The works of Lucian

91쪽

POR TRAIT,

A DIALOGUE.

The Empres, hom Luci AN adsorasthisi complimented in the Portrait, o liking, or perhaps, lite ther fir Ladies, ather pretendi iso to the suo extraordinar Prases, avi signfed to his Friendier Disapprobation the Au horenters here lato a serious Defence of his Encomtum, and supporis it it somo Reafining and a great dea os Politenes It is in Led, ut os a murist and delicate Fulterras could have fallen stom thea ps of a French arquis, though, probabist, mith a mach large Portio of Sinceriy. LYCINUS, POLYSTRATUS. POLYSTRATUS. A M oblige to Lycinus, at the ady for his commendations ascit shewed his assectio and respect for mea no an could e so lavisti of his prat ses ithout sonae real regar&: utra ould have in know I a te flat-

Pelias. J Medea, the amous enchantresi, we are told, ut old Eron, Iason' sether, into ketile of medicated herbs, an bolle him ill eiecame oun again sueti extraordinarysuccest, in a project so universali detrabie, ut the aughter of Pelias, tyrantis Iolchos, ni requestin the fame favour of herior thei fallier ste accordingi dipped hi in also in her caul-dron, here me perfidioust les hi in tot consumed by the fite, and neve brought hi in odi se again. See the stor told a suil length by vid.

92쪽

pany x hii pered in his eare mave dones on m frien d or ou ill mahethe woman get up and spoli all. Simila to this, though infinitet more ridiculous, is hal the relate of Stratonice, the wife of Seleucus, ho offere a talent of gol for the est poem tote rit ten on her air, though he had not ne pon her ead every body wellano inishe was bald, and that it was occasioned by a longillnes ste sate, neverthelest, to ea a se of execrable poets raisin herHyacinthi locks, ahing them p into curis, an comparing them toleaves of pars ey though, in act, there a not ne belongin toler. Panthea theres ore, aucte at at those ho iel de thenaseives ut toadulation, and observed that prat se Nere lae pictures, hichil eased on lyhecause the statiered an deceived many sat me, ni admit thosepainters h can raru a handi me likenes of them there are even omewho illii the artist ake V par of a nose, ah the yes lacker, ora id any other beauty, hicli the wouldae thought possesse of Orget fultha the nare ali the whil crowning illi applause suci pictures as do no in the least resemble thenaseives. Such were her observations on ou book, hic li ho e ver in many paris me much admired, though is could notaea your comparinthe to Juno

Get v. J A naor person, hil stritting may b imagined tali, but standing pright must al-Ways discove the realiae and height.

93쪽

an Venus. They, sayscille, a re a beyon me; 'yond, in deed, a nythi r human no do I desii e to e putii a levet with Penelope, Arete, and Theano, an more than illi theirl of the goddesses. Lam a religio us oriuippe of the gods, and ear lis offending them, and werericio admitsuchinattery, iould read the fate of Cassiopeia though me ni compared herset to the Nereids, and adored Juno an Venus. his pari, there fore, he desire 3 ou ould alter me would other i se, ali ho se god dessesto it ness, ita a no writtent her destre, or illi her approbation, but asentiret di segreeablerio her, a void os piet an religion She hsuli loo hupo it a impio us, o suffer hersei tot compared to the nidian or Gar-den Venus and egged ou ould recollecto hat ou sat Myourself, to-ward the en disjou book, hen yo prat sed her modest; and humble be-haviour, that neve soare above human nature, ut confined iis sight with in the limits of mortali ty and et o lis her u to heaven, and comparehe to the inhabitants of t. he would ather isti ou thought her cap ableo imitatin Alexander, lio, hen the sculptor promise to mali motant Athos into a statue of him, illi No cities in his and would no en- courage sicli a ridiculous scheme, ut ad vised the an to et it rema in ascit Was, andio attemptato famion a Cunia in os suci, an immense sige, in to theshape an resemblance of a diminutive mortal. he prat sed, at the fame time, the conqueror' great nes of minit, hicli, me a id, ould ais an obter statue to in than Athos iis et in the opinion os posteri ty, ascit asdoubiles a proo of the ighest magnanimit to despis and reject so great

For herself, sae se id me much admire the ingenuit and persection fyour portraiis, ut could by o means admit of their likenes to her, a ne i the ste, o any ther Onaan, could Ver arrive a sicli persection. hebegs leave thereiare, to retur the intended honoUr bach pon ou hands, and with ait humilit adores our archetypes; egS O Nould prat se tholevit tu es only, hic his remith in the reach of humani ty, and that ou ould not

