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

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[4]

Lycinus

Goodness gracious! All the Cynic in you is loose, and snarls at me. At the same time, I think your Lotus-and-Siren simile is rather off the point: you see, the people who ate the Lotus and listened to the Sirens paid for the gratification of ear and palate with their lives: whereas I not only have a great deal more enjoyment than they had, but am all the better for it. I have experienced no oblivion of my domestic affairs, nor blindness to my own interests; in fact—if I may venture to say so—you will find my penetration and practical wisdom considerably increased by my theatrical experiences. Homer has it exactly: the spectator

Returns a gladder and a wiser man.

Crato

Dear, dear! Yours is a sad case, Lycinus. You are not even ashamed; you seem quite pleased with yourself. That is the worst of it: there seems no hope of your recovery, while you can actually commend the mire in which you wallow.

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

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)

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

Λυκῖνος

παπαῖ, ὦ Κράτων, ὡς κάρχαρόν τινα ἔλυσας ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς τὸν σαυτοῦ κύνα. πλὴν τό γε παράδειγμα„ τὴν τῶν Λωτοφάγων καὶ Σειρήνων εἰκόνα, πάνυ ἀνομοιοτάτην μοι δοκεῖς εἰρηκέναι ὧν πέπονθα, παρʼ ὅσον τοῖς μὲν τοῦ λωτοῦ γευσαμένοις καὶ τῶν Σειρήνων ἀκούσασιν ὄλεθρος ἦν τῆς τε ἐδωδῆς καὶ τῆς ἀκροάσεως τοὐπιτίμιον, ἐμοὶ δὲ πρὸς τῷ τὴν ἡδονὴν παρὰ πολὺ ἡδίω πεφυκέναι¹ καὶ τὸ τέλος ἀγαθὸν ἀποβέβηκεν· οὐ γὰρ εἰς λήθην τῶν οἴκοι οὐδʼ εἰς ἀγνωσίαν τῶν κατʼ ἐμαυτὸν περιίσταμαι, ἀλλʼ εἰ χρὴ μηδὲν ὀκνήσαντα εἰπεῖν, μακρῷ πινυτώτερος καὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ βίῳ διορατικώτερος ἐκ τοῦ θεάτρου σοι ἐπανελήλυθα. μᾶλλον δέ, τὸ τοῦ Ὁμήρου αὐτὸ εἰπεῖν καλόν, ὅτι ὁ τοῦτο ἰδὼν τὸ θέαμα τερψάμενος νεῖται καὶ πλείονα εἰδώς.

Κράτων

Ἡράκλεις, ὦ Λυκῖνε, οἷα πέπονθας, ὃς οὐδʼ αἰσχύνῃ ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ σεμνυνομένῳ ἔοικας. τὸ γοῦν δεινότατον τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὅτι μηδὲ ἰάσεώς τινα ἡμῖν ὑποφαίνεις ἐλπίδα, ἐπαινεῖν τολμῶν τὰ οὕτως αἰσχρὰ καὶ κατάπτυστα.

Translations (1)

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

[4]

LYCINUS

Heavens, Crato, what sharp teeth there are in this dog of yours that you have let loose on us! But as for your parallel, the simile of the Lotus-Eaters and the Sirens, it seems to me quite unlike what I have been through, since in the case of those who tasted the lotus and heard the Sirens, death was the penalty for their eating and listening, while in my case not only is the pleasure more exquisite by a great deal but the outcome is happy; I am not altered into forgetfulness of things at home or ignorance of my own concerns, but—if I may speak my mind without any hesitancy—I have come back to you from the theatre with far more wisdom and more insight into life. Or rather, I may well put it just as Homer does: he who has seen this spectacle

Goes on his way diverted and knowing more than aforetime.

Odyssey, XII, 188.

CRATO

Heracles, Lycinus! How deeply you have been affected! You are not even ashamed of it all but actually seem proud. In fact, that is the worst part of it: you do not show us any hope of a cure when you dare to praise what is so shameful and abominable.

Lucian De saltatione 4

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