[b] Icaromenippus, an Aerial Expedition. (Ikaromenippos he hupernephelos)
* Satire on earthly foibles, notably philosophers, sophists, and pretentious intellectual frauds. As Menippus is conversing with his friend, he makes calculations of the distances from the earth to the moon, to the sun, and to the Greek heaven. He then reveals that he has returned from a flight to the abode of the gods. His story: He has long been intrigued by astronomical matters— the nature of the sun and moon, their distances from the earth, and so on— but when he sought answers from the various philosophers of the day, he met with the most varied and sometimes outrageous opinions. He then decided to investigate for himself. He caught an eagle and a vulture, removed their wings, and fastened them onto himself with a harness, so that he could fly by moving them with his arms. After he was skilled in their operation, he set out for the moon, which is about three hundred and fifty miles away. On reaching the moon, he looked back and saw the earth, a tiny object. As he wishes that he could see what is going on among individual humans, a pleasant stranger approaches. It is the philosopher Empedocles, who was blown up to the moon by an eruption of Mount Etna. Empedocles tells him that he can sharpen his sight by using the power of the eagle wing that he possesses. Menippus can then see all sorts of shameful acts being performed on earth. Empedocles disappears, and Menippus resumes his flight, reaching the Greek heaven.
* The gods, astonished to see him, at first do not know what to do with him, until Zeus decrees that he shall be a guest for one day. During this period Zeus lets him watch the reception of prayers from earth and the decisions about weather. The next day Zeus decrees that his wings be removed and that he be returned to earth, which order Hermes fulfills.
* Like The True History an amusing work, but now obscure at times, since the many personalities named are no longer in our intellectual background. Historically, not so important as The True History, but the presence of Empedocles on the moon is sometimes repeated in later lunar voyages.
* For those who wish to examine the Greek text, both stories are included in the Loeb Classical Library Lucian translated by A. M. Harmon, with Greek and English on facing pages.
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