# Any sci fi featuring ancient gods as aliens, a la that Star Trek episode? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2007, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733 "2007-01-04T21:17:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/21 "2007-01-05T01:57:00Z")
[QUOTE=AndrewL] Stargate? [/QUOTE] First thing that jumped to my mind. If I’m not utterly mistaken, it seemed the Aliens vs. Predator movie implied Predators may have in the past, taught humans to build certain pyramids, temples etc. Sort of god-ish. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/22 "2007-01-05T02:02:58Z")
[_Clash of the Star-Kings,_](http://www.amazon.com/Clash-Star-Kings-Wildside-Discovery-Davidson/dp/158715076X/sr=8-2/qid=1167962482/ref=sr_1_2/102-4540189-9745708?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Avram Davidson; does the Aztec gods as aliens. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/23 "2007-01-05T04:26:17Z")
2001 has the monolith altering the ape-people, apparently improving their intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/24 "2007-01-05T04:43:42Z")
[QUOTE=H3Knuckles] A-heh, I don’t know if there are any novels for it, but… The core concept of the entire Stargate franchise is built around the notion that all the gods and pantheons were just super-powerful/super-advanced aliens. [/QUOTE] Yeah, there are a few. I think there might be a novelization of the movie out there and I know I’ve seen a few books based on the series, including a couple episode novelizations. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/25 "2007-01-05T06:08:14Z")
Either Cordwainer Smith or H. Beam Piper had a series of short stories in which Martians were the ancient Egyption gods. I can’t remember which one did them. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/26 "2007-01-05T14:58:32Z")
Which reminded me of [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramids_of_Mars) great Doctor Who story. (It was Tom Baker, of course it was great.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/27 "2007-01-05T15:05:15Z")
The new _Battlestar Galactica_ is based on the premise that the Lords of Kobol (worshipped as gods by the Twelve Colonies, but implicitly the legendary founders of human civilization) have the same names as the gods of ancient Greece. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/28 "2007-01-05T15:09:28Z")
The new _Battlestar Galactica_ is based on the premise that the Lords of Kobol (worshipped as gods by the Twelve Colonies, but it is implied they were mortal humans who were the legendary founders of civilization) have the same names as the gods of ancient Greece. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/29 "2007-01-05T15:45:34Z")
> [@](#): > > Either Cordwainer Smith or H. Beam Piper had a series of short stories in which Martians were the ancient Egyption gods. I can’t remember which one did them. Neither – it was Stanley G. Weinbaum, who wrote “A Martian Odyssey” and its sequel. It was in the sequel that you learned that Tweel’s people were the inspiration for Thoth. It’s even depicted on the cover of **The Best of Stanley G. Weinbaum** , the first in the Ballantine/Del Rey “Best of…” series. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/30 "2007-01-05T18:18:55Z")
Suburban Plankton: > [@](#): > > Not quite science fiction, but Douglas Adams’ The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul features a number of Norse gods misbehaving in and around London. Yes, but it never makes them out to be aliens. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/31 "2007-01-05T18:25:57Z")
_Orion, Vengence of Orion, Orion and the Conqueror, and Orion in the Dying Time_, all by **Ben Bova** , portray the Greek God Apollo and the Goddess Athena as sort of like Aliens. I won’t say too much in case somebody wants to read it, but it is a definite twist on the God/Goddess thing. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/32 "2007-01-05T19:18:59Z")
There’s a Spider Robinson short story I can’t quite remember the name of that almost fits the bill, but it’s somewhere in Callahan Chronicles. Not the one where they get Mickey Finn, but the other one. The one that starts with weird earthquakes suddenly happening all over the world… ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/33 "2007-01-05T20:19:59Z")
Check out Julian May’s _Pliocene Exiles_ books (starting with _The Many-Colored Land_). Among a great many other things, the books contend that all our legends of elves, dwarves, fairies and so forth are actually racial memories of beings descended from aliens who colonized Earth six million years ago. Very good series, with a very thorough approach to the subject of paranormal abilities. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/34 "2007-01-05T20:32:29Z")
Marvel Comics has _The Eternals_ (the series from the '70s and the recent 6-issue retelling). Features immortal aliens with names like Merkari, Ikarus, etc. So they aren’t all gods, but demi-gods and very famous ancient civilization people. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/35 "2007-01-05T21:11:23Z")
