Related To Science Fiction
In the past century to modern day, there have been many retellings of Jewish myths (mostly from the Torah), and adaptations for the modern public. They have mostly been in the regions of science-fiction; as Isaac Asimov noted in his introduction to More Wandering Stars:
- "...Can science fiction be part of Jewish culture? From fantasy stories we know?/ And as I think of it, it begins to seem to me that it is and we do know. And the source? From where else? From the Hebrew source for everything-- From the Bible. We have but to look through the Bible to see for ourselves." - Isaac Asimov.
He goes on to show parallels between Biblical stories and modern science-fiction:
- 'Let there be light!' was an example of advanced scientific mechanisms.
- God is an extraterrestrial.
- Adam and Eve as colonists on a new planet.
- The serpent was an alien, as Earth snakes don't speak or show any intelligence (and they're trayf, as well).
- The flood was a story of a world catastrophe, and the survivors (like in Larry Niven's "Inconstant Moon").
- The Tower of Babel (like Metropolis, which it inspired in part).
- Moses vs. the Egyptian magicians is advanced technological warfare.
- Samson as Sword-&-Sorcery.
- First chapter of Ezekiel is a UFO account.
The Hugo Awards, one of the highest distinctions for science fiction writers, have been awarded to plenty of Biblically derived stories, for instance:
- Arthur C. Clark's "The Star". (On a certain star)
- Harlan Ellison's "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream". (When God is angry)
- Larry Niven's "Inconstant Moon". (An explanation of Noah's flood)
- Harlan Ellison's "The Deathbird". (A retold Genesis)
Another example is the Hideaki Anno's Neon Genesis Evangelion anime series, which takes kabbalah elements, while narrating a reinterpretation of events surrounding Adam, Eve and Lilith on a futuristic and apocalyptic way.
Read more about this topic: Jewish Mythology
Famous quotes containing the words science fiction, related to, related, science and/or fiction:
“What a phenomenon it has been—science fiction, space fiction—exploding out of nowhere, unexpectedly of course, as always happens when the human mind is being forced to expand; this time starwards, galaxy-wise, and who knows where next.”
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)
“Women stand related to beautiful nature around us, and the enamoured youth mixes their form with moon and stars, with woods and waters, and the pomp of summer. They heal us of awkwardness by their words and looks. We observe their intellectual influence on the most serious student. They refine and clear his mind: teach him to put a pleasing method into what is dry and difficult.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The custard is setting; meanwhile
I not only have my own history to worry about
But am forced to fret over insufficient details related to large
Unfinished concepts that can never bring themselves to the point
Of being, with or without my help, if any were forthcoming.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“Vanity of science. Knowledge of physical science will not console me for ignorance of morality in time of affliction, but knowledge of morality will always console me for ignorance of physical science.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)
“To value the tradition of, and the discipline required for, the craft of fiction seems today pointless. The real Arcadia is a lonely, mountainous plateau, overbouldered and strewn with the skulls of sheep slain for vellum and old bitten pinions that tried to be quills. It’s forty rough miles by mule from Athens, a city where there’s a fair, a movie house, cotton candy.”
—Alexander Theroux (b. 1940)