Lucian of Samosata, Lexiphanes, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 5

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[5] Discoursing in this wise, all those of us present were gone. When we came to the gymnasium, we despoiled ourselves. One exercised himself at wrestling with shoulder-holds, another with neckholds, standing; one sleeked himself with unguent and essayed eluding grasps; one countered the wind-bag,¹ one, grasping leaden sows, whipped his arms about. Then, once we were dressed down² and had backed each other, and used the gymnasium for our sport, Philinus and I imbathed ourselves in the hot pool and emerged, while the rest, beducking their sconces in the cold plunge, swam about subaquaneous in wondrous guise.

Upon reversion, we imbusied ourselves with this, that or t’other. I myself indued my boots, dressed my scalp with a tined card,³ for I had got shorn with the “bowl” cut, not the “bush”; for not long ago my chaps and crown had been displumed.⁴ Someone else was gobbling lupines, another was evomiting his jejunity, another was. diminishing radishes and sopping up a mess of fishy pottage, another was eating flummery,⁵ and yet another engorging barley brose.

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

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)

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

Λεξιφάνης

τοιαῦτα ἄττα διεξιόντες ἅπαντες οἱ παρόντες ἀπῄειμεν· κἀπειδήπερ ἥκομεν εἰς τὸ γυμνάσιον ἀπησθημένοι ἤδη, ὁ μέν τις ἀκροχειριασμῷ, ὁ δὲ τραχηλισμῷ καὶ ὀρθοπάλῃ ἐχρῆτο, ὁ δὲ λίπα χρισάμενος ἐλυγίζετο, ὁ δὲ ἀντέβαλλε τῷ κωρύκῳ, ὁ δὲ μολυβδαίνας χερμαδίους δράγδην¹ ἔχων ἐχειροβόλει. εἶτα συντριβέντες καὶ ἀλλήλους κατανωτισάμενοι καὶ ἐμπαίξαντες τῷ γυμνασίῳ ἐγὼ μὲν καὶ Φιλῖνος ἐν τῇ θερμῇ πυέλῳ καταιονηθέντες ἐξῄειμεν· οἱ λοιποὶ δὲ τὸ ψυχροβαφὲς κάρα δελφινίσαντες παρένεον ὑποβρύχιοι θαυμασίως.

ἀναστρέψαντες δὲ αὖθις ἄλλος ἄλλοσε ἄλλα ἐδρῶμεν. ἐγὼ μὲν ὑποδησάμενος ἐξυόμην τὴν κεφαλὴν τῇ ὀδοντωτῇ ξύστρᾳ· καὶ γὰρ οὐ κηπίον, ἀλλὰ σκάφιον ἐκεκάρμην, ὡς ἂν οὐ πρὸ πολλοῦ τὸν κόννον καὶ τὴν κορυφαίαν ἀποκεκομηκώς· ἄλλος ἐθερμοτράγει, ὁ δὲ ἤμει τὸν νῆστιν, ὁ δὲ ἀραιὰς ποιῶν τὰς ῥαφανῖδας ἐμυστιλᾶτο τοῦ ἰχθυηροῦ ζωμοῦ, ἄλλος ἤσθιεν φαυλίας, ὁ δὲ ἐρρόφει τῶν κριθῶν.

Translations (1)

Lexiphanes Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 2. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 5 focus

[5] Arrived at the gymnasium, we stripped; the finger-wrench, the garotte, the standing-grip, each had tts votaries; one otled and suppled his joints; another punched the bladder; a third heaved and swung the dumb-bells. Then, when we had rubbed ourselves, and ridden pick-a-back, and had our sport of the gymnasium, we took our plunge, Philinus and I, in the warm basin, and departed. But the rest dipped frigid heads, soused in, and swam subaqueous, a wonder to behold. Then back we came, and one here, one there, did this and that. Shod, with toothed comb I combed me. For I had had a short crop, not to convict-measure, but saucer-wise, depilation having set in om crown and chin-tip. One chewed lupines, another cleared his fasting throat, a third took fish soup on radish-wafer sippets; this ate olives, that supped down barley.

Notes on the current edition

Lexiphanes

He exercised with the “punching-bag.”

To Lexiphanes, συντριβέντες is an allusion to the “rub-down”? previous mentioned; but others would infer from it that somebody had cracked their crowns for them. Cf. Athen., 98 A (Pompeianus).

The regular word for comb (κτεῖς or κτένιον) was not elegant enough for Lexiphanes.

Apparently the “bush” cut required a good head of hair, but did not need to be combed. Both styles had been for centuries out of fashion in Lexiphanes’ day.

In the Greek the food is different (queen olives), but the name carries a similar suggestion of rubbish.

Lucian of Samosata Lexiphanes 5

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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