Lucian of Samosata, De Morte Peregrini, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 4

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

← Previous Next →

[4] “Does anyone dare,” he said, ‘to call Proteus vainglorious, O Earth, O sun, O rivers, O sea, O Heracles, god of our fathers!—Proteus, who was imprisoned in Syria, who renounced five thousand talents in favour of his native land, who was banished from the city of Rome, who is more conspicuous than the sun, who is able to rival Olympian Zeus himself? Because he has resolved to depart from life by way of fire, are there people who attribute this to vainglory? Why, did not Heracles do so? Did not Asclepius and Dionysus,¹ by grace of the thunderbolt? Did not Empedocles end by leaping into the crater?”

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

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

The Passing of Peregrinus (English) (Lucian, Vol. 5. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1936 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Περὶ τῆς Περεγρίνου Τελευτῆς Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 5. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1936 (printing).) — 4 focus

[4] Πρωτέα γάρ τις, ἔφη, κενόδοξον τολμᾷ λέγειν, ὦ γῆ καὶ ἥλιε καὶ ποταμοὶ καὶ θάλαττα καὶ πατρῷε Ἡράκλεις — Πρωτέα τὸν ἐν Συρίᾳ δεθέντα, τὸν τῇ πατρίδι ἀνέντα πεντακισχίλια τάλαντα, τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς Ῥωμαίων πόλεως ἐκβληθέντα, τὸν τοῦ Ἡλίου ἐπισημότερον, τὸν αὐτῷ ἀνταγωνίσασθαι τῷ Ὀλυμπίῳ δυνάμενον; ἀλλʼ ὅτι διὰ πυρὸς ἐξάγειν τοῦ βίου διέγνωκεν ἑαυτόν, εἰς κενοδοξίαν τινὲς τοῦτο ἀναφέρουσιν; οὐ γὰρ Ἡρακλῆς οὕτως; οὐ γὰρ Ἀσκληπιὸς καὶ Διόνυσος κεραυνῷ; οὐ γὰρ τὰ τελευταῖα Ἐμπεδοκλῆς εἰς τοὺς κρατῆρας;

Translations (1)

The Death of Peregrine Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 4. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 4 focus

[4] ‘Proteus,’ he cried, ‘Proteus vain-glorious? Who dares name the word? Earth! Sun! Seas! Rivers! God of our fathers, Heracles! Was it for this that he suffered bondage in Syria? that he forgave his country a debt of a million odd? that he was cast out of Rome,—he whose brilliance exceeds the Sun, fit rival of the Lord of Olympus? ”Tis his good will to depart from life by fire, and they call it vain-glory!_ What other end had Heracles? Twas the thunderbolt, methinks, that slew Asclepius, Dionysus¹? 'Twas in the crater that Empedocles sought death?’

Notes on the current edition

The Passing of Peregrinus

The cases of Dionysus and Asclepius were not quite parallel. Zeus could not have Asclepius raising the dead, and so transferred his activities to a higher sphere by means of the thunderbolt. It was Semele, the mother of Dionysus, whom his other bolt carbonised; but as it certainly effected, even if only incidentally, the translation of Dionysus, and as one of the epigrams in the Anthology (XVI, 185) similarly links Dionysus with Heracles as having achieved immortality by fire, it is hard to see why so many editors have pruned the exuberance of Theagenes by excising mention of Dionysus from his remarks. Cf. Parl. of the Gods, 6 (p. 425).

Lucian of Samosata De Morte Peregrini 4

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers