A sumptuous new edition of Lucian’s comic masterpiece, using primarily the text from the Fowler brothers’ superb 1905 translation and presented in a novel typographic layout. The dialogues — originally penned in the 2nd century AD — eavesdrop on the Ancient Greek gods, presenting us with a sensational peek behind the curtain of life on Mount Olympus. Here is Zeus, bickering with his wife Hera over his latest infidelity; there is Eros, in trouble again for his mischievous matchmaking; and there are Hermes, Apollo, Pan, Aphrodite, and all the rest of the pantheon, each with their own foibles, and each unknowingly scandalising themselves with their every utterance. While previous editions have been heavily edited, missing dialogues deemed too risqué, this new collection draws on various historical sources to present the Dialogues in their entirety, including an introductory essay and extensive appendices. All printed on a lovely-to-handle 70lb/105gsm paper.

For more on the comic masterpiece which is Lucian’s Dialogues of the Gods read the editor and designer Nicholas Jeeves’ online essay, an extended version of which appears in the book.

“He has a way of mixing gravity with his nonsense and nonsense with his gravity, of laughing and telling the truth at the same time… I know of no stage comedy, or satire, which can be compared with this man’s dialogues.” - Erasmus