Lucian of Samosata, De mercede, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 16

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[16] In general, you are in a chaotic state and your soul is full of agitation, for you are lost in amazement at everything that goes on. Now you call Dives lucky for his gold and his ivory and all his luxury, and now you pity yourself for imagining that you are alive when you are really nothing at all. Sometimes, too, it comes into your head that you are going to lead an enviable life, since you will revel in all that and share in it equally; you expect to enjoy perpetual Bacchic revels. Perhaps, too, pretty boys waiting upon you and faintly smiling at you paint the picture of your future life in more attractive colours, so that you are forever quoting that line of Homer:

Small blame to the fighters of Troy and the brightgreaved men of Achaea¹

Iliad3, 156 that they endure great toil and suffering for such happiness as this. Then come the toasts, and, calling for a large bowl, he drinks your health, addressing you as “the professor” or whatever it may be. You take the bowl, but because of inexperience you do not know that you should say something in reply, and you get a bad name for boorishness.

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

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

On Salaried Posts in Great Houses (English) (Lucian, Vol. 3. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1921.)

Editions (1)

Περὶ τῶν ἐν Μισθῷ συνόντων Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 3. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1921.) — 16 focus

[16] τὰ δʼ ἄλλα ποικίλος εἶ καὶ θορύβου πλέως τὴν ψυχήν, πρὸς ἕκαστα τῶν πραττομένων ἐκπεπληγμένος, καὶ ἄρτι μὲν εὐδαιμονίζεις τὸν πλούσιον τοῦ χρυσοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἐλέφαντος καὶ τῆς τοσαύτης τρυφῆς, ἄρτι δὲ οἰκτείρεις σεαυτόν, ὡς τὸ μηδὲν ὢν εἶτα ζῆν ὑπολαμβάνεις. ἐνίοτε δὲ κἀκεῖνο εἰσέρχεταί σε, ὡς ζηλωτόν τινα βιώσῃ τὸν βίον ἅπασιν ἐκείνοις ἐντρυφήσων καὶ μεθέξων αὐτῶν ἐξ ἰσοτιμίας· οἴει γὰρ εἰσαεὶ Διονύσια ἑορτάσειν. καί που καὶ μειράκια ὡραῖα διακονούμενα καὶ ἠρέμα προσμειδιῶντα γλαφυρωτέραν ὑπογράφει σοι τὴν μέλλουσαν διατριβήν, ὥστε συνεχῶς τὸ Ὁμηρικὸν ἐκεῖνο ἐπιφθέγγεσθαι,

οὐ νέμεσις Τρῶας καὶ ἐϋκνήμιδας Ἀχαιούς

πολλὰ πονεῖν καὶ ὑπομένειν ὑπὲρ τῆς τοσαύτης εὐδαιμονίας.

Φιλοτησίαι τὸ ἐπὶ τούτῳ, καὶ σκύφον εὐμεγέθη τινὰ αἰτήσας προὔπιέν σοι τῷ διδασκάλῳ, ἢ ὁτιδήποτε προσειπών· σὺ δὲ λαβών, ὅτι μέν τί σε καὶ αὐτὸν ὑπειπεῖν ἔδει ἠγνόησας ὑπʼ ἀπειρίας, καὶ ἀγροικίας δόξαν ὦφλες.

Translations (1)

The Dependent Scholar Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 2. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 16 focus

[16] On the whole, your feelings are mingled, your spirit perturbed, and stricken with awe. One moment you are envying your host his gold, his ivory, and all his magnificence; the next, you are pitying yourself,—that miserable nonentity which calls its existence life; and then at intervals comes the thought, ‘how happy shall I be, sharing in these splendours, enjoying them as if they were my own!’ For you conceive of your future life as one continual feast; and the smiling attendance of gracious Ganymedes gives a charming finish to the picture. That line of Homer keeps coming to your lips:

Small blame to Trojan or to greaved Achaean,

if such happiness as this was to be the reward of their toils and sufferings. Presently healths are drunk. The host calls for a large beaker, and drinks to ‘the Professor,’ or whatever your title is to be. You, in your innocence, do not know that you ought to say something in reply; you receive the cup in silence, and are set down as a boor.

Notes on the current edition

On Salaried Posts in Great Houses

Said of Helen by the Trojan elders. They continue,;

That for a woman like this they long have endured tribulations.

Iliad 3, 157

Lucian of Samosata De mercede 16

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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