A Feminist Interpretation of A True Story of Lucian of Samosata

Abstract

Lucian of Samosata was a satirist and rhetorician who lived in the second century BC. He was the author of the earliest known science fiction novel, A True Story. In this story, Lucian travels to the Moon, joining the war between the moon people and the solar people. What makes this story interesting is that Lucian tells us there are no women among moon people, and men give birth to children. As stated rightly by Morena Deriu, this situation can be seen as a satirization of the exclusion of women from the public sphere. However, it should not be forgotten that giving a place to gods giving birth in myths was an attempt to legitimize that a child’s real parent is a man, not a woman. In this paper, in addition to Deriu’s claims, I will argue that when Lucian said Lunarian men could give birth to children, he was criticizing the order established by men, who saw themselves as the only and real parent of a child. The elements used by Lucian regarding the Eleusinian mysteries and his reference to Aristophanes’ comedy The Birds will be considered as supporting this claim.