Passing of Peregrinus

The Passing of Peregrinus or The Death of Peregrinus (Greek: Περὶ τῆς Περεγρίνου Τελευτῆς; Latin: De Morte Peregrini) is a satire by the Syrian Greek writer Lucian in which the lead character, the Cynic philosopher Peregrinus Proteus, takes advantage of the generosity of Christians and lives a disingenuous life before burning himself at the Olympic Games of 165 CE. The text is historically significant because it contains one of the earliest evaluations of early Christianity by a pagan author.

Lucian, The Passing of Peregrinus

Lucian writes his account as a letter to Cronius the Pythagorean, a Platonist philosopher. He tells Cronius that Peregrinus has burned himself to death at the recent Olympics. The author assumes that Cronius will find this news greatly amusing and gratifying. The narrative then shifts to Elis where Lucian, having just arrived, overhears Peregrinus’s follower Theagenes compare Peregrinus, or Proteus, to Heracles and even Zeus himself. Theagenes announces Peregrinus’s plan to kill himself through fire. Following Theagenes's speech Lucian enters the story as a double character. This double admonishes the crowd and provides an account of Peregrinus’s life from his perspective. According to Lucian’s double, Peregrinus was caught in adultery in Armenia shortly after entering manhood, seduced a youth and bribed the child’s parents, and killed his own father. According to Lucian’s double, Peregrinus exiled himself after this and wandered until he arrived in Palestine where he learned under the Christians. With the Christians, Peregrinus became an influential leader and author, and was "honored...as a god". During this period, Peregrinus was imprisoned for his being revered "as a god" and "as a lawgiver" and was cared for by Christians from throughout the province of Asia who regarded him according to Lucian as “the new Socrates”. Hoping to avoid making a martyr out of Peregrinus, according to Lucian, the governor of Syria released Peregrinus.

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