Why was Lucian of Samosata attacked for his ideas but admired for the perfection of his Greek and the elegance of his writings? The origins of this two-sided attitude towards Lucian seem to lie in the scholia his text was provided with by Arethas, archbishop of Caesarea. The Lucianic ideas that the strict prelate refutes are mostly in contrast to the Christian doctrine, while Lucian’s vocabulary, morphology, syntax, and style, alongside his learning, attract the Byzantine scholar’s interest. The contents of Arethas’ scholia on Lucian are integrally examined for the first time in this work.