Works
by Lucian
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- c. 160-180
- Era
- Roman Empire
- Form
- Satire
- Language
- Greek
- Length
- Medium · 300 pp120 to 300 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendSelected Dialogues, translated by C. D. N. CostaOxford World's Classics, 2009A generous selection including the True History, the Dialogues of the Dead and Philosophies for Sale in lively modern English.
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About eighty short works survive under the name of Lucian, a Syrian who wrote in Greek during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Most are comic dialogues and essays that mock the gods, philosophers, historians and religious frauds of his day. The True History, a parody of travellers' tales, takes its narrator to the moon and inside a whale; The Sale of Creeds auctions off the philosophical schools; How to Write History is the only ancient treatise on historiography; the Dialogues of the Dead let Menippus jeer at the great in the underworld.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Works are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
