Excerpta Quædam ex Luciani Samosatensis Operibus
by Lucian of Samosata
| Excerpta Quaedam ex Luciani Samosatensis Operibus | ||
 at the College of William & Mary. |
||
| Author | Lucian of Samosata | |
| Edition | Precise edition unknown | |
| Desc. | 8vo | |
Lucian (125-180 CE) was a well-known ancient Greek rhetorician and satirist. As a child, Lucian was apprenticed to his uncle to begin a career as a sculptor.[1] Their relationship was strained, and Lucian eventually left his home and his apprenticeship.[2] He acquired a Greek literary education in western Asia Minor and applied it towards a career as a public speaker when he eventually returned to Greece.[3]
Though a successful rhetorician, Lucian became disenchanted with his career and gave up public speaking to write critical and satirical essays. These essays catapulted Lucian into fame and continue to serve as the basis for his lasting legacy.[4]
Lucian satirized a wide variety of topics; He particularly favored satirizing the fantastical tales that were common during the era in which he lived. He even mocked the incredulous journey that the protagonist Odysseus experienced in Homer’s Odyssey.[5] Lucian was also highly critical of the intellectual institutions of his time, and frequently satirized the hypocrisy of philosophers.[6] Not even the Greek gods were safe from Lucian’s mockery, and he repeatedly satirized the popular stories of the gods dealings with mortals.[7]
Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library
Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as "Excerpta ex Luciani operibus. À Kent. 8vo." and given by Thomas Jefferson to his grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph. The Brown Bibliography[8] lists the first edition published in Cambridge in 1730, edited by Nathaniel Kent. George Wythe's Library[9] on LibraryThing states "Precise edition unknown. Several octavo editions of this work were published at Cambridge and London, the first in 1730." As yet, the Wolf Law Library has been unable to find a copy of this title.
See also
References
- ↑ Henry W. L. Hime, Lucian, the Syrian Satirist (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1900), 1.
- ↑ Ibid., 2.
- ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s.v. "Lucian," accessed November 7, 2013.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Hime, Lucian, the Syrian Satirist, 33.
- ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s.v. "Lucian."
- ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, 2009, rev. 2023) Microsoft Word document (on file at the Wolf Law Library, William & Mary Law School).
- ↑ LibraryThing, s.v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on July 10, 2025.