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home:texts_and_library:essays:alexander [2021/01/21 21:01] – [4] frankhome:texts_and_library:essays:alexander [2021/01/24 20:08] (current) – [Introductions] frank
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 Though this is not the most humorous or witty essay, it is perhaps one of the most entertaining pieces of Lucian. It contains an exact and probably true account of a most extraordinary character who figured in his time - the fraud Alexander. It makes one wonder what type of frauds and impostures Lucian was exposed to in the 2nd Century AD. Of all of Lucian's works, Alexander provides the reader with an idea of what sort of person Lucian considered to be spreading lies and obfuscation. Throughout the centuries, there have been glaring frauds and impostures even in the most supposed "enlightened" times.((Select Dialogues: Of Lucian, Translated from the Greek by Thomas Franklin, D.D. The Sungraphein, by G. W. Vernon, Esq. William M’Kenzie, 1792.))\\ Though this is not the most humorous or witty essay, it is perhaps one of the most entertaining pieces of Lucian. It contains an exact and probably true account of a most extraordinary character who figured in his time - the fraud Alexander. It makes one wonder what type of frauds and impostures Lucian was exposed to in the 2nd Century AD. Of all of Lucian's works, Alexander provides the reader with an idea of what sort of person Lucian considered to be spreading lies and obfuscation. Throughout the centuries, there have been glaring frauds and impostures even in the most supposed "enlightened" times.((Select Dialogues: Of Lucian, Translated from the Greek by Thomas Franklin, D.D. The Sungraphein, by G. W. Vernon, Esq. William M’Kenzie, 1792.))\\
 +
 +{{:home:texts_and_library:essays:pasted:20190707-211524.png|The Snake of Glycon; used to con unsuspecting audiences by Alexander}}
  
 This account of one of the most crafty, most audacious, and most successful theurgical imposters that ever was, is in certain regards the most important and instructive of all of Lucian's writings. Alexander of Abonoteichos, with whom we are brought acquainted in it, was a real virtuoso in his art. He possessed several requisite talents. He produced great effects from small means. None of his fellow-labourers have come under my observation, who had so nicely calculated, how far a man may trust to human absurdity, and understood how to derive so much advantage from the weak side of the great mass. Striking resemblances render this extraordinary man and his history doubly interesting at the present day. The consideration of what he with such slender means brought effect, should naturally lead us to the thought of what Alexander in our times with the incomparably greater resources now at his command, might perform. But what sort of Paphlagonians must they be, who, warned by such an example, still suffer themselves to be duped?((Tooke, W., et al. Lucian of Samosata. from the Greek with the Comments and Illustrations of Wieland and Others by William Tooke. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820.)) This account of one of the most crafty, most audacious, and most successful theurgical imposters that ever was, is in certain regards the most important and instructive of all of Lucian's writings. Alexander of Abonoteichos, with whom we are brought acquainted in it, was a real virtuoso in his art. He possessed several requisite talents. He produced great effects from small means. None of his fellow-labourers have come under my observation, who had so nicely calculated, how far a man may trust to human absurdity, and understood how to derive so much advantage from the weak side of the great mass. Striking resemblances render this extraordinary man and his history doubly interesting at the present day. The consideration of what he with such slender means brought effect, should naturally lead us to the thought of what Alexander in our times with the incomparably greater resources now at his command, might perform. But what sort of Paphlagonians must they be, who, warned by such an example, still suffer themselves to be duped?((Tooke, W., et al. Lucian of Samosata. from the Greek with the Comments and Illustrations of Wieland and Others by William Tooke. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820.))
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 > [4] Augean stable | The Fifth Labour of Heracles was to clean the Augean stables, which contained the single greatest number of cattle in the region and was never cleaned until Heracles finished the labour. One estimate was that the stables had not been cleaned for 30 years. > [4] Augean stable | The Fifth Labour of Heracles was to clean the Augean stables, which contained the single greatest number of cattle in the region and was never cleaned until Heracles finished the labour. One estimate was that the stables had not been cleaned for 30 years.
  
