SAPERE IX: The Death of Peregrinos. A charlatan at the stake

The Death of Peregrinos. A Charlatan at the stake, introduced, translated and with interpretative essays by Peter Pilhofer / Manuel Baumbach / Jens Gerlach / Dirk U. Hansen, Darmstadt 2005.

In 167 AD, in Olympia, the wandering philosopher Peregrinos, who called himself Proteus, committed suicide by publicly burning himself at the end of the Olympic Games. Among the eyewitnesses to this act was the writer Lucian of Samosata, who reported the event to his friend Cronius in his writing The Death of Peregrinos . But not only the circumstances of the burning death are the content of the work; Lucian also reviews the life of this man who was famous during his lifetime and cultically revered after his death. In his production, which does not leave a good mark on Peregrinus, first an ardent follower, then a despiser of Peregrino have their say, and finally Lucian himself, who reports and comments in his usual sharp and mocking manner, always brilliantly formulated. His mockery is directed not only at the Cynics but also at the Christians, in whose ranks Peregrinos had a short but remarkable career. This not only earned the author the threat of eternal damnation in the medieval lexicon of Suidas, it has also always secured the interest of theologians and historians for the work presented here.

Reviews:

• I. DURRER, Schweizerischer Altphilologenverband, Bulletin 67 (April 2006), 43.
• K. GEUS, Sehepunkte 8 (2008), Nr. 9.
• A. J. M. WEDDERBURN, Gnomon 79 (2007), 558f.
• P.W. van der Horst, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2015, 11.16

Pilhofer, Peter; Baumbach, Manuel; Gerlach, Jens; Hansen, Dirk U.
Composite volume; German, Ancient Greek
Published: 2005
Publisher: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt: Darmstadt
ISBN: 3-534-23586-5