From the Manuscript to the Printed Version: Investigating the Process of Self-Censorship in Jorge Coelho’s Latin Translation of De Dea Syria

In 1540, Jorge Coelho published, among other works, a Latin translation of Lucian’s De Dea Syria. However, the recent discovery of a manuscript at Biblioteca Pública de Évora containing a previous version of the same translation revealed some significant changes which reflect not only his development as a translator, but also an attempt to redress the perception of Lucian and to deprive him of his satirical image. Despite the doubts surrounding the original authorship of this treatise, first raised in 1615, this version is of crucial significance when studying the transmission and reception of the sophist in Portugal, not only because it is one of the few versions of a Greek author directly rendered from the original, but also due to the fact that it accompanies the political and social changes during the first half of the sixteenth century and reflects the changing attitudes towards one of the most diverse writers of the Ancient Greek world.