Social Commentaries

The Fruits of Philosophy (Mackail)

by Lucian 2nd century AD (Paton’s date)

Translated by J. W. Mackail (1890) · From Select Epigrams from the Greek Anthology (1890)

Social Commentaries

We saw at dinner the great wisdom of that sturdy beggar the Cynic with the long beard; for at first he abstained from lupines and radishes, saying that Virtue ought not to be a slave to the belly; but when he saw a snowy womb dressed with sharp sauce before his eyes, which at once stole away his sagacious intellect, he unexpectedly asked for it, and ate of it heartily, observing that an entrée could not harm Virtue.

This translation is printed as prose in its source edition.

MLA

Lucian. “The Fruits of Philosophy (Mackail).” Translated by J. W. Mackail. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/lucian/39/.

Chicago

Lucian. “The Fruits of Philosophy (Mackail).” Translated by J. W. Mackail. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/lucian/39/.

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