-{{:home:texts_and_library:essays:pasted:20190707-211524.png|The Snake of Glycon; used to con unsuspecting audiences by Alexander}}+
  
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 While in the bloom of his youthful beauty, which we may assume to have been great both from its later remains and from the report of those who saw it, he traded quite shamelessly upon it. Among his other patrons was one of the charlatans who deal in magic and mystic incantations; they will smooth your course of love, confound your enemies, find your treasure, or secure you an inheritance. This person was struck with the lad’s natural qualifications for apprenticeship to his trade, and finding him as much attracted by rascality as attractive in appearance, gave him a regular training as accomplice, satellite, and attendant. His own ostensible profession was medicine[1], and his knowledge included, like that of Thoon the Egyptian's wife[2], While in the bloom of his youthful beauty, which we may assume to have been great both from its later remains and from the report of those who saw it, he traded quite shamelessly upon it. Among his other patrons was one of the charlatans who deal in magic and mystic incantations; they will smooth your course of love, confound your enemies, find your treasure, or secure you an inheritance. This person was struck with the lad’s natural qualifications for apprenticeship to his trade, and finding him as much attracted by rascality as attractive in appearance, gave him a regular training as accomplice, satellite, and attendant. His own ostensible profession was medicine[1], and his knowledge included, like that of Thoon the Egyptian's wife[2],
  
-//Many drugs a virtuous herb, and many a scourge;[3]//+//Many drugs are virtuous herbs, and many are scourges;[3]//
  
 to all which inheritance our friend succeeded. This teacher and lover of his was a native of Tyana, an associate of the great Apollonius[4], and acquainted with all his heroics. And now you know the atmosphere in which Alexander lived. to all which inheritance our friend succeeded. This teacher and lover of his was a native of Tyana, an associate of the great Apollonius[4], and acquainted with all his heroics. And now you know the atmosphere in which Alexander lived.
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-By the time his beard had come, the Tyanean[1] was dead, and he found himself in straits; for the personal attractions which might once have been a resource were diminished. He now formed great designs, which he imparted to a Byzantine chronicler of the strolling competitive order[2], a man of still worse character than himself, called, I believe, Cocconas FIXME . The pair went about living on occult pretensions, shearing ‘fat-heads,’[3] as they describe ordinary people in the native Magian lingo. Among these they got hold of a rich Macedonian woman; her youth was past, but not her desire for admiration; they got sufficient supplies out of her, and accompanied her from Bithynia to Macedonia[4]. She came from Pella[5], which had been a flourishing place under the Macedonian kingdom, but has now a poor and much-reduced population.+By the time his beard had come, the Tyanean[1] was dead, and he found himself in straits; for the personal attractions which might once have been a resource were diminished. He now formed great designs, which he imparted to a Byzantine chronicler of the strolling competitive order[2], a man of still worse character than himself, called, I believe, Cocconas[3] . The pair went about living on occult pretensions, shearing ‘fat-heads,’[4] as they describe ordinary people in the native Magian lingo. Among these they got hold of a rich Macedonian woman; her youth was past, but not her desire for admiration; they got sufficient supplies out of her, and accompanied her from Bithynia to Macedonia[5]. She came from Pella[6], which had been a flourishing place under the Macedonian kingdom, but has now a poor and much-reduced population.
  
