Lucian of Samosata, Calumniae non temere credundum, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 26

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[26] It follows, then, that life has been filled with troubles in abundance through the slanderous stories that have been believed so readily and so unquestioningly. Anteia says:

Die, Proetus, or despatch Bellerophon,

Who offered me his love, by me unsought,

Homer, Iliad 6, 164. when she herself had made the first move and had been scorned. So the young man came near getting killed in the encounter with the Chimaera, and was rewarded for his continence and his respect for his host by being plotted against by a wanton. As for Phaedra, she too made a similar charge against her stepson and so brought it about that Hippolytus was cursed by his father ¹ when he had done nothing impious—good Heavens, nothing!

Calumniae non temere credundum. Lucian of Samosata. Austin Morris Harmon (Translator). United States. Perseus 5.0.

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Slander: on not Being Quick to Put Faith in it (English) (Lucian, Vol. 1. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1913.)

Editions (1)

Περὶ τοῦ μὴ ῥᾳδίως πιστεύειν Διαβολῇ Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 1. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1913.) — 26 focus

[26] τοιγαροῦν πολλῶν κακῶν ὁ βίος ἐπλήσθη ὑπὸ τῶν οὕτω ῥᾳδίως καὶ ἀνεξετάστως πεπιστευμένων διαβολῶν. ἡ μὲν γὰρ Ἄντεια

τεθναίης (φησίν), ὦ Προῖτʼ, ἢ κάκτανε Βελλεροφόντην,

ὅς μʼ ἔθελεν φιλότητι μιγήμεναι οὐκ ἐθελούσῃ

αὐτὴ προτέρα ἐπιχειρήσασα καὶ ὑπεροφθεῖσα. καὶ μικροῦ ὁ νεανίας ἐν τῇ πρὸς τὴν Χίμαιραν συμπλοκῇ διεφθάρη ἐπιτίμιον σωφροσύνης ὑποσχὼν καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὸν ξένον αἰδοῦς ὑπὸ μάχλου γυναικὸς ἐπιβεβουλευμένος. ἡ δὲ Φαίδρα, κἀκείνη τὰ ὅμοια κατειποῦσα τοῦ προγόνου, ἐπάρατον ἐποίησε τὸν Ἱππόλυτον γενέσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς οὐδέν, ὦ θεοί, οὐδὲν ἀνόσιον εἰργασμένον.

Translations (1)

Slander, a Warning Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 4. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 26 focus

[26] It is not, then, too much to say that life is made miserable by these lightly and incuriously credited slanders. Antea said to Proetus, after she had solicited and been scorned by Bellerophon:;

Die thou the death, if thou slay not the man

That so would have enforc’d my chastity!

By the machinations of this lascivious woman, the young man came near perishing in his combat with the Chimera, as the penalty for continence and loyalty to his host. And Phaedra, who made a similar charge against her stepson, succeeded in bringing down upon Hippolytus a father’s curse, though God knows how innocent he was.

Notes on the current edition

Slander: on not Being Quick to Put Faith in it

1. Theseus: the story is told in the Hippolytus of Euripides.

Lucian of Samosata Calumniae non temere credundum 26

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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