Chapter 20

(W. A. B. C.)

1, Flower, enlarged.

2, Half-ripe fruit, ¾ nat. size.

3, Fruit, enlarged.

LUCERNE,Purple MedickorAlfalfa, known botanically asMedicago sativa, a plant of the natural order Leguminosae. In England it is still commonly called “lucerne,” but in America “alfalfa,” an Arabic term (“the best fodder”), which, owing to its increasing cultivation in the western hemisphere, has come into widening usage since the introduction of the plant by the Spaniards. It is an erect perennial herb with a branched hollow stem 1 to 2 ft. high, trifoliolate leaves, short dense racemes of small yellow, blue or purple flowers, and downy pods coiled two or three times in a loose spiral. It has a characteristic long tap-root, often extending 15 ft. or more into the soil. It is a native of the eastern Mediterranean region, but was introduced into Italy in the 1st centuryA.D., and has become more widely naturalized in Europe; it occurs wild in hedges and fields in Britain, where it was first cultivated about 1650. It seems to have been taken from Spain to Mexico and South America in the 16th century, but the extension of its cultivation in the Western States of the American Union practically dates from the middle of the 19th century, and in Argentina its development as a staple crop is more recent. It is much cultivated as a forage crop in France and other parts of the continent of Europe, but has not come into such general use in Britain, where, however, it is frequently met with in small patches in districts where the soil is very light, with a dry subsoil. Its thick tap-roots penetrate very deeply into the soil; and, if a good cover is once obtained, the plants will yield abundant cuttings of herbage for eight or ten years, provided they are properly top-dressed and kept free from perennial weeds. The time to cut it is, as with clover and sainfoin, when it is in early flower.

In the United States alfalfa has become the staple leguminous forage crop throughout the western half of the country. Some idea of the increase in its cultivation may be obtained from the figures for Kansas, where in 1891 alfalfa was cultivated over 34,384 acres, while in 1907 the number was 743,050. The progress of irrigation has been an important factor in many districts. The plant requires a well-drained soil (deep and permeable as possible), rich in lime and reasonably free from weeds.

See, for practical directions as to cultivation,Farmers’ Bulletin339 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, by J. M. Westgate (Washington, December 1908).

LUCHAIRE, DENIS JEAN ACHILLE(1846-1908), French historian, was born in Paris on the 24th of October 1846. In 1879 he became a professor at Bordeaux and in 1889 professor of medieval history at the Sorbonne; in 1895 he became a member of theAcadémie des sciences morales et politiques, where he obtained the Jean Reynaud prize just before his death on the 14th of November 1908. The most important of Achille Luchaire’s earlier works is hisHistoire des institutions monarchiques de la France sous les premiers Capétiens(1883 and again 1891); he also wrote aManuel des institutions françaises: période des Capétiens directs(1892);Louis VI. le Gros, annales de sa vie et de son règne(1890); andÉtude sur les actes de Louis VII.(1885). His later writings deal mainly with the history of the papacy, and took the form of an elaborate work on Pope Innocent III. This is divided into six parts: (1.)Rome et Italie(1904); (ii.)La Croisade des Albigeois(1905); (iii.)La Papauté et l’empire(1905); (iv.)La Question d’Orient(1906); (v.)Les Royautés vassales du Saint-Siège(1908); and (vi.)Le Concile de Latran et la réforme de l’Église(1908). He wrote two of the earlier volumes of E. Lavisse’sHistoire de France.

LUCHU ARCHIPELAGO(called alsoRiukiu,Loo-chooandLiukiu), a long chain of islands belonging to Japan, stretching from a point 80 m. S. of Kiushiu to a point 73 m. from the N.E. coast of Formosa, and lying between 24° and 30° N. and 123° and 130° E. Japanese cartographers reckon the Luchu islands as 55, having a total coast-line of 768 m., an area of 935 sq. m., and a population of about 455,000. They divide them into three main groups, of which the northern is called Oshima-shoto; the central, Okinawa-gunto; and the southern, Sakishima-retto. The termsshoto,guntoandrettosignify “archipelago,” “cluster of islands” and “string of islands” respectively. The last-named group is subdivided into Miyako-gunto and Yayeyama-gunto. The principal islands of these various groups are:—

The remaining islands of the archipelago are of very small size, although often thickly populated. Almost at the extreme north of the chain are two islands with active volcanoes: Nakano-shima (3485 ft.) and Suwanose-shima (2697 ft.), but the remaining members of the group give no volcanic indications, and the only other mountain of any size is Yuwan-dake (2299 ft.) in Amami-Oshima. The islands “are composed chiefly of Palaeozoic rocks—limestones and quartzites found in the west, and clay, slate, sandstone and pyroxenite or amphibolite on the east.... Pre-Tertiary rocks have been erupted through these. The outer sedimentary zone is of Tertiary rocks.”1The capital is Shuri in Okinawa, an old-fashioned place with a picturesque castle. The more modern town of Nafa, on the same island, possesses the principal harbour and has considerable trade.

