Lucian of Samosata, Symposium, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 48

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LYCINUS

Well, Philo, that was the end of the dinner-party: it would be better, though, to say at the close as they do in the plays of Euripides:

In many shapes appear the powers above,

And many things the gods surprise us with,

While those we look for do not come about.¹

For all of it, you know, was quite unexpected. This much, however, I have at last learned, that it is not safe for a man of peace to dine with men so learned.

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

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)

Συμπόσιον ἢ Λαπίθαι Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 1. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1913.) — 48 focus

Λυκῖνος

τοῦτό σοι τέλος, ὦ καλὲ Φίλων, ἐγένετο τοῦ συμποσίου, ἢ ἄμεινον τὸ τραγικὸν ἐκεῖνο ἐπειπεῖν,

πολλαὶ μορφαὶ τῶν δαιμονίων,

πολλὰ δʼ ἀέλπτως κραίνουσι θεοί,

καὶ τὰ δοκηθέντʼ οὐκ ἐτελέσθη·

ἀπροσδόκητα γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς ἀπέβη καὶ ταῦτα. ἐκεῖνό γε μὴν¹ μεμάθηκα ἤδη, ὡς οὐκ ἀσφαλὲς ἄπρακτον ὄντα συνεστιᾶσθαι τοιούτοις σοφοῖς.

Translations (1)

A Feast of Lapithae Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 4. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 48 focus

Lycinus

And now you know all about the banquet, my dear Philo; a tragedy epilogue seems called for:

Hidden power sways each hour:

Men propose, the Gods dispose:

Fail surmises, come surprises.

It was the unexpected that came to pass here, at any rate. Well, live and learn; I know now that a quiet man had better keep clear of these feasts of reason.

Notes on the current edition

The Carousal, or the Lapiths

1. These lines occur at the close of the Alcestis, the Andromache, the Barchae and the Helen, and, with a slight change, in the Medea.

Lucian of Samosata Symposium 48

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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