Lucian, Pro imaginibus, Henry Watson Fowler (Translator), Francis George Fowler (Translator), 1

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Polystratus

Lycinus

Polystratus

Well, here is the lady’s comment. Your pages are most kind and complimentary, I am sure, Lycinus. No one would have so over-praised me who had not felt kindly towards me. But tf you would know my real feeling, here it is. I never do much like the complaisant; they always strike me as insincere and wanting in frankness. But when it comes to a set panegyric, in which my much magnified virtues are painted in glaring colours, I blush and would fain stop my ears, and feel that I am rather being made fun of than commended.

Pro imaginibus. Lucian. Henry Watson Fowler (Translator), Francis George Fowler (Translator). Medford, MA, USA. 2023-08-01.

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)

Ὑπὲρ τῶν Εἰκόνων Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 4. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925 (printing).) — 1 focus

Πολύστρατος

ἐγώ σοι, ὦ Αὐκῖνε, φησὶν ἡ γυνή, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα πολλὴν ἐνεῖδον τὴν εὔνοιαν πρὸς ἐμὲ καὶ τιμὴν ἐκ τοῦ συγγράμματος· οὐ γὰρ ἂν οὕτως ὑπερεπῄνει τις, εἰ μὴ καὶ μετʼ εὐνοίας συνέγραφε.¹ τὸ δὲ ἐμὸν ὡς ἂν εἰδῇς, τοιόνδε ἐστίν. οὐδὲ ἄλλως μὲν χαίρω τοῖς κολακικοῖς τὸν τρόπον, ἀλλά μοι δοκοῦσιν οἱ τοιοῦτοι γόητες εἶναι καὶ ἥκιστα ἐλεύθεροι τὴν φύσιν· ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἐπαίνοις μάλιστα, ὅταν τις ἐπαινῇ με φορτικὰς καὶ ὑπερμέτρους ποιούμενος τὰς ὑπερβολάς, ἐρυθριῶ τε καὶ ὀλίγου δεῖν ἐπιφράττομαι τὰ ὦτα καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα χλεύῃ μᾶλλον ἢ ἐπαίνῳ ἐοικέναι μοι δοκεῖ.

Translations (1)

Essays in Portraiture Defended Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 4. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925 (printing).) — 1 focus

[1]

POLYSTRATUS

This is the lady’s reply: “Lycinus, I have discerned, to be sure, from what you have written that your friendliness and esteem for me is great, for nobody would bestow such high praise if he were not writing in a friendly spirit. But my own attitude, please understand, is this. In general, I do not care for people whose disposition inclines to flattery, but consider such persons deceivers and not at all generous in their natures. Above all, in the matter of compliments, when anyone in praising me employs vulgar and immoderate extravagances I blush and almost stop my ears, and the thing seems to me more like abuse than praise.

Lucian Pro imaginibus 1

Henry Watson Fowler (Translator), Francis George Fowler (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Polystratus

Lycinus

Polystratus

Current edition Perseus

POLYSTRATUS

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