Cassiopeia. J Wis of Cepheus, ing of Ethiopia, and mother of Andromeda. he boast

94쪽

that the victor at the Olympic ames are not permitte to have statues of them made bigger than thenaseives that he hadges always tali care of this, and are even more nice in the examination of them than of the candidates. Tahe care, there re that oui meas ure also is exach, o the jud ges ill reiectoour portraitS. Such is her opinion of our persor mance: I Would ad vise ou there- fore, Lycinus, o revis and correct it, that ou ma noti accused os im

Demed o stud de at them, deprecating the wrath of the god desies, o rende them propitio us to her, and incline them to pardon a Nea Goman. Tosa the truth, lam, myself, a litile of her opinion: henes eard you, in-deed, sirit repeat it, I mundi favit; ut aster hal steria id, egan Poren, to thin a me id It is the fame hin with regar to opinions as illi obieci si fight when the hin is lose to us, and justie re u eyes, e cannot observe it distinctly ut is, dra bac a litile, and te it at apro per distance, it is ali clear an plain, and we se immediatet what is right, and what is ron incit. To compare a mere mortat, illi uno and Venus, hacis it in effect but o depreciate the god deme sor, in his case, the lesie is no made so much greate by the Comparison, a the greater is diminissae an degraded by it:

by ou comparison. Is inde ed, or an os terrestriat objectos, ou reobligexto have recourse to celestia Pones, the fauit illi more veniat butu hen oui ad O many mortat omen e fore ora, to compare e to Venus and Juno as totally un necessary. Tahelis, there re, my good riend, what i more than sussicient, and what is obnoxious this hole piece, in-deed, is foret g to 3 our nature and disposition for ou re sel dona incline topanegyric, though at present so onder fuit altered, that Domin niggar in prat se, ouin a sud dei a re rorin prodigal oscit; ut neveri asta me of

95쪽

broad another illi the face sorteindito long an a third with somethingelse. When the were ait one herili ut himself up again, and corrected his

LYCINUS. So heau an accusation ill require a long defence, ut for our ah Istali contradicit; et her, therei ore, hi frona me

miseris Stesichorus, the amous Sicilian lyric poet, ho, hau in in one of his destahen seme liberties illi the charadier of that immaculate lady the celebrate Helen, as punissiexsor it by he brothers ithiltiadnest. He made his eace, o ever, it their od-ὶips, Trecanting, in a palinodia, and in conlue leuce of it, as restored to his figlit. VOL. H. N POLY-

96쪽

POLYSTRATUS.

no me is come there is no reti ring. POLYSTRATUS.

But stet her countenance is fuit os benigni ty the miles propitious on

ignorance alone, amongstis portraiis, Domitted it for this, bove allithers, mould have represented. Here, there fore, at least, o musi acknowlege, I Gent notato far, ut felicilior of hat ou deserved Plestiui that in-deed, hich contributes more than alicio purit o manners, an a perfectini ny inasmuch, a those ho most truly orshi God alway bellave besttoward man. Is, there fore, I correctis picture, it mustae, noti takingany thin a a from it, uti adding this a the crow of all. here isone hin g, moreover, hicli Pana infinitet oblige to ou for, and that is, whendirais edo our moderatio an humili ty, and Did that our good fortune and prosperit lia neve made O prouxor insolent, o condem me for it, and by that ver censure confirm the truth of it for surely, not

at all.

But his, o Will say, is foret g to the purpose, and has nothinga dois illi the cause in and : I stan accused of comparing ou in the picture

97쪽

whicli Irare of our person to the Cnidian and Garden Venus, and like-wis to Juno and Minerva. It is an id observation, that pa inter and poetsare o tot callexto account sor ha the say much est, consequently, such as rite in humbi prose, lihe myself prat se is Dee, nor is there any la to limit therare and extent of it ali it is ound locis, o prove the obiee prat sed worth of admiration, and of imitation also. Butri mali notdwellin his argument, est youciliould say, it si ecauses have no the toproduce Galles halliso conten d forcis, that in panegyric ei vera rightto malle se of mage and similitudes, and the principat merit is to draisa si comparison. e must no compare ne thing ith another that is equallo it o that is inferior, ut it What is more excellent i yo si ea his adog, and Dyae sic iter than a se or amat, hat extraordinar prat se is tyor, i Dyo compare hinario Molf, ould it be any great encomtum hat

were o malae an encomtum n y Milo the Crotonian Glaucus o Carystus, o Polydamas, and mould say that ach of them a stronger than a Woman would notoo thin him in est nor ould it e susscient o say, that ei ther of these Mould e superior to any one an Butio has thenoble poet described Glaucus, Doth he no put forti, The strength o Pollux, o the iron sono great Alcmena Yo se ho he compares him to the gods, nay, even mahes him superiorto thema and et ne ither id Glaucus essent his bella likened to the go is, nor id the god punish Glaucus o the poet both, on the contrary, erehel in the ighest fleem and veneration by the Greeks Glaucus sor his wonderfui strength, and Homer for the celebration of him. Wonder nor, there re is, Rhen I anted a comparison to illustrate my subjecto madeu se of the nobi est could procure. ou say, ouiate flatterers, and I commend ou forcit; ut I ould have yota distinguisti et veen prat se and adulationa the atterer, ho consulis his oris interest ithou any regar to

Thepoe . J The passage here quote is probabi fro Pindar, ut is no tot met with in

annos his Works nox extant.

