Lucian's Alexander The False Prophet

Appearances are often misleading and not everything one sees is true. In Alexander the False Prophet, Lucian exposes Alexander as a fraud by pointing out Alexander’s manipulative actions to deceive others and by revealing Alexander’s methods of deceptions. Lucian successfully convinces his readers that Alexander is a scammer and a false prophet due to his credibility factor which includes his personal connections to the subject of his writing. Lucian accomplished it by describing Alexander’s bad nature and by revealing Alexander’s illogical procedures to scam people. Alexander was a great conqueror, but his qualities as a scammer were similarly good in which he persuaded others into believing him despite his ulterior motives. In Alexander …show more content…
In one occasion Alexander tricks the people into believing that he knew about the birth of a god in physical form, a serpent, before it happened (Alexander the False Prophet, 13-14). Lucian explained the logical approach of Alexander’s actions at the temple and the reasons for not letting anyone see the serpent so he could claim that it had grown at a rapid rate. The trick was making others believe that the serpent was born under the temple, where Alexander placed it the night before, but the scam done to get monetary benefits from the oracles of the serpent. Alexander would also only present the serpent in poor conditions and dim light so the people would not notice the fake big serpent but the people were impressed by the docile action of touching it. Moreover, Lucian exposed Alexander false oracles by illustrating a few methods in which Alexander could have performed. Alexander requested envelopes with the peoples’ deepest wonders and he would answer them without opening the envelope. However, Lucian provides methods of opening envelopes with the most minimal damage and brings the rational side of the situation. (Alexander the False Prophet, ADD NUMBER) Per the sound evidence and logical approach, the scam and tricks of Alexander were obviously fake if analyzed just like Lucian did to expose …show more content…
Lucians effectively use personal experience to reveal Alexander’s unscrupulous and impudent behavior. One main occasion that Lucian highlights about Alexander’s scams is when Alexander presented himself in front of Lucian. As indicated by Lucian, Alexander manipulated others at his advantage to improve his social and economic status. He would threat those who were against him which induced Lucian into having two guards with him when presenting himself to Alexander. Alexander acted like with the public and extended his hand, expecting it to be kissed, to his surprise when Lucian bit it. Instead of Lucian being respectful towards Alexander, he remained truthful to himself but “bystanders tried to choke and beat” (Alexander the False Prophet, 55) him. Alexander, shortly after, stated that he could “transformed even bitter foes into friends” (Alexander the False Prophet, 55) but Lucian did not have a change of heart but rather influenced by the threats and benefits of been on Alexander’s good side. Lucian could use the connections Alexander had which means that if Lucian agrees to Alexander’s acquaintance. This situation further indicates how Alexander threated people to follow his demands. People may have encountered Alexander and discovered his false prophecies and tricks but were motivated, by possible compensations, to stay quiet and help Alexander