Lucian

3 units

Lucian's TRUE HISTORIES is neither true, nor a history, but it is often called the first science fiction novel. Lucian's voice is one of the most distinctive in antiquity: wry, sarcastic, and too clever by half. He feels distinctly modern but is steeped in the literary tradition before him. In this class, we will read his TRUE HISTORIES and several other of his works, with a focus on his questions about truth and fiction, and his engagement with other genres of writing, including historiography, epic, philosophy, and rhetoric. We also read about the first journey to the moon.