Lucian's True Histories

Sections 1.21 through 1.29 of Lucian’s True Histories depict the sociology of the Moonmen and the narrator and his crew’s return the earth. One discourse particle used with relative frequency in these sections is γάρ. The particle’s connection to conveying information either through its ability to clarify a cause or relay additional information, explains its many occurrences in these sections. In the sections 1.21-1.29, Lucian generally uses the particle γάρ to mark the cause of a fact which he has previously stated. As is common for this use of γάρ, he begins by relating a piece of information and then expanding on its cause (Denniston, 58.) This can be seen in ἐσθὴς δὲ…τοῖς πένησι δὲ χαλκῆ ὑφαντή: πολύχαλκα γὰρ τὰ ἐκεῖ χωρία… (Lucian, 1.25.) Here γάρ signals to the reader that the clause it is found in, expands on the preceding clause; in this case it explains why the poor wear bronze on the moon. The majority of the usage of γάρ within this section of the True Histories falls into the above, causal category. Causal use is consistent with the content of sections 1.21-1.29, because it focuses primarily on the sociology of the Moonmen. There are many instances where the narrator has to further explain the bizarre behaviors and customs he is describing because

This is very similar to Denniston’s idea of translating γάρ as “for otherwise” when the particle “…supports the truth of an assertion by the argument that, were it untrue, something else known to be true would also be untrue (Denniston, 62.) In a sense, γάρ acts as a qualifier, signaling that the only reason that something is not occurring is because of the cause found within the