Lucian's "Vera Historia"

[Lina]

Hi all,

I'm still reading Nairn's "Greek Through Reading" anthology. Right now, I'm reading some excerpts from Lucian: "Voyage to the Moon" and "Sea Monsters" from Vera Historia. These are downright bizarre little excerpts that seem to feature islands floating in space and men flying on vultures.

Has anyone around here read Vera Historia? I'm not finding a lot of background information on the Internet about this. Do people ever read this as a stand-alone work?

[spiphany]

We read selections from the "True History" for a second-year Greek class. The language is generally good Attic Greek style, but the content is not necessarily what one expects in a work of Greek literature.

If it helps with the context at all: Lucian is post-classical (second-century AD). The "True History" is often described as an early science fiction novel and is highly satirical -- think of it as a precursor to Swift's "Gulliver's Travels".