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All Roads Lead to Corinth
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Authored by Frank Redmond, 2011
In the Hermotimus, Lucian makes the argument that people are guided to choose various paths in life, but it is impossible to know which one is the correct one. Here's the excerpt:
<blockquote>So you have not solved my puzzle; I know just as little as before which traveller to trust; I find that each of them, as well as his guide, has tried one only, which he now recommends and will have to be the only one leading to the city. Whether he tells the truth I have no means of knowing; that he has attained some end, and seen some city, I may perhaps allow; but whether he saw the right one, or whether, Corinth being the real goal, he got to Babylon and thought he had seen Corinth — that is still undecided; for surely every one who has seen a city has not seen Corinth, unless Corinth is the only city there is. But my greatest difficulty of all is the absolute certainty that the true road is one; for Corinth is one, and the other roads lead anywhere but to Corinth, though there may be people deluded enough to suppose that the North road and the South road lead equally to Corinth.</blockquote>
Lucian points out that choosing a path in life is not much of a choice after all. We are all determined by circumstance and culture to follow some paths over other paths. We are pushed in many different directions, oftentimes solely against our will. There is no such thing as having a clear cut path to Corinth.
This is a nice excerpt that demonstrates the purpose of the Hermotimus. I think Lucian is trying to make us aware that even though it is important to have some guides in life, it is also important to keep your eyes open to new ways of living life. Boxing yourself into societal roles and ways of thinking is only handicapping yourself.
Like many of other Lucian's texts, Hermotimus makes it clear that dogmatism is not the preferred path. Experimentation and open-mindedness is a better path than dogmatism, if that is even a path at all.