Lucian of Samosata

Antiquity's greatest satirist

c. 125 AD – c. 180 AD

Greek Imperial

Lucian was born around 125 AD in Samosata on the Euphrates, in the Roman province of Syria. His native language was probably Aramaic; he learned Greek as a second language and mastered it so completely that he became one of the wittiest prose stylists in the history of the language. He trained as a rhetorician, toured the eastern Mediterranean giving lectures, and eventually settled in Athens, where he produced the bulk of his surviving work.

About eighty works survive — dialogues, essays, satires, and prose narratives. The range is extraordinary. Dialogues of the Dead brings historical and mythological figures together in Hades for mordant conversations. True Histories is a fantastical voyage narrative — the first science fiction, in a sense — that parodies travel literature with gleeful inventiveness. The Passing of Peregrinus is a savage attack on a Christian-turned-Cynic charlatan. Alexander the False Prophet exposes a fraudulent oracle. Timon is a dialogue on wealth and poverty that Shakespeare later drew on for Timon of Athens.

Lucian's characteristic mode is ironic detachment. He believes in nothing much — not the gods, not philosophy, not rhetoric, not medicine — and subjects everything to his sceptical, amused intelligence. He is the great debunker of antiquity, and one of its most entertaining writers.

Works (71)

1
Abdicatus satire
The disinherited son. A declamation in which a physician who saved his father is disinherited for refusing to treat his stepmother.

~4,800 words
2
Adversus indoctum et libros multos ementem satire
Against the book-collector who buys thousands of volumes and reads none of them. Lucian's attack on intellectual pretension through consumer habits.

~3,800 words
3
Alexander satire
An exposé of Alexander of Abonoteichus, a false prophet who ran an oracle with a sock-puppet snake. Lucian's most sustained piece of investigative jou...

~7,000 words
4
Anacharsis satire
A Scythian philosopher visits Greece. Anacharsis and Solon discuss athletics, education, and what makes a society strong.

~6,300 words
5
Apologia satire
An apology for writing a work praising a patron's house after previously satirising such flattery.

~2,100 words
6
Bacchus satire
Bacchus. A brief piece on Dionysus' Indian campaign — the god conquers with wine, not weapons.

~1,000 words
7
Bis accusatus sive tribunalia satire
Zeus puts Lucian on trial for undermining religion, while Rhetoric accuses him of deserting oratory for philosophy. Lucian defends himself against bot...

141 lines
8
Calumniae non temere credundum satire
That slander should not be believed rashly. A moral essay on the damage caused by malicious gossip, with a famous description of Apelles' painting of...

~3,100 words
9
Cataplus satire
A crossing to the underworld. Charon the ferryman collects a boatload of newly dead passengers — a tyrant, a philosopher, a miser — and strips them of...

175 lines
10
Contemplantes satire
Observers. Two characters survey the world from a great height, watching human folly with amused detachment.

127 lines
11
Dearum judicium satire
The judgment of the three goddesses. Paris must award the apple to Hera, Athena, or Aphrodite. Each offers a bribe. He chooses beauty. Troy falls.

77 lines
12
De astrologia satire
On astrology. A brief defence of astrology, probably not by Lucian. It argues that the stars influence human affairs.

~2,000 words
13
De Domo satire
On the hall. Lucian describes a beautiful room and debates whether fine surroundings help or hinder a speaker.

~3,100 words
14
De luctu satire
On funerals. Lucian attacks elaborate mourning rituals as pointless and contradictory — the dead feel nothing, so whom are the ceremonies for?

~1,800 words
15
De mercede satire
On salaried positions in great houses. Lucian describes the miserable life of Greek intellectuals employed by wealthy Roman patrons — the indignity of...

~7,100 words
16
Demonax satire
A portrait of the Cynic philosopher Demonax, whom Lucian admired. One of Lucian's few straightforwardly affectionate works — a memorial to a genuinely...

70 lines
17
De Morte Peregrini satire
The death of the Cynic Peregrinus, who immolated himself at Olympia. Lucian treats the event as grotesque self-promotion — a charlatan's final perform...

~4,200 words
18
Deorum concilium satire
An assembly of the gods debates who deserves membership on Olympus. Many foreign deities are exposed as fraudulent immigrants. Lucian satirises both r...

~1,800 words
19
De parasito sive artem esse parasiticam satire
A treatise arguing that being a parasite is a genuine skill. Satirical throughout — the parasite's "art" is defended with the same arguments philosoph...