 > [1] Tyanean | Referring to Apollonius of Tyana > [1] Tyanean | Referring to Apollonius of Tyana
 > [2] chronicler of the strolling competitive order | Wieland translates this word, λογοποιὸς, which has several possible significations, as "comedy-scribbler" based on its use in Athenaeus.((Tooke, W., et al. Lucian of Samosata. from the Greek with the Comments and Illustrations of Wieland and Others by William Tooke. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820.))  > [2] chronicler of the strolling competitive order | Wieland translates this word, λογοποιὸς, which has several possible significations, as "comedy-scribbler" based on its use in Athenaeus.((Tooke, W., et al. Lucian of Samosata. from the Greek with the Comments and Illustrations of Wieland and Others by William Tooke. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820.)) 
-> [3] shearing 'fat-heads' | A cunning fellow is a close shearer. Fat-headed fellows is a metaphor for the ignorant or vulgar.((Select Dialogues: Of Lucian, Translated from the Greek by Thomas Franklin, D.D. The Sungraphein, by G. W. Vernon, Esq. William M’Kenzie, 1792.)) +> [3] Cocconas | Pomegranate seeds. Perhaps alludes to male testicles. 
-> [4] Bithynia to Macedonia | From the north coast of Anatolia to northern Greece, or east to west. +> [4] shearing 'fat-heads' | A cunning fellow is a close shearer. Fat-headed fellows is a metaphor for the ignorant or vulgar.((Select Dialogues: Of Lucian, Translated from the Greek by Thomas Franklin, D.D. The Sungraphein, by G. W. Vernon, Esq. William M’Kenzie, 1792.)) 
-> [5] Pella | A district in Macedonia, famous for being the birthplace of Philip, who enlarged it, and afterward Alexander the Great.((Select Dialogues: Of Lucian, Translated from the Greek by Thomas Franklin, D.D. The Sungraphein, by G. W. Vernon, Esq. William M’Kenzie, 1792.)) Pella was once the seat of the Macedonian kings, but otherwise in Lucian's time a very insignificant town. In the days of Lucian, it was a Roman colony, under the pompous appellation of Julia Augusta.((Tooke, W., et al. Lucian of Samosata. from the Greek with the Comments and Illustrations of Wieland and Others by William Tooke. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820.))+> [5] Bithynia to Macedonia | From the north coast of Anatolia to northern Greece, or east to west. 
 +> [6] Pella | A district in Macedonia, famous for being the birthplace of Philip, who enlarged it, and afterward Alexander the Great.((Select Dialogues: Of Lucian, Translated from the Greek by Thomas Franklin, D.D. The Sungraphein, by G. W. Vernon, Esq. William M’Kenzie, 1792.)) Pella was once the seat of the Macedonian kings, but otherwise in Lucian's time a very insignificant town. In the days of Lucian, it was a Roman colony, under the pompous appellation of Julia Augusta.((Tooke, W., et al. Lucian of Samosata. from the Greek with the Comments and Illustrations of Wieland and Others by William Tooke. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820.))
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 And from this point, as Thucydides[1] might say, the war takes its beginning. These ambitious scoundrels were quite devoid of scruples, and they had now joined forces; it could not escape their penetration that human life is under the absolute dominion of two mighty principles, fear and hope and that anyone who can make these serve his ends may be sure of a rapid fortune. They realized that, whether a man is most swayed by the one or by the other, what he must most depend upon and desire is a knowledge of futurity. So were to be explained the ancient wealth and fame of Delphi, Delos, Clarus, Branchidae[2]; it was at the bidding of the two tyrants aforesaid that men thronged the temples, longed for fore-knowledge, and to attain it sacrificed their hecatombs or dedicated their golden ingots. All this they turned over and debated, and it issued in the resolve to establish an oracle. If it were successful, they looked for immediate wealth and prosperity; the result surpassed their most sanguine expectations[3]. And from this point, as Thucydides[1] might say, the war takes its beginning. These ambitious scoundrels were quite devoid of scruples, and they had now joined forces; it could not escape their penetration that human life is under the absolute dominion of two mighty principles, fear and hope and that anyone who can make these serve his ends may be sure of a rapid fortune. They realized that, whether a man is most swayed by the one or by the other, what he must most depend upon and desire is a knowledge of futurity. So were to be explained the ancient wealth and fame of Delphi, Delos, Clarus, Branchidae[2]; it was at the bidding of the two tyrants aforesaid that men thronged the temples, longed for fore-knowledge, and to attain it sacrificed their hecatombs or dedicated their golden ingots. All this they turned over and debated, and it issued in the resolve to establish an oracle. If it were successful, they looked for immediate wealth and prosperity; the result surpassed their most sanguine expectations[3].
  
