Book Club | October 2024: Lucian of Samosata : Alexander the False Prophet  

First I shall draw you a word-picture of the man himself, making as close a likeness as I can, although I am not particularly good at drawing. As regards his person—in order that I may exhibit this also to you—he was tall and handsome in appearance, and really godlike; his skin was fair, his beard not very thick; his long hair was in part natural, in part false, but very similar, so that most people did not detect that it was not his own. His eyes shone with a great glow of fervor and enthusiasm; his voice was at once very sweet and very clear; and in a word, no fault could be found with him in any respect as far as all that went.

Alexander of Abonoteichus, was a seer and priest of Aesculapius. He predicted the god’s return under the name of Glycon, and established a successful and notorious mystery cult in the god’s honor.

Lucian of Samosata was a Greek writer of  Syrian origin, who is known for his numerous humorous essays, in which he often lampooned cults, piety, and belief in the paranormal.  Lucian’s ridiculing of Alexander’s fraudulent lifestyle supposedly led to an attempt on his life.

You are welcome to read the version you like best:

https://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_alexander.htm

http://lucianofsamosata.info/wiki/doku.php?id=home:texts_and_library:essays:alexander

In Ancient Greek

PDF

https://earlychristianwritings.com/text/alexander.html

PDF

https://thelostbooks.org/lucian-samosata-alexander-the-false-prophet/

https://sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl2/wl218.htm

In Ancient Greek

Discussion starts and continues in the Forum.

We will meet via Zoom on Tuesday, October 29 at 11 a.m. EDT.

Happy reading!