---
title: "Dialogues of the Dead · Νεκρικοὶ διάλογοι"
author: "Lucian"
translator: "Matthew Donald Macleod"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
section: 12 of 30
url: https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-dialogues-of-the-dead/12/
cite: "Lucian, tr. Matthew Donald Macleod, Dialogues of the Dead · Νεκρικοὶ διάλογοι, section 12. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-dialogues-of-the-dead/12/"
---

# Dialogues of the Dead · Νεκρικοὶ διάλογοι

*Lucian, tr. Matthew Donald Macleod*

Diogenes, Menippus, Alexander, Achilles and the rest in Hades, where beauty, wealth and power count for nothing.

> Greek: ed. Matthew Donald Macleod, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0062.tlg066, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Matthew Donald Macleod, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0062.tlg066.perseus-eng3). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 12. Dialogue 12

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-dialogues-of-the-dead/12/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-dialogues-of-the-dead/12/#p-N

[¶0] 1. PHILIP: You can’t deny being my son now, Alexander; you wouldn’t be dead, if you were the son of Ammon.

> Greek: 1. ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΣ: Νῦν μέν, ὦ Ἀλέξανδρε, οὐκ ἂν ἔξαρνος γένοιο μὴ οὐκ ἐμὸς υἱὸς εἶναι· οὐ γὰρ ἂν τεθνήκεις Ἄμμωνός γε ὤν.

[¶1] ALEXANDER: I knew quite well myself, father, that I was the son of Philip, the son of Amyntas, but I accepted the oracle, because I thought it useful for my purposes.

> Greek: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ: Οὐδ’ αὐτὸς ἠγνόουν, ὦ πάτερ, ὡς Φιλίππου τοῦ Ἀμύντου υἱός εἰμι, ἀλλ’ ἐδεξάμην τὸ μάντευμα, χρήσιμον εἰς τὰ πράγματα εἶναι οἰόμενος.

[¶2] PHILIP: What! Useful to allow yourself to be cheated by the prophets?

> Greek: ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΣ: Πῶς λέγεις; χρήσιμον ἐδόκει σοι τὸ παρέχειν σεαυτὸν ἐξαπατηθησόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν;

[¶3] ALEXANDER: Not that, but the barbarians were terrified of me, and nobody resisted me any more; they thought they were fighting against a god, so that I conquered them the more easily.

> Greek: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ: Οὐ τοῦτο, ἀλλ’ οἱ βάρβαροι κατεπλάγησάν με καὶ οὐδεὶς ἔτι ἀνθίστατο οἰόμενοι θεῷ μάχεσθαι, ὥστε ῥᾷον ἐκράτουν αὐτῶν.

[¶4] 2. PHILIP: What enemies did you conquer that were worth fighting? Your adversaries were always cowards, and armed with nothing better than bows and bucklers and wicker shields. But conquering Greeks, conquering Boeotians, Phocians and Athenians was a real task, and subduing Arcadian heavy troops, Thessalian horse, javelin men of Elis, and light troops from Mantinea, or Thracians, Illyrians or Paeonians was a great achievement. But as for Medes, Persians and Chaldaeans, effeminate creatures bedecked in gold—you weren’t the first to conquer them. Don’t you know how Clearchus did so, going inland with a mere ten thousand men, and they didn’t even wait to fight at close quarters, but fled before they were in bow-shot?

> Greek: 2. ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΣ: Τίνων δὲ ἐκράτησας σύ γε ἀξιομάχων ἀνδρῶν, ὃς δειλοῖς ἀεὶ συνηνέχθης τοξάρια καὶ πελτίδια καὶ γέρρα οἰσύϊνα προβεβλημένοις; Ἑλλήνων κρατεῖν ἔργον ἦν, Βοιωτῶν καὶ Φωκέων καὶ Ἀθηναίων, καὶ τὸ Ἀρκάδων ὁπλιτικὸν καὶ τὴν Θετταλὴν ἵππον καὶ τοὺς Ἠλείων ἀκοντιστὰς καὶ τὸ Μαντινέων πελταστικὸν ἢ Θρᾷκας ἢ Ἰλλυριοὺς ἢ καὶ Παίονας χειρώσασθαι, ταῦτα μεγάλα· Μήδων δὲ καὶ Περσῶν καὶ Χαλδαίων, χρυσοφόρων ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἁβρῶν, οὐκ οἶσθα ὡς πρὸ σοῦ μύριοι μετὰ Κλεάρχου ἀνελθόντες ἐκράτησαν οὐδ’ εἰς χεῖρας ὑπομεινάντων ἐλθεῖν ἐκείνων, ἀλλὰ πρὶν ἢ τόξευμα ἐξικνεῖσθαι φυγόντων;

