Lucian of Samosata, Icaromenippus, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 19

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FRIEND

You lucky Menippus, what a surprising spectacle! But the cities and the men—for Heaven’s sake, how did they look from on high?

MENIPPUS

I suppose you have often seen a swarm of ants, in which some are huddling together about the mouth of the hole and transacting affairs of state in public, some are going out and others are coming back again to the city; one is carrying out the dung, and another has caught up the skin of a bean or half a grain of wheat somewhere and is running off with it; and no doubt there are among them, in due proportion to the habits of ants, builders, politicians, aldermen, musicians, and philosophers. But however that may be, the cities with their population resembled nothing so much as ant-hills. If you think it is belittling to compare men with the institutions of ants, look up the ancient fables of the Thessalians and you will find that the Myrmidons, the most warlike of races, turned from ants into men. Well, when I had looked and laughed at everything to my heart’s content, I shook myself and flew upward,

Unto the palace of Zeus, to the home of the other immortals.

Iliad1, 222.

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.) — 19 focus

Ἕταιρος

ὦ μακάριε Μένιππε τῆς παραδόξου θέας. αἱ δὲ δὴ πόλεις πρὸς Διὸς καὶ οἱ ἄνδρες αὐτοὶ πηλίκοι διεφαίνοντο ἄνωθεν;¹

Μένιππος

οἶμαί σε πολλάκις ἤδη μυρμήκων ἀγορὰν ἑωρακέναι, τοὺς μὲν εἰλουμένους περὶ τὸ στόμα τοῦ φωλεοῦ κἀν τῷ μέσῳ πολιτευομένους,² ἐνίους δʼ ἐξιόντας, ἑτέρους δὲ ἐπανιόντας αὖθις εἰς τὴν πόλιν· καὶ ὁ μέν τις τὴν κόπρον ἐκφέρει, ὁ δὲ ἁρπάσας ποθὲν ἢ κυάμου λέπος ἢ πυροῦ ἡμίτομον θεῖ φέρων. εἰκὸς δὲ εἶναι παρʼ αὐτοῖς κατὰ λόγον τοῦ μυρμήκων βίου καὶ οἰκοδόμους τινὰς καὶ δημαγωγοὺς καὶ πρυτάνεις καὶ μουσικοὺς καὶ φιλοσόφους. πλὴν αἵ γε πόλεις αὐτοῖς ἀνδράσι ταῖς μυρμηκιαῖς μάλιστα ἐῴκεσαν. εἰ δέ σοι μικρὸν δοκεῖ τὸ παράδειγμα, τὸ ἀνθρώπους εἰκάσαι τῇ μυρμήκων πολιτείᾳ, τοὺς παλαιοὺς μύθους ἐπίσκεψαι τῶν Θετταλῶν· εὑρήσεις γὰρ τοὺς Μυρμιδόνας, τὸ μαχιμώτατον φῦλον, ἐκ μυρμήκων ἄνδρας γεγονότας.

ἐπειδὴ δʼ οὖν πάντα ἱκανῶς ἑώρατο³ καὶ κατεγεγέλαστό μοι, διασείσας ἐμαυτὸν ἀνεπτόμην
δώματʼ ἐς αἰγιόχοιο Διὸς μετὰ δαίμονας ἄλλους.

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.) — 19 focus

Friend

You lucky man! what a rare sight you had! And how big, now, did the towns and the people look from there?

Menippus

You must often have seen a community of ants, some of them a seething mass, some going abroad, others coming back to town. One is a scavenger, another a bustling porter loaded with a bit of bean-pod or half a wheat grain. They no doubt have, on their modest myrmecic scale, their architects and politicians, their magistrates and composers and philosophers. At any rate, what men and cities suggested to me was just so many ant-hills. If you think the similitude too disparaging, look into the Thessalian legends, and you will find that the most warlike tribe there was the Myrmidons, or ants turned men. Well, when I had had enough of contemplation and laughter, I roused myself and soared

To join the Gods, where dwells the Lord of storms.

Lucian of Samosata Icaromenippus 19

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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FRIEND

You lucky Menippus, what a surprising spectacle! But the cities and the men—for Heaven’s sake, how did they look from on high?

Current edition Perseus

Ἕταιρος

ὦ μακάριε Μένιππε τῆς παραδόξου θέας. αἱ δὲ δὴ πόλεις πρὸς Διὸς καὶ οἱ ἄνδρες αὐτοὶ πηλίκοι διεφαίνοντο ἄνωθεν;¹

Friend

You lucky man! what a rare sight you had! And how big, now, did the towns and the people look from there?

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

FRIEND You lucky Menippus, what a surprising spectacle! But the cities and the men—for Heaven’s sake, how did they look from on high?

Current edition Perseus

Ἕταιρος ὦ μακάριε Μένιππε τῆς παραδόξου θέας. αἱ δὲ δὴ πόλεις πρὸς Διὸς καὶ οἱ ἄνδρες αὐτοὶ πηλίκοι διεφαίνοντο ἄνωθεν; 1

Friend You lucky man! what a rare sight you had! And how big, now, did the towns and the people look from there?

Stable identifiers

FRIEND

You lucky Menippus, what a surprising spectacle! But the cities and the men—for Heaven’s sake, how did they look from on high?

Ἕταιρος

ὦ μακάριε Μένιππε τῆς παραδόξου θέας. αἱ δὲ δὴ πόλεις πρὸς Διὸς καὶ οἱ ἄνδρες αὐτοὶ πηλίκοι διεφαίνοντο ἄνωθεν;¹

Friend

You lucky man! what a rare sight you had! And how big, now, did the towns and the people look from there?