Lucian, De Morte Peregrini, Henry Watson Fowler (Translator), Francis George Fowler (Translator), 4

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[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?’

De Morte Peregrini. Lucian. Henry Watson Fowler (Translator), Francis George Fowler (Translator). Medford, MA, USA. 2023-08-01.

Current edition Perseus

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

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

[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?”

Notes on the current edition

The Death of Peregrine

1. The allusion to Dionysus is unexplained. The Greek requires a fiery death, not the fiery birth, for which see Dionysus and Semele in Notes.

Lucian De Morte Peregrini 4

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

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