LITCIAN, a classic satirist and humorist of the first merit, was b. at Samosata, Syria, in the earlier part of the 2d c., thouzh the exact year Is matter ot conjecture. Ile himself tells us, in a piece called The Dream, that his parents were poor, and could not afford him a learned education. He was, in consequence, apprenticed to an uncle who was a statuary, in order that he might learn that trade; but he soon abandoned it, and betook himself to the study of letters. For a long time he led a somewhat vagrant and unsettled life, visiting the most of Greece, Italy, and Gaul, in the last of which countries he practiced with great success as a teacher of rhetoric. He is thought ter have returned to his native country when about 40 years of age, after which time all his masterpieces were composed. The last thing we know about him is, that lie was made a procurator of part of Egypt by the emperor Commodus. Ire died probably about the end of the 2d century. The statement of Suidas, that Lucian was torn to pieces by marl dogs on account of his impiety, finds no credence with modern scholars; neither does that of Volaterranus, that he was an apostate front Christianity. The dialogue entitled Philopatris, long attributed to Lucian, certainly shows an intimate knowledge of Chris tianity; but no critic now believes it to be a production of that writer. The fact is, Lucian was one of that class of men who do not readily embrace any form of religion— rnen whose sharp critical eyes see too many flaws to make it easy for them to acquire a pious or reverential spirit. In philosophy, as well as in religion, lie called no man.
master. Philosophers are, indeed, the constant subjects of his humorous ridicule and pungent wit, aided by all the resources of a richly inventive fancy. His writings have been classified under seven heads: 1. The Rhetorical; 2. The Critical; 3. The Biographi cal; 4. Romances; 5. Dialogues; 6. Miscellaneous; 7. Poems. Of these, the most cele brated are his Dialogues, the principal of which are: The Sale of Lives ; Dialogues of the Gods ; •The Fisherlrum, or,thp- Revivified ; The ',lappet, or the Laplace ; Timon the Misanthrope ; Dialogues of the Dead ; and karo,..lienippus, Or Above the' Clouds. The.
best of his romances, and a work of Rabelaisian humor, is his True Histories. The eclitio prineeps of Lucian appeared at Florence in 1493; the best of the later editions is that commenced by Hemsttrhuis in 1730, and finished by Reitz (Amst., 1743). Lucian has always been a great favorite with scholars, and has been translated into most of the European languages. The best English version (incomplete, however) is that of Dr. Franklin (2 vols., Lond., 1780, and 4 vols., Loud., 1781).