Lucian, Volume I: Phalaris I–II. Hippias. Dionysus. Heracles. On Amber. The Fly. Nigrinus. Demonax. On the Hall. Encomium of the Fatherland. The ... Symposium

by Lucian of Samosata, Professor Peter Thonemann (Translator)

624 pages, Hardcover

Published February 17, 2026

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

[Ira · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funny take on the world as it was in Lucian's times, 120-200 AD.
Lucian is the ultimate ironist taking down the braggarts. He also has no time for sycophancy, so the great classics of literature and historiography of his times, from Herodotus to Homer, fall under his pen-sword. Laughing at it with us, he shows the absurdity of the world and what we think we hold dear. This volume contains True Story but my favourite short essay was probably Slander, which rings so true it hurts! A powerful form of critique, entertaining, funny, unforgiving, playful.
If you read Ancient Greek you will particularly appreciate this edition, the only one I could find with the original text.
Not much of a work of introduction, but the texts speak for themselves. For some of the essays you'll need some knowledge of the characters to appreciate the sarcasm, but many stand tall as a testament to the universality and timelessness of human defects, and our ability to laugh them off.