The scenery of Luchu is unlike that of Japan. Though so close to the tropics, the islands cannot be said to present tropical features: the bamboo is rare; there is no high grass or tangled undergrowth; open plains are numerous; the trees are not crowded together; lakes are wanting; the rivers are insignificant; and an unusual aspect is imparted to the scenery by numerous coral crags. The temperature in Nafa ranges from a mean of 82° F. in July to 60° in January. The climate is generally (though not in all the islands) pleasant and healthy, in spite of much moisture, the rainfall being very heavy.The fauna includes wild boars and deer, rats and bats. Excellent small ponies are kept, together with cattle, pigs and goats. The majority of the islands are infested with venomous snakes calledhabu(Trimeresurus), which attain a length of 6 to 7 ft. and a diameter of from 2½ to 3 in. Their bite generally causes speedy death, and in the island of Amami-Oshima they claim many victims every year. The most important cultivated plant is the sugar-cane, which provides the principal staple of trade.Luchu is noted for the production of particularly durable vermilion-coloured lacquer, which is much esteemed for table utensils in Japan. The islands also manufacture certain fabrics which are considered a speciality. These areRiukiu-tsumugi, a kind of fine pongee; the so-calledSatsuma-gasuri, a cotton fabric greatly used for summer wear;basho-fu, or banana-cloth (called alsoaka-basho), which is woven from the fibre of a species of banana; andhoso-jofu, a particularly fine hempen stuff, made in Miyako-shima, and demanding such difficult processes that six months are required to weave and dye a piece 9½ yds. long.People.—Although the upper classes in Luchu and Japan closely resemble each other, there are palpable differences between the lower classes, the Luchuans being shorter and better proportioned than the Japanese; having higher foreheads, eyes not so deeply set, faces less flattened, arched and thick eyebrows, better noses, less marked cheek-bones and much greater hairiness. The last characteristic has been attributed to the presence of Ainu blood, and has suggested a theory that when the Japanese race entered south-western Japan from Korea, they drove the Ainu northwards and southwards, one portion of the latter finding their way to Luchu, the other to Yezo. Women of the upper class never appear in public in Luchu, and are not even alluded to in conversation, but women of the lower orders go about freely with uncovered faces. The Luchu costume resembles that of Japan, the only marked difference being that the men use two hairpins, made of gold, silver, pewter or wood, according to the rank of the wearer. Men shave their faces until the age of twenty-five, after which moustache and beard are allowed to grow, though the cheeks are kept free from hair. Their burial customs are peculiar and elaborate, and their large sepulchres, generally mitre-shaped, and scattered all over the country, according to Chinese fashion, form a striking feature of the landscape. The marriage customs are also remarkable. Preliminaries are negotiated by a middleman, as in China and Japan, and the subsequent procedure extends over several days. The chief staple of the people’s diet is the sweet potato, and pork is the principal luxury. An ancient law, still in force, requires each family to keep four pigs. In times of scarcity a species of sago (obtained from theCycas revoluta) is eaten. There is a remarkable absence of religious influence in Luchu. Places of worship are few, and the only function discharged by Buddhist priests seems to be to officiate at funerals. The people are distinguished by gentleness, courtesy and docility, as well as by marked avoidance of crime. With the exception of petty thefts, their Japanese administrators find nothing to punish, and for nearly three centuries no such thing as a lethal weapon has been known in Luchu. Professor Chamberlain states that the Luchuan language resembles the Japanese in about the same degree as Italian resembles French, and says that they are sister tongues, many words being identical, others differing only by letter changes which follow certain fixed analogies, and sentences in the one being capable of translation into the other word for word, almost syllable for syllable.

The fauna includes wild boars and deer, rats and bats. Excellent small ponies are kept, together with cattle, pigs and goats. The majority of the islands are infested with venomous snakes calledhabu(Trimeresurus), which attain a length of 6 to 7 ft. and a diameter of from 2½ to 3 in. Their bite generally causes speedy death, and in the island of Amami-Oshima they claim many victims every year. The most important cultivated plant is the sugar-cane, which provides the principal staple of trade.

Luchu is noted for the production of particularly durable vermilion-coloured lacquer, which is much esteemed for table utensils in Japan. The islands also manufacture certain fabrics which are considered a speciality. These areRiukiu-tsumugi, a kind of fine pongee; the so-calledSatsuma-gasuri, a cotton fabric greatly used for summer wear;basho-fu, or banana-cloth (called alsoaka-basho), which is woven from the fibre of a species of banana; andhoso-jofu, a particularly fine hempen stuff, made in Miyako-shima, and demanding such difficult processes that six months are required to weave and dye a piece 9½ yds. long.

