January 2: Science Fiction Day

The Greek tragedy writer Aeschulos invented the concept of the “deus ex machina” (literally: “god from a machine”). It involved a god suddenly appearing on stage, with the help of a mechanical device, to solve all problems and conclude the drama. The best known version of the concept is the Disney adaptation of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”. Wasn’t it Wolfgang Goethe who composed the original poem in the 18th century? No, it was not. In fact, it was the hellenised Syrian novelist Lucianus, in the 2nd century AD. The same Lucianus who also invented the science fiction genre, in his novel “A True Story”. He describes a trip to the moon, alien encounters and intergalactic battles, two millennia before Jules Verne or Isaac Asimov. What he didn’t invent, were robots. Not because they don’t appear in the novel, but because they were called automatons (“self moving things”). The term “robot” is Czech for “forced labour” and has nothing to do with Greek or Roman antiquity. For once.