Lucian of Samosata, Zeuxis, Kenneth Kilburn (Translator), 1

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[1] Recently I was on my way home after lecturing to you, when a number of my recent audience met me (I see no objection to telling you a story like this now that you and I are friends)—they met me, then, and after greeting me gave some indication of approval. They accompanied me for some distance, vying in noisy praise until I blushed for shame at the thought that I fell far short of their praises. The substance of their approbation, which all alike emphasised, was the strangeness of the thought in my composition and the degree of freshness it displayed. It would be better to quote verbatim: “What novelty! What marvellous paradoxes! How inventive he is! The freshness of thought is beyond compare!” They continued in this strain. They had clearly been taken with the lecture—I don’t suppose they could have any reason for telling lies and flattering a stranger as they did, one who had no other reason for claiming their attention.

Zeuxis. Lucian of Samosata. Kenneth Kilburn (Translator). Medford, MA. Perseus 5.0.

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Current edition Perseus

Zeuxis or Antiochus (English) (Lucian, Vol. 6. Kilburn, Kenneth, translator. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1959 (unrenewed copyright).)

Editions (2)

Ζεύξις ἢ Ἀντίοχος Perseus (Lucian. Luciani Samosatensis Opera, Vol. 1. Jacobitz, Karl, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1909.) — 1 focus

[1] ἔναγχος ἐγὼ μὲν ὑμῖν δείξας τὸν λόγον ἀπῄειν οἴκαδε, προσιόντες δέ μοι τῶν ἀκηκοότων πολλοὶ — κωλύει γὰρ οὐδέν, οἶμαι, καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα πρὸς φίλους ἤδη ὄντας ὑμᾶς λέγειν — προσιόντες οὖν ἐδεξιοῦντο καὶ θαυμάζουσιν 839 ἐῴκεσαν· ἐπὶ πολὺ γοῦν παρομαρτοῦντες ἄλλος ἄλλοθεν ἐβόων καὶ ἐπῄνουν, ἄχρι τοῦ καὶ ἐρυθριᾶν με, μὴ ἄρα πάμπολυ τῆς ἀξίας τῶν ἐπαίνων ἀπολειποίμην. τὸ δʼ οὖν κεφάλαιον αὐτοῖς τοῦτο ἦν, καὶ πάντες ἓν καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἐπεσημαίνοντο, τὴν γνώμην τῶν συγγραμμάτων ξένην οὖσαν καὶ πολὺν ἐν αὐτῇ τὸν νεωτερισμόν. μᾶλλον δὲ αὐτὰ εἰπεῖν ἄμεινον, ἅπερ ἐκεῖνοι ἀπεφθέγγοντο· ὤ τῆς καινότητος. Ἡράκλεις, τῆς παραδοξολογίας. εὐμήχανος ἄνθρωπος. οὐδὲν ἄν τις εἴποι τῆς ἐπινοίας νεαρώτερον. οἱ μὲν τοιαῦτα πολλὰ ἔλεγον, ὡς ἐκεκήληντο δηλαδὴ ὑπὸ τῆς ἀκροάσεως. ἢ τίνα γὰρ ἂν αἰτίαν εἶχον ψεύδεσθαι καὶ κολακεύειν τὰ τοιαῦτα ξένον ἄνθρωπον, οὐ πάνυ πολλῆς αὐτοῖς φροντίδος ἄξιον τὰ ἄλλα;

Ζεῦξις ἢ Ἀντίοχος Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 6. Kilburn, Kenneth, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1959 (unrenewed copyright).) — 1 focus

[1] Ἔναγχος ἐγὼ μὲν ὑμῖν δείξας τὸν λόγον ἀπῄειν οἴκαδε, προσιόντες δέ μοι τῶν ἀκηκοότων πολλοὶ (κωλύει γὰρ οὐδέν οἶμαι καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα πρὸς φίλους ἤδη ὄντας ὑμᾶς λέγειν)—προσιόντες οὖν ἐδεξιοῦντο καὶ θαυμάζουσιν ἐῴκεσαν. ἐπὶ πολὺ γοῦν παρομαρτοῦντες ἄλλος ἄλλοθεν ἐβόων καὶ ἐπῄνουν ἄχρι τοῦ ¹ καὶ ἐρυθριᾶν με, μὴ ἄρα πάμπολυ τῆς ἀξίας τῶν ἐπαίνων ἀπολειποίμην. τὸ δ’ οὖν κεφάλαιον αὐτοῖς τοῦτο ἦν, καὶ πάντες ἓν καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἐπεσημαίνοντο, τὴν γνώμην τῶν συγγραμμάτων ξένην οὖσαν καὶ πολὺν ἐν αὐτῇ τὸν νεωτερισμόν. μᾶλλον δὲ αὐτὰ εἰπεῖν ἄμεινον ἅπερ ἐκεῖνοι ἐπεφθέγγοντο· ² “Ὢ τῆς καινότητος. Ἡράκλεις, τῆς παραδοξολογίας. εὐμήχανος ἄνθρωπος. οὐδὲν ἄν τις εἴποι τῆς ἐπινοίας νεαρώτερον.” οἱ μὲν τοιαῦτα πολλὰ ἔλεγον, ὡς ἐκεκίνηντο δηλαδὴ ὑπὸ τῆς ἀκροάσεως. ἢ τίνα γὰρ ἂν αἰτίαν εἶχον ψεύδεσθαι καὶ κολακεύειν τὰ τοιαῦτα ξένον ἄνθρωπον, οὐ πάνυ πολλῆς αὐτοῖς φροντίδος ἄξιον τὰ ἄλλα;

Translations (1)

Zeuxis and Antiochus Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 2. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 1 focus

[1] I was lately walking home after lecturing, when a number of my audience (you are now my friends, gentlemen, and there can be no objection to my telling you this)—these persons, then, came to me and introduced themselves, with the air of admiring hearers. They accompanied me a considerable way, with such laudatory exclamations that I was reduced to blushing at the discrepancy between praise and thing praised. Their chief point, which they were absolutely unanimous in emphasizing, was that the substance of my work was so fresh, so crammed with novelty. I had better give you their actual phrases: ‘How new! What paradoxes, to be sure! What invention the man has! His ideas are quite unequalled for originality.’ They said a great deal of this sort about my fascinating lecture, as they called it; they could have had no motive for pretending, or addressing such flatteries to a stranger who had no independent claims on their attention.

Lucian of Samosata Zeuxis 1

Kenneth Kilburn (Translator)

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