N et truth,

98쪽

truth load every thing illi prat se, Dys hat he leases, malles no scrupleos asserting that Thersites as and me than Achilles, and that of ali hewarriors horiought a Troy Nestor a the oungest he wil sinea that thes sonis Croesus couldaea belle than ' Melampodes, and thata Phineus had harpe eyes than Lynceus, is he could get an thingi it whil stthe rue encomiast neve say the thing that is not, ut here good qualitiesare plantedi nature, he improves, increases, and et them is to the best advantage. I he would prat se a horse, I mea a Mift courser, e ventures

trius, who, When he had orn ut Ver mode of adulation, at last compli mented hi mi his cough, and vo ed that he ha ked and spi most harmoni ousy. The differen cete tween them, there fore, is that the flattere hesitates nota tellthe mos dired false hoods, i he canaleas his patron the en comi ast on lyraises and illustrates Rhat is true adyto his, that the ne mahes se of allthe hyperboles he an meet illi, hiis the ther is moderate even in them,

99쪽

andaeeps illi in prope limits These, ut o many that might be mentioned a re the specis differe iaces of prais an adulation, hic hes musta egyO to remark, that ou may no suspeet allis fiat tery, ut distinguissi be-

as deviat in froin the truth.

have prat sed your beata ty, ut thates ought no thus invidi ou sy to comparea mortalo a goddes : ut for I must telibou the real truth, I id notcompare a morta tora goddess, ut oni to the or o an eminent artis in brasi stone, o ivory. There could emo impiet in saying that resembleda mortat which was made by onea uni est o Will say the picture by Phidias a the rue Minerva, o the statue made a Cnidus ut a se years since, by raxiteles, was the celestia Venus: ake eed, oble ady, outhin no thus of the immortals, hos true image is far eyon the reacho human imitation. But i I ad even a id, ou ere like the god des es them se lues, Irim notthei cst ho struck out his path many of our est poetsi ave done it be-

fore me, an particulari Homer, Our Wia felloK-citigen, homo herecati pon to lea for me, for e must tali unde the same condemnationulet meras him, or ather et me sic o Draim for o remember, and

100쪽

Dund who will dare to beat his statue, or to mar these verses purious, and nolle longinguo hi m. hal Homer then, liken a we epingi arbaria togoiden Venus, and I, ecause ou illio be prat sed for beauty, must notcompare even to the statue of od des the most lovel of omen, holacheartat countenance is evermovered with miles in miles, at least, eresemble the immortals. Observe, in his Agamemnon, o sparin he is

of his divinities, tu in him a proportioni each, his yes and head are like Jove his bel like Mars, and his breast ille Neptune divi ling the an into paris, o sui his representationis the deities in another place he coma pares hi in to Mars, the an sayer Phryges, e telis us, ad the formi agod and osten calis Achilles the god like son o Peleus. Butes must returnio example os omen ; o remember herei says, Li hemian he, orcloiden VenUS-And again, Asmian wand'ringi'er the mountains strays. He notini likens men thenaseives o gods, ut even tallas of Euphorbus shair, and that sta ined illi blood, as resembling the races There is not, in stiori, any species of poeir that is no adorne with divine images : lotthem alliut there re, o indulge me in the sanae liberty. Soriar, indeed, are similitudes of this in frona ei niti able to censure, that Homer frequently praises his deities by mage dra n frona inferior nature compares

like violeis, and who, thalanores ver socii ille of the bl in bard does notre member his rosy-finger'ygoddes pT be likened to the god in hape and form is uret veniat ho muchbolde are thos Who assume their ames, lihe Dionysius, Haephestion Zeno, Posidonius, and Hermaeus The wife o Evagoras, Lingis Cyprus, calledhersol Latona ς and et the god des resentexit not though me might haveturned her, like Niobe, into stone. I nee no mentio the AEgyptians, who, though the most superstitious o ali eople, malae se of the divinena me perpetuat ly e very thing illi them comes frona heaven. Yo nee not, therei ore, e so fearful os prat se is thereae any thingimplous o profane in ha I, rote, it is not our fauit, uni est ou thin it

- θαrisus. J Greek, τη νορα, the Engli se, it is observabie, ansiners exacti to the original.