Unruly eloquence : Lucian and the comedy of traditions

289 Pages·1988·7.304 MB·English

by  Lucian, of Samosata Lucian, of Samosata. Lucian, Branham, Robert Bracht, Lucien de Samosate

Revealing Antiquity
• 2 ·
G. W. Bowersock, General Editor

Unruly Eloquence
Lucían and the Comedy of Traditions
R. BRACHT BRANHAM
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
1989
Copyright © 1989 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
1098765432 ι
This book is printed on acid-free paper, and its binding
materials have been chosen for strength and durability.
Designed by Joyce C. Weston
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Branham, Robert Bracht.
Unruly eloquence: Lucían and the comedy of traditions / R.
Bracht Branham.
p. cm. —(Revealing antiquity : 2)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-674-93035-5 (alk. paper)
i. Lucian, of Samosata—Criticism and
interpretation. 2. Satire, Greek—History and
criticism. 3. Comic, The, in literature. 4. Sophists (Greek
philosophy) in literature. I. Title. II. Series.
PA4236.B73 1989 88-24297
887'.01—dci9 CIP
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Any book is a collaborative effort, and this one is certainly no
exception. It was begun in Berkeley in 1981 and finished at the
Center for Hellenic Studies, in Washington, D.C., in 1987. While
writing it I received indispensable help from several interlocutors,
some of whom read and commented on the entire typescript more
than once. I owe special thanks to W. S. Anderson, G. W. Bower-
sock, Peter Brown, Ann Cumming, John Dillon, Anthony Edwards,
Daniel Kinney, David Konstan, Mark Griffith, A. A. Long, Michael
Nagler, Robert Rodgers, B. P. Reardon, Kathleen Ries, Jon Stewart,
Zeph Stewart, and Jack Winkler for their comments; and to Maxwell
Anderson, John R. Clarke, and Bonna Wescoat for their help in
finding appropriate illustrations. Finally, I wish to express my grat-
itude to Emory University and the Center for Hellenic Studies for
giving me the opportunity to complete my work in the locus amoenus
provided by the Center.
Portions of this book have been previously published in other
forms: the third part of Chapter 1 appeared as "Introducing a Soph-
ist: Lucian's Prologues," Transactions of the American Philological Asso-
ciation 115 (1985) 237-243; an earlier version of Chapter 4 was
published as "The Comic as Critic: Revenging Epicurus," Classical
Antiquity 3.2 (1984) 143—163.

CONTENTS
Introduction /
Chapter ι. The Rhetoric of Laughter ç
Chapter 2. Agonistic Humors: Lucian and Plato 6$
Chapter 3. Aging Deities: Lucian's Olympus 125
Chapter 4. Sudden Glory: The Revenge of Epicurus
Conclusion: Potter or Prometheus? 211
A bbreviations 218
Notes 219
Selected Bibliography 271
Index 2y$

Humor ist keine Stimmung, sondern eine Weltanschauung.
—Wittgenstein, Vermischte Bemerkungen (1948)
The text of Lucian is cited from Luciani Opera, ed. M. D.
MacLeod, vols. 1-4 (Oxford 1972-1987). In translating Lucian I have
freely used (and sometimes modified) the existing versions, particu-
larly those of H. W. and F. G. Fowler (Oxford 1905).