THERE are two English translations of Lucian
in cheap editions; the Loeb edition, of which
four volumes out of eight are now in print, and
the edition of H. W. and F. G. Fowler ( Oxford
Clarendon Press, 1905), which is inclusive. The
translations of Mr. Harmon in Loeb convey the
subtlety and suavity of the Greek in a way that I
should have hardly thought possible in English,
but one or two of the greatest dialogues have not
yet been reached. The Fowler translation is done
in a rollicking, go-as-you-please manner. I have
made use now of one, now of the other, of these
versions.

The reader must remember that the dialogue is
the most difficult form of prose composition, be-
cause the scene, the characters, the theme, and the
action are all conveyed by talk, which seems to be
casual, but must in its effect be both complex and
brilliant. It is impossible to make an abstract of a
good dialogue, for every word is essential. I shall

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