Lucian (c. 125-c. 190)

Greek writer. In his satirical dialogues, he pours scorn on religions and mocks human pretensions. His 65 genuine works also include rhetorical declamations, literary criticism, biography, and romance. Among the most interesting of his works are Dialogues of the Gods, Dialogues of the Dead, Zeus Confounded, and Zeus Tragedian. His True History inspired Rabelais's Voyage of Pantagruel, Swift's Gulliver's Travels, and Cyrano de Bergerac's Journey to the Moon.

He was born at Samosata in Syria and for a time was an advocate at Antioch. He then set up as a sophistic rhetorician, and travelled in Asia Minor, Greece, Italy, and Gaul, before settling in Athens about 165. He later occupied an official post in Egypt, where he died.