Lucian of Samosata, De saltatione, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 50

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[50] Or if you cross over to Aetolia, there too the dance finds a great deal—Althea, Meleager, Atalanta, the brand, the wrestling-match between Heracles and the river (Achelous), the birth of the Sirens,¹ the emergence of the Echinades,² and the settlement of Alemaeon there after his madness; then Nessus, and the jealousy of Deianeira, and, consequent upon it, the pyre in Oeta.

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

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)

Περὶ Ὀρχήσεως Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 5. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1936 (printing).) — 50 focus

Λυκῖνος

κἂν εἰς Αἰτωλίαν μετέλθῃς, κἀκεῖ πολλὰ ἡ ὄρχησις καταλαμβάνει, τὴν Ἀλθαίαν, τὸν Μελέαγρον, τὴν Ἀταλάντην, τὸν δαλόν, καὶ ποταμοῦ καὶ Ἡρακλέους πάλην καὶ Σειρήνων γένεσιν καὶ Ἐχινάδων ἀνάδοσιν καὶ μετὰ τὴν μανίαν Ἀλκμαίωνος οἴκησιν· εἶτα Νέσσον καὶ Δηϊανείρας ζηλοτυπίαν, ἐφʼ ᾗ τὴν ἐν Οἴτῃ πυράν.

Translations (1)

Of Pantomime Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 2. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 50 focus

[50] It is the same with Aetolia: there you will find Althaea, Meleager, Atalanta, and the fatal brand; the strife of Achelous with Heracles, the birth of the Sirens, the origin of the Echinades, those islands on which Alcmaeon dwelt after his frenzy was past; and, following these, the story of Nessus, and of Deianira’s jealousy, which brought Heracles to the pyre upon Oeta.

Notes on the current edition

The Dance

Clearly Lucian has in mind the legend that made them daughters of Earth (Eur., Hel., 168), engendered of the blood that dropped from the wound of Achelous, inflicted by Heracles through breaking off one of his horns (Libanius, Progymn., 4).

Five of the Echinades were nymphs, turned into islands for their failure to invite Achelous to a sacrifice. A sixth, Perimele, was a maiden who was thrown into the sea by her father because she had given herself to Achelous; in answer to Achelous’ prayer, Poseidon changed her into an island. So, at all events, says Ovid (Met., VIII, 577-610).

Lucian of Samosata De saltatione 50

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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