Curiosmos
  • Home
  • Unsolved Mysteries
  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Cosmic Phenomena
  • Alien Theories
  • Curious Lists
No Result
View All Result
Like us on Facebook
Curiosmos
  • Home
  • Unsolved Mysteries
  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Cosmic Phenomena
  • Alien Theories
  • Curious Lists
No Result
View All Result
Curiosmos
No Result
View All Result

Here’s an Ancient Novel About Aliens, UFOs, and Robots Written in the 2nd Century

Ivan PetricevicbyIvan Petricevic
June 10, 2019 - Updated on January 22, 2024
in Ancient Civilizations
illustrating Science Fiction.

Shutterstock.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Nearly two millennia before Jules Verne and H. G. Wells started writing about science fiction, Lucian of Samosata, a Syrian satirist and rhetorician, introduced the world to science fiction, envisioning a future where humankind would find alien life, take place in interplanetary warfare, and come to know artificial life among other things. Lucian of Samosata is widely recognized as one of the earliest novelists in Western Civilization, and many scholars argue he is the father of science fiction. Lucian, a Syrian writer who penned down his works in the Greek language, lived from the year 125 and covered various topics such as extraterrestrials, spaceships, and robots, two millennia before the novels of Jules Verne or G.H. Wells appeared. He developed stories in the key of what today, we conceive as science fiction two millennia later.

The birth of science fiction

https://curiosmos.com/web-stories/https-curiosmos-com-heres-an-ancient-novel-about-aliens-ufos-and-robots-written-in-the-2nd-century/

Lucian narrates the adventures of Lucian and his crew, all of who were cosmonauts, flying ships, television projections, talking machines, artificial intelligence, encounters with aliens, space battles, ufos, humanoids, as well as cities erected inside a living organism. His work, “A True Story,” is a fictional narrative in which he anticipated modern science fiction themes. The work begins with Lucian and his fellow travelers journeying out past the Pillars of Heracles, after which they are blown off course due to a powerful storm. They end up on an island that has a river of wine filled with fish and bears. They don’t remain long on the island and make their way when captured by a whirlwind, which takes them on to the moon.

There, they find themselves in the middle of a war between the rulers of the moon and the sun, who are fighting a cosmic battle over the colonization of the ‘Morning Star.’ Both armies are described as having bizarre life forms, half mechanic and half biological. The armies of the Sun eventually come out on top, after which a peace treaty is signed. In his work, Lucian details how life on Earth differs from that on Earth. Eventually, Lucian and his fellow travelers are swallowed by a 200-mile-long whale as they return to Earth. Inside the creature’s belly, they find a variety of fish people inhabiting its inside.

Related Posts

An image of the Pyramids at Giza taken by the ESA’s Proba-1 minisatellite. Image Credit: ESA.

Here’s What the Ancient Egyptian Pyramids Look Like From Space

September 18, 2019 - Updated on February 4, 2025
3 Reasons why the Great Pyramid of Giza is an Out of Place Structure

3 Reasons why the Great Pyramid of Giza is an Out of Place Structure

June 10, 2019 - Updated on January 22, 2024

Incredible storytelling

They wage war against the mysterious creatures and eventually kill the whale after starting a bonfire in its interior. Ultimately, the manage to open the whale’s mouth and escape. As they continue their voyage, they encounter a massive abyss in the ocean but manage to travel beside it. This leads them to discover a distant continent that they decide to explore. The writing ends abruptly with Lucian stating that their future adventures will be described in the upcoming sequels, none of which were ever published. Lucian’s work also describes adventures and stories of incredible shipwrecks; He wrote about ships sailing through extraordinary worlds, like an island of dreams, or fantastically wandering through forests and landscapes in space.

A New World

Lucian is noted for being the first writer to separate reality from fiction. This was not very clear at that time. It is noteworthy to mention that Lucian’s book A True Story is also an early expression of the idea of traveling across the Atlantic Ocean and exploring the lands that are located on the other side. This idea predates the journey of Columbus by around 1,400 years. You can read the novel by clicking here.


Join the discussion and participate in awesome giveaways in our mobile Telegram group. Join Curiosmos on Telegram Today. t.me/Curiosmos

Share16314Tweet98Share27ShareSend
Ivan Petricevic

Ivan Petricevic

I've been writing passionately about ancient civilizations, history, alien life, and various other subjects for more than eight years. You may have seen me appear on Discovery Channel's What On Earth series, History Channel's Ancient Aliens, and Gaia's Ancient Civilizations among others.

Related Posts

A distant view of the Pyramids at Giza from a different perspective. Shutterstock.
Ancient Civilizations

10 Unusual Images of the Giza Pyramids as Seen From a Different Perspective

September 7, 2019 - Updated on January 21, 2024
The Massive Size of the Great Pyramid of Giza Image Credit: Shutterstock.
Ancient Civilizations

3 Baffling Discoveries That Hint How The Great Pyramid of Giza was Built

July 17, 2019 - Updated on May 4, 2023
Ancient Civilizations

Modern-day Africans Conserve DNA from Unknown Extinct Human Species

April 27, 2019 - Updated on January 22, 2024
An image of the Great Pyramid of Giza with the Sun in the background. Shutterstock.
Ancient Civilizations

How Ancient Egyptian Pyramids Aligned with the Stars to Mirror the Cosmos

January 17, 2025
Sword of Goujian.
Ancient Civilizations

8 Things You Should Know About the Ancient Sword of Goujian, The Weapon that Defied Time

August 20, 2020 - Updated on January 21, 2024
Here Are 15 Reasons Why People Believe Aliens Helped Build the Pyramids
Ancient Civilizations

Here Are 15 Reasons Why People Believe Aliens Helped Build the Pyramids

April 18, 2019 - Updated on May 2, 2023
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Fair Use Notice
  • DMCA / Removal
  • Impressum
  • Contact
  • Fact-Checking Policy
  • Ethics Policy
  • Ownership and Funding Information
  • Impressum
CURIOSMOS.COM

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Unsolved Mysteries
  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Cosmic Phenomena
  • Alien Theories
  • Curious Lists