Lucian of Samosata, Icaromenippus, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 15

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MENIPPUS

No sooner had I flapped the wing than a great light broke upon me and all that was formerly invisible was revealed. Bending down toward earth, I clearly saw the cities, the people and all that they* were doing, not only abroad but at home, when they thought they were unobserved. I saw Ptolemy lying with his sister, Lysimachus’ son conspiring against his father, Seleucus’ son Antiochus flirting surreptitiously with his stepmother, Alexander of ‘Thessaly getting killed by his wife, Antigonus committing adultery with the wife of his son, and the son of Attalus pouring out the poison for him. In another quarter I saw Arsaces killing the woman, the eunuch Arbaces drawing his sword on Arsaces, and Spatinus the Mede in the hands of the guards, being dragged out of the dining-room by the leg after having had his head broken with a golden cup.¹ Similar things were to be seen going on in Libya and among the Thracians and Scythians in the palaces of kings—men committing adultery, murdering, conspiring, plundering, forswearing, fearing and falling victims to the treason of their closest kin.

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

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Icaromenippus, or the Sky-man (English) (Lucian, Vol. 2. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1915.)

Editions (1)

Ἰκαρομένιππος ἢ Ὑπερνέφελος Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 2. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1915.) — 15 focus

Μένιππος

κἀπειδὴ τάχιστα ἐπτερυξάμην, αὐτίκα φῶς με¹ πάμπολυ περιέλαμψε καὶ τὰ τέως λανθάνοντα πάντα διεφαίνετο· κατακύψας γοῦν ἐς τὴν γῆν ἑώρων σαφῶς τὰς πόλεις, τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, τὰ γιγνόμενα, καὶ οὐ τὰ ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁπόσα οἴκοι ἔπραττον οἰόμενοι λανθάνειν, Πτολεμαῖον μὲν συνόντα τῇ ἀδελφῇ, Λυσιμάχῳ δὲ τὸν υἱὸν ἐπιβουλεύοντα, τὸν Σελεύκου δὲ Ἀντίοχον Στρατονίκῃ διανεύοντα λάθρα τῇ μητρυιᾷ, τὸν δὲ Θετταλὸν Ἀλέξανδρον ὑπὸ τῆς γυναικὸς ἀναιρούμενον καὶ Ἀντίγονον μοιχεύοντα τοῦ υἱοῦ τὴν γυναῖκα καὶ Ἀττάλῳ τὸν υἱὸν ἐγχέοντα τὸ φάρμακον, ἑτέρωθι δʼ αὖ Ἀρσάκην φονεύοντα τὸ γύναιον καὶ τὸν εὐνοῦχον Ἀρβάκην ἕλκοντα τὸ ξίφος ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀρσάκην, Σπατῖνος δὲ ὁ Μῆδος ἐκ τοῦ συμποσίου πρὸς τῶν δορυφορούντων εἵλκετο ἔξω τοῦ ποδὸς σκύφῳ χρυσῷ τὴν ὀφρὺν κατηλοημένος. ὅμοια δὲ τούτοις ἔν τε² Λιβύῃ καὶ παρὰ Σκύθαις καὶ Θρᾳξὶ γινόμενα ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις ἦν ὁρᾶν, μοιχεύοντας, φονεύοντας, ἐπιβουλεύοντας, ἁρπάζοντας, ἐπιορκοῦντας, δεδιότας, ὑπὸ τῶν οἰκειοτάτων προδιδομένους.

Translations (1)

Icaromenippus, an Aerial Expedition Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 3. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 15 focus

Menippus

I had no sooner flapped the wing than a flood of light enveloped me, and things that before I had not even been aware of became perfectly clear. I turned my eyes down earthwards, and with ease discerned cities, men, and all that was going on, not merely in the open, but in the fancied security of houses, There was Ptolemy in his sister’s arms, the son of Lysimachus plotting against his father, Seleucus’s son Antiochus making signs to his step-mother Stratonice, Alexander of Pherae being murdered by his wife, Antigonus corrupting his daughter-inlaw, the son of Attalus putting the poison in his cup; Arsaces was in the act of slaying his mistress, while the eunuch Arbaces drew his sword upon him; the guards were dragging Spatinus the Mede out from the banquet by the foot, with the lump on his brow from the golden cup. Similar sights were to be seen in the palaces of Libya and Scythia and Thrace—adulteries, murders, treasons, robberies, perjuries, suspicions, and monstrous betrayals.

Notes on the current edition

Icaromenippus, or the Sky-man

1. These events, in so far as they are historical, are not synchronous. For some of them (Antigonus, Attalus, and the Parthian incidents) Lucian is our only sponsor.

Lucian of Samosata Icaromenippus 15

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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