Lucian of Samosata, Patriae encomium, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 1

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“Nothing sweeter than one’s native land”

Odyss. 9, 34 is already a commonplace. If nothing is sweeter, then is anything more holy and divine? Truly of all that men count holy and divine their native land is cause ‘and teacher, in that she bears, nurtures and educates them. To be sure, many admire cities for their size, their splendour and the magnificence of their public works, but everyone loves his own country; and even among men completely overmastered by the lust of the eye, no one is so misguided as to be forgetful of it because of the greater number of wonders in other countries.

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

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)

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

[1] ὅτι μὲν οὐδὲν γλύκιον ἧς πατρίδος, φθάνει προτεθρυλημένον. ἆρʼ οὖν ἥδιον μὲν οὐδέν, σεμνότερον δέ τι καὶ θειότερον ἄλλο; καὶ μὴν ὅσα σεμνὰ καὶ θεῖα νομίζουσιν ἄνθρωποι, τούτων πατρὶς αἰτία καὶ διδάσκαλος, γεννησαμένη καὶ ἀναθρεψαμένη καὶ παιδευσαμένη. πόλεων μὲν οὖν μεγέθη καὶ λαμπρότητας καὶ πολυτελείας κατασκευῶν θαυμάζουσι πολλοί, πατρίδας δὲ στέργουσι πάντες· καὶ τοσοῦτον οὐδεὶς ἐξηπατήθη τῶν καὶ πάνυ κεκρατημένων ὑπὸ τῆς κατὰ τὴν θέαν ἡδονῆς, ὡς ὑπὸ τῆς ὑπερβολῆς τῶν παρʼ ἄλλοις θαυμάτων λήθην ποιήσασθαι τῆς πατρίδος.

Translations (1)

Patriotism Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 4. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 1 focus

[1] It is a truism with no pretensions to novelty that there is nothing sweeter than one’s country. Does that imply that, though there is nothing pleasanter, there may be something grander or more divine? Why, of all that men reckon grand and divine their country is the source and teacher, originating, developing, inculcating. For great and brilliant and splendidly equipped cities many men have admiration, but for their own all men have love. No man—not the most enthusiastic sightseer that ever was—is so dazzled by foreign wonders as to forget his own land.

Lucian of Samosata Patriae encomium 1

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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