Lucian of Samosata, De Domo, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 22

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

← Previous Next →

[22] “On the right as you come in, you have a‘ combination of Argolic myth and Ethiopian romance. Perseus is killing the sea-monster and freeing Andromeda; in a little while he will marry her and go away with her. It is an incident to his winged quest of the Gorgons. The artist has represented much in little—the maid’s modesty and terror (for she is looking down on the fight from the cliff overhead), the lad’s fond courage and the beast’s unconquerable mien. ‘As he comes on bristling with spines and inspiring terror with his gaping jaws Perseus displays the Gorgon in his left hand, and with his right assails him with the sword: the part of the monster which has seen the Medusa is already stone, and the part that is still alive is feeling the hanger’s edge. ¹

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

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)

Περὶ τοῦ Οἴκου Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 1. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1913.) — 22 focus

[22] ἐν δεξιᾷ μὲν οὖν εἰσιόντι Ἀργολικῷ μύθῳ ἀναμέμικται πάθος Αἰθιοπικόν· ὁ Περσεὺς τὸ κῆτος φονεύει καὶ τὴν Ἀνδρομέδαν καθαιρεῖ, καὶ μετὰ μικρὸν γαμήσει καὶ ἄπεισιν αὐτὴν ἄγων· πάρεργον τοῦτο τῆς ἐπὶ Γοργόνας πτήσεως. ἐν βραχεῖ δὲ πολλὰ ὁ τεχνίτης ἐμιμήσατο, αἰδῶ παρθένου καὶ φόβον — ἐπισκοπεῖ γὰρ μάχην ἄνωθεν ἐκ τῆς πέτρας¹ — καὶ νεανίου τόλμαν ἐρωτικὴν καὶ θηρίου ὄψιν ἀπρόσμαχον· καὶ τὸ μὲν ἔπεισι πεφρικὸς ταῖς ἀκάνθαις καὶ δεδιττόμενον τῷ χάσματι, ὁ Περσεὺς δὲ τῇ λαιᾷ μὲν προδείκνυσι τὴν Γοργόνα, τῇ δεξιᾷ δὲ καθικνεῖται τῷ ξίφει· καὶ τὸ μὲν ὅσον τοῦ κήτους εἶδε τὴν Μέδουσαν, ἤδη λίθος ἐστίν, τὸ δʼ ὅσον ἔμψυχον μένει, τῇ ἅρπῃ κόπτεται.

Translations (1)

The Hall Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 4. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 22 focus

[22] ‘On our right as we enter, we have a story half Argive, half Ethiopian. Perseus slays the sea-monster, and sets Andromeda free; it will not be long ere he leads her away as his bride; an episode, this, in his Gorgon expedition. The artist has given us much in a small space: maiden modesty, girlish terror, are here portrayed in the countenance of Andromeda, who from her high rock gazes down upon the strife, and marks the devoted courage of her lover, the grim aspect of his bestial antagonist. As that bristling horror approaches, with awful gaping jaws, Perseus in his left hand displays the Gorgon’s head, while his right grasps the drawn sword. All of the monster that falls beneath Medusa’s eyes is stone already; and all of him that yet lives the scimetar hews to pieces.

Notes on the current edition

The Hall

1. Cf. Claudian (Gigantom. 113), of a giant slain by Athena: pars moritur ferro, partes periere videndo. An echo of the same source?

Lucian of Samosata De Domo 22

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers