Micromegas is a short story published in 1752 and written by Voltaire while The Lisbon Earthquake appeared in 1756. Micromegas focuses on themes such as humanity’s history and its place in the cosmos while The Lisbon Earthquake powerfully satirizes the notion of Panglossian optimism in a world ridden with disasters. Thus, both are powerful, fantastic works.
Micromegas’s world includes extraterrestrial species that live on other planets in the solar system. The extraterrestrials are very different to humans due to their size, intelligence, and lifespan. The protagonist of the story is a sentient being named Micromegas who came from a planet that orbited around the star Sirius. Micromegas “was eight leagues tall, of 24,000 geometric paces of five feet each.” That is, he is 120,000 feet tall while humans, as described by Voltaire, measure only five feet (height has increased in recent years due to better nutrition and the stability of the food supply). Micromegas was brilliant, though it is unfortunate to note that even in civilizations as advanced as Sirius there existed ridiculous dogma, superstition, and persecution. As Voltaire describes, Micromegas “was not even 250 years old when he studied … at the most celebrated colleges of his planet, where he managed to figure out by pure willpower more than 50 of Euclid’s propositions. That makes 18 more than Blaise Pascal … Towards his 450th year, near the end of his infancy, he dissected many small insects no more than 100 feet in diameter, which would evade ordinary microscopes. He wrote a very curious book about this … The mufti of his country, an extremely ignorant worrywart, found some … heretical propositions … and pursued it vigorously; it was a matter of finding out whether the substantial form of the fleas of Sirius were of the same nature as those of the snails. Micromegas gave a spirited defense … the trial lasted 220 years. Finally the mufti had the book condemned by jurisconsults who had not read it, and the author was ordered not to appear in court for 800 years.” Micromegas wasn’t very bothered about being sentenced to a period of exile from his home planet, as he journeyed to other planets to learn new things and to meet interesting individuals. To travel, Micromegas, an individual possessing great wisdom, rode on comets to travel from planet to planet. He decided to go to Saturn after some time, and was amused at how small the inhabitants were, as “Saturn is hardly nine times bigger than Earth, and the citizens of this country are dwarfs, no more than a thousand fathoms tall … But, as the Sirian had a good heart, he understood very quickly that a thinking being is not necessarily ridiculous just because he is only 6,000 feet tall.” Micromegas later befriended a member of Saturn who was the secretary of the academy of the planet, “who had not invented anything … but who understood the inventions of others very well, and who wrote some passable verses and carried out some complicated calculations.” A conversation between Micromegas and the Saturnian (as he was called by Voltaire) reveals that the species of Saturn have “only” 72 senses. Saturn itself, of course, has a ring as well as five moons. Despite all these things, those on Saturn feel disappointed by reality, as much is beyond their scope of understanding. Micromegas sympathizes with the Saturnian, revealing that those on Sirius have almost 1,000 senses, yet even they feel continuously dissatisfied. Micromegas makes clear his open-mindedness by stating that he has met beings that are greater than them, yet he has not found any civilization that is truly and utterly content: “‘Maybe someday I will happen upon a country that lacks nothing; but so far no one has given me any word of a place like that.’”
