Star Trek the original series wasn’t afraid to borrow stories, ideas and characters from Classical Greece and Rome, from gods to gladiators – and the series was all the richer for it.
I, TIBERIUS
“My name is James Tiberius Kirk. Kirk because my father and his male forebears followed the old custom of passing on a family identity name. I received James because it was both the name of my father’s beloved brother as well as that of my mother’s first love instructor. Tiberius, as I am forever tired of explaining, was the Roman emperor whose life for some unfathomable reason fascinated my grandfather Samuel.”
So, supposedly, wrote our favourite starship captain in a “preface” published as part of Gene Roddenberry’s novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. If nothing else, this underscores the original Star Trek’s frequent habit of referencing classical Greek and Roman culture; in the piece, Kirk also suggests he’s uncomfortable with being seen as “a new Ulysses”.
Yet this isn’t just about comparing Kirk with an ancient Greek hero…
First published in the Spring 2015 (#53) issue of Star Trek: The Official Magazine.
Reprinted in Star Trek Magazine Special 2016.
