Lucian of Samosata, De Morte Peregrini, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 41

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[41] Imagine what is likely to happen in his honour hereafter, how many bees will not settle on the place, what cicadas will not sing upon it, what crows will not fly to it, as they did to the tomb of Hesiod,¹ and so forth! As to statues, I know that many will be set up right soon by the Eleans themselves and also by the other Greeks, to whom he said he had sent letters. The. story is that he despatched missives to almost all the famous cities—testamentary dispositions, so to speak, and exhortations and prescriptions—and he appointed a number of ambassadors for this purpose from among his comrades, styling them “messengers from the dead” and “underworld couriers.”²

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).) — 41 focus

[41] ἐννόει τὸ λοιπὸν οἷα εἰκὸς ἐπʼ αὐτῷ γενήσεσθαι, ποίας μὲν οὐ μελίττας ἐπιστήσεσθαι¹ ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον, τίνας δὲ τέττιγας οὐκ ἐπᾴσεσθαι,² τίνας δὲ κορώνας οὐκ ἐπιπτήσεσθαι καθάπερ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἡσιόδου τάφον, καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα. εἰκόνας μὲν γὰρ παρά τε Ἠλείων αὐτῶν παρά τε τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων, οἷς καὶ ἐπεσταλκέναι ἔλεγεν,³ αὐτίκα μάλα οἶδα πολλὰς ἀναστησομένας. φασὶ δὲ πάσαις σχεδὸν ταῖς ἐνδόξοις πόλεσιν ἐπιστολὰς διαπέμψαι αὐτόν, διαθήκας τινὰς καὶ παραινέσεις καὶ νόμους· καί τινας ἐπὶ τούτῳ πρεσβευτὰς τῶν ἑταίρων ἐχειροτόνησεν, νεκραγγέλους καὶ νερτεροδρόμους προσαγορεύσας.

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.) — 41 focus

[41] Only think what work we shall have with him hereafter! Significant bees will settle on the spot; grasshoppers beyond calculation will chirrup; crows will perch there, as over Hesiod’s grave,—and all the rest of it. As for statues, several, I know, are to be put up at once, by Elis and other places, to which, I understand, he had sent letters. These letters, they say, were dispatched to almost all cities of any importance: they contain certain exhortations and schemes of reform, as it were a legacy. Certain of his followers were specially appointed by him for this service: Couriers to the Grave and Grand Deputies of the Shades were to be their titles.

Notes on the current edition

The Passing of Peregrinus

See Pausanias (IX, 38, 3): when Orchomenus was afflicted by a plague, the Delphic priestess told its people that their only salvation was to bring there from Naupactus the bones of Hesiod, and that a crow would show them the tomb. Her words were borne out by the event.

In the letters of Ignatius he recommends to the Church of Smyrna the election of a special messenger, styled “ambassador of God’? (θεοπρεσβευτής: ad Smyrn., 11) or “courier of God’? (θεοδρόμος: ad Polyc., 7), to be sent to Syria. The verbal coincidence is notable (cf. Lightfoot), and seems to indicate a knowledge of these letters, but on the part of Peregrinus, not Lucian.

Lucian of Samosata De Morte Peregrini 41

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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