Lucian, Quomodo historia conscribenda sit, Henry Watson Fowler (Translator), Francis George Fowler (Translator), 22

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[22] Then, Philo, how shall we class the historians who indulge in poetical phraseology? ‘The catapult rocked responsive,’ they say; ‘Loud thundered the breach’; or, somewhere else in this delectable history, ‘Thus Edessa was girdled with clash of arms, and all was din and turmoil,’ or, ‘The general pondered in his heart how to attack the wall? Only he fills up the interstices with such wretched common lower-class phrases as ‘The military prefect wrote His Majesty,’ ‘The troops were procuring the needful,’ ‘They got a wash¹ and put in an appearance,’ and so on, It is like an actor with one foot raised on a high buskin, and the other in a slipper.

Quomodo historia conscribenda sit. Lucian. Henry Watson Fowler (Translator), Francis George Fowler (Translator). Medford, MA, USA. 2023-08-01.

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (2)

Πῶς δεῖ Ἱστορίαν συγγράφειν Perseus (Lucian. Luciani Samosatensis Opera, Vol. 2. Jacobitz, Karl, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1913.) — 22 focus

[22] τοὺς δὲ καὶ ποιητικοῖς ὀνόμασιν, ὦ καλὲ Φίλων, ἐν ἱστορίᾳ χρωμένους ποῦ δʼ ἄν τις θείη, τοὺς λέγοντας, ἐλέλιξε μὲν ἡ μηχανή, τὸ τεῖχος δὲ πεσὸν μεγάλως ἐδούπησε, καὶ πάλιν ἐν ἑτέρῳ μέρει τῆς καλῆς ἱστορίας· Ἔδεσσα μὲν δὴ οὕτω τοῖς ὅπλοις περιεσμαραγεῖτο καὶ ὄτοβος ἦν καὶ κόναβος ἅπαντα ἐκεῖνα, καὶ ὁ στρατηγὸς ἐμερμήριζεν ᾧ τρόπῳ μάλιστα προσαγάγοι πρὸς τὸ τεῖχος. εἶτα μεταξὺ οὕτως εὐτελῆ ὀνόματα καὶ δημοτικὰ καὶ πτωχικὰ πολλὰ παρενεβέβυστο, τό ἐπέστειλεν ὁ στρατοπεδάρχης τῷ κυρίῳ, καί οἱ στρατιῶται ἠγόραζον τὰ ἐγχρῄζοντα, καί ἤδη λελουμένοι περὶ αὐτοὺς ἐγίγνοντο, καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα· ὥστε τὸ πρᾶγμα ἐοικὸς εἶναι 31 τραγῳδῷ τὸν ἕτερον μὲν πόδα ἐπʼ ἐμβάτου ὑψηλοῦ βεβηκότι, θάτερον δὲ σανδάλῳ ὑποδεδεμένῳ.

Πῶς δεῖ ἱστορίαν συγγράφειν Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 6. Kilburn, Kenneth, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1959 (unrenewed copyright).) — 22 focus

[22] Τοὺς δὲ καὶ ποιητικοῖς ὀνόμασιν, ὦ καλὲ Φίλων, ἐν ἱστορίᾳ χρωμένους, ποῦ δ’ ἄν τις θείη, τοὺς λέγοντας, “ἐλέλιξε μὲν ἡ μηχανή, τὸ τεῖχος δὲ πεσὸν μεγάλως ἐδούπησε,” καὶ πάλιν ἐν ἑτέρῳ μέρει τῆς καλῆς ἱστορίας, “Ἔδεσσα μὲν δὴ οὕτω τοῖς ὅπλοις περιεσμαραγεῖτο καὶ ὄτοβος ἦν καὶ κόναβος ἅπαντα ἐκεῖνα” καὶ “ὁ στρατηγὸς ἐμερμήριζεν ᾧ τρόπῳ μάλιστα προσαγάγοι πρὸς τὸ τεῖχος.” εἶτα μεταξὺ οὕτως εὐτελῆ ὀνόματα καὶ δημοτικὰ καὶ πτωχικὰ πολλὰ παρενεβέβυστο—τό “ἐπέστειλεν ὁ στρατοπεδάρχης τῷ κυρίῳ,” καί “οἱ στρατιῶται ἠγόραζον τὰ ἐγχρῄζοντα” καί “ἤδη λελουμένοι περὶ αὐτοὺς ἐγίγνοντο” καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα· ὥστε τὸ πρᾶγμα ἐοικὸς εἶναι τραγῳδῷ τὸν ἕτερον μὲν πόδα ἐπ' ἐμβάτου ὑψηλοῦ ἐπιβεβηκότι, θάτερον δὲ σανδάλῳ ὑποδεδεμένῳ.

Translations (1)

How to write history Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 6. Kilburn, Kenneth, translator. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1959 (unrenewed copyright).) — 22 focus

[22] And where, my dear Philo, are we to put those who use poetic words in their history, who say “The siege-engine whirled, the wall fell with a big thud,” and again in another part of this fine work, “Edessa thus was girt with the crash of arms and all was clangour and alarum,” and “the general mused how best to attack the wall.” ¹ Then in the middle of this sort of thing he stuffed a lot of words that were cheap, vulgar, and mean—“the prefect sent His Majesty a despatch” and “the soldiers got themselves the necessaries” and “by now they’d had their baths and were hanging about” and so on. It’s as if a tragic actor had mounted a high buskin on one foot and had a sandal tied under the other.

Notes on the current edition

The Way To Write History

1. It was suggested in the Introduction that Lucian’s criticism is for practical purposes out of date; but Prescott writes: ‘He was surrounded by a party of friends, who had dropped in, it seems, after mass, to inquire after the state of his health, some of whom had remained to partake of his repast.’

Lucian Quomodo historia conscribenda sit 22

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

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