Lucian of Samosata, De Domo, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 32

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[32] “Do you not see, gentlemen of the jury, how all these things attract the hearer and turn him away to look, leaving the speaker stranded? My purpose in describing them was not that you might think my opponent bold and daring for voluntarily attacking a task sp difficult, and so pronounce against him, dislike him and leave him floundering, but that on the contrary you might support him and do your best to close your eyes and listen to what he says, taking into consideration the hardness of the thing. Even under these circumstances, when he has you as supporters, not judges, it will be just barely possible for him to avoid being thought altogether unworthy of the splendour of the hall. Do not be surprised that I make this request in behalf of an adversary, for on account of my fondness for the hall I should like anyone who may speak in it, no matter who he is, to be successful.” 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.) — 32 focus

[32] ταῦτα πάντα, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, οὐχ ὁρᾶτε ὅπως ἀπάγει μὲν τὸν ἀκροατὴν καὶ πρὸς τὴν θέαν ἀποστρέφει, μόνον δὲ καταλείπει τὸν λέγοντα; καὶ ἔγωγε διεξῆλθον αὐτά, οὐχ ἵνα τὸν ἀντίδικον τολμηρὸν ὑπολαβόντες καὶ θρασύν, εἰ τοῖς οὕτω δυσκόλοις ἑαυτὸν ἑκὼν φέρων ἐπέβαλεν, καταγνῶτε καὶ μισήσητε καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν λόγων ἐγκαταλίπητε, ἀλλʼ ἵνα μᾶλλον αὐτῷ συναγωνίσησθε καὶ ὡς οἷόν τε καταμύοντες ἀκούητε τῶν λεγομένων, λογιζόμενοι τοῦ πράγματος τὴν δυσχέρειαν· μόλις γὰρ ἂν οὕτω δυνηθείη οὐ δικασταῖς ἀλλὰ συναγωνισταῖς ὑμῖν χρησάμενος μὴ παντάπασιν ἀνάξιος τῆς τοῦ οἴκου πολυτελείας νομισθῆναι. εἰ δὲ ὑπὲρ ἀντιδίκου ταῦτα δέομαι, μὴ θαυμάσητε· ὑπὸ γὰρ τοῦ τὸν οἶκον φιλεῖν καὶ τὸν ἐν αὐτῷ λέγοντα, ὅστις ἂν ᾖ, βουλοίμην ἂν εὐδοκιμεῖν.

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.) — 32 focus

[32] 'Need I say, gentlemen, how the sight of all these pictures draws away the attention of the audience upon them, and leaves the orator without a single hearer? If I have described them at length, it was not in order to impress you with the headstrong audacity of my opponent, in voluntarily thrusting himself upon an audience so ill-disposed. I seek not to call down your condemnation nor your resentment upon him, nor do I ask you to refuse him a hearing: rather I would have you assist his endeavours, listen to him, if you can, with closed eyes, and remember the difficulty of his undertaking; when you, his judges, have become his fellow workers, he will still have much ado to escape the imputation of bringing discredit upon this magnificent Hall. And if it seem strange to you that I should plead thus on my antagonist’s behalf, you must attribute it to my fondness for this same Hall, which makes me anxious that every man who speaks in it should come off creditably, be he who he may.’

Notes on the current edition

The Hall

1. If this piece had not come down to us among the works of rime nobody would ever have thought of attributing it to him.

Lucian of Samosata De Domo 32

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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