Lucian Popular Books
Lucian Biography & Facts
Lucian of Samosata (c. 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridiculed superstition, religious practices, and belief in the paranormal. Although his native language was probably Syriac, all of his extant works are written entirely in ancient Greek (mostly in the Attic Greek dialect popular during the Second Sophistic period). Everything that is known about Lucian's life comes from his own writings, which are often difficult to interpret because of his extensive use of sarcasm. According to his oration The Dream, he was the son of a lower middle class family from the city of Samosata along the banks of the Euphrates in the remote Roman province of Syria. As a young man, he was apprenticed to his uncle to become a sculptor, but, after a failed attempt at sculpting, he ran away to pursue an education in Ionia. He may have become a travelling lecturer and visited universities throughout the Roman Empire. After acquiring fame and wealth through his teaching, Lucian finally settled down in Athens for a decade, during which he wrote most of his extant works. In his fifties, he may have been appointed as a highly paid government official in Egypt, after which point he disappears from the historical record. Lucian's works were wildly popular in antiquity, and more than eighty writings attributed to him have survived to the present day, a considerably higher quantity than for most other classical writers. His most famous work is A True Story, a tongue-in-cheek satire against authors who tell incredible tales, which is regarded by some as the earliest known work of science fiction. Lucian invented the genre of comic dialogue, a parody of the traditional Socratic dialogue. His dialogue Lover of Lies makes fun of people who believe in the supernatural and contains the oldest known version of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Lucian wrote numerous satires making fun of traditional stories about the gods including The Dialogues of the Gods, Icaromenippus, Zeus Rants, Zeus Catechized, and The Parliament of the Gods. His Dialogues of the Dead focuses on the Cynic philosophers Diogenes and Menippus. Philosophies for Sale and The Carousal, or The Lapiths make fun of various philosophical schools, and The Fisherman or the Dead Come to Life is a defense of this mockery. Lucian often ridiculed public figures, such as the Cynic philosopher Peregrinus Proteus in his letter The Passing of Peregrinus and the fraudulent oracle Alexander of Abonoteichus in his treatise Alexander the False Prophet. Lucian's treatise On the Syrian Goddess satirizes cultural distinctions between Greeks and Syrians and is the main source of information about the cult of Atargatis. Lucian had an enormous, wide-ranging impact on Western literature. Works inspired by his writings include Thomas More's Utopia, the works of François Rabelais, William Shakespeare's Timon of Athens and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Life Biographical sources Lucian is not mentioned in any contemporary texts or inscriptions written by others and he is not included in Philostratus's Lives of the Sophists. As a result of this, everything that is known about Lucian comes exclusively from his own writings. A variety of characters with names very similar to Lucian, including "Lukinos", "Lukianos", "Lucius", and "The Syrian" appear throughout Lucian's writings. These have been frequently interpreted by scholars and biographers as "masks", "alter-egos", or "mouthpieces" of the author. Daniel S. Richter criticizes the frequent tendency to interpret such "Lucian-like figures" as self-inserts by the author and argues that they are, in fact, merely fictional characters Lucian uses to "think with" when satirizing conventional distinctions between Greeks and Syrians. He suggests that they are primarily a literary trope used by Lucian to deflect accusations that he as the Syrian author "has somehow outraged the purity of Greek idiom or genre" through his invention of the comic dialogue. British classicist Donald Russell states, "A good deal of what Lucian says about himself is no more to be trusted than the voyage to the moon that he recounts so persuasively in the first person in True Stories" and warns that "it is foolish to treat [the information he gives about himself in his writings] as autobiography." Background and upbringing Lucian was born in the town of Samosata on the banks of the Euphrates on the far eastern outskirts of the Roman Empire. Samosata had been the capital of the kingdom of Commagene until 72 AD when it was annexed by Vespasian and became part of the Roman province of Syria. The population of the town was mostly Syrian and Lucian's native tongue was probably Syriac, a form of Middle Aramaic. During the time when Lucian lived, traditional Greco-Roman religion was in decline and its role in society had become largely ceremonial. As a substitute for traditional religion, many people in the Hellenistic world joined mystery cults, such as the Mysteries of Isis, Mithraism, the cult of Cybele, and the Eleusinian Mysteries. Superstition had always been common throughout ancient society, but it was especially prevalent during the second century. Most educated people of Lucian's time adhered to one of the various Hellenistic philosophies, of which the major ones were Stoicism, Platonism, Peripateticism, Pyrrhonism, and Epicureanism. Every major town had its own 'university' and these 'universities' often employed professional travelling lecturers, who were frequently paid high sums of money to lecture about various philosophical teachings. The most prestigious center of learning was the city of Athens in Greece, which had a long intellectual history. According to Lucian's oration The Dream, which classical scholar Lionel Casson states he probably delivered as an address upon returning to Samosata at the age of thirty-five or forty after establishing his reputation as a great orator, Lucian's parents were lower middle class and his uncles owned a local statue-making shop. Lucian's parents could not afford to give him a higher education, so, after he completed his elementary schooling, Lucian's uncle took him on as an apprentice and began teaching him how to sculpt. Lucian, however, soon proved to be poor at sculpting and ruined the statue he had been working on. His uncle beat him, causing him to run off. Lucian fell asleep and experienced a dream in which he was being fought over by the personifications of Statuary and Culture. He decided to listen to Culture and thus sought out an education. Although The Dream has long been treated by scholars as a truthful autobiography of Lucian, its historical accuracy is questionable at best. Classicist Simon Swain calls it "a fine but rather apocryphal version of Lucian's education" and Karin Schlapbach calls it "ironical". Richter argues that it is not autobiogra.... Discover the Lucian popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Lucian books.
