Lucian of Samosata, Hermotimus, ed. Kenneth Kilburn, 78

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Ἀλλὰ καὶ κατάλαβε, εἰ δοκεῖ, καὶ ἔχε ὅλον συλλαβών· τὸ μὲν δὴ πρῶτον οὐχ ὁρῶ ὅ τι ποτ' ἂν εἴη τἀγαθόν, ὡς ἀντάξιον δοκεῖν τῶν πόνων τῶν τοσούτων. ἔπειτα ἐς πόσον ἔτι τὸν λοιπὸν χρόνον ἀπολαύσεις αὐτοῦ γέρων ἤδη καὶ παντὸς ἡδέος ἔξωρος ὢν καὶ τὸν ἕτερον πόδα φασὶν ἐν τῇ σορῷ ἔχων; εἰ μή τι ἐς ἄλλον, ὦ γενναῖε, βίον προγυμνάζεις ἑαυτόν, ὡς ἐς ἐκεῖνον ἐλθὼν ἄμεινον διαγάγοις, εἰδὼς ὅντινα τρόπον χρὴ βιοῦν ὅμοιον ὡς εἴ τις ἐς τοσοῦτον σκευάζοι τε καὶ εὐτρεπίζοι ὡς δειπνήσων ἄμεινον ἄχρι ἂν λάθῃ ὑπὸ λιμοῦ διαφθαρείς.

Hermotimus. Lucian of Samosata. ed. Kenneth Kilburn. Medford, MA. Perseus 5.0.

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Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)

Ἑρμότιμος ἢ Περὶ Αἱρέσεων Perseus (Lucian. Luciani Samosatensis Opera, Vol. 1. Jacobitz, Karl, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1909.) — 78 focus

Λυκῖνος

ἀλλὰ καὶ κατάλαβε, εἰ δοκεῖ, καὶ ἔχε ὅλον συλλαβών, τὸ μὲν δὴ πρῶτον οὐχ ὁρῶ ὅ τι ποτʼ ἂν εἴη τἀγαθόν, ὡς ἀντάξιον δοκεῖν τῶν πόνων τῶν τοσούτων. ἔπειτα ἐς πόσον ἔτι τὸν λοιπὸν χρόνον ἀπολαύσεις αὐτοῦ γέρων ἤδη καὶ παντὸς ἡδέος ἔξωρος 822 ὢν καὶ τὸν ἕτερον πόδα, φασίν, ἐν τῇ σορῷ ἔχων; εἰ μή τι ἐς ἄλλον, ὦ γενναῖε, βίον προγυμνάζεις ἑαυτόν, ὡς ἐς ἐκεῖνον ἐλθὼν ἄμεινον διαγάγοις, εἰδὼς ὅντινα τρόπον χρὴ βιοῦν, ὅμοιον ὡς εἴ τις ἐς τοσοῦτον σκευάζοι τε καὶ εὐτρεπίζοι ὡς δειπνήσων ἄμεινον, ἄχρι ἂν λάθῃ ὑπὸ λιμοῦ διαφθαρείς.

Translations (2)

The Scythian or Consul Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 6. Kilburn, Kenneth, translator. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1959 (unrenewed copyright).) — 78 focus

Well, catch it then, if you wish: grasp and hold all of it; but in the first place I do not see what good could ever be supposed to compensate for all these efforts. Then what time will you have left to enjoy it, old man as you will be, too far gone for pleasure, and with one foot in the grave, as they say? Unless, my noble friend, you are putting in training for a future life, so that you can live it better when you get there, knowing how to live like a man preparing and training himself for a better dinner for such a long time that before he knows it he is dead of hunger.

Hermotimus, or the Rival Philosophies Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 2. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 78 focus

[78] Well, overtake it, if that is your plan, grasp it and have it whole, this something, mysterious to me, of which the possession is sufficient reward for such toils; this something which I wonder how long you will have the enjoyment of, old man that you will be, past all pleasure, with one foot in the grave; ah, but perhaps, like a brave soul, you are getting ready for another life, that you may spend it the better when you come to it, having learned how to live: as though one should take so long preparing and elaborating a superlative dinner that he fainted with hunger and exhaustion!

Lucian of Samosata Hermotimus 78

ed. Kenneth Kilburn

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