Mack Reynolds 12 min read

On the plains of ancient Troy, Diomed of Argos moves in for the kill, until Aphrodite herself, sword in hand, steps between him and his fallen foe.

Mack Reynolds's 1950 story is a clever first-contact and social-SF tale. Sharp, imaginative golden-age SF. Read it for an inventive story that reimagines the gods of Greek myth as visitors to Earth, weaving classical legend into science fiction, in a well-turned golden-age piece that finds a fresh, playful angle on humanity's oldest stories.

In its time

Published in 1950, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

12 min read (a short story, a single idea, delivered and gone).

Illustrated by

Robert Fuqua