Lucian of Samosata, Pro imaginibus, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 18

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[18] But all this, no doubt, is apart from the issue and has nothing to do with the case; and the charge to which I must answer is that in making my sketch of you I likened you in beauty to Cnidian Aphrodite and Our Lady in the Gardens and Hera and Athena. That seemed to you extravagant and presumptuous. I shall address myself precisely to that point.

It is an ancient saying, however, that poets and painters are not to be held accountable;¹ still less, I think, eulogists, even if they fare humbly afoot like me, instead of being borne on the wings of song. For praise is an unshackled thing, and has ESSAYS IN PORTRAITURE DEFENDED no limit, whether upper or lower, prescribed for it. The only object that it ever has in view is to excite high admiration and to maké its subject enviable. Nevertheless, I shall not take this course, for fear you may think that I do so for want of a better.

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

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Essays in Portraiture Defended (English) (Lucian, Vol. 4. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Ὑπὲρ τῶν Εἰκόνων Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 4. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925 (printing).) — 18 focus

Λυκῖνος

ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἴσως ἐξαγώνια καὶ πόρρω τοῦ πράγματος. ὑπὲρ δὲ οὗ χρὴ ἀπολογήσασθαι, τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὅτι τῇ ἐν Κνίδῳ καὶ τῇ ἐν κήποις καὶ Ἥρᾳ καὶ Ἀθηνᾷ τὴν μορφὴν ἀναπλάττων εἴκασα. ταῦτά σοι ἔκμετρα ἔδοξεν καὶ ὑπὲρ τὸν πόδα. περὶ αὐτῶν δὴ τούτων ἐρῶ.

καίτοι παλαιὸς οὗτος ὁ λόγος, ἀνευθύνους εἶναι ποιητὰς καὶ γραφέας, τοὺς δὲ ἐπαινοῦντας καὶ μᾶλλον, οἶμαι, εἰ καὶ χαμαὶ καὶ βάδην, ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς, ἀλλὰ μὴ ἐπὶ μέτρων φέροιντο. ἐλεύθερον γάρ τι ὁ ἔπαινος, οὐδʼ ἔστιν αὐτοῦ μέτρον εἰς μέγεθος ἢ βραχύτητα νενομοθετημένον, ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μόνον ἐξ ἅπαντος ὁρᾷ ὅπως ὑπερθαυμάσεται καὶ ζηλωτὸν ἀποφανεῖ τὸν ἐπαινούμενον. οὐ μὴν ταύτην ἐγὼ βαδιοῦμαι, μὴ καὶ σοὶ δόξω ὑπʼ ἀπορίας αὐτὸ δρᾶν.

Translations (1)

Defence of the ‘portrait-study’ Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 3. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 18 focus

[18] But I am perhaps straying from the point. What I have to defend is the having likened you, in giving your outward form, to the Cnidian and the Garden Aphrodite, to Hera and Athene; such comparisons you find out of all proportion. I will deal directly with them, then. It has indeed been said long ago that poets and painters are irresponsible; that is still more true, I conceive, of panegyrists, even humble prose ones like myself who are not run away with by their metre. Panegyric is a chartered thing, with no standard quantitative measure to which it must conform; its one and only aim is to express deep admiration and set its object in the most enviable light. However, I do not intend to take that line of defence; you might - think I did so because I had no other open.

Notes on the current edition

Essays in Portraiture Defended

Pictoribus atque poetis

Quidlibet audendi semper fuit aequa potestas.

Horace, Ars Poet. 9 sq.

Lucian of Samosata Pro imaginibus 18

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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