People.—Although the upper classes in Luchu and Japan closely resemble each other, there are palpable differences between the lower classes, the Luchuans being shorter and better proportioned than the Japanese; having higher foreheads, eyes not so deeply set, faces less flattened, arched and thick eyebrows, better noses, less marked cheek-bones and much greater hairiness. The last characteristic has been attributed to the presence of Ainu blood, and has suggested a theory that when the Japanese race entered south-western Japan from Korea, they drove the Ainu northwards and southwards, one portion of the latter finding their way to Luchu, the other to Yezo. Women of the upper class never appear in public in Luchu, and are not even alluded to in conversation, but women of the lower orders go about freely with uncovered faces. The Luchu costume resembles that of Japan, the only marked difference being that the men use two hairpins, made of gold, silver, pewter or wood, according to the rank of the wearer. Men shave their faces until the age of twenty-five, after which moustache and beard are allowed to grow, though the cheeks are kept free from hair. Their burial customs are peculiar and elaborate, and their large sepulchres, generally mitre-shaped, and scattered all over the country, according to Chinese fashion, form a striking feature of the landscape. The marriage customs are also remarkable. Preliminaries are negotiated by a middleman, as in China and Japan, and the subsequent procedure extends over several days. The chief staple of the people’s diet is the sweet potato, and pork is the principal luxury. An ancient law, still in force, requires each family to keep four pigs. In times of scarcity a species of sago (obtained from theCycas revoluta) is eaten. There is a remarkable absence of religious influence in Luchu. Places of worship are few, and the only function discharged by Buddhist priests seems to be to officiate at funerals. The people are distinguished by gentleness, courtesy and docility, as well as by marked avoidance of crime. With the exception of petty thefts, their Japanese administrators find nothing to punish, and for nearly three centuries no such thing as a lethal weapon has been known in Luchu. Professor Chamberlain states that the Luchuan language resembles the Japanese in about the same degree as Italian resembles French, and says that they are sister tongues, many words being identical, others differing only by letter changes which follow certain fixed analogies, and sentences in the one being capable of translation into the other word for word, almost syllable for syllable.

History.—Tinsunshi, “Grandson of Heaven,” is the mythical founder of the Luchu monarchy. Towards the close of the 12th century his descendants were driven from the throne by rebellion, but the old national party soon found a victorious leader in Shunten, son of Tametomo, a member of the famous Minamoto family, who, having been expelled from Japan, had come to Luchu and married there. The introduction of the arts of reading and writing are assigned to Shunten’s reign. Chinese invasions of Luchu may be traced back toA.D.605, but they did not result in annexation; and it was in 1372 that China first obtained from the Luchuans recognition of supremacy. Luchuan relations with Japan had long been friendly, but at the end of the 16th century the king refused Japan assistance against Korea, and in 1609 the prince of Satsuma invaded the islands with 3000 men, took the capital by storm, captured the king and carried him off to Kagoshima. A few years later he was restored to his throne on condition of acknowledging Japanese suzerainty and paying tribute. The Luchuans nevertheless continued to pay tribute to China also.

The Chinese government, however, though taking a benevolent interest in the welfare of the islanders, never attempted to bring them under military sway. The incongruity of this state of affairs did not force itself upon Japan’s attention so long as her own empire was divided into a number of semi-independent principalities. But in 1879 the Japanese government, treating Luchu as an integral part of the mikado’s dominions, dethroned its prince, pensioned him as the other feudal chiefs had been pensioned, and converted Luchu into a prefecture under the name of Okinawa. This name signifies “extended rope,” and alludes to the attenuated nature of the archipelago. China remonstrating, a conference was held in Peking, when plenipotentiaries of the two empires signed an agreement to the effect that the archipelago should be divided equally between the claimants. The Chinese government, however, refused to ratify this compromise, and the Japanese continued their measures for the effective administration of all the islands. Ultimately (1895) Formosa also came into Japan’s possession, and her title to the whole chain of islands ceased to be disputed.

Though Captain Broughton, of H.M.S. “Providence,” was wrecked on Miyako-shima and subsequently visited Nafa in 1797, it was not till the “Alceste” and “Lyra” expedition in 1816-1817, under Captains Basil Hall and Murray Maxwell, that detailed information was obtained about Luchu. The people at that time showed a curious mixture of courtesy and shyness. From 1844 efforts were made by both Catholic (French) and Protestant missionaries to Christianize them, but though hospitable they made it clear that these efforts were unwelcome. Further visits were made by British vessels under Captain Beechey (1826) and Sir Edward Belcher (1845). The American expedition under Commodore M. C. Perry (1853) added largely to knowledge of the islands, and concluded a treaty with the Luchuan government.

See Basil Hall,Account of a Voyage of Discovery to the West Coast of Corea and the Great Loo-choo Island(London, 1818); Comm. M. C. Perry,Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, 1852-1854 (Washington, 1856); B. H. Chamberlain, “The Luchu Islands and their Inhabitants,” in theGeographical Journal, vol. v. (1895); “Contributions to a Bibliography of Luchu,” inTrans. Asiatic Soc. Japan, xxiv. (1896); C. S. Leavenworth, “History of the Loo-choo Islands,”Journ. China Br. Royal Asiatic Soc.xxxvi. (1905).

1Note inGeographical Journal, xx., on S. Yoshiwara, “Raised Coral Reefs in the Islands of the Riukiu Curve,” inJourn. Coll. of Science, Imp. Univ., Tokyo(1901).