-> [1] Thucydides | FIXME+> [1] Thucydides | Along with Herodotus, one of the pre-eminent Greek historians of the fifth century BC.
 > [2] Delphi, Delos, Clarus, Branchidae | Places all famous for the oracles established in them.((Select Dialogues: Of Lucian, Translated from the Greek by Thomas Franklin, D.D. The Sungraphein, by G. W. Vernon, Esq. William M’Kenzie, 1792.)) The oracle at Didymi, that was in the possession of a family which derived its pedigree from Branchus, a favourite of Apollo, who was endued by that god, for himself and his posterity, with the gift of prophecy.((Tooke, W., et al. Lucian of Samosata. from the Greek with the Comments and Illustrations of Wieland and Others by William Tooke. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820.)) > [2] Delphi, Delos, Clarus, Branchidae | Places all famous for the oracles established in them.((Select Dialogues: Of Lucian, Translated from the Greek by Thomas Franklin, D.D. The Sungraphein, by G. W. Vernon, Esq. William M’Kenzie, 1792.)) The oracle at Didymi, that was in the possession of a family which derived its pedigree from Branchus, a favourite of Apollo, who was endued by that god, for himself and his posterity, with the gift of prophecy.((Tooke, W., et al. Lucian of Samosata. from the Greek with the Comments and Illustrations of Wieland and Others by William Tooke. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820.))
 > [3] sanguine expectations | To render this scheme of the confederate imposters more comprehensible, it should be understood that serpents, or dragons, had from time immemorial been in the reputation of being divinatorial by nature. The prophetic gift is a quality peculiar to the dragon, says Aelian, //Hist. Animal. 11.16//. Hence all serpents, as we are assured by Pausanias, //in Corinth. cap. 23// but particularly a certain tame and innoxious species of them produced in Epidauria. And for that reason, these animals are frequently found as //symbola// both of divination and of medicine, which in some measure is a species of the former, on coins, gems, and other ancient monuments. It was particularly usual to represent Aesculapius under this figure, since he, agreeable to a popular tradition, had transferred himself in the shape of a serpent to the Romans on their being commanded by an oracle to fetch this deity from Epidaurus to Rome, for quelling the pestilence that raged in that capital A. U. C. 461, an event, confirmed by no less by poets (//Ov. Metam. 15//) and historians (//Valer. Max.// 1.8. Liv 19 and others) than by one of the most beautiful coins described by Spanheim.((Tooke, W., et al. Lucian of Samosata. from the Greek with the Comments and Illustrations of Wieland and Others by William Tooke. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820.)) > [3] sanguine expectations | To render this scheme of the confederate imposters more comprehensible, it should be understood that serpents, or dragons, had from time immemorial been in the reputation of being divinatorial by nature. The prophetic gift is a quality peculiar to the dragon, says Aelian, //Hist. Animal. 11.16//. Hence all serpents, as we are assured by Pausanias, //in Corinth. cap. 23// but particularly a certain tame and innoxious species of them produced in Epidauria. And for that reason, these animals are frequently found as //symbola// both of divination and of medicine, which in some measure is a species of the former, on coins, gems, and other ancient monuments. It was particularly usual to represent Aesculapius under this figure, since he, agreeable to a popular tradition, had transferred himself in the shape of a serpent to the Romans on their being commanded by an oracle to fetch this deity from Epidaurus to Rome, for quelling the pestilence that raged in that capital A. U. C. 461, an event, confirmed by no less by poets (//Ov. Metam. 15//) and historians (//Valer. Max.// 1.8. Liv 19 and others) than by one of the most beautiful coins described by Spanheim.((Tooke, W., et al. Lucian of Samosata. from the Greek with the Comments and Illustrations of Wieland and Others by William Tooke. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820.))
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 He had begun sending emissaries abroad to make the shrine known in foreign lands; his prophecies, discovery of runaways, the conviction of thieves and robbers, revelations of hidden treasure, cures of the sick, restoration of the dead to life — all these were to be advertised. This brought them running and crowding from all points of the compass; victims bled, gifts were presented, and the prophet and disciple came off better than the God; for had not the oracle spoken?— He had begun sending emissaries abroad to make the shrine known in foreign lands; his prophecies, discovery of runaways, the conviction of thieves and robbers, revelations of hidden treasure, cures of the sick, restoration of the dead to life — all these were to be advertised. This brought them running and crowding from all points of the compass; victims bled, gifts were presented, and the prophet and disciple came off better than the God; for had not the oracle spoken?—
  
-//Give what ye give to my attendant priest;\\+//Give what you give to my attendant priest;\\
 My care is not for gifts, but for my priest.// My care is not for gifts, but for my priest.//
  
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 It was an autophone which was given to Severian[1] regarding the invasion of Armenia. He encouraged him with these lines: It was an autophone which was given to Severian[1] regarding the invasion of Armenia. He encouraged him with these lines:
  
-//Armenia and Parthia are beaten-down by thy fierce spear,\\ +//Armenia and Parthia are beaten-down by your fierce spear,\\ 
-To Rome, and Tiber’s shining waves, thou comest,\\ +To Rome, and Tiber’s shining waves, you arrived,\\ 
-Thy brow with leaves and radiant gold encircled.//+Your brow with leaves and radiant gold encircled.//
  
 Then when the foolish Gaul took his advice and invaded, to the total destruction of himself and his army by Othryades, the adviser expunged that oracle from his archives and substituted the following: Then when the foolish Gaul took his advice and invaded, to the total destruction of himself and his army by Othryades, the adviser expunged that oracle from his archives and substituted the following:
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 it shall not thrive;\\ it shall not thrive;\\
 One in soft raiment clad shall from his bow\\ One in soft raiment clad shall from his bow\\
-Launch death, and cut thee off from life and light.//+Launch death, and cut you off from life and light.//
  
-> [1] Severian | FIXME+> [1] Severian | A Roman governor.
  
