Greek writer (from 120 AD to 180 AD) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist and rhetorician who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style. Despite his enormous success and his extensive literary production, there is little we know about his own life; in fact, most of the information comes from his writings. He wrote in Greek but t is known that his mother tongue was not Greek, since he came from Samosata, a city located in the upper Euphrates, city located in the current Turkey.
Once upon a time,while Lucian and his crew were traveling by ship, they are caught up by a whirlwind and taken to the Moon.
When they reach the Moon they were captured by warriors who rode three-headed vultures, the Horsevultures . They led them to their king, Endymion.
Endymion, the king of the Moon was at war with Phaeton, the king of the Sun, because both wanted to colonize the planet Venus.
Who was Endymion in the Mythology? Endymion was a beautiful shepherd who spent much of his life in perpetual sleep. He was loved by Selene, the goddess of the moon, who visited him every night while he lay asleep.
Who was Paheton in the Mythology? Paheton was the son of the solar deity Helios. He asked his father for some proof that would demonstrate his relationship with them. He insisted on being allowed to drive the sun chariot for a day. Placed in charge of the chariot, he was unable to control the horses. The Earth was in danger of being burned up and, to prevent this disaster, Zeus was forced to strike down the chariot with a thunder and kill Phaethon.
The Fall of Phaethon� by Peter Paul Rubens (1605)
The war begins There are in the Moon great numbers of gigantic spiders. They were instructed to stretch webs across from the Moon to Lucifer; as soon as the work was done, the King Endymion drew up his infantry on this artificial plain.
Warriors of Endymion • Horse-Vultures: warriors who rode three-headed vultures. • Salad-wings: warriors who rode enormous birds with feathers resembling lettuce leaves.
Warriors of Endymion • The Garlic-men: their spears were garlic. • Flea-archers: they rode gigantic fleas.
Warriors of Phaeton • The Horse-ants: Warriors mounted on great ants. • Sky-gnats:archers mounted on great mosquitos.
Warriors of Phaeton • Stalk-fungi:Their shields are mushrooms, and their spears asparagus stalks. • The Dog-acorns: dog-faced men fighting on winged acorns.
first victory of the Moonites First the Moonites triumphed and a large number of Sunnites were taken and killed , and blood flowed in great quantities on to the clouds, staining them as red as we see them at sunset.
Arrival of the Cloud- Centaurs When the centaurs arrived, being compounded of winged horses and men and commanded by Sagittarius (they were the most terrible warriors of Phaeton’s forces) pursued and defeated the Moonites and captured Lucian and his crew who were fighting on Endymion's side.
The punishment Phaeton decides to punish the Moonites. they constructed a wall across the intervening space, cutting off the Sun’s rays from the Moon. This wall was built of clouds, the consequence was total eclipse of the Moon.
Peace treaty Finally the adversaries signed a peace treaty: Both shall found the colony of Venus in common, and shall permit persons of any other nationality to join the same.
Lucian is hosted for some time by Endymion Endimion asks Luciano to stay with him for the colonization of Venus. During his stay in the Moon Lucian could see how the Moonites were.
Description of the inhabitants of the Moon • There were only men. • Some are born from the calf, others are born from trees. • When a man becomes old, he does not die, but dissolves in smoke into the air. • They feed by inhaling the smoke from what they roast.
Description of the inhabitants of the moon • In their society they are considered beautiful if they are bald. • They have beards, however, above the knee. • No toe-nails, and but one toe on each foot. • Their mucus is a pungent honey. • After hard work or exercise they sweat milk. • They use the belly as a pouch in which to keep necessaries. • The clothing of the wealthy is soft glass, and of the poor, woven brass.
The end of the trip Lucian and his crew after their stay on the moon and after having seen so many amazing things come back to Earth.
Influence of “Lucian's tripS to the Moon” in Literature A True Story, the Lucian’ novel in wich is narrated the trip to the Moon has been described as "the first known text that could be called science fiction”. His satirical tone and his fantasy has inspired many later authors
Quevedo and Cervantes It had a great influence on the Spanish authors of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries where the so-called Lucian story (satirical-fantastic) was cultivated. Among its exponents were Miguel de Cervantes and Francisco de Quevedo. Cervantes uses Lucian's narrative techniques to demystify pastoral novels and chivalric romances through Don Quixote.
Johannes Kepler Somnium (1623), by Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), tells the story of an adventurer who travels to the Moon and makes observations about the movements of the Earth from the satellite. The German astronomer himself in different passages tells us about Lucian's Trips to the Moon.
Cyrano de Bergerac Cyrano de Bergerac, (1619-1655), French satirist and dramatist whose works combining political satire and science-fantasy. In his work Histoire Comique d’un voyage à la Lune (1657) satirize 17th-century religious and astronomical beliefs.
Jonathan Swift Gulliver's Travels by Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift, that is a satirical "travellers' tales“.
Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. In his novel From the Earth to the Moon (De la terre Ă la lune,1865) he tells the story of the Baltimore Gun Club and their attempts to build an enormous space gun and launch three people to the Moon and In his novel Around the Moon (Autour de la Lune, 1870) he continues the description of the trip to the Moon.
Herbert Georges Wells The First Men in the Moon is a scientific romance by the English author H. G. Wells (1900). The novel tells the story of a journey to the moon undertaken by the two protagonists, a businessman narrator, Mr. Bedford, and an eccentric scientist, they discovere that the moon is inhabited by a sophisticated extraterrestrial civilisation of insect-like creatures they call "Selenites“ .
infLuence of “Lucian's tripS to the Moon” in Science FICTION MOVIES
Le Voyage dans la Lune Georges MÊliès was inspired by Jules Verne's work From Earth to the Moon, and First Men on the Moon by Georges Wells, which in turn were inspired by Lucian's trips to the Moon, to write the screenplay for this movie that is considered the first science fiction movie (1902).
Woman in the Moon Woman in the Moon (Frau im Mond, 1929) is a science fiction film It was written and directed by Fritz Lang, based on the novel The Rocket to the Moon by his wife Thea von Harbou. It tells a trip to the Moon to find gold.
Star Wars The series of films Star War by George Lucas tells us the war in space as Lucian of Samosata did. It is no coincidence that the protagonist is called Luke Skywalker, Lucian in Greek.
Avatar The action of the movie Avatar, written and directed by James Cameron(2009) is developed in Pandora, satellite of the planet Polyphemus. Pandora and Polyphemus are two well-known characters from Greek mythology. The winged animals that appear in the film are reminiscent of Lucian's Horse- Vultures.
A curiosity Lucian of Samosata has had such an incredible influence, that one of the craters of the Moon is called Lucian in his honor.
Work made by the students: • María Pamplona • Lucía González- Hontoria • Israel Serrano • Celia Valero Many of the illustrations have been taken from the book “ El inventor de viajes” by Irene Vallejo, Spanish writer from Zaragoza, and the Aragonese painter and illustrator José Luis Cano. This work is an adaptation of the novel “A True Story” by Lucian of Samosata.