LUCIA(orLucy),ST,virgin and martyr of Syracuse, whose name figures in the canon of the mass, and whose festival is celebrated on the 13th of December. According to the legend, she lived in the reign of Diocletian. Her mother, having been miraculously cured of an illness at the sepulchre of St Agatha in Catania, was persuaded by Lucia to distribute all her wealth to the poor. The youth to whom the daughter had been betrothed forthwith denounced her to Pascasius, the prefect, who ordered that she should be taken away and subjected to shameful outrage. But it was found that no force which could be applied was able to move her from the spot on which she stood; even boiling oil and burning pitch had no power to hurt her, until at last she was slain with the sword. The most important documents concerning St Lucy are the mention in theMartyrologium Hieronymianumand the ancient inscription discovered at Syracuse, in which her festival is indicated. Many paintings represent her bearing her eyes in her hand or on a salver. Some artists have even represented her blind, but nothing in herActajustifies this representation. It is probable that it originated in a play upon words (Lucia, from Lat.lux, light), just as St Clair is invoked in cases of eye-disease.

See O. Caietanus,Vitae sanctorum Siculorum, i. 114-121 (Palermo, 1657); Ioannes de Ioanne,Acta sincera sanctae Luciae(Palermo, 1758);Analecta Bollandiana, xxii. 492; Cahier,Caractéristiques des saints, i. 105 (Paris, 1867).

(H. De.)

LUCIAN(d. 312), Christian martyr, was born, like the famous, heathen writer of the same name, at Samosata. His parents, who were Christians, died when he was in his twelfth year. In his youth he studied under Macarius of Edessa, and after receiving baptism he adopted a strictly ascetic life, and devoted himself with zeal to the continual study of scripture. Settling at Antioch when Malchion was master of the Greek school he became a presbyter, and, while supporting himself by his skill as a rapid writer, became celebrated as a teacher, so that he is regarded as the founder of the famous theological school of Antioch. He did not escape suspicion of heresy, and is represented as the connecting link between Paul of Samosata and Arius. Indeed, on the deposition of the former (A.D.268) he was excluded from ecclesiastical fellowship by three successive bishops of Antioch, while Arius seems to have been among his pupils (Theodoret,Hist. Eccl.i. 3, 4). He was, however, restored before the outbreak of persecution, and the reputation won by his high character and learning was confirmed by his courageous martyrdom. He was carried to Nicomedia before Maximin Daza, and persisting in his faith perished on the 7th of January 312, under torture and hunger, which he refused to satisfy with food offered to idols. His defence is preserved by Rufinus (ix. 6; on Eusebius,Hist. Eccl.ix. 9). His remains were conveyed to Drepanum in Bithynia, and under Constantine the town was founded anew in his honour with the name of Helenopolis, and exempted from taxes by the emperor (A.D.327) (seeChron. Pasch., Bonn ed., p. 527). Here in 387, on the anniversary of his death, Chrysostom delivered the panegyrical homily from which, with notices in Eusebius, Theodoret and the other ecclesiastical historians, the life by Jerome (Vir. Ill.cap. 77), but especially from the account by S. Metaphrastes (cited at length in Bernhardy’s notes to Suidas,s.v.νοθεύει), the facts above given are derived. See also, for the celebration of his day in the Syriac churches, Wright,Cat. of Syr.MSS. p. 283.

Jerome says that Lucian wroteLibelli de fideand several letters, but only a short fragment of one epistle remains (Chron. Pasch., ed. Dindorf, i. 516). The authorship of a confession of faith ascribed to Lucian and put forth at the semi-Arian synod of Antioch (A.D.341) is questioned. Lucian’s most important literary labour was his edition of the Greek Old Testament corrected by the Hebrew text, which, according to Jerome (Adv. Ruf.ii. 77), was in current use from Constantinople to Antioch. That the edition of Lucian is represented by the text used by Chrysostom and Theodoret, as well as by certain extant MSS., such as the Arundelian of the British Museum, was proved by F. Field (Prol. ad Origenis Hexapla, cap. ix.).Before the publication of Field’sHexapla, Lagarde had already directed his attention to the Antiochian text (as that of Lucian may be called) and ultimately published the first part (Genesis, 2 Esdras, Esther) of a provisional reconstructed text. The distinguishing marks of the Lucianic recension are thus summarized by S. R. Driver,Notes on Heb. Text of Samuel, p. li. seq.: (1) The substitution of synonyms for the words employed by the Septuagint; (2) the occurrence of double renderings; (3) the occurrence of renderings “which presuppose a Hebrew original self-evidently superior in the passages concerned to the existing Massoretic text,” a peculiarity which makes it very important for the criticism of the Hebrew Bible. From a statement of Jerome in his preface to the gospels it seems probable that Lucian had also a share in fixing the Syrian recension of the New Testament text, but of this it is impossible to speak with certainty. He was associated in his work with the Hebraist Dorotheus.See, generally, A. Harnack’s art. in Hauck-Herzog,Realencyk. vol. xi., and for “remains” Routh, Rel. Sac. iv. 3-17. A full account of his recension of the Septuagint is given in H. B. Swete’sIntroduction to the Old Testament in Greek, p. 81 sqq.; and a good account of his doctrinal position in the prolegomena to the volume onAthanasiusin the series of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (p. xxviii.) and A. Harnack’sHistory of Dogma, especially vol. iv.

