The figure of the sorcerer Pancrates in Lucian, Philops. 33-36 alludes to traditions relating to Hadrian 's poet Pancrates Epicus as well as those relating to Pachrates, an Egyptian prophet mentioned in association with Hadrian in the « Papyri Graecae magicae ».
These traditions may have had a common origin. Pancrates ' spell, the animation of the pestle for domestic service, reflects the themes of contemporary magical practice as documented in the papyri.
Admonitory Cynic imagery may be latent both in the figure of Pancrates and in his pestle.
