Lucian Of Samosata
| Lucian of Samosata | |
 | |
Engraving of the bust of Lucian by William Faithorne , detail. | |
| Activity (s) | Writer. |
|---|---|
| Birth | v. 120 Samosata |
| Deaths | after 180 Athens |
| Writing language | Ancient Greek |
| Genre (s) | dialogue , Greek romance. |
| Major works | |
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Lucian, in Greek / (c. 120 -died after 180 ) was a rhetorician and satirist of Syria who wrote in Greek in style neo-Attic.
He was born at Samosata , in ancient Syria and died in Athens. He was a sculptor and lawyer, and traveled throughout the Roman Empire.
Summary |
Lucien was born at Samosata , the capital of Commagene , province of Syria. His parents intended him for the profession of sculptor he left the master to whom they had entrusted his mother's brother, the first lesson. He devoted himself entirely to the study of literature, and he was soon able to take advantage of his talents. Until the age of forty, he confined himself to plead or to give lessons in rhetoric, first to Antioch , then to Athens. Then he began to write for the public to travel. He came to Italy and there was quite a long stay. He passed away in Gaul , then in Asia Minor. Finally, he settled in Egypt , where the emperor Marcus Aurelius assigned him to important administrative and judicial functions. It was at Alexandria that he probably died in the early years of the reign of Commodus.
Before coming to the honors he had already acquired fame and fortune. His writings met success, and he received considerable sums for the lessons and recitations that he was on his way, like the sophists and rhetoricians of the time. After telling the dream that had determined, he said, his literary vocation, he added: "He who has heard the story of my dream feel, I'm sure the courage to be reborn in his soul. He will for example, it will reflect on what I was when I entered the career and devoted myself to study without fear of poverty that urged me then, and he wants to imitate me, seeing in what state I came to you, not least shows no sculptor, to say nothing more. "
Works
He is credited with more than 80 works. An important book written in Ionic dialect, "Dea Syria" (The Syrian Goddess), describes what he saw himself from the cult of Atargatis in Roman times, in the holy city Hierapolis of Syria. He invented the form of humorous dialogue between the philosophical dialogue and comedy. His best-known dialogues are the Dialogues of the Gods and Dialogues of the Dead: This work inspired the Phalarismus polemicist of Ulrich von Hutten , Heroes novel by Boileau and the Dialogues of the Dead , with a more moral, Fenelon. He also wrote many dialogues for irony in a similar style of cynical philosophers cons. He laughed at the naivete of Christians in The Death of Peregrine. He also wrote rhetorical exercises as ironic praise (praise of baldness, In Praise of the fly, etc..). The whole work of Lucien found in the nineteenth century's best reflected in the Small Works moral Leopardi.
His True History , even if it is more a tale facetious and there is no scientific reference. It influenced the States and Empires of the Moon of Cyrano de Bergerac , the Micromegas of Voltaire.
- Works, text established and translated into French by Jacques Bompaire. Les Belles Lettres , Paris, France Collection universities , T. 1-3, 2003 (twenty-five pamphlets). Volume 4, 2008 (4 pamphlets). As of December 30, 2008, the sequel has yet to appear.
Editions partial
- Portraits of philosophers, general introduction and notes by Anne-Marie Ozanam , translation by Anne-Marie Ozanam and Bompaire Jacques , Les Belles Lettres , Pocket Classics, 2008 ( ISBN 978-2-251-80000-4 )
- Contains pamphlets Demonax, The Banquet or Lapiths, the Dream or the Cock, Lives of Philosophers to sell, or the Fisherman Resurrected, on the death of Pilgrims, Hermotimos the ship or the Vows (original Greek and French translation).
- As of December 30, 2008, the last three booklets are not yet included in the Collection of universities in France.
- Extraordinary Voyages, introduction and notes by Anne-Marie Ozanam , translation by Anne-Marie Ozanam and Jacques Bompaire, Les Belles Lettres , Pocket Classics, 2009 ( ISBN 978-2-251-80001-1 )
- Booklets contain the Foreword or Dionysus, on the amber or swans, Nonfiction A and B, The crossing or tyrant Icaromnippe, Charon or observers, Menippus or consulting the dead, On dipsades, Dialogues dead (original Greek and French translation).
- As of December 30, 2008, the last three booklets are not yet included in the Collection of universities in France.
- Human comedy, translations, introductions and notes by Anne-Marie Ozanam , Les Belles Lettres , Pocket Classics, 2010 ( ISBN 978-2-251-80015-8 )
- Includes the booklets or Timon the Misanthrope (text prepared by Jacques Bompaire ), Against the uneducated, The Parasite, Philopseuds, On hosts hired, Lexiphans, Dialogues of courtesans (original Greek and French translation).
- True stories and other works, preface by Paul Demont, translation, introduction and notes by Guy Lacaze, The Pocket Book , 2003.
External Links
- Complete Works, Volume I ;
- Complete Works, Volume II ;
- Lucian or prince of the gay science, Philippe Renault ;
- Complete works on the site of Philippe Remacle.
References
- See for example the text on the site remacle.org. Accessed August 14, 2010.
- particular by Pierre Versins (Encyclopedia of utopia and extraordinary journeys of science fiction, 1972), Jacques Van Herp (Panorama of Science Fiction, 1973), [[Jacques Sadoul (author) |]] ( history of modern science fiction, 1974), Jacques Baudou (Science-fiction, 2003).
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