[¶5] 3. ALEXANDER: But, father, the Scythians and the elephants of the Indians are not to be despised, and yet I won my victories over them without sowing dissension, or using bribery and treachery. I never went back on an oath or a promise, or broke faith to gain a victory, and, though I took over most of the Greeks without bloodshed, perhaps you’ve heard how I punished the Thebans.

> Greek: 3. ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ: Ἀλλ' οἱ Σκύθαι γε, ὦ πάτερ, καὶ οἱ Ἰνδῶν ἐλέφαντες οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητόν τι ἔργον, καὶ ὅμως οὐ διαστήσας αὐτοὺς οὐδὲ προδοσίαις ὠνούμενος τὰς νίκας ἐκράτουν αὐτῶν· οὐδ’ ἐπιώρκησα πώποτε ἢ ὑποσχόμενος ἐψευσάμην ἢ ἄπιστον ἔπραξά τι τοῦ νικᾶν ἕνεκα. καὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας δὲ τοὺς μὲν ἀναιμωτὶ παρέλαβον, Θηβαίους δὲ ἴσως ἀκούεις ὅπως μετῆλθον.

[¶6] PHILIP: I know all that; I was told by Clitus, whom you killed at dinner, by running him through with a spear, because he dared to praise me rather than your achievements.

> Greek: ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΣ: Οἶδα ταῦτα πάντα· Κλεῖτος γὰρ ἀπήγγειλέ μοι, ὃν σὺ τῷ δορατίῳ διελάσας μεταξὺ δειπνοῦντα ἐφόνευσας, ὅτι με πρὸς τὰς σὰς πράξεις ἐπαινέσαι ἐτόλμησεν.

[¶7] 4. PHILIP: Furthermore, you discarded the Macedonian cloak, they tell me, for a Median doublet, and took to a tiara worn upright on your head, and expected Macedonians, free men, to bow down before you. And, most ridiculous thing of all, you aped the habits of your defeated foes! I won’t mention your other activities—how you locked up educated men along with lions, all your weddings, and your inordinate affection for Hephaestion. I’ve only heard of one thing I can praise; you kept your attentions away from Darius’ beautiful queen, and looked after his mother and his daughters. That was conduct befitting a king.

> Greek: 4. ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΣ: σὺ δὲ καὶ τὴν Μακεδονικὴν χλαμύδα καταβαλὼν κάνδυν, ὥς φασι, μετενέδυς καὶ τιάραν ὀρθὴν ἐπέθου καὶ προσκυνεῖσθαι ὑπὸ Μακεδόνων, ἐλευθέρων ἀνδρῶν, ἠξίους, καὶ τὸ πάντων γελοιότατον, ἐμιμοῦ τὰ τῶν νενικημένων. ἐῶ γὰρ λέγειν ὅσα ἄλλα ἔπραξας, λέουσι συγκατακλείων πεπαιδευμένους ἄνδρας καὶ τοσούτους γαμῶν γάμους καὶ Ἡφαιστίωνα ὑπεραγαπῶν. ἓν ἐπῄνεσα μόνον ἀκούσας, ὅτι ἀπέσχου τῆς τοῦ Δαρείου γυναικὸς καλῆς οὔσης, καὶ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν θυγατέρων ἐπεμελήθης· βασιλικὰ γὰρ ταῦτα.

[¶8] 5. ALEXANDER: Don’t you praise me for my adventurous spirit, father, and for being first man to leap into the fort of the Oxydracae, and for receiving so many wounds?

