Lucian of Samosata was a Greek who wrote in the second century, including, among other things, the earliest "science" fiction story. Appropriately enough, it was entitled A True Story. Trips to the Moon, Venus, interplanetary warfare, etc. Here's the Gutenberg link. Enjoy!

You have really to stretch to find examples of bona-fide sci-fi in the ancient world, but there are a few examples that come close. The Hindu epic poem Ramayana (about 5th century BCE) features a lot of weird sci-fi type stuff like Vimana castles that are flying machines. Here is a modern illustration. There are also ancient plays about travels to other words, one example being Aristophanes’ The Clouds. But those kind of stories tend to be more abstract and magical rather than what our modern idea of science fiction tends to be.

Probably the most commonly cited ancient example is a 2nd Century Greek satire called “True History,” which a story about traveling to outer space and meeting alien life forms who are engaged in interplanetary warfare. Seriously. There is a war between the King of the Moon and the King of the Sun over planets. But again, there is no real science in it – for instance, it features giant space spiders spinning webs around the moon. And it’s heavily allegorical and meant as high comedy. Like pretty much all ancient examples, it doesn’t really follow the sci-fi formula as we understand it today.

You have to go forward a bit to find stuff that looks more like modern sci-fi. There is a 10th century Japanese story called “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter,” which is a pretty popular fairy tale even today. That story is about a princess from the moon who is sent to earth for protection to be raised by a bamboo cutter, kind of like Superman. Eventually, emissaries from the moon arrive to take her home, kind of like the end of E.T.

I know I’m probably missing some important examples of ancient or medieval proto-sci-fi, but real sci-fi doesn’t really start to take off until the Enlightenment, and really kicks into high gear during the 19th century. The broader point is that while cultures have always wrote “fantastic” works, our modern conceptions of “technology” and “science” are what really shape science fiction.

hi! you'll find some earlier discussions in the FAQ

• What was science fiction like in the past? How did ancient people imagine the future?

Hephaestus, the lame smith god of Greek myth, made robots:

"Grasping a thick staff he limped from the forge, supported by servants made of gold, fashioned like living girls, who attended swiftly on their master. As well as the use of their limbs they had intellect, and the immortals gave them skill in subtle crafts. They supported Hephaestus as he limped towards Thetis, and seated himself on a gleaming chair." -Illiad Bk XVIII (translated)

I suppose one might argue that gods with the power to breathe life into mud might do the same to metal without calling it sci-fi; but Hephaestus is associated with craftsmanship and machinery, so it's a reasonable expectation that these servants would be more like assembled automatons than ensorcelled statues.

Also, in by some descriptions Talos is a dangerous bronze automaton built by Hephaestus.

I remember reading somewhere that the notion that the future would be meaningfully different from the present is a relatively recent one.

Probably because although scientific and technological progress occurred in past ages, the rate was usually slow enough that a person wouldn't really see much difference in what was possible to do within their lifetime.

Maybe someone here can tell me if this is complete bollocks?