- True History
Infobox Book
name = True History or True Story
translator =
image_caption =
author =Lucian of Samosata
country =Rome
language =Latin
genre =Science fiction
publisher = Various
release_date =2nd century AD
isbn = n/a"True History" or "True Story" (Greek: polytonic|Ἀληθῶν διηγημάτων) is a fantastic travel tale by the Greek-speaking Syrian author
Lucian ofSamosata , the earliest known fiction about travelling toouter space , alien life-forms and interplanetary warfare. Written in the second century AD, the novel has been referred to as "the first known text that could be called science fiction". [Swanson, Roy Arthur: Quote|Lucian of Samosata, the Greco-Syrian satirist of the second century A.D., 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, Aristoula & Larmour, David H.J in their introduction:Quote|"...Lucian's Verae Historiae ("True Histories"), a fantastic journey narrative considered the earliest surviving example of Science Fiction in the Western tradition."] [Gunn, James E. denotes "True History" as "Proto-Science Fiction", p.249] The work was intended by Lucian as a satire against contemporary and ancient sources, which quote fantastic and mythical events as truth.Plot
In "True History", Lucian and a company of adventuring heroes sailing westward through the
Pillars of Hercules (theStrait of Gibraltar ) are blown off course by a strong wind, and after 79 days come to an island. This island is home to a river of wine filled with fish, and bears a marker indicating thatHeracles andDionysos have traveled to this point.Shortly after leaving the island, they are lifted up by a giant waterspout and deposited on the
Moon . There they find themselves embroiled in a full-scale war between the king of the Moon and the king of theSun , involving armies which boast such exotica as stalk-and-mushroom men, acorn-dogs ("dog-faced men fighting on winged acorns"), and cloud-centaurs. Unusually, the Sun, Moon, stars and planets are portrayed as locales, each with its unique geographic details and inhabitants.After returning to the Earth, the adventurers become trapped in a giant
whale ; they reach a sea of milk, an island of cheese and theisle of the blessed , where a whole host of heroes and literary figures are found.At the end of the second book they discover a far off continent and set out to explore it. The book ends rather abruptly by Lucian saying that their adventure there will be the subject of following books.
Literary genre
Lucian's "True History" eludes a clear-cut literary classification. Its multilayered character has given rise to interpretations as diverse as
science fiction ,fantasy ,satire orparody , depending on how much importance scholars attach to Lucian's explicit intention of telling a story of falsehoods. Generally speaking, authors concentrating on science fiction topoi are more willing to classify "True History" as part of the former genres, while those stressing Lucian's satirical motives are more inclined to view his work under the latter premises.Satire
In the later 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, andHomer 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 andHerodotus ". [B.P. Reardon: "Collected Ancient Greek Novels", p.619] Consequently, Lucian goes on to state that the story recounted in "True History" 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." [B.P. Reardon: "Collected Ancient Greek Novels", p.622]Science Fiction
Contrary to classicists, modern SF critics do not necessarily view the satirical streak of the story to conflict with modern notions of science fiction. The defining element of science can rather be found in Lucian's specific, but effective approach to identify false values and misidentifications in contemporary philosophy, which was very much the general term of
science then.Swanson, Roy Arthur: [http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/10/swanson10art.htm “The True, the False, and the Truly False: Lucian’s Philosophical Science Fiction”] , "Science Fiction Studies", Vol. 3, No. 3 (Nov. 1976), pp. 227-239] Additionally, they point out that "True History" was written in response to another work which also contained science fictional elements, that isAntonius Diogenes ’ lost "Of the Wonderful Things BeyondThule ", whose protagonist also reached themoon . The estrangening feel of the story as a defining SF element has also been noted:...True History 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.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:Greg Grewell: “Colonizing the Universe: Science Fictions Then, Now, and in the (Imagined) Future”, "Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature", Vol. 55, No. 2 (2001), pp. 25-47 (30f.)]
"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."
In sum, typical science fiction themes and topoi appearing in "True History" are:Fredericks, S.C.: [http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/8/fredericks8art.htm “Lucian's True History as SF”] , "Science Fiction Studies", Vol. 3, No. 1 (March 1976), pp. 49-60]
*travel to outer space
*encounter with alien life-forms, including the experience of a first encounter event
*interplanetary warfare and imperialism
*colonization of planets
*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 adventureA middle position seems to be taken up by the English
critic Kingsley Amis , who acknowledged the SF and satirical character of "True History" 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." [Kingsley, Amis: "New Maps of Hell: A Survey of Science Fiction", New York 1960, p.28]
References
See also
*
History of science fiction
*Moon in art and literature Further reading
*Fredericks, S.C.: [http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/8/fredericks8art.htm “Lucian's True History as SF”] , "Science Fiction Studies", Vol. 3, No. 1 (March 1976), pp. 49-60
*Georgiadou, Aristoula & Larmour, David H.J.: [http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=75&pid=2774 “Lucian's Science Fiction Novel True Histories. Interpretation and Commentary“] , "Mnemosyne Supplement" 179, Leiden 1998, ISBN 9004106677
*Grewell, Greg: “Colonizing the Universe: Science Fictions Then, Now, and in the (Imagined) Future”, "Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature", Vol. 55, No. 2 (2001), pp. 25-47
*Gunn, James E.: “The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction”, Publisher: Viking 1988, ISBN 9780670810413, p.249
*Swanson, Roy Arthur: [http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/10/swanson10art.htm “The True, the False, and the Truly False: Lucian’s Philosophical Science Fiction”] , "Science Fiction Studies", Vol. 3, No. 3 (Nov. 1976), pp. 227-239External links
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl2/wl211.htm The True History] at "sacred-texts.com"
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/fowl/index.htm The Works of Lucian of Samosata] at "sacred-texts.com"
* [http://www.ancientlibrary.com/lucian-3/ Loeb Classical Library, vol. 3/8 of Lucian's works] , with facing Greek text, at "ancientlibrary.com"
* [http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_intro.htm A.M. Harmon: Introduction to Lucian of Samosata] at "tertullian.org"
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