A True History - Lucian
Details
The protagonists in Lucian's ironically-titled True History (2nd century AD) visit a city with rainbow walls, discover a sea of milk supporting an island of cheese, take a trip to the Moon, and get themselves swallowed by a 200-mile-long giant whale (whose belly is populated by a society of fish people).
But in case there is any doubt, the introduction of the book openly confesses that these are all lies. Lucian's "history" is, in fact, a satire of authors who embellish their accounts with outlandish people, places, and events. Among his targets are Homer and Herodotus (making cameo appearances). His irreverent attitude towards the Greek pantheon earned him a reputation as an atheist. When the book abruptly ends, Lucian promises that the heroes' travels will continue in future books (another lie).
True History established the model for all subsequent fantastical travelogues: from Rabelais to de Bergerac, Swift, Melville, and beyond. For its off-world adventures, it is often considered one of the (if not the) earliest surviving examples of science fiction in the Western world, for which Lucian has been deemed "the first of the moderns." If more absurdist than scientific (and therefore less "modern"), it has nevertheless endured as a timeless classic.
True History Decrypted (full text and commentary):
Trips to the Moon:
- Kindle
- Gutenberg (illustrated)
- Google books (illustrated)
- Librivox (#04 & #05) 1h30m
Supplemental:
Extracts:
- “Scarcely had we proceeded two days on the sea, when about sunrise a great many Whales and other monsters of the sea, appeared. Among the former, one was of a most monstrous size. * * * This came towards us, open-mouthed, raising the waves on all sides, and beating the sea before him into a foam.” Tooke’s Lucian. “The True History.” (Moby-Dick, Extracts)
- "SIR:—You are a swindler. Upon the pretense of writing a popular novel for us, you have been receiving cash advances from us, while passing through our press the sheets of a blasphemous rhapsody, filched from the vile Atheists, Lucian and Voltaire." (Pierre, 26.4)
- "...a good-natured English clergyman translated Lucian; another, equally good-natured, wrote Tristam Shandy; and a third, an ill-natured appreciator of good-natured Rabelais, died a dean; not to speak of others. Thus ingenious and ingenuous are some of the English clergy." (Israel Potter, 13)
- "I have long been of opinion that these classics are the bane of colleges; for...where will one find views so injurious to human nature as in Thucydides, Juvenal, Lucian, but more particularly Tacitus?" (Confidence-Man, 5)
This meetup is part of a series In the Belly of the Whale.