Nigrinus

Lucian of Samosata

The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 1. Fowler, H. W. and Fowler, F.G., translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.

Friend Will the man never have done with his masks and his stages?

v.1.p.16

Lucian Nay, that is all. And now to my subject. Nigrinus’s first words were in praise of Greece, and in particular of the Athenians. They are brought up, he said, to poverty and to philosophy. The endeavours, whether of foreigners or of their own countrymen, to introduce luxury into their midst, find no favour with them. When a man comes among them with this view, they quietly set about to correct his tendency, and by gentle degrees to bring him to a better course of life.