> Greek: 5. ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ: Τὸ φιλοκίνδυνον δέ, ὦ πάτερ, οὐκ ἐπαινεῖς καὶ τὸ ἐν Ὀξυδράκαις πρῶτον καθαλέσθαι ἐντὸς τοῦ τείχους καὶ τοσαῦτα λαβεῖν τραύματα;

[¶9] PHILIP: I don’t. Not that I think it’s a bad thing for a king to suffer an occasional wound and to face dangers at the head of his army; but that wasn’t at all the sort of thing for you. For you were supposed to be a god, and any time you were wounded and seen being carried out of the fighting on a litter, streaming with blood and groaning from your wound, the onlookers were amused to see how Ammon was being shown up as an impostor whose forecasts were false, and his prophets as mere flatterers. Who wouldn’t have been amused to see the son of Zeus fainting and calling for the assistance of the doctors? For now that you’re dead, don’t you think that there are many who wax witty about that pretence of yours, now that they see the corpse of the “god ‘” lying at full length, clammy and swollen like any other body? Besides, this policy, which you said was so useful, Alexander, the policy of gaining easy victories in this way, greatly diminished the glory of your successes. For everything seemed disappointing, when regarded as the work of a god.

> Greek: ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΣ: Οὐκ ἐπαινῶ τοῦτο, ὦ Ἀλέξανδρε, οὐχ ὅτι μὴ καλὸν οἴομαι εἶναι καὶ τιτρώσκεσθαί ποτε τὸν βασιλέα καὶ προκινδυνεύειν τοῦ στρατοῦ, ἀλλ’ ὅτι σοι τὸ τοιοῦτο ἥκιστα συνέφερεν· θεὸς γὰρ εἶναι δοκῶν εἴ ποτε τρωθείης, καὶ βλέποιέν σε φοράδην τοῦ πολέμου ἐκκομιζόμενον, αἵματι ῥεόμενον, οἰμώζοντα ἐπὶ τῷ τραύματι, ταῦτα γέλως ἦν τοῖς ὁρῶσιν, ᾗ καὶ ὁ Ἄμμων γόης καὶ ψευδόμαντις ἠλέγχετο καὶ οἱ προφῆται κόλακες. ἢ τίς οὐκ ἂν ἐγέλασεν ὁρῶν τὸν τοῦ Διὸς υἱὸν ἀποψύχοντα, δεόμενον τῶν ἰατρῶν βοηθεῖν; νῦν μὲν γὰρ ὁπότε ἤδη τέθνηκας, οὐκ οἴει πολλοὺς εἶναι τοὺς τὴν προσποίησιν ἐκείνην ἐπικερτομοῦντας, ὁρῶντας τὸν νεκρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκτάδην κείμενον, μυδῶντα ἤδη καὶ ἐξῳδηκότα κατὰ νόμον ἁπάντων τῶν σωμάτων; ἄλλως τε καὶ τοῦτο, ὃ χρήσιμον ἔφης, ὦ Ἀλέξανδρε, τὸ διὰ τοῦτο κρατεῖν ῥᾳδίως, πολὺ τῆς δόξης ἀφῄρει τῶν κατορθουμένων· πᾶν γὰρ ἐδόκει ἐνδεὲς ὑπὸ θεοῦ γίγνεσθαι δοκοῦν.

[¶10] 6. ALEXANDER: People don’t think like that about me, but put me on a par with Heracles and Dionysus. And yet I alone have subdued the famous Aornos, a place captured by neither of them.

> Greek: 6. ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ: Οὐ ταῦτα φρονοῦσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι περὶ ἐμοῦ, ἀλλὰ Ἡρακλεῖ καὶ Διονύσῳ ἐνάμιλλον τιθέασί με. καίτοι τὴν Ἄορνον ἐκείνην, οὐδετέρου ἐκείνων λαβόντος, ἐγὼ μόνος ἐχειρωσάμην.

[¶11] PHILIP: Don’t you see how you’re speaking just now like the son of Ammon, in comparing yourself to Heracles and Dionysus? Aren’t you ashamed, Alexander? Won’t you learn to forget your pride, and know yourself, and realise that you’re now dead?

> Greek: ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΣ: Ὁρᾷς ὅτι ταῦτα ὡς Ἄμμωνος υἱὸς λέγεις, ὃς Ἡρακλεῖ καὶ Διονύσῳ παραβάλλεις σεαυτόν; καὶ οὐκ αἰσχύνῃ, ὦ Ἀλέξανδρε, οὐδὲ τὸν τῦφον ἀπομαθήσῃ καὶ γνώσῃ σεαυτὸν καὶ συνήσεις ἤδη νεκρὸς ὤν;