Before the publication of Field’sHexapla, Lagarde had already directed his attention to the Antiochian text (as that of Lucian may be called) and ultimately published the first part (Genesis, 2 Esdras, Esther) of a provisional reconstructed text. The distinguishing marks of the Lucianic recension are thus summarized by S. R. Driver,Notes on Heb. Text of Samuel, p. li. seq.: (1) The substitution of synonyms for the words employed by the Septuagint; (2) the occurrence of double renderings; (3) the occurrence of renderings “which presuppose a Hebrew original self-evidently superior in the passages concerned to the existing Massoretic text,” a peculiarity which makes it very important for the criticism of the Hebrew Bible. From a statement of Jerome in his preface to the gospels it seems probable that Lucian had also a share in fixing the Syrian recension of the New Testament text, but of this it is impossible to speak with certainty. He was associated in his work with the Hebraist Dorotheus.

See, generally, A. Harnack’s art. in Hauck-Herzog,Realencyk. vol. xi., and for “remains” Routh, Rel. Sac. iv. 3-17. A full account of his recension of the Septuagint is given in H. B. Swete’sIntroduction to the Old Testament in Greek, p. 81 sqq.; and a good account of his doctrinal position in the prolegomena to the volume onAthanasiusin the series of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (p. xxviii.) and A. Harnack’sHistory of Dogma, especially vol. iv.

LUCIAN[Λουκιανός] (c.A.D.120-180), Greek satirist of the Silver Age of Greek literature, was born at Samosata on the Euphrates in northern Syria. He tells us in theSomniumorVita Luciani, 1, that, his means being small, he was at first apprenticed to his maternal uncle, a statuary, or rather sculptor of the stone pillars called Hermae. Having made an unlucky beginning by breaking a marble slab, and having been well beaten for it, he absconded and returned home. Here he had a dream or vision of two women, representing Statuary and Literature. Both plead their cause at length, setting forth the advantages and the prospects of their respective professions; but the youth choosesΠαιδεία, and decides to pursue learning. For some time he seems to have made money as aῥήτωρ, following the example of Demosthenes, on whose merits and patriotism he expatiates in the dialogueDemosthenis Encomium. He was very familiar with the rival schools of philosophy, and he must have well studied their teachings; but he lashes them all alike, the Cynics, perhaps, being the chief object of his derision. Lucian was not only a sceptic; he was a scoffer and a downright unbeliever. He felt that men’s actions and conduct always fall far short of their professions and therefore he concluded that the professions themselves were worthless, and a mere guise to secure popularity or respect. Of Christianity he shows some knowledge, and it must have been somewhat largely professed in Syria at the close of the 2nd century.1In thePhilopatris(q.v.), though the dialogue so called is generally regarded as spurious, there is a statement of the doctrine of the Trinity,2and the “Galilaean who had ascended to the third heaven” (12), and “renewed” (ἀνεκαίνισεν) by the waters of baptism, may possibly allude to St Paul. The doctrines of theΛόγοςand the “Light of the world,” and that God is in heaven making a record of the goodand bad actions of men,3seem to have come from the same source, though the notion of a written catalogue of human actions to be used in judgment was familiar to Aeschylus and Euripides.

As a satirist and a wit Lucian occupies in prose literature the unique position which Aristophanes holds in Greek poetry. But whether he is a mere satirist, who laughs while he lashes, or a misanthrope, who hates while he derides, is not very clear. In favour of the former view it may be said that the two main objects of his ridicule are mythology and the sects of philosophy; in favour of the latter, his bitter exposure of imposture and chicanery in theAlexander, and the very severe attacks he makes on the “humbug” of philosophy,4which he everywhere assails with the most acrimonious and contemptuous epithets.

As a writer Lucian is fluent, easy and unaffected, and a close follower of the best Attic models, such as Plato and the orators. His style is simpler than Plutarch’s, and some of his compositions, especially theDialogues of the Gods(pp. 204-287) andof the Marine Deities(288-327), and, above all, theDialogues of the Dead(329-454), are models of witty, polished and accurate Greek composition. Not less clever, though rather lax in morality, are theἑταιρικοί διάλογοι(pp. 280-325), which remind us somewhat of the letters of Alciphron. The sarcasms on the popular mythology, the conversations of Pluto, Hermes, Charon and others of the powers in Hades, show a positive disbelief in any future state of existence. The model Lucian followed in these dialogues, as well in the style as in the sparkling and playful repartee, was the Platonic conversations, founded on the drama, of which the dialogue may be called the prose representative. Aristotle never adopted it, perhaps regarding it as beneath the true dignity of philosophy. The dialogue, in fact, was revived and improved by Lucian,5the old traditions of theλογοποιοίandλογογράφοι, and, above all, the immense influence of rhetoric as an art, having thrown some discredit on a style of composition which, as introduced by Plato, had formed quite a new era in Greek prose composition. For rhetoric loved to talk, expatiate and declaim, while dialectic strove to refute by the employment of question and answer, often in the briefest form.