The Saturnian states that those on Saturn live a measly 15,000 years. He states that that is nothing compared to the age of the cosmos, and that the search for ultimate knowledge is virtually currently unreachable due to the small amount of time each individual is allowed. As he put it, “‘You can see yourself that this is to die almost at the moment one is born; our existence is a point, our lifespan an instant, our planet an atom. Hardly do we begin to learn a little when death arrives, before we get any experience … I see myself as a drop of water in an immense ocean. I am ashamed, most of all before you, of how ridiculously I figure in this world.’” Micromegas states that beings from Sirius live for 10,500,000 years, and he acknowledges that he feels that to be still too short. He tellingly describes, “‘you know very well when it is necessary to return your body to the elements, and reanimate nature in another form, which we call death. When this moment of metamorphosis comes, to have lived an eternity or to have lived a day amounts to precisely the same thing. I have also been to countries where they live a thousand times longer than we do, and they also die.’” Micromegas gives thanks to the creator of the universe, which demonstrates that Voltaire was a deist: while he strongly disliked and criticized human-made religions (especially Christianity), he believed that there is a divine deity that created the universe. The Saturnian tells Micromegas there are three hundred properties (said properties belong to subjects like physics) on his planet. Micromegas informs the Saturnian that Sirius has thirty-nine primary colors. After much discussion (it lasted for a year), they appreciated each other’s company and decided to go on a philosophical journey to learn more about the universe. Before they left, however, the significant other of the Saturnian begged him to stay, as she had only been in a romantic relationship with him for one hundred years after being wooed for fifteen-hundred. The Saturnian comforted her, and she eventually got over it and left. The two friends traveled via comets to several areas. For instance, they stayed in Jupiter for a week and spent time in the library. They proceeded to Mars, which was five times smaller than Earth and analyzed its two moons. They found Mars so small that they were afraid they wouldn’t be able to land on its surface, causing them to leave relatively quickly. They soon came across Earth, which was “a small candle … this was a pitiful sight to those who had just left Jupiter … Carried by the tail of a comet … they … arrived … on the northern coast of the Baltic sea, July 5, 1737, new style.” The two of them ate two mountains for sustenance and walked around the whole globe in thirty-six hours. Humorously, Voltaire elaborates on the vast size difference between the Saturnian and Micromegas: for every step the latter took the former had to take twelve, which is akin to “a very small lapdog following a captain of the guards of the Prussian king.” Voltaire writes of the insignificance of the Earth, describing that the deepest ocean reached only the Saturnian’s knees while the heels of Micromegas were barely wet. In fact, they were so large they couldn’t see any living organisms. The Saturnian hastily concluded that there was no life, but Micromegas informed him of the weakness of one’s senses and the importance of skepticism and rationality. The Saturnian retorted by telling him that Earth was deeply vulnerable and had issues and that no creature of intelligence would stay there. Micromegas informs him that perhaps the inhabitants of Earth have little logic, rendering them incapable of doing so. He then creates a microscope from some diamonds he was carrying around (the largest weighed four hundred pounds and the smallest fifty). After looking through the diamonds, Micromegas, after much optical strain, caught the figure of a whale. The Saturnian then believed that all life forms on Earth had no souls, seeing how small they were (but again, he’s small when compared to Micromegas) and that all the inhabitants of Earth were whales. Micromegas and the Saturnian soon caught sight of a boat with philosophers and sailors that were coming back from the Arctic Circle.
Micromegas picked the boat up effortlessly with his two fingers, believing it to be a living organism akin to the whale. Due to how minuscule humans were, he initially didn't spot the people on the boat. Voltaire describes, “Taking the size of a man to be about five feet, the figure we strike on Earth is like that struck by an animal of about six hundred thousandths the height of a flea on a ball five feet around. Imagine something that can hold the Earth in its hands, and which has organs in proportion to ours—and it may very well be that there are such things—conceive, I beg of you, what these things would think of the battles that allow a vanquisher to take a village only to lose it later.” Voltaire hilariously and tellingly notes, “What marvelous skill it must have taken for our philosopher from Sirius to perceive the atoms I have just spoke of. When Leuwenhoek and Hartsoëker tinkered with the first or thought they saw the grains that make us up, they did not by any means make such an astonishing discovery. What pleasure Micromegas felt as seeing these little machines move, at examining all their scurrying, at following them in their enterprises! how he cried out! with what joy he placed one of his microscopes in the hands of his traveling companion! … They spoke … hands trembling from the pleasure of seeing such new objects, and from fear of losing