Passing of Peregrinus

… You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains their contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them; and then it was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws.

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.

[6] 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”.

It is at this point that Peregrinus began to appear as a Cynic, or “with his hair now grown long, wearing a dirty cloak, a pouch at his side and a staff in his hand”.

Upon losing his case Peregrinus set out to Egypt where he trained as an ascetic and demonstrated his Cynic indifference to society by masturbating in a large crowd.

[13] Switching back to the first person Lucian announces that Peregrinus arrived with his followers and delivered a speech comparing himself to Heracles before being applauded by “the more stupid of the people”.

[14] Announcing his cremation would take place in the evening at Harpina, Peregrinus poured incense on the pyre and shouted “Spirits of my mother and father, receive me favorably” before entering the flames.

Edwards argues that Lucian's character Philosophy in The Fugitives makes a distinction between the admirable deaths of the Brahmins and the less honorable lives of the pretenders, led by Peregrinus, who only care for the appearance of these virtues in order to avoid work and accumulate wealth.

Benko claims that the manner of Peregrinus's suicide seems to have been shaped in some part by the public martyrdom of early Christians like Polycarp.

[21] Mark Edwards argues that Lucian also attacks the Christian claims of a strong moral code by having Peregrinus both break several of these laws (adultery, murder) and gain a high place in the church.

C. P. Jones writes that Lucian uses the format of a letter to Cronius as a way to legitimize his opinion of Peregrinus, and set up a dichotomy in which his views represent the realm of reason, while the Cynics are fanatics.

Finally, he argues that Lucian's account of his own creation of legends involving Peregrinus's death is meant to discredit his surviving followers.

In addition to the bias in his account, some critics argue that Lucian misses several key historical facts about the church that Peregrinus interacted with as well as major events that may have shaped his life.

Stephen Benko criticizes Lucian's negative portrayal of Peregrinus as being the result of his own narrow opinion that belief in the supernatural was ridiculous.

Disputing Lucian's presentation of Christians as easily fooled simpletons, Benko notes that the Didache warns congregations about travelers who stayed more than two or three days without working.

Bagani points out that Trajan's orders to Pliny would not have allowed for the governor to simply pardon a self-professed Christian like Peregrinus who had had charges brought against him on the matter.

[27] Instead he proposes that the arrest was made as part of a larger crackdown following the Bar Kochba revolt, and he was released when his jailers realized that he was not related to the insurrection.

Stephen Benko argues that Peregrinus and other Cynics presented an image of asceticism that was ultimately incorporated into Christian monasticism.

Modern photograph of the stadium at Olympia , where Peregrinus is reported to have publicly immolated himself .