Lucien of Samosata - Satirist and Early Sci-Fi Author

Lucian of Samosata was a satirist who lived during the 2nd Century AD. He was born in Samosata, which (at the time) belonged to the Roman province of Syria. He spoke Aramaic as his first language, but assimilated into the Greek culture to the point where he was fluent in Greek and identified as Greek to some extent. He began his career as a rhetorician, then changed to dialogue, and finally to satire. During the satirical phase of his career he wrote “A True Story” which was intended to mock and parody the fake travel stories which were being written by others but presented as actual truth. “A True Story” ignores all existing systems of mythology and religion, as well as the Ptolemaic Cosmology (which was the official view of the scientific establishment). Because of the originality of his work, and the fact that it involves space travel, Lucian of Samosata is considered to be the world’s first sci-fi author.

Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lucian

“A True Story” by Lucian of Samosata

http://lucianofsamosata.info/wiki/doku.php?id=home:lucian_website_home

Passing of Peregrinus: https://philipharland.com/Courses/Readings/3106/Lucian,%20Peregrinus.pdf

Downloadable PDF of works: http://lucianofsamosata.info/downloads/Complete_Works_of_Lucian_of_Samosata.pdf