201 lines
20
De Sacrificiis satire
On sacrifices. Lucian ridicules traditional religious practices — blood sacrifice, libations, and animal offerings — as absurd attempts to bribe the g...

~1,800 words
21
De saltatione satire
On dancing. A defence of pantomime as an art form, arguing that the dancer must master mythology, music, and physical expression. Lucian's most sustai...

~7,000 words
22
De Syria dea satire
On the Syrian goddess. A description of the temple and cult at Hierapolis in Syria, written in pseudo-Herodotean Ionic. Whether Lucian is serious or p...

~6,200 words
23
Dialogi deorum satire
Dialogues of the gods. Zeus, Hera, Hermes, and the others behave like petty humans — jealous, vain, and absurd. Lucian strips the Olympians of their d...

26 books
287 lines
24
Dialogi Marini satire
Dialogues of the sea gods. Poseidon, the Nereids, and Polyphemus discuss love, storms, and metamorphosis. Lighter than the Dialogues of the Dead.

15 books
152 lines
25
Dialogi meretricii satire
Dialogues of the courtesans. Fifteen conversations between hetairai about love, jealousy, and the economics of their profession. Lucian's most sympath...

15 books
242 lines
26
Dialogi mortuorum satire
Thirty short dialogues of the dead. Menippus mocks the famous in the underworld — heroes, philosophers, and kings all reduced to skulls. The ultimate...

30 books
493 lines
27
Dipsades satire
A description of poisonous snakes in Libya. Brief and possibly a prelude to a larger work.

~900 words
28
Electrum satire
On amber. A brief travel essay debunking the myth that the river Eridanus produces amber from the tears of Phaethon's sisters.

~600 words
29
Eunuchus drama
The eunuch. A dispute over which philosopher should hold an endowed chair — the qualified candidate or the politically connected one.

~1,300 words
30
Fugitivi satire
The runaways. Fugitive slaves disguised as philosophers are exposed and punished. Lucian attacks philosophical frauds who use philosophy as a cover fo...

96 lines
31
Gallus satire
A cock named Micyllus, who was once Pythagoras, explains the doctrine of metempsychosis to a cobbler. Having been a king, a courtesan, and a horse, th...

139 lines
32
Harmonides satire
Harmonides asks his teacher whether technical skill alone will make him famous. The answer: you need an audience, not just ability.

~1,000 words
33
Hercules drama
Hercules. Lucian describes a Gallic painting of Heracles leading men by chains attached to their ears — an allegory of eloquence binding its audience.

~800 words
34
Hermotimus satire
A philosophical dialogue in which Hermotimus, after twenty years of Stoic study, is persuaded that he has wasted his life. Lucian's most serious attac...

304 lines
35
Herodotus satire
Herodotus or Aetion. Lucian describes how Herodotus read his Histories at Olympia, comparing the historian's ambition to an artist's at a festival.

~900 words
36
Hesiod satire
A brief dialogue in which Hesiod defends himself for not including more prophecy in the Works and Days.

~900 words
37
Hippias satire
On the bathhouse of Hippias. Lucian praises an architect's design — an essay on practical aesthetics and Roman bathing culture.

~1,000 words
38
Icaromenippus satire
Menippus flies to heaven on wings made from a vulture and an eagle to ask Zeus why the philosophers disagree about everything. The answer is not reass...

~5,200 words
39
Imagines satire
Portraits. A man describes a woman's beauty by assembling features from famous artworks. The companion piece, In Defence of Portraits, responds to her...

68 lines
40
Judicium vocalium satire
The consonants at law. The letter Sigma takes Tau to court for encroaching on words that rightfully begin with S. A grammatical joke presented as a le...

~1,200 words
41
Juppiter Confutatus satire
A Cynic philosopher cross-examines Zeus about fate, free will, and divine justice. Zeus loses the argument.

72 lines
42
Juppiter Tragoedus satire
Zeus on the tragic stage. The gods debate what to do about the Epicurean philosophers who deny divine providence. Zeus is not confident in his own cas...

188 lines
43
Lexiphanes satire
Lexiphanes uses comically archaic vocabulary in a pastiche of Plato's Symposium. Lucian makes him drink an emetic to purge the affected words from his...

~2,800 words
44
Macrobii satire
On the long-lived. A catalogue of famous people who lived to extreme old age — philosophers, kings, and poets who survived past ninety.

~2,100 words
45
Muscae Encomium satire
A praise of the fly. Lucian demonstrates his rhetorical skill by delivering a formal encomium of the most trivial subject he can think of.

