Lucian of Samosata, Philopseudes sive incredulus, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 18

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[18] “Anyhow,” said Eucrates, “the affair of the statue was observed every night by everybody in the house, boys, young men and old men, and you could hear about it not only from me but from all our people.”” “Statue!” said I, ‘what do you mean?”

“Have you not observed on coming in,’ said he, “avery fine statue set up in the hall, the work of Demetrius, the maker of portrait-statues?” “Do you mean the discus-thrower,”’ said I, “the one bent over in the position of the throw, with his head turned back toward the hand that holds the discus, with one leg slightly bent, looking as if he would spring up all at once with the cast?” “Not that one,” said he, “for that is one of Myron’s works, the discus-thrower you speak of. Neither do I mean the one beside it, the one binding his head with the fillet, the handsome Jad, for that is Polycleitus’ work. Never mind those to the right as you come in, among which stand the tyrant-slayers, modelled’ by Critius and Nesiotes; but if you noticed one beside the fountain, pot-bellied, bald on the forehead, half bared by the hang of his cloak, with some of the hairs of his beard wind-blown and his veins prominent, the image of a real man, that is the one I mean; he is thought to be Pellichus, the Corinthian general.”¹

Philopseudes sive incredulus. Lucian of Samosata. Austin Morris Harmon (Translator). United States. Perseus 5.0.

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

The Lover of Lies, or the Doubter Tychiades (English) (Lucian, Vol. 3. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1921.)

Editions (1)

Φιλοψευδὴς ἢ Ἀπιστῶν Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 3. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1921.) — 18 focus

Τυχιάδης

τὸ γοῦν περὶ τοῦ ἀνδριάντος, ἦ δʼ ὃς ὁ Εὐκράτης, ἅπασι τοῖς ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας ὅσαι νύκτες φαινόμενον καὶ παισὶ καὶ νεανίαις καὶ γέρουσι, τοῦτο οὐ παρʼ ἐμοῦ μόνον ἀκούσειας ἂν ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἁπάντων. ποίου, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, ἀνδριάντος;

οὐχ ἑώρακας, ἔφη, εἰσιὼν ἐν τῇ αὐλῇ ἀνεστηκότα πάγκαλον ἀνδριάντα, Δημητρίου ἔργον τοῦ ἀνθρωποποιοῦ; μῶν τὸν δισκεύοντα, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, φής, τὸν ἐπικεκυφότα κατὰ τὸ σχῆμα τῆς ἀφέσεως, ἀπεστραμμένον εἰς τὴν δισκοφόρον, ἠρέμα ὀκλάζοντα τῷ ἑτέρῳ, ἐοικότα συναναστησομένῳ μετὰ τῆς βολῆς; οὐκ ἐκεῖνον, ἦ δʼ ὅς, ἐπεὶ τῶν Μύρωνος ἔργων ἓν καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὁ δισκοβόλος ὃν λέγεις· οὐδὲ τὸν παρʼ αὐτόν φημι, τὸν διαδούμενον τὴν κεφαλὴν τῇ ταινίᾳ, τὸν καλόν, Πολυκλείτου γὰρ τοῦτο ἔργον. ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν ἐπὶ τὰ δεξιὰ εἰσιόντων ἄφες, ἐν οἷς καὶ τὰ Κριτίου καὶ¹ Νησιώτου πλάσματα ἕστηκεν, οἱ τυραννοκτόνοι· σὺ δὲ εἴ τινα παρὰ τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ἐπιρρέον εἶδες προγάστορα, φαλαντίαν, ἡμίγυμνον τὴν ἀναβολήν, ἠνεμωμένον τοῦ πώγωνος τὰς τρίχας ἐνίας, ἐπίσημον τὰς φλέβας, αὐτοανθρώπῳ ὅμοιον, ἐκεῖνον λέγω· Πέλλιχος ὁ Κορίνθιος στρατηγὸς εἶναι δοκεῖ.

Translations (1)

The Liar Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 3. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 18 focus

[18] ‘Well, what I am going to tell you about the statue was witnessed night after night by all my household, from the eldest to the youngest, and any one of them could tell you the - story aswell as myself.” ‘What statue is this?’ ‘Have you never noticed as you came in that beautiful one in the court, by Demetrius the portrait-sculptor?’ ‘Is that the one with the quoit,—leaning forward for the throw, with his face turned back towards the hand that holds the quoit, and one-knee bent, ready to rise as he lets it go?’ ‘Ah, that is a fine piece of work, too,—a Myron; but I don’t mean that, nor the beautiful Polyclitus next it, the Youth tying on the Fillet. No, forget all you pass on yourright as you come in; the Tyrannicides¹ of Critius and Nesiotes are on that side too:—but did you never notice one just by the fountain?—bald, pot-bellied, halfnaked; beard partly caught by the wind; protruding veins? that is the one I mean; it looks as if it must be a portrait, and is thought to be Pelichus, the Corinthian general.’

Notes on the current edition

The Lover of Lies, or the Doubter Tychiades

Probably the Pellichus named as the father of Aristeus, a Corinthian general in the expedition against Epidamnus in 434 B.c. The statue would thus be about contemporary with that of Simon by the same Demetrius of Alopece, which is mentioned in Aristophanes. It is surprisingly realistic for so early a period. Furtwangler thought the description inaccurate, but the statue may have been the work of some later Demetrius. Certainly its identification as a portrait of Pellichus was conjectural (δοκεῖ).

Lucian of Samosata Philopseudes sive incredulus 18

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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