Luciānus
(
Λουκιανός), usually called Lucian. A Greek writer, born at Samosata, the capital of Commagené, in Syria.
The dates of his birth and death are uncertain; but it has been conjectured, with much
probability, that he was born about A.D. 120, and that he lived till towards the end of that
century. We know that some of his more celebrated works were written in the reign of M.
Aurelius. Lucian's parents were poor, and he was at first apprenticed to his maternal uncle,
who was a statuary. He afterwards became an advocate, and practised at Being unsuccessful in
this calling, he employed himself in writing speeches for others, instead of delivering them
himself. But he did not remain long at Antioch; and at an early period of his life he set out
upon his travels, and visited the greater part of Greece, Italy, and Gaul. At that period it
was customary for professors of the rhetorical art to proceed to different cities, where they
attracted audiences by their displays, much in the same manner as musicians or itinerant
lecturers in modern times. He appears to have acquired a good deal of money as well as fame.
On his return to his native country, probably about his fortieth year, he abandoned the
rhetorical profession, the artifices of which, he tells us, were foreign to his temper. He now
devoted most of his time to the composition of his works. He still, however, occasionally
travelled; for it appears that he was in Achaia and Ionia about the close of the Parthian War,
160-165, on which occasion, too, he seems to have visited Olympia, and beheld the
self-immolation of Peregrinus. About the year 170, or a little previously, he visited the
false oracle of the impostor Alexander, in Paphlagonia. Late in life he obtained the office of
procurator of part of Egypt, which office was probably bestowed upon him by the emperor
Commodus.
The nature of Lucian's writings inevitably made for him many enemies, by whom he has been
painted in the darkest colours. According to Suidas, he was surnamed “the
Blasphemer,” and was torn to pieces by dogs, as a punishment for his impiety; but to
this account no credence can be given. Other writers state that Lucian apostatized from
Christianity; but there is no proof in support of this charge; and the dialogue entitled
Philopatris, which would appear to prove that the author had once been a
Christian, was certainly not written by Lucian, and was probably composed in the reign of
Julian the Apostate.
As many as eighty-two works have come down to us under the name of Lucian; but some of these
are spurious. The most important of them are his
Dialogues. They are of very
various degrees of merit, and are treated in the greatest possible variety of style, from
seriousness down to the broadest humour and buffoonery. Their subjects and tendency, too, vary
considerably; for while some are employed in attacking the heathen philosophy and religion,
others are mere pictures of manners without any polemic drift. Our limits only allow us to
mention a few of the more important of these dialogues: The
Dialogues of the
Gods (
Θεῶν Διάλογοι), twenty-six in number,
consist of short dramatic narratives of some of the most popular incidents in the heathen
mythology. The reader, however, is generally left to draw his own conclusions from the story,
the author only taking care to put it in the most absurd point of view.—In the
Zeus Convicted (
Ζεὺς Ἐλεγχόμενος) a
bolder style of attack is adopted; and the cynic proves to Zeus's face that everything
being under the dominion of fate, he has no power whatever. As this dialogue shows Zeus's want
of power, so the
Zeus the Tragedian (
Ζεὺς
Τραγῳδός) strikes at his very existence, and that of the other
deities.—The
Βίων Πρᾶσις, or
Sale of the
Philosophers, is an attack upon the ancient philosophers. In this humorous piece the
heads of the different sects are put up for sale, Hermes being the
auctioneer.—
The Fisherman (
Ἁλιεύς) is a sort of apology for the preceding piece, and may be reckoned among
Lucian's best dialogues. The philosophers are represented as having obtained a day's life for
the purpose of taking vengeance upon Lucian, who confesses that he has borrowed the chief
beauties of his writings from them.—
The Banquet (
Συμπόσιον) is one of Lucian's most humorous attacks on the
philosophers. The scene is a wedding feast, at which a representative of each of the principal
philosophic sects is present. A discussion ensues, which sets all the philosophers by the
ears, and ends in a pitched battle.—The
Nigrinus is also an attack on
philosophic pride; but its main purpose is to satirize the Romans, whose pomp, vainglory, and
luxury are unfavourably contrasted with the simple habits of the Athenians.
The more miscellaneous class of Lucian's dialogues, in which the attacks upon mythology and
philosophy are not direct but incidental, or which are mere pictures of manners, contains some
of his best. At the head must be placed
Timon, which may perhaps be regarded as
Lucian's masterpiece.—The
Dialogues of the Dead (
Νεκρικοὶ Διάλογοι) are perhaps the best known of all Lucian's
works. The subject affords great scope for moral reflection and for satire on the vanity of
human pursuits. Wealth, power, beauty, strength, not forgetting the vain disputations of
philosophy, afford the materials. Among the moderns these dialogues have been imitated by
Fontenelle, Lord Lyttelton, and Walter Savage Landor.—The
Icaro-Menippus is in Lucian's best vein and a masterpiece of Aristophanic
humour. Menippus, disgusted with the disputes and pretensions of the philosophers, resolves on
a visit to the stars for the purpose of seeing how far their theories are correct. By the
mechanical aid of a pair of wings he reaches the moon, and thence surveys the miserable
passions and quarrels of men. Thence he proceeds to Olympus, and is introduced to the
Thunderer himself. Here he is witness of the manner in which human prayers are received in
heaven. They ascend by enormous vent-holes, and become audible when Zeus removes the covers.
Zeus himself is represented as a partial judge, and as influenced by the largeness of the
rewards promised to him. At the end he pronounces judgment against the philosophers, and
threatens in four days to destroy them all.—
Charon is a much admired
dialogue, but of a graver turn than the preceding. Charon visits the earth to see the course
of life there, and what it is that always makes men weep when they enter his boat. Hermes acts
as his cicerone. For his
True History (
Ἀληθὴς
Ἱστορία) and
Asinus (
Λούκιος ἢ
Ὄνος), see
Novels and
Romances.
Lucian's merits as a writer consist in his knowledge of human nature, his strong
common-sense, the fertility of his invention, the raciness of his humour, and the simplicity
and Attic grace of his diction. There was very much to justify his attacks
in the systems against which they were directed. Yet he establishes nothing in their stead.
His aim is only to pull down; to spread a universal scepticism. Nor were his assaults confined
to religion and philosophy, but extended to everything old and venerated, the poems of Homer
and Hesiod, and the history of Herodotus.
The best editions of Lucian are by Hemsterhuis and Reitz, 4 vols.
(Amsterdam,
1743); by Lehmann, 9 vols.
(Leipzig, 1822-29); by Dindorf, with a Latin
version, but without notes
(Paris, 1840); critical text by Jacobitz
(1874); Fritzsche
(incomplete, 1882-85); Sommerbrodt (in progress,
1892 foll.); select dialogues edited by Abbott
(1877); Heitland
(1878); and Jerram
(1879).