them. The Saturnian, passing from an excess of incredulity to an excess of credulity, thought he saw them mating. ‘Ah!’ he said. ‘I have caught nature in the act’. But he was fooled by appearances, which happens only too often, whether one is using a microscope or not.” Micromegas realized that the humans weren’t mating but were speaking. The Saturnian defended his prior mistake by saying that they are so small that it is very plausible to assume that they have no vocal organs, seeing how the notion that such tiny things have souls seemed absurd to him. Micromegas attempted to communicate with the philosophers by cutting off a fingernail and creating the equivalent of a sound amplifier (a “speaking-trumpet” that appeared “like a vast funnel”): “The circumference of the funnel enveloped the vessel and the entire crew. The weakest voice entered into the circular fibers of the nails in such a way that, thanks to his industriousness, the philosopher above could hear the drone of our insects below perfectly. In a small number of hours he was able to distinguish words, and finally to understand French … The voyagers’ surprise redoubled each second. They heard the mites speak fairly intelligently. This performance of nature’s seemed inexplicable to them … the Sirian and the dwarf burned with impatience to converse with the atoms.” Due to knowing that their voices at their usual volume could deafen the humans, they decreased the amplitude of their vocal projections by placing toothpicks between their mouths. When the Saturnian spoke to the “‘Invisible insects’” and told them that they were surprised at their existence and didn't mean harm, those on the boat couldn’t understand anything. However, after a while in which he informed them of his and Micromegas’s existence, he accidentally incensed a physician due to his contesting the notion that they have a soul. The physician and the others on the boat utilized scientific ingenuity to accurately measure both the Saturnian and Micromegas (Micromegas lay down flat due to his height being so great that his head would reach the clouds if he were to remain upright). Those on the boat quickly and accurately discerned that Micromegas was 120,000 feet tall. Micromegas, utterly astounded, found himself admiring the humans, as he said that although they were of vastly small size, they did possess intellect (or at least the potential to practice it). One of the philosophers informed Micromegas that size is quite relative, as life has a wide variety of living creatures that differ greatly in physical proportion.
Micromegas, upon hearing the philosopher’s detailed words, confessed to the humans that he believes their lives are of the utmost bliss, seeing their knowledge and insignificant physical size: “‘Oh intelligent atoms … you must, no doubt, taste pure joys on your planet; for having so little matter, and appearing to be entirely spirit, you must live out your life thinking and loving, the veritable life of the mind. Nowhere have I seen true bliss, but it is here, without a doubt.’” Another philosopher who was honest in his opinions (which were quite misanthropic, but were still accurate) informed Micromegas that humans have physical forms that could do great harm to each other in the name of the most asinine reasons. As he put it, “‘We have more substance than is necessary,’” “‘to do evil, if evil comes from substance; and too much spirit, if evil comes from spirit. Did you know … that as I am speaking with you, there are 100,000 madmen of our species wearing hats, killing 100,000 other animals wearing turbans, or being massacred by them, and that we have used … Earth for this purpose since time immemorial?’” Micromegas inquired as to why a species would go to war with each other, and the philosopher told him that the reason for such barbarism was due to prejudices and fanaticism, especially regarding nations and religion, seeing how various leaders (Sultans and Czars) may declare war on each other to satisfy their egos and insecurity. Furthermore, many soldiers and warriors believe in an over-romanticized picture of their leaders and may even view them as divine entities: if they knew them for the fallible mortals they truly are, they would not be willing to unquestioningly die for them. Micromegas, enraged, proclaims that he wants to destroy all the evildoers of the human species: he alleges he could crush all of them by taking just three steps. A person on the boat tellingly responded to Micromegas by informing him that those fighting out of stupidity and hatred will destroy themselves soon enough, making the act of destruction on the part of Micromegas quite meaningless. Furthermore, the person tells Micromegas that the most contemptible people are not the brutal and ignorant soldiers but the cold-blooded and hypocritical figures in power: “‘Do not waste your time,’” “‘they are working towards ruin quickly enough. Know that after ten years only one hundredth of these scoundrels will be here. Know that even if they have not drawn swords, hunger, fatigue, or intemperance will overtake them. Furthermore, it is not they that should be punished, it is those sedentary barbarians who from the depths of their offices order, while they are digesting their last meal, the massacre of a million men, and who subsequently give solemn thanks to God.’” Micromegas, full of pity, asks the philosophers what they do in their lives, seeing their intelligence. The philosophers inform him that they study subjects such as mathematics. Hilariously, the Saturnian, upon hearing of their knowledge, thought of them as potentially being