Lucian, Juppiter Confutatus, ed. Austin Morris Harmon, 19

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Ζεύς

οὐκέτʼ οὐδὲ ἀποκρίνεσθαί σοι ἄξιον τοιαῦτα ἐρωτῶντι· θρασὺς γὰρ εἶ καὶ σοφιστής. καί σε ἄπειμι ἤδη καταλιπών.

Κυνίσκος

ἐδεόμην μὲν ἔτι καὶ τοῦτο ἐρέσθαι, ποῦ αἱ Μοῖραι διατρίβουσιν ἢ πῶς ἐφικνοῦνται τῇ ἐπιμελείᾳ τῶν τοσούτων ἐς τὸ λεπτότατον, καὶ ταῦτα τρεῖς οὖσαι. ἐπίπονον γάρ τινα καὶ οὐκ εὔμοιρόν μοι δοκοῦσι βιοῦν τὸν βίον τοσαῦτα ἔχουσαι πράγματα, καὶ ὡς ἔοικεν οὐ πάνυ οὐδὲ αὗται ὑπὸ χρηστῇ Εἱμαρμένῃ ἐγεννήθησαν. ἐγὼ γοῦν, εἴ μοι αἵρεσις δοθείη, οὐκ ἂν ἀλλαξαίμην πρὸς αὐτὰς τὸν ἐμαυτοῦ βίον, ἀλλʼ ἑλοίμην ἂν ἔτι πενέστερος διαβιῶναι ἤπερ καθῆσθαι κλώθων ἄτρακτον τοσούτων πραγμάτων μεστόν, ἐπιτηρῶν ἕκαστα. εἰ δὲ μὴ ῥᾴδιόν σοι ἀποκρίνασθαι πρὸς ταῦτα, ὦ Ζεῦ, καὶ τούτοις ἀγαπήσομεν οἷς ἀπεκρίνω· ἱκανὰ γὰρ ἐμφανίσαι τὸν περὶ τῆς Εἱμαρμένης καὶ Προνοίας λόγον· τὰ λοιπὰ δʼ ἴσως οὐχ εἵμαρτο ἀκοῦσαί μοι.

Juppiter Confutatus. Lucian. ed. Austin Morris Harmon. Medford, MA. Perseus 4.0.

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Current edition Perseus

Ζεὺς ἐλεγχόμενος (Greek) (Lucian, Vol. 2. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1915.)

Translations (2)

Zeus Catechized Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 2. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1915.) — 19 focus

ZEUS

It isn’t proper to answer you any longer when you ask such questions. You are an impudent fellow and a sophist, and I shall go away and leave you now.;

CYNISCUS

I wanted to ask you just this one question, where the Fates live and how they go into such minute detail in attending to so much business, when there are only three of them. There is much labour and little- good-fortune in the life they live, I think, with all the cares they have, and Destiny, it would appear, was not too gracious when they themselves were born. At any rate if I were given a chance to choose, I would not exchange my life for theirs, but should prefer to be still poorer all my days rather than sit and twirl a spindle freighted with so many events, watching each carefully. But if it is not easy for you to answer me these questions, Zeus, I shall content myself with the answers you have given, for they are full enough to throw light on the doctrine of Destiny and Providence. The rest, perhaps, I was not fated to hear!

Zeus Cross-examined Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 3. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 19 focus

Zeus

I am not going to speak to you any more, You are an unscrupulous man; a sophist. I shall go away and leave you to yourself.

Cyniscus

I wanted to ask you where the Fates lived; and how they managed to attend to all the details of such a vast mass of business, just those three. I do not envy them their lot; they must have a busy time of it, with so much on their hands. Their destiny, apparently, is no better than other people’s. I would not exchange with them, if I had the choice; I had rather be poorer than I am, than sit before such a spindleful, watching every thread.—But never mind, if you would rather not answer. Your previous replies have quite cleared up my doubts about Destiny and Providence; and for the rest, I expect I was not destined to hear it.

Lucian Juppiter Confutatus 19

ed. Austin Morris Harmon

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Ζεύς

οὐκέτʼ οὐδὲ ἀποκρίνεσθαί σοι ἄξιον τοιαῦτα ἐρωτῶντι· θρασὺς γὰρ εἶ καὶ σοφιστής. καί σε ἄπειμι ἤδη καταλιπών.

Current edition Perseus

ZEUS

It isn’t proper to answer you any longer when you ask such questions. You are an impudent fellow and a sophist, and I shall go away and leave you now.;

Zeus

I am not going to speak to you any more, You are an unscrupulous man; a sophist. I shall go away and leave you to yourself.

Stable identifiers

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Ζεύς οὐκέτʼ οὐδὲ ἀποκρίνεσθαί σοι ἄξιον τοιαῦτα ἐρωτῶντι· θρασὺς γὰρ εἶ καὶ σοφιστής. καί σε ἄπειμι ἤδη καταλιπών.

Current edition Perseus

ZEUS It isn’t proper to answer you any longer when you ask such questions. You are an impudent fellow and a sophist, and I shall go away and leave you now.;

Zeus I am not going to speak to you any more, You are an unscrupulous man; a sophist. I shall go away and leave you to yourself.

Stable identifiers

Ζεύς

οὐκέτʼ οὐδὲ ἀποκρίνεσθαί σοι ἄξιον τοιαῦτα ἐρωτῶντι· θρασὺς γὰρ εἶ καὶ σοφιστής. καί σε ἄπειμι ἤδη καταλιπών.

ZEUS

It isn’t proper to answer you any longer when you ask such questions. You are an impudent fellow and a sophist, and I shall go away and leave you now.;

Zeus

I am not going to speak to you any more, You are an unscrupulous man; a sophist. I shall go away and leave you to yourself.