Category Archives: Ancient Science Fiction

Welcome to the first installment of a brand new feature here at Balladeer’s Blog. This segment will feature some forgotten early ventures into the form of story- telling that we now call science fiction.  My fondness for the ancient Greeks prompts me to begin with Lucian, the Greek philosopher who lived in the 2nd century C.E. Lucian was noted not just for his philosophical observations but also for two works that defied definition by his contemporaries but would easily fall into the category of science fiction today. Both works are from roughly 150 C.E.  

1. ICAROMENIPPUS – The title, obviously, was inspired by the myth about Icarus using wings crafted by his father Daedalus to fly too close to the sun, which hubristic act led to his death. In this work Lucian depicted his hero Menippus using one wing from an eagle and one from a vulture to fly to Mt Olympus, and from there to the moon. He discovered that Continue reading →