sorcerers. Micromegas asks for their psychology and how they form ideas, seeing how they’re philosophers. One of them quotes a passage from Aristotle that he doesn’t know very well, and he admits that he did so due to believing that the harder something is to understand, the more credible and reliable it is as a source. Multiple philosophers described their ideas to Micromegas and the Saturnian: some of the views were influenced by Malebranche, Descartes, Leibnitz, and Locke. The Cartesian maintained that there are the soul and the body, and that the state of knowledge that one experiences before being born is lost with birth. The Malebranchist stated that God provides everything for him and is a part of everything as well. The Leibnitzian maintained that his soul is superior to his body. A follower of Locke admitted that there is so much information that exists and that his faculties are so hindered by the limitations of being human that he cannot adequately answer. Thus, the best course of action involves one making no assertion that a certain clause is correct and being content with practicing skepticism and uncertainty. Hilariously, one of the philosophers was religious and also a half-wit (he followed the teachings of the Summa of Thomas Aquinas), speaking in a loud voice that the world was created solely for humans. Upon hearing this, Micromegas and the Saturnian burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, so much so that the nail with the ship fell into the Saturnian’s pocket. After extracting the boat and its people, MIcromegas “spoke to them with great kindness, although in the depths of his heart he was a little angry that the infinitely small had an almost infinitely great pride. He promised to make them a beautiful philosophical book, written very small for their usage, and said that in this book they would see the point of everything. Indeed, he gave them this book before leaving. It was taken to the academy of science in Paris, but when the ancient secretary opened it, he saw nothing but blank pages. ‘Ah!’ he said, ‘I suspected as much.’”
Voltaire’s poem “The Lisbon Earthquake” shows the foolishness and inconsistency of the opinion of Alexander Pope that mandates that “whatever is, is right,” seeing all the suffering and randomness of existence. The Lisbon Earthquake was a historical event that occurred on November 1, 1755 that virtually leveled the city of Lisbon in Portugal. Many famed historical buildings were ruined, and tens of thousands perished (it is possible that 50,000 people lost their lives). Voltaire begins his poem by stating that humans seem to be doomed to perpetual misery due to both internal and external events. Voltaire differentiates his poem from many others by using terrifying, heartbreaking imagery and gruesome diction. Near the beginning, he declares philosophy to be useless when compared to the experiences reality could inflict on sentient beings: “Yon shattered walls, and view each ruined pile, / Women and children heaped up mountain high, / Limbs crushed which under ponderous marble lie; / Wretches unnumbered in the pangs of death, / Who mangled, torn, and panting for their breath, / Buried beneath their sinking roofs expire, / And end their wretched lives in torments dire.” Voltaire states that the just world fallacy makes no sense in this situation, as it was commonly believed in the past (and even today) that things happen for a predestined reason by some kind of divine providence. This kind of thinking extended to tragedies, seeing how people may try to distance themselves from those who have suffered misfortune by alleging that they deserved it, as many people believe they are good and just and are thereby undeserving of negative circumstances while assuming that sufferers are somehow in the wrong. Voltaire states that the Lisbon Earthquake occurred randomly and for no reason, for Lisbon was no more corrupt or depraved (from the opinions of the religious authorities, at least) than other cities such as Paris and London. Voltaire maintains that those who view the misfortune of victims of fate with an unkind eye ought to experience some unhappiness themselves, as firsthand experience of things may improve one’s seriousness regarding an issue as well as strengthening the trait of sympathy. Voltaire states clearly that the Lisbon Earthquake will have no positive effect for anyone, contrary to the frequently held opinion that bad situations have good lessons to teach the sufferer. Voltaire maintains that if God exists, he should feel ashamed. After all, if he’s omnipotent (again, if he exists), then he should have prevented such a monumental disaster from occurring. Voltaire brilliantly and angrily writes, “If he whose hand the elements can wield, / To the winds’ force makes rocky mountains yield; / If thunder lays oaks level with the plain, / From the bolts’ strokes they never suffer pain. / But I can feel, my heart oppressed demands / Aid of that God who formed me with His hands.” Voltaire writes that the natural world is an encapsulation of the fierceness and brutality of existence, seeing how living beings frequently devour each other just to survive. He then writes the following: ill “could not from a perfect being spring,” thereby raising the question of whether the creator of the world is indeed wicked, as believed by those like the Gnostics. Voltaire moves on to Leibnitz and Plato, as they are both optimistic in a sense regarding the fairness of the world (Leibnitz maintained that this world is somehow the best of every potential one while Plato believed in a perfect, unchanging heavenly realm).
