Lucian, Hermotimus, Henry Watson Fowler (Translator), Francis George Fowler (Translator), 29

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

← Previous Next →

[29]

Hermotimus

Much better so, Lycinus. However, I know that, if you go the whole round, you will find no better guides or more expert pilots than the Stoics; if you mean ever to get to Corinth, you will follow them, in the tracks of Chrysippus and Zeno. It is the only way to do it.;

Lycinus

Ah, many can play at the game of assertion. Plato’s fellow traveller, Epicurus’s follower, and all the rest, will tell me just what you do, that I shall never get to Corinth except with whichever of them it is. So I must either believe them all, or disbelieve impartially. The latter is much the safest, until we have found out the truth.

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

Current edition Perseus

Hermotimus, or the Rival Philosophies (English) (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 2. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.)

Editions (2)

Ἑρμότιμος ἢ Περὶ Αἱρέσεων Perseus (Lucian. Luciani Samosatensis Opera, Vol. 1. Jacobitz, Karl, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1909.) — 29 focus

Ἑρμότιμος

οὕτω γε ἄμεινον, ὦ Λυκῖνε, παρα πολύ. πλὴν οἶδά γε ὅτι ἅπαντας ἐν κύκλῳ περιελθὼν οὐκ ἄλλους ἂν εὕροις οὔτε ἡγεμόνας ἀμείνους οὔτε κυβερνήτας ἐμπειροτέρους τῶν Στωϊκῶν, καὶ ἢν ἐθελήσῃς γε ἀφικέσθαι ποτὲ εἰς τὴν Κόρινθον, ἐκείνοις ἕψῃ κατὰ τὰ Χρυσίππου καὶ Ζήνωνος ἴχνη προϊών· ἄλλως δὲ ἀδύνατον.

Λυκῖνος

ὁρᾷς, τοῦτο ὡς κοινόν, ὦ Ἑρμότιμε, εἴρηκας; εἴποι γὰρ ἂν αὐτὸ καὶ ὁ τῷ Πλάτωνι ξυνοδοιπορῶν καὶ ὁ Ἐπικούρῳ ἑπόμενος καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι, μὴ ἂν ἐλθεῖν με εἰς τὴν Κόρινθον, εἰ μὴ μεθʼ ἑαυτοῦ, ἕκαστος. ὥστε ἢ πᾶσι πιστεύειν χρή, ὅπερ γελοιότατον, ἢ ἀπιστεῖν ὁμοίως μακρῷ γὰρ ἀσφαλέστατον τὸ τοιοῦτον, ἄχρι ἂν εὕρωμεν τἀληθῆ.

Σκύθης ἢ πρόξενος Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 6. Kilburn, Kenneth, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1959 (unrenewed copyright).) — 29 focus

ΕΡΜΟΤΙΜΟΣ

Οὕτω γε ἄμεινον, ὦ Λυκῖνε, παρὰ πολύ. πλὴν οἶδά γε ὅτι ἅπαντας ἐν κύκλῳ περιελθὼν οὐκ ἄλλους ἂν εὕροις οὔτε ἡγεμόνας ἀμείνους οὔτε κυβερνήτας ἐμπειροτέρους τῶν Στωϊκῶν, καὶ ἢν ἐθελήσῃς γε ἀφικέσθαι ποτὲ εἰς τὴν Κόρινθον, ἐκείνοις ἕψῃ κατὰ τὰ Χρυσίππου καὶ Ζήνωνος ἴχνη προϊών. ἄλλως δὲ ἀδύνατον.

ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ

Ὁρᾷς τοῦτο ὡς κοινόν, ὦ Ἑρμότιμε, εἴρηκας; εἶποι γὰρ ἂν αὐτὸ καὶ ὁ τῷ Πλάτωνι ξυνοδοιπορῶν καὶ ὁ Ἐπικούρῳ ἑπόμενος καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι, μὴ ἂν ἐλθεῖν με εἰς τὴν Κόρινθον εἰ μὴ μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ, ἕκαστος. ὥστε ἢ πᾶσι πιστεύειν χρή (ὅπερ γελοιότατον), ἢ ἀπιστεῖν ὁμοίως. μακρῷ γὰρ ἀσφαλέστατον τὸ τοιοῦτον ἄχρι ἂν εὕρωμεν τὸν ἀληθῆ. ¹

Translations (1)

The Scythian or Consul Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 6. Kilburn, Kenneth, translator. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1959 (unrenewed copyright).) — 29 focus

HERMOTIMUS

That is the better way, Lycinus, by far. Yet I know that if you made a round tour of them all you would find no others who were better pilots or more experienced navigators than the Stoics; and, if you want to reach Corinth some day, you will follow them, treading the tracks of Chrysippus and Zeno. No other way is possible.

LYCINUS

Do you see, Hermotimus, how universal is that assertion you have made? Plato’s fellow-traveller, Epicurus’s follower, and the rest of them, would say the same, every one of them, that I could not go to Corinth without his company. So I must either believe them all alike (which is ridiculous) or disbelieve them all alike. The latter is by far the safest course until we discover the true one.

Lucian Hermotimus 29

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

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Hermotimus

Lycinus

Current edition Perseus

Stable identifiers