''Halcyon'' () is a short dialogue attributed in the manuscripts to both

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

and

Lucian Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridi ...

, but the work is not by either writer.

Favorinus Favorinus (c. 80 – c. 160 AD) was a Roman sophist and skeptic philosopher who flourished during the reign of Hadrian and the Second Sophistic. Early life He was of Gaulish ancestry, born in Arelate (Arles). He received a refined educa ...

, writing in the early second century, attributes it to a certain Leon, as did Nicias of Nicaea.

Content

In the dialogue,

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

relates to Chaerephon the ancient myth of Halcyon, a woman who was transformed by the gods into a

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

to be able to search the seas for her husband Ceyx, who was lost at sea. Skeptical of the account, Chaerephon questions the possibility that humans can be transformed into birds. In response, Socrates cautions that there are many amazing things unknown or at least not fully understood by humans, and advocates epistemological humility for mortals in light of the gods' abilities or, more generally, in light of what humans do not know. For comparison, Socrates refers to a bad storm that recently took place and was immediately followed by a sudden calm. Such a sudden transformation is all at once amazing, real, and beyond the power of humans to effect. He also points out the vast differences in strength and intelligence between adults and children, with the latter often being incapable of comprehending what adults can do. Both analogies, taken together, support the possibility that the gods may indeed have the ability to transform humans into birds, which process is simply not understood by humans, as opposed to being impossible. Socrates concludes by resolving to pass the myth down to his children as it was communicated to him, and especially with the hope that it will inspire his wives

Xanthippe Xanthippe (; ; fl. 5th–4th century BCE) was an Classical Athens, ancient Athenian, the wife of Socrates and mother of their three sons: Lamprocles, Sophroniscus, and Menexenus. She was likely much younger than Socrates, perhaps by as much as ...

and Myrto to remain devoted to him. As is stated at its conclusion, the conversation is conducted in the port of Phaleron, also the narrative setting of Plato's ''

Symposium In Ancient Greece, the symposium (, ''sympósion'', from συμπίνειν, ''sympínein'', 'to drink together') was the part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was accompanied by music, dancing, recitals, o ...

''.

Inclusion

The text was included in the first-century Platonic canon of Thrasyllus of Mendes but had been expunged prior to the Stephanus pagination and is thus rarely found in modern collections of Plato although it appears in Hackett's ''Complete Works''. It is often still included among the spurious works of Lucian. John Madison Cooper, D. S. Hutchinson, eds., ''Plato, Complete works'', Indianapolis, Indiana, Hackett Publishing, 1997, , p. 1714

Texts and translations

* Macleod, M. D., ''Lucian'', Vol. VIII (Harvard University Press, 1967). (Greek and English) * Stief, Jake E., ''Halcyon'' (Stief Books, 2018). (English)

Notes

{{Authority control Dialogues of Plato Works by Lucian Ancient Greek pseudepigrapha