Retor o barbarzyńcach, barbarzyńcy o retoryce – przybysze z dalekich krajów w utworach Lukiana z Samosat
Rhetor about barbarians, barbarians about rhetoric – visitors from distant lands in the works of Lucian of Samosata

Summary/Abstract: Lucian, one of the greatest Greek stylists, satirist and rhetorician, was born in the town of Samosata on the banks of the Euphrates – therefore he was, by his own definition, “a Syrian and a barbarian”. This double perspective allowed him not only to exploit the theme of the dichotomy between the Greeks and the barbarians, but also to challenge some common stereotypes and to make them the subject of his satire. The aim of the article is to demonstrate, on selected examples, how Lucian both challenges and uses stereotypical depictions of Greeks and barbarians, and shows not only the contrast between the Greek paideia and the barbarian culture, but also the distinction between traditional accounts of two categories of "barbarians": Scythians and Syrians.

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