~1,200 words
46
Navigium satire
A ship called the Isis arrives in port and the spectators fantasise about the wealth it could bring them. Everyone's fantasy collapses under scrutiny.

~5,300 words
47
Necyomantia satire
Menippus consults a necromancer to visit the underworld and discover the best way to live. The dead agree: enjoy simple pleasures and stop worrying ab...

~3,300 words
48
Nigrinus satire
Nigrinus describes the contrast between Athens and Rome — Athens is simple and philosophical, Rome is corrupt and materialistic. A rare moment of appa...

~4,000 words
49
Patriae encomium satire
A praise of one's homeland. Lucian argues that love of country is natural and honourable — one of his few straightforwardly earnest essays.

~1,000 words
50
Phalaris satire
Phalaris. Two speeches defending the Sicilian tyrant Phalaris, who roasted his enemies in a bronze bull. An exercise in paradoxical argument.

2 books
~2,900 words
51
Philopseudes sive incredulus satire
The Liar, or The Doubter. A collection of supernatural stories — ghosts, haunted houses, animated statues — told at a dinner party. The sceptic narrat...

~6,300 words
52
Piscator satire
The sequel to Philosophies for Sale. Lucian is put on trial by the philosophers for mocking them. He defends himself by arguing he only attacked impos...

187 lines
53
Podagra satire
Podagra. A mock-tragedy in verse about the goddess Gout, who punishes mortals who try to escape her. Doctors and patients alike are helpless.

334 lines
54
Pro imaginibus oratory
A defence of Portraits, responding to criticism that the praise was excessive.

~3,500 words
55
Pro lapsu inter salutandum oratory
An apology for the slip "health to you" made while greeting a patron. Lucian turns a social embarrassment into a learned essay on linguistic conventio...

~1,600 words
56
Prometheus satire
Prometheus defends himself before Zeus for giving fire to humanity. The trial is both a mythological sketch and a meditation on the cost of progress.

~2,400 words
57
Prometheus es in verbis oratory
Lucian defends his own writing style as Promethean — he claims to have invented a new genre by combining dialogue and comedy.

~1,000 words
58
Pseudologista satire
A mock-legal attack on a rival sophist for barbarisms and solecisms. Lucian's most personal and vicious polemic.

~3,900 words
59
Quomodo historia conscribenda sit satire
How to write history. Lucian attacks the incompetent historians of the Parthian war and sets out principles for honest historical writing — no flatter...

~7,600 words
60
Rhetorum praeceptor satire
A teacher of rhetoric explains how to succeed: skip the hard work, memorise a few impressive words, gesticulate wildly, and insult anyone who criticis...

~3,500 words
61
Saturnalia satire
A satirical sketch of the Saturnalia. Cronus answers complaints from the poor about the unfairness of wealth distribution during the festival.

~5,200 words
62
Scytha satire
The Scythian. Anacharsis's friend Toxaris has been introduced to Greek culture and relates his first impressions.

~1,800 words
63
Soleocista satire
The Solecist. A dialogue cataloguing grammatical errors, probably not by Lucian.

104 lines
64
Somnium sive vita Luciani satire
A dream of Lucian's youth in which Sculpture and Education fight over his future career. He chooses Education. A Lucianic origin story.

~1,800 words
65
Symposium philosophy
A dinner party goes wrong. Philosophers, poets, and rhetoricians get drunk and fight. Lucian's version of the symposium tradition — where the guests b...

~4,700 words
66
Timon satire
The misanthrope of Athens. Timon, once generous, has been ruined by his friends. Zeus sends Hermes with gold, and the sycophants return immediately. S...

134 lines
67
Toxaris vel amicitia satire
Toxaris and Mnesippus trade stories of extraordinary friendship — Greeks and Scythians competing to prove that their culture produces better friends.

~9,700 words
68
Tyrannicida satire
The tyrannicide. A man kills a tyrant's son; the tyrant kills himself in grief. Does the man deserve the reward for tyrannicide? A legal declamation.

~2,900 words
69
Verae historiae history
Lucian's masterpiece. Two books of fantastical voyages — to the Moon, inside a whale, to the Island of the Blessed. He warns the reader at the start:...

2 books
~11,200 words
70
Vitarum auctio satire
Philosophers up for auction. Zeus sells off the great philosophers — Pythagoras, Diogenes, Socrates, Aristotle — to the highest bidder, each reduced t...

264 lines
71
Zeuxis satire
Zeuxis or Antiochus. A discussion of originality in art — the painter Zeuxis grew frustrated when audiences admired his technique but missed his innov...

~1,600 words

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