[QUOTE=Sean Factotum] Marvel Comics has _The Eternals_ (the series from the '70s and the recent 6-issue retelling). Features immortal aliens with names like Merkari, Ikarus, etc. So they aren’t all gods, but demi-gods and very famous ancient civilization people. [/QUOTE] Actually, they were mistaken for the Greek gods, who are real there. Some of them took names similar to the gods as a homage, IIRC. Also, they aren’t aliens; they are humans altered by aliens, and later by themselves. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/36 "2007-01-05T21:23:54Z")
[QUOTE=Little Plastic Ninja] There’s a Spider Robinson short story I can’t quite remember the name of that almost fits the bill, but it’s somewhere in Callahan Chronicles. Not the one where they get Mickey Finn, but the other one. The one that starts with weird earthquakes suddenly happening all over the world… [/QUOTE] I think you mean “Unnatural Causes,” next-to-last story in [_Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon._](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callahan%27s_Crosstime_Saloon)ETs – carnivorous, but too squeamish to kill with their own hands – have been manipulating human civilization towards a final self-destructive war so they can harvest our dead flesh to eat. (Dumbest premise Spider ever came up with . . . why not just persuade us to worship them and offer up dressed beef carcasses in tribute? You get a steady supply of meat that way.) It’s not clear whether they ever impersonated gods, but they did impersonate humans. The one who comes into Callahan’s asking for redemption was Hitler. The weird earthquakes start **after** the rejected penitent slinks out and suicides; Mickey Finn, alerted to the danger, starts hunting down and taking out the others. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/37 "2007-01-06T02:16:59Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] Actually, they were mistaken for the Greek gods, who are real there. Some of them took names similar to the gods as a homage, IIRC. Also, they aren’t aliens; they are humans altered by aliens, and later by themselves. [/QUOTE] Not exactly. The Eternals (and their arch-enemies the Deviants) were prototypes of how the human race would in time develop super-powers. Later, the Eternals were worshipped as gods by primitive humans; and distorted accounts of them formed the legends that actually _ **created** _ the Greek Pantheon by the same process that the other pantheons were formed: the collective human subconcious gave form and substance to a mystic god force. (That at least was the version of continuity given in the Celestials story arc leading up to the epical Thor #300; later retcons contradicted this). ---
**Author:** ![Tess\_of\_the\_Derbyville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Tess\_of\_the\_Derbyville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tess_of_the_Derbyville)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/38 "2007-01-06T02:21:12Z")
I’m getting ready to start Gene Wolfe’s [Soldier of Sidon](http://www.amazon.com/Soldier-Sidon-Gene-Wolfe/dp/0765316641/sr=1-1/qid=1168049694/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-1673573-6976868?ie=UTF8&s=books) . I loved his first two _Soldier_ books. They may not be aliens, but there are gods galore. And Wolfe is a wonderful, wonderful writer. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/39 "2007-01-06T02:30:55Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Neither – it was Stanley G. Weinbaum, who wrote “A Martian Odyssey” and its sequel. It was in the sequel that you learned that Tweel’s people were the inspiration for Thoth. It’s even depicted on the cover of **The Best of Stanley G. Weinbaum** , the first in the Ballantine/Del Rey “Best of…” series. [/QUOTE] :smack: You’re quite right, it WAS Weinbaum. I even have that book, though I couldn’t tell you where it is in the house. I was Googling Piper and Smith last night, trying to remember which one it was, and it’s been nagging at me since. Now I know. Until the next time I forget. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733/40 "2007-01-06T02:38:10Z")
[QUOTE=Lumpy] The Eternals (and their arch-enemies the Deviants) were prototypes of how the human race would in time develop super-powers. [/QUOTE] More like competing versions. “The gene-distorting Deviants, the gene-preserving Eternals, and the gene-oblivious Latents”. The Deviants got powers by constantly mutating, the Eternals got powers by some experiment of theirs IIRC ( which is why the Eternals of Titan lack the same powers ), and we, the Latents had the potential for powers, but some catalyst had to make them emerge. The mutant x-gene, gamma rays, etc. I _also_ remember that the Skrulls come from a planet where their version of the Deviants won, which is why they are all shape changers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-sci-fi-featuring-ancient-gods-as-aliens-a-la-that-star-trek-episode/386733.md?page=3)