Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/829

LUCIANUS. through life a natural taste for the fine arts, as jijay be inferred from the many lively descriptions of pictures and statues interspersed through his works. That he was a warm admirer of dancing appears from his treatise Uepl dpxv(T€us. In giving an account of Lucians numerous and niiscellaneous writings, it is difficult to class them under distinct heads with accuracy. Yet an at- tempt at arrangement seems preferable to going t'nrough them in the confused order in which they stand in the editions, which has not even the merit of being chronological. The main heads under which his pieces may be classed, and which are, perhaps, accurate enough for general purposes, are, 1. the Rhetorical; 2. the Critical ; 3. the Biogra- phical ; 4. Romances ; 5. Dialogues ; 6. Miscella- neous pieces ; 7. Poems. By some writers Lucian has also been called an historian, a mathematician, a physical pliilosopher, Sec. But the works for which these appellations have been bestowed upon him are either not his, or fall more properly under one of the preceding divisions. 1. Rhetorical Works. Lucian 's rhetorical pieces were no doubt for the most part the first productions of his pen, for we have already seen that he did not lay aside that profession, and apply himself to a diflPerent style of writing, till he had reached the age of forty. Of all his pieces they are the most unimportant, and betray least of his real character and genius, and therefore require but a passing notice. They may be divided into ■TrpocrKaAial, or introductory addresses, delivered in literary assemblies, and more regular rhetorical pieces in the demonstrative and deliberative kind. Among the irpoaXahiai may be reckoned Ilepi rod kvvnvLov^ Somnium seu Vita Luciani^ the closing sentence of which shows it to have been addressed to some assembly of his countrymen, apparently after his return from his travels. Tliis piece, Avhich is valuable for the anecdotes it contains of Lucian's life, has been already mentioned. The "HpoSoTos, Herodotus sive Aitioti, seems to have been addressed to some Macedonian assembly. Of Aetion the painter an account is elsewhere given. [Aetion.] From the picture described in this piece, Raphael is said to have taken one of his frescoes. Z6v|iy, Zeu.ns sive Jntiochus, also contains the description of a picture which Sulla carried off from Athens, and which was lost on its voyage to Rome, but of which a copy was extant in the time of Lucian. 'ApfxoviSr]s., Har- monides, which, however, is called by Marcilius a SucTTatTis, or Commendatio^ contains an anecdote of Timotheus and his pupil Harmonides. 2/fu0r)y ^ Upo^cvos^ Scytha, turns on the visit of Anacharsis to Athens, and his meeting Toxaris, a fellow- countryman, ,there, who introduces him to the friendship of Solon. 'iTTirias ^ BaXavftov, Hippias seu Dahieum., is the description of a bath, llpocr- aia rj Al6uu(to^, Bacchus., turns on the conquests of Bacchus. Upo(Taia -^ 'UpaKKrjs, Hercules Gallicus. An account of the Gallic Hercules. Uepl rod rjKeKrpov ^ twv kvkvwv^ De Electro seu Cycjnis. This was probably an early piece, as in $ 2 the author mentions a recent visit to the Po, in which he inquired for the poplars that distilled amber, and the singing swans ; but without success, riept Tov oXkov, De Dovio., contains a description of a house, or rather apartment. Ilept t(2v Sn|/a5a)i/, De Dipsadibus. An account of certain Libyan serpents. More regular rhetorical pieces are Tvpai'voKT6- LUCLNUS. 816 vos, Ti/raunicida^ a declamation. A man intend- ing to kill a tyrant, but not finding him, leaveg his sword in the body of his son. At this sight the tyrant slays himself ; whereupon the murderer claims a reward,- as having killed him. This piece is perhaps spurious. 'AiTOKr]pvrr6jXivos, Ab- dicatus. This deckiniation is attributed to Li- banius. ^aKapis npwTos Kal Sevrepos, Phalaris prior et oiler. The authenticity of these two declamations, on the subject of the tyrant of Agrigentum, has likewise been doubted. Mvias ejKcaixLov, Eneomi'im Muscae, a playful and ingeni- ous little piece, describing the nature and habits of the fly. riarpiSos 'EyKWjxiov, Patriae Encomium. The title indicates the subject of this declamation. 2. Critical Works. Aj/ctj (pwvr]4vTwv, Judi- cium Vocalium, was probably a juvenile perform- ance, in which (t brings a complaint of ejection against t. The suit is conducted after the Athe- nian manner, the vowels being the dicasts. Ae^i- (pdvT]s, Lenphanes, a humorous dialogue, written to ridicule the affectation of strange and obsolete diction. By some it has been considered as directed against the Onomasticon of Pollux ; by others, against Athenaeus ; but in both cases pro- bably without foundation. After Lexiphanes has been made to vomit up the strange farrago with which he has overloaded himself, Lucian prescribes the following course of wholesome diet, in order to complete a cure. First, to read the Greek poets ; then the orators ; next Thucydides and Plato, with the dramatic authors. The piece concludes with some sound critical advice. IlcSs Set laropiav airyypdcpeiu, Quomodo Historia sit conscribenda, is the best of Lucian's critical works. The former portion is employed in ridiculing the would-be historians of the day, whilst the latter contains some excellent critical precepts. The 41st section in particular is admirable. The historian Du Thou thought so much of this essay, that he drew the rules for historical writing in the preface to his work principally from it. 'PrjTopwv SiSdaKaXoSy Rhetorum Preceptor., is a piece of critical irony, pretending to point out a royal road to oratory. It also contains a bitter personal attack upon some apparently Egyptian orator. 'Veu5oo'YioTijs,Pseudo- lo(/ista, a violent attack upon a brother sophist who had ignorantly asserted that the word dno(ppds, ^ used by Lucian, was un-Attic. A7]iJ.oa6evovs 'EyKccpLioy, Demosilienis Encomium, a critical dia- logue on the merits of Demosthenes. This piece has been reckoned spurious by many critics, but perhaps on insufficient grounds. The concluding part contains some interesting particulars of the death of the great orator. '^^euSoaocpiar-qs, Psemlch sophista, a dialogue on Attic solecisms, has also been abjudicated, and on more certain grounds. Several phrases are given out as solecisms which are not really so, and which have even been used by Lucian himself. 3. Biographical Works. The pieces which entitle Lucian to be called a biographer are the 'AAe^ai/Spos ^ YeuSojuai/rts, Alexander seu Pseu- domantis ; A-np-tauaKros fiios., Vita Demonactis ; and Uepl rrjs Uepeypiuou reAeuT^s, De Murte Pere-- grini. They are, however, rather anecdotical memoirs (dTro^j/Tj/ioj/eu^aTa), like Xenophon's Memorabilia Socratis, than regular biographies. Of the first piece the chief contents are given elsewhere. [Alexander, Vol. I. p. 123.] An account of Demonax will also ba found under the