A True Story
Syria, Roman Empire | |
Language | Greek |
---|---|
Genre | Satire, Fantasy, Science fiction |
Publication date | 2nd century AD |
A True Story (
It is the earliest known work of
Plot
The novel begins with an explanation that the story is not at all "true", and that everything in it is a complete and utter lie.
After returning to Earth, the adventurers are swallowed by a 200-mile-long (320 km) whale,
Analysis
Satire
In one view, Lucian intended his story to be a form of literary criticism, a satire against contemporary and ancient sources which quote fantastic and mythical events as truth. He mentions the tales of Ctesias, Iambulus, and Homer and states that "what did surprise me was their supposition that nobody would notice they were lying." Many characters and events are exaggerated to ridiculous ends to mock the original tellings. As noted by classicist B.P. Reardon, "above all, it is a parody of literary 'liars' like Homer and Herodotus".[34] Consequently, Lucian goes on to state that the story recounted in A True Story is about "things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say."[35] He justifies the title by arguing that his is the only truthful mythological story ever written, inasmuch as it is the only one that admits that it is all lies. He also promises a sequel but it is not known if such a sequel existed.
Science fiction
Modern science fiction critics do not necessarily view the satirical streak of the story as conflicting with modern notions of science fiction. The defining element of science can be found in Lucian's specific and effective approach to identifying false values and misidentifications in contemporary philosophy, which was very much the general term of science then.[36] Additionally, they point out that A True Story was written in response to another work that also contained science fictional elements, that is Antonius Diogenes' lost Of the Wonderful Things Beyond Thule, whose protagonist also reached the Moon.[36] The estranging feeling of the story as a defining element of science fiction has also been noted:
...True Stories may properly be regarded as SF because Lucian often achieves that sense of "cognitive estrangement" which Darko Suvin has defined as the generic distinction of SF, that is, the depiction of an alternate world, radically unlike our own, but relatable to it in terms of significant knowledge.[37]
According to Grewell, whose definition of science fiction focuses on the struggle between supposedly superior and inferior life forms, "part of the tale that qualifies it as science fiction, rather than as fantasy or imaginative fiction, involves Lucian and his seamen in a battle for territorial and colonization rights."[38]
"The king of the inhabitants of the Sun, Phaethon," said Endymion king of the Moon, "has been at war with us for a long time now. Once upon a time I gathered together the poorest people in my kingdom and undertook to plant a colony on the Morning Star which was empty and uninhabited. Phaethon out of jealousy thwarted the colonization, meeting us halfway at the head of his dragoons. At that time we were beaten, for we were not a match for them in strength, and we retreated. Now, however, I desire to make war again and plant the colony."[36]
The typical science fiction themes and topoi that appear in True Stories are:[39]
- travel to outer space
- encounter with alien life-forms, including the experience of a first contact event
- interplanetary warfare and imperialism
- colonization of planets
- artificial atmosphere
- liquid air
- motif of giganticism
- creatures as products of human technology (robot theme)
- worlds working by a set of alternate 'physical' laws
- explicit desire of the protagonist for exploration and adventure
A middle position seems to be taken up by critic Kingsley Amis, who acknowledged the science fiction and satirical character of True Stories at the same time:
I will merely remark that the sprightliness and sophistication of True History make it read like a joke at the expense of nearly all early-modern science fiction, that written between, say, 1910 and 1940.[40]
Modern equivalents, combining science fiction and parody in equal measure, may be found in Voltaire's Micromégas and the works of Douglas Adams.
Reception
Some Roman readers believed that the events in A True Story actually occurred, although Lucian was trying to parody untrue accounts of voyages.[41]
See also
- The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, a 1988 film by Terry Gilliam with various plot similarities.
- History of science fiction
- Meropis
- Moon in science fiction
Notes
References
Citations
- ISBN 0-8135-2168-8, retrieved December 16, 2020
- ISBN 978-0-19-983747-2.
- ^ Grewell 2001.
- ^ Swanson 1976, p. 228: "Lucian of Samosata, the Greco-Syrian satirist of the second century, appears today as an exemplar of the science-fiction artist. There is little, if any, need to argue that his mythopoeic Milesian Tales and his literary fantastic voyages and utopistic hyperbole comport with the genre of science fiction"
- ^ Georgiadou & Larmour 1998, Introduction: "Lucian's Verae Historiae ("True Histories"), a fantastic journey narrative considered the earliest surviving example of Science Fiction in the Western tradition."