Lucian evinces a perfect mastery over a language as wonderful in its inflections as in its immense and varied vocabulary; and it is a well-merited praise of the author to say that to a good Greek scholar the pages of Lucian are almost as easy and as entertaining as an English or French novel. It is true that he employs some forms and compounds which were not in use in the time of Plato or Demosthenes, and, as one who lived under Roman rule, has a tendency towards Latinisms. But his own sentiments on the propriety of diction are shown by his reproof to Lexiphanes, “if anywhere you have picked up an out-of-the-way word, or coined one which you think good, you labour to adapt the sense of it, and think it a loss if you do not succeed in dragging it in somewhere, even when it is not really wanted.”

Lucian founded his style, or obtained his fluency, from the successful study of rhetoric, by which he appears to have made a good income from composing speeches which attracted much attention. At a later period in life he seems to have held a lucrative legal office in Egypt, which he retained till his death.

His extant works are so numerous that of some of the principal only a short sketch can be given. More than 80 pieces have come down to us under his name (including three collections of 71 shorter dialogues), of which about 20 are spurious or of doubtful authorship. To understand them aright we must remember that the whole moral code, the entire “duty of man,” was included, in the estimation of the pagan Greek, in the various schools of philosophy. As these were generally rivals, and the systems they taught were more or less directly antagonistic, truth presented itself to the inquirer, not as one, but as manifold. The absurdity and the impossibility of this forms the burden of all Lucian’s writings. He could only form one conclusion, viz. that there is no such thing as truth.

One of the best written and most amusing treatises of antiquity is Lucian’sTrue History, forming a rather long narrative in two books, which suggested Swift’sGulliver’s Travels, Rabelais’sVoyage of Pantagrueland Cyrano de Bergerac’sJourney to the Moon. It is composed, the author tells us in a brief introduction, not only as a pastime and a diversion from severer studies, but avowedly as a satire on the poets and logographers who had written so many marvellous tales. He names Ctesias and Homer; but Hellanicus and Herodotus, perhaps otherλογοποιοίstill earlier, appear to have been in his mind.6The only true statement in hisHistory, he wittily says (p. 72), is that it contains nothing but lies from beginning to end.

The main purport of the story is to describe a voyage to the moon. He set out, he tells us, with fifty companions, in a well-provisioned ship, from the “Pillars of Hercules,” intending to explore the western ocean. After eighty days’ rough sailing they came to an island on which they found a Greek inscription, “This was the limit of the expedition of Heracles and Dionysus”; and the visit of the wine-god seemed attested by some miraculous vines which they found there. After leaving the island they were suddenly carried up, ship and all, by a whirlwind into the air, and on the eighth day came in sight of a great round island shining with a bright light (p. 77), and lying a little above the moon. In a short time they are arrested by a troop of gigantic “horse-vultures” and brought as captives to the “man in the moon,” who proves to be Endymion. He is engaged in a war with the inhabitants of the sun, which is ruled by King Phaëthon, the quarrel having arisen from an attempt to colonize the planet Venus (Lucifer). The voyagers are enlisted as “Moonites,” and a long description follows of the monsters and flying dragons engaged in the contest. A fight ensues, in which the slaughter is so great that the very clouds are tinged with red (p. 84). The long description of the inhabitants of the moon is extremely droll and original. After descending safely into the sea, the ship is swallowed by a huge “sea serpent” more than 100 miles long. The adventures during the long confinement in the creature’s belly are most amusing; but at last they sail out through the chinks between the monster’s teeth, and soon find themselves at the “Fortunate Islands.” Here they meet with the spirits of heroes and philosophers of antiquity, on whom the author expatiates at some length. The tale comes to an abrupt end with an allusion to Herodotus in the promise that he “will tell the rest in his next books.”

Another curious and rather long treatise is entitledΛούκιος ἤ Ὄνος, the authorship of which is regarded as doubtful. Parts of the story are coarse enough; the point turns on one Lucius visiting in a Thessalian family, in which the lady of the house was a sorceress. Having seen her changed into a bird by anointing herself with some potent drug, he resolves to try a similar experiment on himself, but finds that he has become an ass, retaining, however, his human senses and memory. The mistake arose from his having filched the wrong ointment; however, he is assured by the attendant, Palaestra, that if he can but procure roses to eat, his natural form will be restored. In the night a party of bandits break into the house and carry off the stolen goods into the mountains on the back of the unfortunate donkey, who gets well beaten for stumbling on the rough road. Seeing, as he fancies, some roses in a garden, he goes in quest of them,and again gets beaten as a thief by the gardener (p. 585). After many adventures with the bandits, he attempts to run away, but is caught. A council is held, and he is condemned to die together with a captive girl who had essayed to escape on his back. Suddenly, however, soldiers appear, and the bandits are arrested (p. 595). Again the ass escapes “to the great and populous city of Beroea in Macedonia” (p. 603). Here he is sold to a strolling conjurer, afterwards to a market-gardener; and both experiences are alike painful. Again he passes into the possession of a cook, where he gets fat and sleek on food more suited to his concealed humanity than the hard fare he has of late lived upon (p. 614). At last, during an exhibition in the theatre, he sees some roses being carried past, and, making a successful rush to devour them, he recovers his former shape. “I am Lucius,” he exclaims to the wondering president of the exhibition, “and my brother’s name is Caius. It was a Thessalian witch that changed me into a donkey.” Thus all ends well, and he returns safe to his country.