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 For it was one of his happy thoughts to issue prophecies after the event as antidotes to those premature utterances which had not gone right. Frequently he promised recovery to a sick man before his death, and after it was at no loss for second thoughts: For it was one of his happy thoughts to issue prophecies after the event as antidotes to those premature utterances which had not gone right. Frequently he promised recovery to a sick man before his death, and after it was at no loss for second thoughts:
  
-//No longer seek to stop thy deadly disease;\\ +//No longer seek to stop your deadly disease;\\ 
-Thy fate is manifest, inevitable.//+Your fate is manifest, inevitable.//
  
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 Knowing the fame of Clarus, Didymus, and Mallus[1] for sooth-saying much like his own, he struck up an alliance with them, sending on many of his clients to those places. So Knowing the fame of Clarus, Didymus, and Mallus[1] for sooth-saying much like his own, he struck up an alliance with them, sending on many of his clients to those places. So
  
-//Hie thee to Clarus now, and hear my sire.//+//Hastily, go to Clarus now, and hear my master.//
  
 And again, And again,
  
-//Draw near to Branchidae[3] and take their advice.//+//Draw near to Branchidae[2] and take their advice.//
  
 Or Or
  
-//Seek Mallus; be Amphilochus[2] thy counsellor.//+//Seek Mallus; be Amphilochus[3] your counsellor.// 
 + 
 +> [1] Clarus, Didymus, and Mallus | Locations of shrines to Apollo. 
 +> [2] Branchidae | Another name for Didymus. 
 +> [3] Amphilochus | The oracle of Amphilochus was one of the longest-lived religious shrines of antiquity. It was a flourishing site even as late as the reign of Constantius, the father of Constantine the Great.((Select Dialogues: Of Lucian, Translated from the Greek by Thomas Franklin, D.D. The Sungraphein, by G. W. Vernon, Esq. William M’Kenzie, 1792.))
  
-> [1] Clarus, Didymus, and Mallus | FIXME 
-> [2] Amphilochus | The oracle of Amphilochus was one of the longest-lived religious shrines of antiquity. It was a flourishing site even as late as the reign of Constantius, the father of Constantine the Great.((Select Dialogues: Of Lucian, Translated from the Greek by Thomas Franklin, D.D. The Sungraphein, by G. W. Vernon, Esq. William M’Kenzie, 1792.)) 
-> [3] Branchidae | FIXME 
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 Another of Rutilianus’s questions was, Whose soul he had succeeded to, and the answer: Another of Rutilianus’s questions was, Whose soul he had succeeded to, and the answer:
  
-//First thou wast Peleus’ son (Achilles), and next Menander;\\ +//First you were Peleus’ son (Achilles), and next Menander;\\ 
-Then thine own self; next, a sunbeam;\\  +Then your own self; next, a sunbeam;\\  
-And nine score annual rounds thy life shall measure.//+And nine score annual rounds your life shall measure.//
  
 At seventy, he died of melancholy, not waiting for the God to pay in full. At seventy, he died of melancholy, not waiting for the God to pay in full.
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 His finger once in the Italian pie, Alexander devoted himself to getting further. Sacred envoys were sent all over the Roman Empire, warning the various cities to be on their guard against pestilence and conflagrations, with the prophet’s offers of security against them. One oracle in particular, an autophone again, he distributed broadcast at a time of pestilence. It was a single line: His finger once in the Italian pie, Alexander devoted himself to getting further. Sacred envoys were sent all over the Roman Empire, warning the various cities to be on their guard against pestilence and conflagrations, with the prophet’s offers of security against them. One oracle in particular, an autophone again, he distributed broadcast at a time of pestilence. It was a single line:
  
-//Phoebus long-tressed the plague-cloud shall dispel.//+//Phoebus, long-haired, the plague-cloud shall dispel.//
  
