Lucian, Juppiter Confutatus, ed. Austin Morris Harmon, 4

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Κυνίσκος

ἢν πρότερόν μοι, ὦ Ζεῦ, κἀκεῖνο εἴπῃς, εἰ καὶ ὑμῶν αὗται ἄρχουσι καὶ ἀνάγκη ὑμῖν ἠρτῆσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ λίνου αὐτῶν.

Ζεύς

ἀνάγκη, ὦ Κυνίσκε. τί δʼ οὖν ἐμειδίασας;

Κυνίσκος

ἀνεμνήσθην ἐκείνων τῶν Ὁμήρου ἐπῶν·, ἐν οἷς πεποίησαι αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τῶν θεῶν δημηγορῶν, ὁπότε ἠπείλεις αὐτοῖς ὡς ἀπὸ σειρᾶς τινος χρυσῆς ἀναρτησόμενος τὰ πάντα· ἔφησθα γὰρ αὐτὸς μὲν τὴν σειρὰν καθήσειν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, τοὺς θεοὺς δὲ ἅμα πάντας, εἰ βούλοιντο, ἐκκρεμαμένους κατασπᾶν βιάσεσθαι,¹ οὐ μὴν κατασπάσειν γε, σὺ² δέ, ὁπόταν ἐθελήσῃς, ῥᾳδίως ἅπαντας
αὐτῇ κεν γαίῃ ἐρύσαι αὐτῇ τε θαλάσσῃ.
τότε μὲν οὖν θαυμάσιος ἐδόκεις μοι τὴν βίαν καὶ ὑπέφριττον μεταξὺ ἀκούων τῶν ἐπῶν· νῦν δὲ αὐτόν σε ἤδη ὁρῶ μετὰ τῆς σειρᾶς καὶ τῶν ἀπειλῶν ἀπὸ λεπτοῦ νήματος, ὡς φής, κρεμάμενον. δοκεῖ γοῦν μοι δικαιότερον ἂν ἡ Κλωθὼ μεγαλαυχήσασθαι, ὡς καὶ σὲ αὐτὸν ἀνάσπαστον αἰωροῦσα ἐκ τοῦ ἀτράκτου καθάπερ οἱ ἁλιεῖς ἐκ τοῦ καλάμου τὰ ἰχθύδια.

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

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities; Harvard Library Arcadia Fund; Google Digital Humanities Awards Program.

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.) — 4 focus

CYNISCUS

Just tell me something else first, Zeus. Are you ods under their rule too, and must you needs be ttached to their thread?

ZEUS

We must, Cyniscus. But what made you smile?

CYNISCUS

I happened to think of those lines of Homer in hich he described you making your speech in the sembly of the gods, at the time when you threatied them that you would hang the universe upon a rd of gold. You said, you know, that you would t the cord down from Heaven, and that the other ds, if they liked, might hang on it and try to Il you down, but would not succeed, while you, lenever you chose, could easily draw them all up, nd the earth and the sea along with them.”¹ At at time it seemed to me that your power was wontful, and I shuddered as I heard the lines; but I now that in reality you yourself with your cord and your threats hang by a slender thread, as you admit. In fact, I think that Clotho would have a better right to boast, inasmuch as she holds you, even you, dangling from her spindle as fishermen hold fish dangling from a rod.

Zeus Cross-examined Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 3. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 4 focus

Cyniscus

Ah, you must tell me one thing more first. Do the Fates also control you Gods? Do you depend from their thread?

Zeus

We do. Why do you smile?

Cyniscus

I was thinking of that bit in Homer, where he makes you address the Gods in council, and threaten to suspend all the world from a golden cord. You said, you know, that you would let the cord down from Heaven, and all the Gods together, if they liked, might take hold of it and try to pull you down, and they would never do it: whereas you, if you had a mind to it, could easily pull them up,

And Earth and Sea withal.

I listened to that passage with shuddering reverence; I was much impressed with the idea of your strength. Yet now I understand that you and your cord and your threats all depend from a mere cobweb. It seems to me Clotho should be the one to boast: she has you dangling from her distaff, like a sprat at the end of a fishing-line.

Notes on the current edition

Ζεὺς ἐλεγχόμενος

1. βιάσεσθαι Fritzsche: βιάζεσθαι MSS.

2. σὺ vulg.: σὲ MSS.

Lucian Juppiter Confutatus 4

ed. Austin Morris Harmon

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Κυνίσκος

ἢν πρότερόν μοι, ὦ Ζεῦ, κἀκεῖνο εἴπῃς, εἰ καὶ ὑμῶν αὗται ἄρχουσι καὶ ἀνάγκη ὑμῖν ἠρτῆσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ λίνου αὐτῶν.

Ζεύς

ἀνάγκη, ὦ Κυνίσκε. τί δʼ οὖν ἐμειδίασας;

Current edition Perseus

CYNISCUS

Just tell me something else first, Zeus. Are you ods under their rule too, and must you needs be ttached to their thread?

ZEUS

We must, Cyniscus. But what made you smile?

Cyniscus

Ah, you must tell me one thing more first. Do the Fates also control you Gods? Do you depend from their thread?

Zeus

We do. Why do you smile?

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

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Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Κυνίσκος ἢν πρότερόν μοι, ὦ Ζεῦ, κἀκεῖνο εἴπῃς, εἰ καὶ ὑμῶν αὗται ἄρχουσι καὶ ἀνάγκη ὑμῖν ἠρτῆσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ λίνου αὐτῶν.

Ζεύς ἀνάγκη, ὦ Κυνίσκε. τί δʼ οὖν ἐμειδίασας;

Current edition Perseus

CYNISCUS Just tell me something else first, Zeus. Are you ods under their rule too, and must you needs be ttached to their thread?

ZEUS We must, Cyniscus. But what made you smile?

Cyniscus Ah, you must tell me one thing more first. Do the Fates also control you Gods? Do you depend from their thread?

Zeus We do. Why do you smile?

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

Κυνίσκος

ἢν πρότερόν μοι, ὦ Ζεῦ, κἀκεῖνο εἴπῃς, εἰ καὶ ὑμῶν αὗται ἄρχουσι καὶ ἀνάγκη ὑμῖν ἠρτῆσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ λίνου αὐτῶν.

Ζεύς

ἀνάγκη, ὦ Κυνίσκε. τί δʼ οὖν ἐμειδίασας;

CYNISCUS

Just tell me something else first, Zeus. Are you ods under their rule too, and must you needs be ttached to their thread?

ZEUS

We must, Cyniscus. But what made you smile?

Cyniscus

Ah, you must tell me one thing more first. Do the Fates also control you Gods? Do you depend from their thread?

Zeus

We do. Why do you smile?