The treatiseOn the Syrian Goddess(Mylitta, the moon-goddess, the Semitic Aphrodite) is written in the Ionic dialect in imitation perhaps of the style of Herodotus, though the resemblance is by no means close. The writer professes to be an Assyrian (p. 452), and to describe the wonders in the various temples of Palestine and Syria; he descants on the eunuchs of Syria and the origin of the self-imposed privation of manhood professed and practised by the Galli. The account of the temples, altars and sacrifices is curious, if really authentic; after the manner of Pausanias it is little more than a list, with the reasons in most cases added, or the origin of the custom explained.

De Morte Peregriniis a narrative of one Proteus, a Cynic, who after professing various doctrines, and among them those of Christianity, ended his own life by ascending a burning pyre (seePeregrinus Proteus).

Bis accusatus(“Twice Accused”) is a dialogue beginning with a satire on the folly of the popular notion that the gods alone are happy. Zeus is represented as disproving this by enumerating the duties that fall to their lot in the government of the world, and Hermes remarks on the vast crowds of philosophers of rival sects, by whose influence the respect and worship formerly paid to the gods have seriously declined. A trial is supposed to be held under the presidency of the goddessΔίκη, between the Academy, the Porch, the schools of the Cynics and Epicureans, and Pleasure, Revelry, Virtue, Luxury, &c., as variously impugned or defended by them. Then Conversation and Rhetoric come before the court, each having an action for defamation to bring against Syrus the essayist, who of course is Lucian himself (p. 823). His defence is heard, and in both cases he is triumphantly acquitted. This essay is brilliant from its clever parodies of Plato and Demosthenes, and the satire on the Socratic method of arguing by short questions and answers.

TheLover of Lying(Φιλοψεύδης) discusses the reason why some persons seem to take pleasure in falsehood for its own sake. Under the category of lying all mythology (e.g.that of Homer and Hesiod) is included, and the question is asked, why the hearers of such stories are amused by them? Quack remedies, charms and miraculous cures are included among the most popular kinds of falsehood; witchcraft, spiritualism, exorcism, expulsion of devils, spectres, are discussed in turn, and a good ghost story is told in p. 57. An anecdote is given of Democritus, who, to show his disbelief in ghosts, had shut himself up in a tomb, and when some young men, dressed up with death’s heads, came to frighten him at night, he did not even look up, but called out to them, “Stop your joking” (p. 59). This treatise, a very interesting one, concludes with the reflection that truth and sound reason are the only remedies for vain and superstitious terrors.

The dialogueNavigium seu Vota(“The Ship or the Wishes”) gives an apparently authentic account of the measurements and fittings of an Egyptian ship which has arrived with a cargo of corn at the Peiraeus, driven out of its course to Italy by adverse winds. The full length is 180 ft., the breadth nearly 50, the depth from deck to the bottom of the hold 43 ft. The “wishes” turn on a party of friends, who have been to see the ship, declaring what they would most desire to possess. One would have the ship filled with gold, another a fine house with gold plate; a third would be a “tyrant” with a large force devoted to his interests; a fourth would like to make himself invisible, enter any house that he pleased, and be transported through the air to the objects of his affection. After hearing them all, the first speaker, Lycinus (Lucian), says that he is content with the privilege of laughing heartily at the vanity of human wishes, especially when they are those of professed philosophers.

The dialogue between Philo and Lycinus,Convivium seu Lapithae, is a very amusing description of a banquet, at which a party of dignified philosophers quarrelled over their viands at a marriage feast, and came to blows. The style is a good imitation of Plato, and the scene reminds one of the “clients’ dinner” in the fifth satire of Juvenal. Matters come to a climax by the attempt of one of the guests, Zenothemis, to secure for himself a fatter fowl which had been served to his next neighbour Hermon. Each seizes his bird and hits the other with it in the face, at the same time pulling his beard. Then a general fight ensues. The story is a satire on philosophy, the favourite topic of a writer who believed neither in gods nor in men.

ThePiscator(“Fisherman”), a dialogue between Lucian, Socrates, Pythagoras, Empedocles, Plato and others, commences with a general attack on the author as the enemy of philosophy. Socrates proposes that the culprit should be tried, and that Philosophia should assist in the prosecution. Lucian declares that he does not know where such a person lives, long as he has been looking for her (11). She is found at last, but declares Lucian has never disparaged her, but only impostors and pretenders under her name (15). He makes a long defence (pp. 598-606), abusing the philosophers in the sort of language in which some schools of theologians abuse the monks of the middle ages (34). The trial is held in the Acropolis of Athens, and the sham philosophers, dreading a verdict against them, throw themselves from the rock. A Cynic flings away his scrip in the hurry, and on examination it is found to contain, not books or loaves of bread, but gold coins, dice and fragrant essences (44). At the end Lucian baits his hook with a fig and a gold coin, and catches gluttonous strollers in the city while seated on the wall of the Acropolis.

