Classical Traditions in Science Fiction

Edited by Brett M. Rogers and Benjamin Eldon Stevens

Classical Presences

The first comprehensive, book-length treatment of the classical tradition in science fiction.
Will appeal equally strongly to students and scholars of classics and to those of science fiction.

Classical Traditions in Science Fiction

Edited by Brett M. Rogers and Benjamin Eldon Stevens

Description

For all its concern with change in the present and future, science fiction is deeply rooted in the past and, surprisingly, engages especially deeply with the ancient world. Indeed, both as an area in which the meaning of "classics" is actively transformed and as an open-ended set of texts whose own 'classic' status is a matter of ongoing debate, science fiction reveals much about the roles played by ancient classics in modern times. Classical Traditions in Science Fiction is the first collection dedicated to the rich study of science fiction's classical heritage, offering a much-needed mapping of its cultural and intellectual terrain.
This volume discusses a wide variety of representative examples from both classical antiquity and the past four hundred years of science fiction, beginning with science fiction's "rosy-fingered dawn" and moving toward the other-worldly literature of the present day. As it makes its way through the eras of science fiction, Classical Traditions in Science Fiction exposes the many levels on which science fiction engages the ideas of the ancient world, from minute matters of language and structure to the larger thematic and philosophical concerns.

Classical Traditions in Science Fiction

Edited by Brett M. Rogers and Benjamin Eldon Stevens

Classical Presences

Preface
Introduction: The True History of The Future (and Its Future)
Brett M. Rogers
Benjamin Eldon Stevens
Part I: SF's Rosy-Fingered Dawn
1. The Lunar Setting of Johannes Kepler's Somnium, Science Fiction's Missing Link
Dean Swinford
2. Lucretius, Lucan, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Jesse Weiner
3. Virgil in Jules Verne's Journey to The Center of The Earth
Benjamin Eldon Stevens
4. Mr. Lucian in Suburbia: Links between The True History and The First Men in The Moon
Antony Keen
Part II: SF 'Classics'
5. A Complex Oedipus: The Tragedy of Edward Morbius
Gregory S. Bucher
6. Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s A Canticle for Leibowitz, The Great Year, and The Ages of Man
Erik Grayson
7. Time and Self-Referentiality in The Iliad and Frank Herbert's Dune
Joel Christensen
8. Disability as Rhetorical Trope in Classical Myth and Blade Runner
Rebecca Raphael
Part III: Classics in Space
9. Moral and Mortal in Star Trek: The Original Series
George Kovacs
10. Hybrids and Homecomings in The Odyssey and Alien Resurrection
Brett M. Rogers
11. Classical Antiquity and Western Identity in Battlestar Galactica
Vincent Tomasso
Part IV: Ancient Classics for a Future Generation?
12. Revised Iliadic Epiphanies in Dan Simmons' Ilium
Gaël Grobéty
13. Refiguring the Roman Empire in The Hunger Games Trilogy
Marian Makins
14. Jonathan Hickman's Pax Romana and The End of Antiquity
C. W. Marshall
Appendix
Suggestions for Further Reading and Viewing
Robert W. Cape, Jr.
Works Cited

Classical Traditions in Science Fiction

Edited by Brett M. Rogers and Benjamin Eldon Stevens

Classical Presences

Author Information

Edited by Brett M. Rogers, Assistant Professor of Classics, University of Puget Sound, and Edited by Benjamin Eldon Stevens, Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics, Hollins University

Brett M. Rogers is Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Puget Sound. Benjamin Eldon Stevens is Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics at Hollins University.

Contributors:

Dean Swinford, Assistant Professor of English, Fayetteville State University
Jesse Weiner, Professor of Greek and Roman Studies and Religion, Illinois Wesleyan University
Antony Keen, Associate Lecturer in Classics, Open University
Gregory S. Bucher, Associate Professor of Classical and Near Eastern Studies, Creighton University
Erik Grayson, Assistant Professor of English, Wartburg College
Joel Christensen, Associate Professor of Classics, University of Texas at San Antonio
Rebecca Raphael, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Texas State University
George Kovacs, Assistant Professor of Ancient History and Classics, Trent University
Vincent Tomasso, Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics, Ripon College
Gaël Grobéty, doctoral candidate, Université de Lausanne
Marian Makins, Critical Writing Fellow, University of Pennsylvania
C. W. Marshall, Professor of Ancient Performance Traditions and Greek Poetry, University of British Columbia
Robert W. Cape, Jr., Professor of Classics, Austin College

Classical Traditions in Science Fiction

Edited by Brett M. Rogers and Benjamin Eldon Stevens

Classical Presences

Reviews and Awards

"a stimulating and provoking collection of essays." - Liz Gloyn, Times Higher Education Books of 2015

"on a journey through the modern history of SF ... pointing out sites of classical interest along the way ... raises some big questions" - Francesca Middleton, Times Literary Supplement

"the articles cover a broad swathe of Sci-Fi in terms of textual format ... as well as content, theme, and sub-genre. This bolsters the impression that SF's engagement with the classical tradition is varied and continually evolving ... interesting, well researched and thought provoking. For SF scholars and enthusiasts familiar with the texts in question, the book offers a fresh lens through which to view them and a new understanding of their place within the Western literary tradition ... worth reading and will encourage people to investigate the sources for themselves ... a valuable resource. The contributors bring different strengths to an interesting range of source material and express a variety of opinions on the methodological and definitional issues ... a solid contribution to the growing field of SF studies and will help to put SF firmly on the radar for students of classical reception." - James Christie, International Journal of the Classical Tradition

"a fascinating collection you're excited by taking a deeper look into science fiction through the lens of the myths and stories of antiquity — that is to say if you're a Classics nerd along with being a traditional nerd — then Classical Traditions in Science Fiction is an absolute blast." - Rob Bricken, io9

"the volume comprises an astoundingly diverse array of case studies" - Dr Lilah Grace Canevaro, Classics for All

"the book represents an exciting new direction for classical studies." - M. J. Emery, CHOICE

"Whereas a classics scholar may be confused by the different approaches to defining and originating science fiction, Classical Traditions in Science Fiction is a particularly helpful work in orienting science fiction scholars toward a more historical approach to the genre. The work shows that even the most advanced and surreal worlds of science fiction hark back to classical origins in their reflections on humanity, knowledge, and ethics." - Kanta Dihal, Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA) Review

Classical Traditions in Science Fiction

Edited by Brett M. Rogers and Benjamin Eldon Stevens

Classical Presences

From Our Blog

The top sci five classical receptions on screen

Recently, a number of prominent publications have featured a growing body of work on classical receptions in science fiction and fantasy, including MÃ©lanie Bost-FiÃ©vet's and Sandra Provini's collection L'AntiquitÃ© dans l'imaginaire contemporain (Garniers Classiques 2014), a special issue of the journal Foundation on 'Fantastika and the Greek and Roman Worlds' (Autumn 2014), and our own collection, Classical Traditions in Science Fiction (OUP 2015). This focus on science fiction, now an important part of popular culture, reveals much about how ancient classics are being received by modern audiences, particularly when it comes to the silver screen.

Posted on April 14, 2015

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