- ^ Gunn 1988, p. 249: "proto-SF"
- ^ Casson 1962, pp. 13–15.
- ^ Georgiadou & Larmour 1998, pp. 51–52.
- ^ Casson 1962, p. 15.
- ^ a b c d e f g Georgiadou & Larmour 1998, pp. 53–155[page range too broad]
- ^ Casson 1962, pp. 15–17.
- ^ Casson 1962, pp. 17–18.
- ^ Casson 1962, p. 18.
- ^ Casson 1962, pp. 18–21.
- ^ Casson 1962, p. 22.
- ^ Casson 1962, pp. 22–23.
- ^ Casson 1962, pp. 23–25.
- ^ Casson 1962, pp. 27–28.
- ^ a b c Georgiadou & Larmour 1998, pp. 156–177[page range too broad]
- ^ Casson 1962, pp. 27–33.
- ^ Casson 1962, p. 34.
- ^ Casson 1962, pp. 35–37.
- ^ Georgiadou & Larmour 1998, pp. 156–178[page range too broad]
- ^ Casson 1962, pp. 35–45.
- ^ a b c d Georgiadou & Larmour 1998, pp. 178–232[page range too broad]
- ^ Casson 1962, p. 46.
- ^ Casson 1962, pp. 45–49.
- ^ Casson 1962, pp. 49–54.
- ^ Casson 1962, p. 54.
- ^ Georgiadou & Larmour 1998, pp. 232–233.
- ISBN 3-519-01516-1.
- ^ Georgiadou & Larmour 1998, p. 31 n. 84.
- ^ Casson 1962, p. 57.
- ^ Reardon 1989, p. 619.
- ^ Reardon 1989, p. 622.
- ^ a b c Swanson 1976.
- ^ Fredericks 1976, p. 54.
- ^ Grewell 2001, pp. 30–31.
- ^ Fredericks 1976.
- ^ Kingsley 1960, p. 28.
- ISBN 978-0-06-204356-6.
General and cited references
- Casson, Lionel, ed. (1962), "A True Story", Selected Satires of Lucian, New York: W. W. Norton & Co., ISBN 0-393-00443-0
- Fredericks, S. C. (March 1976), "Lucian's True History as SF", Science Fiction Studies, 3 (1), Depauw: 49–60, JSTOR 4238997
- Georgiadou, Aristoula; Larmour, David H. J. (1998), Lucian's Science Fiction Novel True Histories: Interpretation and Commentary, Supplements to Mnemosyne, ISBN 90-04-10667-7
- Grewell, Greg (2001), "Colonizing the Universe: Science Fictions Then, Now, and in the (Imagined) Future", Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature, 55 (2): 25–47, S2CID 171048588
- Gunn, James E. (1988), "The Journey", The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Viking, pp. 248–251, ISBN 978-0-670-81041-3
- Kingsley, Amis (1960), "Starting Points: Definitions; beginnings; Verne and Wells", New Maps of Hell: A Survey of Science Fiction, New York: Harcourt Brace.
- Reardon, B. P. (1989), "Lucian: A True Story", Collected Ancient Greek Novels, Berkeley, CAlif.: University of California Press, pp. 619–649, ISBN 0-520-04306-5
- Swanson, Roy Arthur (Nov 1976), "The True, the False, and the Truly False: Lucian's Philosophical Science Fiction", Science Fiction Studies, 3 (3): 228–239, JSTOR 4239038
Further reading
- Viglas, Katelis (July 2016), "The Placement of Lucian's Novel True History in the Genre of Science Fiction", Interlitteraria, 21 (1): 158–172, .
External links
- Lucian's True History at google books
- Greek Wikisource has original text related to this article: Ἀληθῆ διηγήματα
- A True History at sacred-texts.com
- Loeb Classical Library, vol. 3/8 of Lucian's works Archived 2012-10-03 at the Wayback Machine, with facing Greek text, at ancientlibrary.com
- Lucian of Samosata Project – Articles, timeline, maps, library, and themes
- The book at Project Gutenberg
- True History public domain audiobook at LibriVox