TheVoyage Home(Κατάπλους) opens with the complaint that Charon’s boat is kept waiting for Hermes, who soon appears with his troop of ghosts. Among them is aτύραννος, one Megapenthes, who, as his name is intended to express, mourns greatly over the life he has just left. Amusing appeals are made by other souls for leave to return to life, and even bribes are offered to the presiding goddess of destiny, but Clotho is inexorable. The moral of the piece is closely like that of the parable of Dives and Lazarus: the rich and prosperous bewail their fate, while the poor and afflicted find rest from their troubles, and have no desire to return to them. Theτύραννοςhere is the man clothed in purple and fine linen, and Lucian shows the same bitter dislike of tyrants which Plato and the tragic writers display. The heavy penalty is adjudged to Megapenthes that he may ever remember in the other world the misdeeds done in life.

TheSales of Livesis an auction held by Zeus to see what price the lives of philosophers of the rival sects will bring. A Pythagorean, who speaks in the Ionic dialect, first undergoes an examination as to what he can teach, and this contains an enumeration of the doctrines usually ascribed to that sect, including metempsychosis. He is valued at 7s. 6d., and is succeeded by Diogenes, who avows himself the champion of truth, a cosmopolitan (8), and the enemy of pleasure. Socrates brings two talents, and is purchased by Dion, tyrant of Syracuse (19). Chrysippus, who gives some specimens of his clever quibbles,7is bought for fifty pounds, Aristotle for nearly a hundred, while Pyrrho the sceptic (or one of his school), who professes to “knownothing,” brings four pounds, “becausehe is dull and stupid and has no more sense than a grub” (27). But the man raises a doubt, “whether or not he has really been bought,” and refuses to go with the purchaser till he has fully considered the matter.

Timonis a very amusing and witty dialogue. The misanthrope, once wealthy, has become a poor farm-labourer, and reproaches Zeus for his indifference to the injustice of man. Zeus declares that the noisy disputes in Attica have so disgusted him that he has not been there for a long time (9). He tells Hermes to conduct Plutus to visit Timon, and see what can be done to help him. Plutus, who at first refuses to go, is persuaded after a long conversation with Hermes, and Timon is found by them digging in his field (31). Poverty is unwilling to resign her votary to wealth; and Timon himself is with difficulty persuaded to turn up with his mattock a crock of gold coins. Now that he has once more become rich, his former flatterers come cringing with their congratulations and respects, but they are all driven off with broken heads or pelted with stones. Between this dialogue and thePlutusof Aristophanes there are many close resemblances.

Hermotimus(pp. 739-831) is one of the longer dialogues, Hermotimus, a student of the Stoic philosophy for twenty years (2), and Lucian (Lycinus) being the interlocutors. The long time—forty years at the least—required for climbing up to the temple of virtue and happiness, and the short span of life, if any, left for the enjoyment of it, are discussed. That the greatest philosophers do not always attain perfect indifference, the Stoicultimatum, is shown by the anecdote of one who dragged his pupil into court to make him pay his fee (9), and again by a violent quarrel with another at a banquet (11). Virtue is compared to a city with just and good and contented inhabitants; but so many offer themselves as guides to the right road to virtue that the inquirer is bewildered (26). What is truth, and who are the right teachers of it? The question is argued at length, and illustrated by a peculiar custom of watching the pairs of athletes and setting aside the reserved combatant (πάρεδρος) at the Olympian games by the marks on the ballots (40-43). This, it is argued, cannot be done till all the ballots have been examined; so a man cannot select the right way till he has tried all the ways to virtue. But to know the doctrines of all the sects is impossible in the term of a life (49). To take a taste of each, like trying a sample of wine, will not do, because the doctrines taught are not, like the crock of wine, the same throughout, but vary or advance day by day (59). A suggestion is made (68) that the searcher after truth should begin by taking lessons in the science of discrimination, so as to be a good judge of truth before testing the rival claims. But who is a good teacher of such a science? (70). The general conclusion is that philosophy is not worth the pursuit. “If I ever again,” says Hermotimus, “meet a philosopher on the road, I will shun him, as I would a mad dog.”

TheAnacharsisis a dialogue between Solon and the Scythian philosopher, who has come to Athens to learn the nature of the Greek institutions. Seeing the young men performing athletic exercises in the Lyceum, he expresses his surprise at such a waste of energy. This gives Socrates an opportunity of descanting at length on training as a discipline, and emulation as a motive for excelling. Love of glory, Solon says, is one of the chief goods in life. The argument is rather ingenious and well put; the style reminds us of the minor essays of Xenophon.

TheAlexanderorFalse Prophetis the subject of a separate article (seeAlexander the Paphlagonian).

These are the chief of Lucian’s works. Many others,e.g.Prometheus,Menippus,Life of Demonax,Toxaris,Zeus Tragoedus,The Dream or the Cock,Icaromenippus(an amusing satire on the physical philosophers), are of considerable literary value.

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