Lucian

A unique new volume illuminating the philosophy of the ancient Greek and Roman Cynics From their founding in the fifth century BC and for over 800 years, the Cynic philosophers sought to cure humanity of greed and vice with their proposal of living simply. They guaranteed happiness to their adherents through freedom of speech, poverty, self-sufficiency and physical hardiness. In...

Antiquity's satirist supreme. Lucian of Samosata on the Euphrates (fl. AD 160-190) ranks among the most dazzlingly creative, virtuosic, and boldly original writers of antiquity. Although he more than once characterises his writings, many of them intended for public performance, as a combination of dialogue and comedy, in truth the diversity of his extant works is startling. His works range...

Antiquity's satirist supreme. Lucian of Samosata on the Euphrates (fl. AD 160-190) ranks among the most dazzlingly creative, virtuosic, and boldly original writers of antiquity. Although he more than once characterises his writings—many of them intended for public performance—as a combination of dialogue and comedy, in truth the diversity of his extant works is startling. His works range from philosophic...

Lucian (ca. 120–190 CE), the satirist from Samosata on the Euphrates, began his career as an apprentice sculptor. He later turned to rhetoric and became a successful travelling lecturer, visiting Italy and Gaul before settling in Athens, where he developed his original brand of satire. Late in life, he encountered financial difficulties and accepted an official post in Egypt. Noted...

Sports and philosophy went hand in hand for the ancient Greeks and Romans, and philosophical conversation was a recognised part of gym life throughout Greco-Roman antiquity. Athens's Lyceum was a gym and reportedly a hangout of that philosophical gym rat Socrates before it became the site of Aristotle's school. Fittingly, that gym is the setting of the Greek satirist Lucian's...