Diálogos de los dioses, diálogos de los muertos, diálogos marinos, diálogos de las cortesanas.

by Lucian of Samosata

Lucian (ca. 120-190 CE), the satirist from Samosata on the Euphrates, started as an apprentice sculptor, turned to rhetoric and visited Italy and Gaul as a successful travelling lecturer, before settling in Athens and developing his original brand of satire. Late in life he fell on hard times and accepted an official post in Egypt.

Although notable for the Attic purity and elegance of his Greek and his literary versatility, Lucian is chiefly famed for the lively, cynical wit of the humorous dialogues in which he satirises human folly, superstition and hypocrisy. His aim was to amuse rather than to instruct. Among his best works are A True Story (the tallest of tall stories about a voyage to the moon), Dialogues of the Gods (a 'reductio ad absurdum' of traditional mythology), Dialogues of the Dead (on the vanity of human wishes), Philosophies for Sale (great philosophers of the past are auctioned off as slaves), The Fisherman (the degeneracy of modern philosophers), The Carousal or Symposium (philosophers misbehave at a party), Timon (the problems of being rich), Twice Accused (Lucian's defence of his literary career) and (if by Lucian) The Ass (the amusing adventures of a man who is turned into an ass).

The Loeb Classical Library edition of Lucian is in eight volumes.

Genres: Classics, Philosophy, Fiction, Greece, Classical Studies, Literature

232 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Lucian of Samosata was a Greek-educated Syrian rhetorician, and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature.

Reviews

[Quiver · Rating 4 out of 5]

MENIPPUS
Tell me, HErmes, where are the beauties of both sexes? Show me round, as I'm a newcomer.

HERMES
I have no time, Menippus. But just look over there to your right, where you'll see Hyacinthus, Narcissus, Nireus, Achilles, Tyro, Helen, and Leda, and, in fact, all the beauties of old.

MENIPPUS
I can only see bones and bare skulls, most of them looking the same.

HERMES
Yet those are what all the poets admire, those bones which you seem to despise.

MENIPPUS
But show me Helen. I can't pick her out myself.

HERMES
This skull is Helen.

And for that skull a thousand Greek ships were launched towards the Trojan shores.

Irony, sarcasm, and incisive deadpan humour characterise Lucian's Dialogues to the point of making them seen like a product of modern cynicism. And yet they reach us across eighteen centuries.

One of the central characters is Menippus, a Greek cynic and debater who actually existed and who lends his name to the Menippean satire known for mocking the vain and the fake, exposing the ridiculousness of societal rules, expectations, and tacit assumptions. For example, when Menippus meets Tantalus they have an interesting metadiscussion, where Tantalus explains that he is artificially thirsty because that is his punishment. To which Menippus replies: "But what do you find so terrible in that? Are you afraid of dying of lack of drink? I can't see another Hades after this one, or a death hereafter taking us elsewhere."

Indeed. The end result of each dialogue is often a humorous kind of bewilderment, followed by a question. In this case: is eternal thirst as bad as that when you know you cannot die of it? Eternal life in hell is still eternal life, and Menippus almost makes it feel like a reward.

[Atlas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay I can admit, Lucian is very very funny and honestly very fun to read. The text isn't too heavy or unapproachable, although you do have to have some background knowledge of ancient Greek myth to be able to fully appreciate it. Am I smart enough to be able to fully appreciate it? No, probably not, but I enjoyed it nonetheless and it managed to make me even angrier at Rick Riordan for making Poseidon so goddamn likeable when he is such a fucking douche.

[jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucian mocks the full range of Greco-Roman beliefs about gods and death in his works, none more focused and educational than in Dialogues of the Dead. Some acquaintance with the pantheon enriches the humor. I find these dialogues (of the Dead, of the Sea-Gods, of the Gods, of the Courtesans) instructive not just for Lucian's point of view but for a second century (Lucian 125-180) window on beliefs and life details (artifacts, so to speak). In that latter sense, Dialogues of the Courtesans was especially poignant. I imagined Lucian as a beat-reporter, writing after many first-hand interviews and searching observations.

[Litterae Dependens · Rating 4 out of 5]

¡Grata sorpresa la de Luciano de Samósata! Diálogos muy breves que se tornan muy disfrutables dado que varían la temática de manera constante. Los diálogos de los muertos diría que realmente son una extensión temática de los de los dioses, y que se distinguen mínimamente de los de las cortesanas, siendo estos últimos más historiográficos y los primeros más literarios (a mi juicio). Hay diálogos absolutamente sublimes y que merecen varias relecturas por lo bizarro, por lo novedoso (contextualmente hablando) y por lo humorístico.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dialogues with the Dead are very dry, sarcastic, and pithy. Rare sense of humor. Would recommend.

[_luciiraamos · Rating 4 out of 5]

cine 🚬

[Zumodenaranjass · Rating 5 out of 5]

muy divertido y fácil de leer, mejor que «Lucio o el asno»(aunque eso tampoco es muy difícil)

[Carmen, inis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nadie lo hace como Luciano…

es que se lo recomendaría a cualquiera que quiera echarse unas risas mientras lee una mezcla de filosofía, mitología e historia 10/10 viva el helenismo

[Alendi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in Attic Greek and I must say that it was fun. I enjoyed all of them, especially the dialogues of the dead. It was really interesting to see the gods, the dead etc. interact with each other. I will definitely re-read this sometime.

[Benja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read Dialogues of the Dead. It's always a pleasure to discover such with and insight in a work of art so distant. Very good, rich satire.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

what does it say when a syrian writes greek mythology better than the greeks did

[Atticus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly hilarious.

[emmadbeer · Rating 5 out of 5]

ancient mfs are quite funny

[Salomé · Rating 4 out of 5]

Son diálogos breves e moi asumibles en que reina o humor e a ironía. Dende o máis literario ao máis historiográfico ou filosófico supoñen unha sorte de actualización (nomeadamete lingüística) da mitoloxía gregra, sempre cun ton burlesco e conforme a un espírito cínico e nihilista.

As referencias ao cosmos clásico fican ben indicadas nas notas a pé de páxina, o que facilita a comprensión.

É unha lectura divertida, aínda que ás veces os tópicos poden resultar reiterativos.

[Alexis TL Geiger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me gustó demasiado este libro. Me emocioné al leer sobre algunos de mis heroes de la mitologia griega.

[Sem · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lido na edição portuguesa recente e apenas o diálogo dos mortos.

[Juan Elguero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Luciano es uno de los clásicos más interesantes que he leído, y he leído a casi todos

[زاهي رستم · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best Syrian writer in old ages...

[Pelayo Primo de rivera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incluso para los que no hemos leído la iliada o la odisea, es un libro fácil de leer y ameno. Fundamental para entender la historia de la literatura

[Ondřej Šefčík · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still witty and funny. Especially when you read in Ancient Greek! ;-)

[Antonio Martín · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Ancient world becomes Modern times.