Editing Lucian (section)

===Renaissance and Reformation===
[[File:Sandro Botticelli La calumnia de Apeles.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|right |''[[Calumny of Apelles (Botticelli)|The Calumny of Apelles]]'' by [[Sandro Botticelli]], based on a description of a painting by the Greek painter [[Apelles of Kos]] found in Lucian's ''[[ekphrasis]]'' ''On Calumny'']]
In the West, Lucian's writings were mostly forgotten during the [[Middle Ages]].{{sfn|Marsh|2010|page=544}}{{sfn|Marsh|1998|pages=2–3}} When they were rediscovered in the West around 1400, they immediately became popular with the [[Renaissance humanists]].{{sfn|Marsh|2010|page=544}}{{sfn|Marsh|1998|pages=2–3}} By 1400, there were just as many Latin translations of the works of Lucian as there were for the writings of [[Plato]] and [[Plutarch]].{{sfn|Marsh|2010|page=544}} By ridiculing [[plutocracy]] as absurd, Lucian helped facilitate one of Renaissance humanism's most basic themes.{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=99}} His ''Dialogues of the Dead'' were especially popular and were widely used for moral instruction.{{sfn|Marsh|1998|pages=2–3}} As a result of this popularity, Lucian's writings had a profound influence on writers from the Renaissance and the [[Early modern Europe|Early Modern period]].{{sfn|Marsh|2010|pages=862–865}}{{snf|Casson|1962|pages=xvii–xviii}}{{sfn|Marsh|1998|pages=2–3}}

Many early modern European writers adopted Lucian's lighthearted tone, his technique of relating a fantastic voyage through a familiar dialogue, and his trick of constructing proper names with deliberately humorous etymological meanings.{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=99}} During the [[Protestant Reformation]], Lucian provided literary precedent for writers making fun of [[Catholic clergy]].{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=99}} [[Desiderius Erasmus]]'s ''[[In Praise of Folly|Encomium Moriae]]'' (1509) displays Lucianic influences.{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=99}} Perhaps the most notable example of Lucian's impact in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was on the French writer [[François Rabelais]], particularly in his [[Pentalogy|set of five novels]], ''[[Gargantua and Pantagruel]]'', which was first published in 1532.  Rabelais also is thought to be responsible for a primary introduction of Lucian to the French [[Renaissance]] and beyond through his translations of Lucian's works.<ref>Pattard, Jean. ''Rebelais Works''. Champion Publishers.  1909.  pp. 204–215</ref><ref>Screech, M.A.  ''Rebelais''. Ithaca; Cornell Press. 1979. pp. 7–11.</ref>{{sfn|Marsh|1998|page=71}}

Lucian's ''True Story'' inspired both [[Sir Thomas More]]'s ''[[Utopia (More book)|Utopia]]'' (1516){{snf|Casson|1962|page=xvii}} and [[Jonathan Swift]]'s ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]'' (1726).{{snf|Marsh|2010|page=510}} [[Sandro Botticelli]]'s paintings ''[[Calumny of Apelles (Botticelli)|The Calumny of Apelles]]'' and ''[[Pallas and the Centaur]]'' are both based on descriptions of paintings found in Lucian's works.{{snf|Casson|1962|pages=xvii–xviii}} Lucian's prose narrative ''Timon the Misanthrope'' was the inspiration for William Shakespeare's tragedy ''[[Timon of Athens]]''{{snf|Casson|1962|page=xvii}}<ref>Armstrong, A. Macc. "Timon of Athens – A Legendary Figure?", ''Greece & Rome'', 2nd Ser., Vol. 34, No. 1 (April 1987), pp.&nbsp;7–11.</ref> and the scene from ''[[Hamlet]]'' with the gravediggers echoes several scenes from ''Dialogues of the Dead''.{{snf|Casson|1962|page=xvii}} [[Christopher Marlowe]]'s famous verse "Was this the face that launched a thousand ships/And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?" is a paraphrase of Lucian:<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Heckscher |first=W. S. |date=1938 |title="Was This the Face...?" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/749995 |journal=Journal of the Warburg Institute |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=295–297 |doi=10.2307/749995 |jstor=749995 |issn=0959-2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Henderson |first=Jeffrey |title=Dialogues Of The Dead |url=https://www.loebclassics.com/view/lucian-dialogues_dead/1961/pb_LCL431.23.xml?readMode=recto |access-date=2024-07-30 |website=Loeb Classical Library |at=Section XVIII |language=en}}</ref> 

{{Blockquote|text=ΕΡΜΗΣ: Τουτὶ τὸ κρανίον ἡ Ἑλένη ἐστίν.<br/>
ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ: Εἶτα διὰ τοῦτο αἱ χίλιαι νῆες ἐπληρώθησαν ἐξ ἁπάσης τῆς Ἑλλάδος καὶ τοσοῦτοι ἔπεσον Ἕλληνές τε καὶ βάρβαροι καὶ τοσαῦται πόλεις ἀνάστατοι γεγόνασιν; <br/><br/>
Hermes: This skull is Helen.<br/>
Menippos: And for this a thousand ships carried warriors from every part of Greece, Greeks and barbarians were slain, and cities made desolate?|author=Lucian|title=Dialogues of the Dead|source=XVIII}}

[[Francis Bacon]] called Lucian a "contemplative atheist".{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=99}}