 This was everywhere to be seen written up on doors as a prophylactic. Its effect was generally disappointing; for it somehow happened that the protected houses were just the ones to be desolated. Not that I would suggest for a moment that the line was their destruction; but, accidentally no doubt, it did so fall out. Possibly common people put too much confidence in the verse, and lived carelessly without troubling to help the oracle against its foe; were there not the words fighting their battle, and long-tressed Phoebus discharging his arrows at the pestilence? This was everywhere to be seen written up on doors as a prophylactic. Its effect was generally disappointing; for it somehow happened that the protected houses were just the ones to be desolated. Not that I would suggest for a moment that the line was their destruction; but, accidentally no doubt, it did so fall out. Possibly common people put too much confidence in the verse, and lived carelessly without troubling to help the oracle against its foe; were there not the words fighting their battle, and long-tressed Phoebus discharging his arrows at the pestilence?
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 Of Cybelean thralls, those mountain beasts,\\ Of Cybelean thralls, those mountain beasts,\\
 Fling you a pair; therewith all flowers and herbs\\ Fling you a pair; therewith all flowers and herbs\\
-Of savour sweet that Indian air doth breed. \\+Of savour sweet that Indian air does breed. \\
 Hence victory, and fame, and lovely peace.\\ Hence victory, and fame, and lovely peace.\\
 // //
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 Sometimes he stirred the wonder of the silly by answers to persons who had neither brought nor sent questions and in fact did not exist. Here is a specimen: Sometimes he stirred the wonder of the silly by answers to persons who had neither brought nor sent questions and in fact did not exist. Here is a specimen:
  
-//Who is’t, thou askst, that with Calligenia\\ +//Who is it, you ask, that with Calligenia\\ 
-All secretly defiles thy nuptial bed?\\ +All secretly defiles your nuptial bed?\\ 
-The slave Protogenes, whom most thou trustest.\\ +The slave Protogenes, whom you most trust.\\ 
-Him thou enjoyedst: he thy wife enjoys — \\ +Him you enjoyed: he your wife enjoys — \\ 
-The fit return for that thine outrage done. \\ +The fit return for that your outrage done. \\ 
-And know that baleful drugs for thee are brewed,\\ +And know that baleful drugs for you are brewed,\\ 
-Lest thou or see or hear their evil deeds.\\ +Lest you see or hear their evil deeds.\\ 
-Close by the wall, at thy bed’s head, make search.\\ +Close by the wall, at your bed’s head, make search.\\ 
-Thy maid Calypso to their plot is privy.//+Your maid Calypso to their plot is privy.//
  
 The names and circumstantial details might stagger a Democritus, till a moment’s thought showed him the despicable trick. The names and circumstantial details might stagger a Democritus, till a moment’s thought showed him the despicable trick.
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 Another time I did up the same question — What was Homer’s birthplace?[2]— in two packets given in under different names. My servant misled him by saying when asked what he came for, a cure for lung trouble; so the answer to one packet was: Another time I did up the same question — What was Homer’s birthplace?[2]— in two packets given in under different names. My servant misled him by saying when asked what he came for, a cure for lung trouble; so the answer to one packet was:
  
-//With cytmis[3] I command thee to anoint,\\+//With cytmis[3] I command you to anoint,\\
 And fair Latona's dew[4] —// And fair Latona's dew[4] —//
  
 As for the other packet, he got the information that the sender was inquiring whether the land or the sea route to Italy was preferable. So he answered, without much reference to Homer: As for the other packet, he got the information that the sender was inquiring whether the land or the sea route to Italy was preferable. So he answered, without much reference to Homer:
  
-//Fare not by sea; land-travel meets thy need.//+//Fare not by sea; land-travel meets your need.//
  
 > [1] Malach Attis was different from Sabardalachus | Here Lucian does not sufficiently explain the fact, so as to make it intelligible to his readers. Some servant sent to Alexander had probably posed this question to him, viz. Were Malach Attis and Sabardalachus, two obscure kings of some distant region, one and the same person? Alexander mistaking this question for Lucian's gives the reader this answer, which by the bye, does not prove that he frequently sent answers to one question, which properly belonged to another. A circumstance that might happen to any man in the hurry of business, just the same mistake is made with regard to his question about Homer.((Select Dialogues: Of Lucian, Translated from the Greek by Thomas Franklin, D.D. The Sungraphein, by G. W. Vernon, Esq. William M’Kenzie, 1792.)) > [1] Malach Attis was different from Sabardalachus | Here Lucian does not sufficiently explain the fact, so as to make it intelligible to his readers. Some servant sent to Alexander had probably posed this question to him, viz. Were Malach Attis and Sabardalachus, two obscure kings of some distant region, one and the same person? Alexander mistaking this question for Lucian's gives the reader this answer, which by the bye, does not prove that he frequently sent answers to one question, which properly belonged to another. A circumstance that might happen to any man in the hurry of business, just the same mistake is made with regard to his question about Homer.((Select Dialogues: Of Lucian, Translated from the Greek by Thomas Franklin, D.D. The Sungraphein, by G. W. Vernon, Esq. William M’Kenzie, 1792.))
home/texts_and_library/essays/alexander.1611284477.txt.gz · Last modified: 2021/01/21 21:01 by frank
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