Best Seller Lucian Books of 2024
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White Egrets
Derek WalcottA DAZZLING NEW COLLECTION FROM ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT POETS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY In White Egrets, Derek Walcott treats the characteristic subjects of his careerthe Caribbean...
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Cezanne
Alex DanchevWith 32pages of fullcolor inserts, and blackandwhite illustrations throughout.Alex Danchev gives us the first comprehensive assessment of the revolutionary work and restless life o...
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Darkness Unbound
Keri ArthurThe fight against darkness rages on for the next generationin New York Times bestselling author Keri Arthur’s exciting new series set in the world of the Guardians. Being half...
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The Works of Lucian of Samosata
LucianLucian of Samosata (2nd century A.D.) was a famed Syrian philosopher, satirist, and novelist. His broad range of style and prolific output have made him immensely popular throughou...
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The Art of Rivalry
Sebastian SmeePulitzer Prize–winning art critic Sebastian Smee tells the fascinating story of four pairs of artistsManet and Degas, Picasso and Matisse, Pollock and de Kooning, Freud and Baconwh...
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The Prodigal
Derek WalcottDo not diminish in my memoryvillages of absolutely no importance, ... Hoard, cherishyour negligible existence, your unrecorded historyof unambitious syntax, your clean...
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Selected Poems
Derek Walcott & Edward BaughDrawing from every stage of his career, this volume collects selected poems from Nobel Prize winner Derek Walcott's lifetime of work.Walcott's Selected Poems brings together famous...
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Lucian
Kathi S BartonDemi Morgan was good at keeping her identity hidden, so when an attorney found her at a restaurant she owned, she was more than a little angry. Very few people knew how to find her...
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Gulf and Other Poems
Derek WalcottAs his title suggests, Derek Walcott's new poemswhile making beautiful use of Caribbean imageryare concerned with themes of isolation and the achievement of identity through loneli...
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Seis Almas Seis Destinos
Lucian F. VaizerAmytiville, la Mansión Winchester, la Casa de Lizzie Borden, el bosque de los suicidas...todos los lugares malditos del mundo reunidos en un mismo pueblo. El Parque Jurásico de las...
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Estate Lucian Edward Williams Lucile S.
Supreme Court of MinnesotaPER CURIAM. Lucian Edward Williams, residing in Cook county, Illinois, died testate. He named defendant executor in his will. The will was there probated, an defendant was appointe...
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Breakfast with Lucian
Geordie GreigAn insider's accountthe first of its kindof the thoroughly unconventional life of one of the twentieth century's most shockingly original paintersLucian Freud's paintings are insta...
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Lucian
Isabel AbediEs fühlt sich an wie ein Riss. Ein hauchfeiner Riss, tief in Rebeccas Innerem. Als ob ihr jemand mit der Pinzette ein Härchen ausgerupft hätte. Was bleibt: ein sonderbares Gefühl v...
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The Fortunate Traveller
Derek WalcottDerek Walcott was one of the most accomplished and resourceful poets who wrote in English, winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992. The volume of his work in The Fortunate Tr...
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Dogface Soldier
Wilson A. HeefnerOn July 11, 1943, General Lucian Truscott received the Army’s secondhighest decoration, the Distinguished Service Cross, for valor in action in Sicily. During his career he also re...
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Omeros
Derek WalcottA Masterpiece of Modern Epic PoetryDive into the poignant verses of Omeros, a grand opus of epic poetry penned by Nobel laureate Derek Walcott. Told in multiple chapters and tracin...