Voltaire writes of Plato’s belief of a superior world, “We’re told by Plato, that man, in times of yore, / Wings gorgeous to his glorious body wore, / That all attacks he could unhurt sustain, / By death ne’er conquered, ne’er approached by pain. / Alas, how changed from such a brilliant state! / He crawls ‘twixt heaven and earth, then yields to fate. / Look round this sublunary world, you’ll find / That nature to destruction is consigned. / Our system weak which nerves and bone compose, / Cannot the shock of elements oppose; / This mass of fluids mixed with tempered clay, / To dissolution quickly must give way. / Their quick sensations can’t unhurt sustain / The attacks of death and of tormenting pain, / This is the nature of the human frame, / Plato and Epicurus I disclaim.” Voltaire then writes of the irony of humans: while we are capable of mental feats, sentience, introspection, rationality, and knowledge, the just and blissful world most desire does not in fact compose reality. As he wrote, “But thinking atoms, who with piercing eyes / Have measured the whole circuit of the skies; / We rise in thought up to the heavenly throne, / But our own nature still remains unknown. / This world which error and o’erweening pride, / Rulers accursed between them still divide, / Where wretches overwhelmed with lasting woe, / Talk of a happiness they never know, / Is with complaining filled, all are forlorn / In seeking bliss; none would again be born. / If in a life midst sorrows past and fears, / With pleasure’s hand we wipe away our tears, / Pleasure his light wings spreads, and quickly flies, / Losses on losses, griefs on griefs arise. / The mind from sad remembrance of the past, / Is with black melancholy overcast; / Sad is the present if no future state, / No blissful retribution mortals wait, / If fate’s decrees the thinking being doom / To lose existence in the silent tomb. / All may be well; that hope can man sustain, / All now is well; ’tis an illusion vain.” Voltaire acknowledges that when he was young, he was cheerful and lively only to be taught to be more serious and prudent by experience. He ends his poem with the following lines: “While I mistaken mortals’ weakness share, / The light of truth I seek in this dark state, / And without murmuring submit to fate. / A caliph once when his last hour drew nigh, / Prayed in such terms as these to the most high: / ‘Being supreme, whose greatness knows no bound, / I bring thee all that can’t in Thee be found; / Defects and sorrows, ignorance and woe.’ / Hope he omitted, man’s sole bliss below.”
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Personal thoughts:
Micromegas by Voltaire is humorous, entertaining, and imaginative while The Lisbon Earthquake is heartfelt and serious. Both are philosophical and exceptional pieces of writing. Micromegas by Voltaire excellently captures humanity’s place in the cosmos, for even though in our reality there are no aliens to our knowledge (much less those that have the forms of humans), it effectively shows the folly and stupidity of things like conflict and the utter absurdity of arrogance. As Carl Sagan once noted, alien observers would see much in common between the various parts of humanity while noting that differences, while present, are negligible in the big picture. Furthermore, the victor of a war will enjoy no lasting glory, seeing the ephemerality of life on Earth (and Earth itself). When it comes to arrogance, Voltaire demonstrates that there is virtually an infinite amount of knowledge and information beyond our scope of understanding due to our limited experience and faculties. After all, the existence of things in space like nebulae and black holes were realized by humans only recently: beforehand believing in them would’ve been seen as insane by those that don’t know any better. The Lisbon Earthquake, aside from being a genuine confession by Voltaire on the misfortunes of the world, is also the prime example of a polemic against blind optimism and foolish romanticism due to his reiterations of the horror and meaninglessness of misfortunes like the Lisbon Earthquake. I highly recommend Micromegas and The Lisbon Earthquake to anyone interested in literature, Voltaire, short works, moving themes, and humanity.
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