Synopses & Reviews
A trio of tales offering an eye-opening alternative view of ancient Greece's literary culture. A fascinating counterpoint to the monumental epics of ancient Greece, Greek Fiction features three novelistic works written between the first and fourth centuries AD. Chariton's "Callirhoe"-perhaps the first novel ever written-is the stirring tale of two star-crossed lovers who are torn apart when Callirhoe is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Longus's "Daphnis and Chloe" tells the story of a boy and girl-both abandoned at birth-who grow up to fall in love and battle pirates. "Letters of Chion" is an early thriller about tyranny and political assassination. Together these works open a welcome window onto ancient Greece's little-explored legacy of prose fiction.
Synopsis
A collection of Greek fiction written between the first and fourth centuries AD
'Callirhoe' is the stirring tale of star-crossed lovers Chaereas and Callirhoe, torn apart when she is kidnapped and sold as a slave, while 'Daphnis and Chloe' tells of a boy and girl abandoned at birth, who grow up to fall in love and battle pirates. Greek Fiction - also containing 'Letters of Chion', an early thriller about tyranny and a political assassination - is a fascinating glimpse into an alternative view of Ancient Greece's literary culture.
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About the Author
Chariton is assumed to be the earliest of the Greek novelists.
Longus was a pastoral novelist, likely from the island of Lesbos.
Rosanna Omitowoju is a fellow of Kings College, Cambridge.
Phiroze Vasunia is the author of The Gift of the Nile.
John Penwill taught at La Trobe University.
Helen Morales teaches at the University of California, Santa Barbara.