 Illustration from 1894 by William Strang depicting a battle scene from Book One of Lucian of Samosata's A True Story | |
| Author | Lucian of Samosata |
|---|---|
| Language | Greek |
| Genre | Satire, Fantasy, Science fiction |
Publication date | 2nd century AD |
| Publication place | Syria, Roman Empire |
A True Story (Ancient Greek: Ἀληθῆ διηγήματα, Alēthē diēgēmata; Latin: Vera Historia or Latin: Verae Historiae), also translated as True History, is a long novella or short novel[1] written in the second century AD by the Syrian author Lucian of Samosata.[2] The novel is a satire of outlandish tales that had been reported in ancient sources, particularly those that presented fantastic or mythical events as if they were true. It is Lucian's best-known work.
It is the earliest known work of fiction to include travel to outer space, alien lifeforms, and interplanetary warfare. It has been described as "the first known text that could be called science fiction".[3][4][5][6] However, the work does not fit into typical literary genres: its multilayered plot and its characters have been interpreted as belonging to science fiction, fantasy, satire or parody, and have been the subjects of scholarly debate.
- ^ Doody, Margaret Anne (1996), A True Story of the Novel, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, p. 26, ISBN 0-8135-2168-8, retrieved December 16, 2020
- ^ Richter, Daniel S. (2017). "Chapter 21: Lucian of Samosata". In Richter, Daniel S.; Johnson, William A. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the Second Sophistic. Vol. 1. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. pp. 328–329. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199837472.013.26. 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"