Lucian, True History: Introduction, Text, Translation, and Commentary

by Diskin Clay, James H. Brusuelas (Editor)

Lucian of Samosata's True History is a fantastical tale of voyage and imagination. No editor, translator, or reader knows quite how to describe it or fit it comfortably into a familiar genre of Greek 'satires' and 'dialogues' only partially describe the genre or genres he wrote in. Of all the ancient Greco-Roman writers, Lucian is without doubt one of the most inventive and witty.

The Greek text in this edition of the True History is accompanied by a facing page English translation, making it an accessible and informative resource aimed at students and teachers of Greek. Whether used in the classroom or in research, readers will benefit from an introduction to Lucian and his place in imperial Greek literature, as well as a translation and commentary that bring out the wonders of his True History .

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy

224 pages, Paperback

Published September 29, 2021

Reviews

[Sage · Rating 4 out of 5]

1900 year old science fiction/fantasy novel. (No lie.) It's a trip. Literally they sail to the moon and go to war with the sun, and later they go to the land of the dead.

Parts of this inspired Apuleius' The Golden Ass, which is why I read it. I'm not thrilled about this edition, as it's aimed at ancient Greek scholars and I don't read Greek. But it's the edition I could get my hands on.

4 stars bc it's funny. The notes explain how Lucian is casting shade on, mostly philosophers and perhaps the moon men making babies with each other, without any women involved. Despite living on the embodiment of the goddess Selene. Um.

Anyway. That was wild and weird af. Hard to believe it's nearly 2000 years old, which mostly just makes me think abt how little humans have changed. Societies change but human behavior is so basic.

[andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is genuinley one of the funniest things I've ever read because its just fanfiction and Lucian makes it known literally right from the start.
if you have even just basic knowledge of greek myth, history and/or literature you need to read this because its genuinely so fucking entertaining.
this is now my fave novel I've read not only for my ancient novel class but maybe for my entire degree so far.

[amax · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucian had no right being this funny and smart. His mastery of history and historical figures woven into a supernatural adventure à la Marco Polo is ingenious for its time. I can't believe I had never read this text before, but I guess I have my Greek lit teacher to thank for introducing me to this gem.

10/10 no regrets

[Matthew Leigh · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you're looking for a reliable Greek text and translation of the wonderful True History, this is absolutely not the place to go. The book is littered with errors. How it got through Oxford University Press beats me. Diskin Clay is no longer with us, but James Brusuelas is and he can answer for the quality of his work.

[Alex Cotterill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this for potentially doing some work on it. Very good introduction with a very clear translation, interesting to have the Greek next to it but I’m not interested in it though lol. Personally a very entertaining story with many Odyssey and the other 2 epic poem references. Overall a good book

[Lucia Eriksson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars.

[Kayley]

Wtf lol

[Sofia · Rating 3 out of 5]

what was that