The Room and Timon

Lucian, of Samosata, 120-180Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 126K words
Chapters: 13

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today."Huone" ja "Timon" by of Samosata LucianAuthor: Lucian, of Samosata, 120-180,Language: Finnish, Class: PA: Language and Literatures: Classical Languages and Literature, Release Date: Oct 16, 2016

Editor's review

This is a Finnish translation of two works by the ancient Roman satirist Lucian, Huone and Timon, from Project Gutenberg. Lucian is known for his satirical dialogues, using Greek myth and everyday characters to expose human weaknesses and the ways of the world; Timon is the famous Misanthrope, the story of a rich man who, after losing his fortune, is abandoned by everyone and turns to hating humankind, offering a biting analysis of wealth, friendship and hypocritical social life. This is a free public-domain e-book, suitable as an entry point to classical satire and Lucian's style, and also for readers studying Finnish translation or the transmission of classical texts. It is best read in a quiet setting with reference materials on Greek and Roman background at hand, to appreciate the irony and wit of the dialogue; as a public-domain electronic text, its layout and notes are limited, so readers need to bring their own background knowledge.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in ancient Greek and Roman satire and Lucian's works
Readers who want to understand classical text translation through a Finnish version
Those who need a free public-domain e-book as teaching or research material
Readers who enjoy satirical dialogue and issues of human nature and wealth

Not a good fit for

Readers unfamiliar with Finnish who have no parallel translation to rely on
Beginners expecting modern notes, introductions and detailed background explanation
Readers who prefer long narrative fiction and have little patience for satirical dialogue

Reading tips

Read Timon first for the outline of the Timon story, then read Huone to compare satirical techniques
Look up Lucian's life and the tradition of ancient Greek satirical dialogue before reading to lower the barrier to understanding
Read in Chinese-English or Finnish-English parallel to note how irony and allusions are handled in translation
After each piece, note the targets of satire and their real-world counterparts for discussion and writing

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Which works by Lucian does this book include?

According to the information, this book is a Finnish translation of Lucian's works Huone and Timon, a public-domain e-book released by Project Gutenberg. Timon is the Misanthrope, the story of a rich man who loses his wealth and is abandoned; Huone is also a satirical dialogue.

Can I read this book without knowing Finnish?

The original is in Finnish, so reading it directly without Finnish will be difficult. You can first find an English or Chinese translation to understand the content, then use this book for language comparison; if you only want to understand Lucian's thought, a translation with introduction and notes is recommended.

What restrictions apply to using a public-domain e-book?

Project Gutenberg e-books are public-domain resources, generally free to read and distribute, subject to the platform's terms of use. This book has no modern publisher's notes or introduction, so readers need to supplement classical background material themselves.

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About the author

Lucian, of Samosata, 120-180 Author

Lucian of Samosata (120–180) was a satirical writer who composed in Greek during the Roman Empire and was born in Samosata, Syria. The collection here holds thirteen of his works, including several volumes of his complete works in Greek as well as English translations, which shows how widely his writings circulated. He is best known for Lucian's True History, often regarded as an important early work of fantastic narrative. His subjects are varied, touching on myth, philosophy, rhetoric and the social customs of his time, and his tone is witty and playful, making use of irony and parody, often through invented travels and dialogues that mock the ideas and fashionable doctrines of his contemporaries. Public information about his life is limited and many details remain uncertain, yet the works themselves reveal a thorough familiarity with classical culture and a self-conscious sense of literary experiment; they have influenced later satirical literature and fantastic fiction.