρσαις νόμος, ἀλλὰ δεῖ προσελθόντα καὶ ὑποκύψαντα¹, τὴν ψυχὴν ταπεινώσαντα καὶ τὸ πάθος αὐτῆς ἐμφανίσαντα τῇ τοῦ σώματος ὁμοιότητι, τὸ στῆθος ἢ τὴν δεξιὰν καταφιλεῖν, ζηλωτὸν καὶ περίβλεπτον τοῖς μηδὲ τούτου τυγχάνουσιν· ὁ δʼ ἕστηκεν παρέχων ἑαυτὸν εἰς πλείω χρόνον ἐξαπατώμενον. ἐπαινῶ δέ γε ταύτης αὐτοὺς τῆς ἀπανθρωπίας, ὅτι μὴ καὶ τοῖς στόμασιν ἡμᾶς προσίενται.

Translations (1)

Nigrinus Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 1. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 21 focus

[21] ‘But I said that there was entertainment also to be derived from the scene; and I will maintain it. Our rich men are an entertainment in themselves, with their purple and theis rings always in evidence, and their thousand vulgarities. The latest development is the salutation by proxy¹; they favour us with a glance, and that must be happiness enough. By the more ambitious spirits, an obeisance is expected; this is not performed at a distance, after the Persian fashion—you go right up, and make a profound bow, testifying with the angle of your body to the self-abasement of your soul; you then kiss his hand or breast—and happy and tnviable is he who may do so muchrlp And there stands the great man, protracting the illusion as leng as may be. (I heartily acquiesce, by the way, in the churlish sentence which excludes us from a nearer acquaintance with their lips.)

Notes on the current edition

Nigrinus

1. The nomenclator: his proper office was merely to present the guests to his master, but in reality he often received them in his master’s stead.

Lucian of Samosata Nigrinus 21

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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