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Selected Satires of Lucian
Lionel CassonThe unsurpassed satirist of the ancient era was a young Syrian named Lucian, who, writing in Greek in the second century a.d., combined wit, irony, fearless candor, and exuberant c...
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Lucian
Bethany KrisPierwszy tom zagranicznej bestsellerowej serii mafijnej! Dla fanów książek Cory Reilly!Lucian Marcello zdaje sobie sprawę z oczekiwań, które spoczywają na nim jako na najstarszym s...
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Lee
Sydney LandonMy name is Lee Jacks and I’ve lived a life that few could imagine. When you grow up as the son of a crack whore with little more than the clothes on your back most days being accep...
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Lucian
Kenzie SkyeA creature such as me has no business loving anything, but I do. Heaven help me, I do. Isadora is everything beautiful and pure and innocent. She is like nothing I've seen in ...
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The Homecoming of Lucian Wren
Richard QuarryToday the Machines deliver the new Benjamin. But for Lucian Wren, a beleaguered scriptwriter in a world ruled by cradletograve teleprompters, that's no cause for celebration. For t...
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On Writing History from Herodotus to Herodian
John MarincolaWhat is history and how should it be written? This important new anthology, translated and edited by Professor John Marincola, contains all the seminal texts that relate to the wri...
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Pierced
Sydney Landon“Oh, Lia, you never challenge a man like me. I promise you; you’ll do everything I want you to do and beg for more."My name is Lucian Quinn and I own one of the most successful sof...
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Francis Bacon
Mark Stevens & Annalyn SwanTHE TIMES BEST ART BOOK OF THE YEAR FINALIST FOR THE PLUTARCH AWARD AND THE APOLLO AWARD “There are not many biographical masterpieces, but…Mark Stevens and A...
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The Aeneid
Virgil & Robert Fitzgerald"Fitzgerald's [translation] is so decisively the best modern Aeneid that it is unthinkable that anyone will want to use any other version for a long time to come." New York Re...
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Ion Creanga
Ion Creangă"Il pigro","La figlia del vecchio e la figlia della vecchia", "La favola del maiale","Il sacchetto con due soldi", "La capra e i tre capretti" Il 1 marzo 1837 nasce a Homulesti, pr...
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The Land Beyond the Blow
Ambrose BierceThis carefully crafted ebook: "The Land Beyond the Blow (After the method of Swift, who followed Lucian, and was himself followed by Voltaire and many others)" is formatted...
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Lucian
Richard Claverhouse JebbLucian Richard Claverhouse Jebb, british classical scholar and politician (18411905) This ebook presents «Lucian», from Richard Claverhouse Jebb. A dynamic table of contents enable...
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Ahead of Dementia
Luciana MitzkunA RealWorld, Upfront, Straightforward, StepbyStep Guide for Family CaregiversCaring for a loved one with dementia is one of the greatest challenges one might face in life. It ...
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Emotional Intelligence
Luciana VarkevisserMartha and Marty have a new friend named Zoom! Zoom is a cool, hightech robot. But, Zoom doesn't know much about the world. So, Martha and Marty make a plan to show Zoom that it is...
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The Poetry of Derek Walcott 1948-2013
Derek Walcott & Glyn MaxwellA collection spanning the whole of Derek Walcott's celebrated, inimitable, essential career "He gives us more than himself or ‘a world'; he gives us a sense of infinity embodied in...
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Lucian
John MenchLucian was born on a farm in the upper Euphrates River valley during the middle of the third century. This book is a story about three priests: Paul, Eusebius, and Lucian. The stor...
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The Best Paranormal Crime Stories Ever Told
Martin H. Greenberg & John HelfersParanormal crime stories by bestselling fiction writers like Kelley Armstrong, Anne Perry, Simon R. Green, Patricia Briggs, and more. A massive, monumental volume of paranormal cri...
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IT applications for Project Management
Lucian Lupu-DimaThe book entitled "IT applications for Project Management" was created as a result of the activity that I perform at the University of Petrosani. And even if at this moment this bo...
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The Works of Lucian of Samosata
Lucian"The Works of Lucian of Samosata" encompass a collection of writings by the Syrian satirist and rhetorician, Lucian, who wrote in the Greek language during the 2nd century AD. Luci...
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Sea Grapes
Derek WalcottDerek Walcott was aptly described by Laurence Liberman in The Yale Review as "one of the handful of brilliant historic mythologists of our day." Sea Grapes deepens with this major ...