Lucian, De saltatione, ed. Austin Morris Harmon, 6

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Λυκῖνος

βούλει οὖν ἀφέμενος, ὦ ἑταῖρε, τῶν βλασφημιῶν τούτων ἀκοῦσαί μού τι περὶ ὀρχήσεως λέγοντος καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ καλῶν, καὶ ὡς οὐ τερπνὴ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ ὠφέλιμός ἐστιν τοῖς θεωμένοις, καὶ ὅσα παιδεύει καὶ ὅσα διδάσκει, καὶ ὡς ῥυθμίζει τῶν ὁρώντων τὰς ψυχάς, καλλίστοις θεάμασιν ἐγγυμνάζουσα καὶ ἀρίστοις ἀκούσμασιν ἐνδιατρίβουσα καὶ κοινόν τι ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος κάλλος ἐπιδεικνυμένη; τὸ γὰρ καὶ μετὰ μουσικῆς καὶ ῥυθμοῦ ταῦτα πάντα ποιεῖν οὐ ψόγος ἂν αὐτῆς ἀλλʼ ἔπαινος μᾶλλον εἴη.

Κράτων

ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐ πάνυ σχολὴ μεμηνότος ἀνθρώπου ἀκροᾶσθαι τὴν νόσον τὴν αὑτοῦ ἐπαινοῦντος· σὺ δὲ εἰ βούλει λῆρόν τινα κατασκεδάσαι μου, ἕτοιμος φιλικὴν ταύτην λειτουργίαν ὑποστῆναι καὶ παρασχεῖν τὰ ὦτα, καὶ ἄνευ κηροῦ παρακούειν τῶν φαύλων δυνάμενος. ὥστε ἤδη σιωπήσομαί σοι, καὶ λέγε ὁπόσα ἐθέλεις ὡς μηδὲ ἀκούοντός τινος.

De saltatione. Lucian. ed. Austin Morris Harmon. Medford, MA. Perseus 4.0.

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Current edition Perseus

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

Translations (2)

The Dance Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 5. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1936 (printing).) — 6 focus

[6]

LYCINUS

Then are you willing to leave off your abuse, my friend, and hear me say something about dancing and about its good points, showing that it brings not only pleasure but benefit to those who see it; how much culture and instruction it gives; how it imports harmony into the souls of its beholders, exercising them in what is fair to see, entertaining them with what is good to hear, and displaying to them joint beauty of soul and body? That it does all this with the aid of music and rhythm would not be reason to blame, but rather to praise it.

CRATO

I have little leisure to hear a madman praise his own ailment, but if you want to flood me with nonsense, I am ready to submit to it as a friendly service and lend you my ears, for even without wax I can avoid hearing rubbish. So now I will hold my peace for you, and you may say all that you wish as if nobody at all were listening.

Of Pantomime Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 2. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 6 focus

[6]

Lycinus

Now suppose you were to abstain from further abuse, and hear what I have to say of the merits of Pantomime; of the manner in which it combines profit with amusement; instructing, informing, perfecting the intelligence of the beholder; training his eyes to lovely sights, filling his ears with noble sounds, revealing a beauty in which body and soul alike have their share. For that music and dancing are employed to produce these results is no disparagement of the art; it is rather a recommendation.

Crato

I have not much time for listening to a madman’s discourse in praise of his own madness. However—if you must deluge me with nonsense—I am prepared to do you that friendly office. My ears are at your service: they need no wax to render them deaf to foolishness. Henceforth I will be silent: speak on;—no one is listening.

Lucian De saltatione 6

ed. Austin Morris Harmon