Philopseudes

This paper focuses on the reception of Lucian’s Philopseudes in a particular context, namely the controversy that arose in England about witchcraft and the witch hunt in the seventeenth century. In the first section of this study, a brief introduction will deal with the misinterpretation of Lucian’s works on the part of intellectuals who supported the persecution of so-called witches. In particular, the Strix by Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola will be taken into account. In the second section, attention will be drawn to a treatise against superstition written by John Wagstaffe in 1669 and entitled The Question of Witchcraft Debated; Or a Discourse against their Opinion that affirm Witches. Wagstaffe’s inclusion of the Philopseudes as an appendix to his treatise will be considered and will hopefully shed a new light on the modern reception of this Lucianic dialogue.

in considering how power manifests in ancient folktales, let us first consider what we mean by "power." in one respect, power can refer to the ability to do something; many animals and inanimate objects in ancient tales, for example, have the power of speech. in its larger sense, of course, power refers to the ability of one person or group to influence or direct the behavior and lives of others, and perhaps even to influence the course of events of entire cities and countries. This chapter focuses on the latter aspect, examining power relationships in tales from antiquity. What kind of power could people attain and how did they attain it? What did they use power for-to benefit their communities, or to benefit primarily themselves? And to what extent might the representations of power in these tales reflect real-life societal attitudes toward power, including its uses and abuses? Tales from the ancient Eastern and Mediterranean regions reflect various concerns with the appropriate and inappropriate use of power. The Greeks, as they tried to develop a working democracy, told many cautionary tales depicting the negative effects of absolute power. The Romans, too, despite a rather more authoritarian political structure, incorporated tales about the use and abuse of power into various literary genres. in literature down the centuries, abuse of power is repeatedly vilified and often punished in folktales reflecting real-life concerns about oppression and individual freedoms. Only occasionally is power used wisely and wielded with beneficence.