Chariton of Aphrodisias (Greek: Χαρίτων Ἀφροδισεύς), a small city in Caria, was the author of an ancient Greek novel entitled Chaereas and Callirhoe. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Municipalities of Caria Cramer's detailed catalog of Carian towns in Classical Greece is based entirely on ancient sources Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Recent evidence of fragments of the text on papyri suggests that the novel may have been written in the mid 1st century AD, making it the oldest surviving complete ancient prose romance and the only one to make use of apparent historiographical features for background verisimilitude and structure, in conjunction with elements of Greek mythology, as Callirhoë is frequently compared to Aphrodite and Ariadne and Chaereas to numerous heroes, both implicitly and explicitly. Papyrus (/pəˈpaɪrəs/ (Rhymes -aɪrəs)is a thick paper-like material produced from the Pith of the papyrus plant Cyperus papyrus The 1st century was the Century that lasted from 1 to 100 according the Julian calendar. As a Literary genre of High culture, romance or chivalric romance refers to a style of heroic Prose and verse Narrative Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance Ariadne, in Greek mythology (Latin Arianna French Arianne was daughter of King Minos of Crete and his queen Pasiphaë, daughter [1] As the fiction takes place in the past, and historical figures interact with the plot, Chaereas and Callirhoe may be understood as the first historical novel; it was later imitated by Xenophon of Ephesus and Heliodorus of Emesa, among others. An historical novel is a Novel in which the story is set among historical events or more generally in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the Author Xenophon of Ephesus (fl 2nd century&ndash3rd century? was a Greek writer Heliodorus of Emesa, from Emesa, Syria, was a Greek writer generally dated to the third century AD who is known for the ancient Greek romance
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Chariton's date
Nothing is securely known of Chariton beyond what he states in his novel, which introduces him as "Chariton of Aphrodisias, secretary of the rhetor Athenagoras". Rhetoric has had many definitions no simple definition can do it justice The name "Chariton", which means "man of graces", has been considered a pseudonym chosen to suit the romantic content of his writing, but both "Chariton" and "Athenagoras" occur as names on inscriptions from Aphrodisias. A pseudonym is a fictitious alternative to a person's legal name (see Alias) [2]
The latest possible date at which Chariton could have written is attested in papyri that contain fragments of his work, which can be dated by palaeography to about AD 200. Papyrus (/pəˈpaɪrəs/ (Rhymes -aɪrəs)is a thick paper-like material produced from the Pith of the papyrus plant Cyperus papyrus Palaeography, palæography ( British) or paleography ( American) (from the Greek grc παλαιός palaiós, [2] Analysis of Chariton's language has produced a range of proposals for dating. In the nineteenth century, before the discovery of the papyri, a date as late as the 6th century AD was proposed on stylistic grounds, while A. The 6th century is the period from 501 to 600 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. D. Papanikolaou argued in 1979 for the second half of the 1st century BC. The 1st century BC started the first day of 100 BC and ended the last day of 1 BC. One recent study of Chariton's vocabulary favours a date in the late 1st century or early 2nd century AD. The 1st century was the Century that lasted from 1 to 100 according the Julian calendar. The 2nd century is the period from 101 to 200 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. [3]
Edmund Cueva has argued[1] that Chariton also depended on Plutarch's vita of Theseus for thematic material, or perhaps directly on one of Plutarch's sources, an obscure mythographer, Paion of Amathus. Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus ( Greek: Μέστριος Πλούταρχος c For other uses see Theseus (disambiguation Theseus (Θησεύς was a Legendary king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered Amathus (Modern Greek Αμαθούς) was one of the most ancient royal cities of Cyprus, on the southern coast in front of Agios Tychonas, about 24 miles If the source is Plutarch, then a date after the first quarter of the second century is indicated. There is a dismissive reference, however, to a work called Callirhoe in the Satires of Persius, who died in AD 62; if this is Chariton's novel, then a relatively early date would be indicated. Persius, in full Aulus Persius Flaccus ( Volterra, 34-62 was a Roman Poet and Satirist of Etruscan origin [2] Regardless, Chariton is generally believed to have written before the other Greek novelists whose works survive,[4] making either his work or Petronius' Satyricon the earliest extant European novel. Petronius (ca 27–66 was a Roman writer of the Neronian age he was a noted satirist. Satyricon (or Satyrica) is a Latin work of fiction in a mixture of prose and poetry
Chaereas and Callirhoe
Chariton's novel exists in only one (unreliable) manuscript, from the thirteenth century. It was not published until the eighteenth century, and remained dismissed until the twentieth. It nevertheless gives insight into the development of ancient prose fiction.
Plot outline
The story, which is set against a historical background of ca 400 BC. In Syracuse, Chaereas falls madly in love with the supernally beautiful Callirhoe,[5] and they are married, but when he suspects her faithlessness, he kicks her so hard that she falls over as if dead. Syracuse (Siracusa Sicilian: Sarausa, Classical Greek: / transliterated Syrakousai) is a historic City in [6] There is a funeral, and she is shut up in a tomb, but then it turns out she was only in a coma, and wakes up in time to scare the pirates who have opened the tomb to rob it; they recover quickly and take her[7] to sell as a slave in Miletus, where her new master, Dionysius, falls in love with her and marries her, she being afraid to mention that she is already married (and pregnant by Chaereas). Miletus (mī lē' təs ( Ancient Greek: Μίλητος literally Transliterated Milētos, Latin Miletus) was an Ancient As a result, Dionysius believes Callirhoe's son to be his own.
Meanwhile Chaereas has heard she is alive, and has gone looking for her, but is himself captured and enslaved, and yet they both come to the attention of Artaxerxes, the Great King of Persia, who must decide who is her rightful husband, but is thinking about acquiring her for himself. The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia When war erupts, Chaereas successfully storms the Persian stronghold of Tyre on behalf of the Egyptian rebels, and then wins a naval victory against the Persians, after which the lovers are finally reunited. Tyre ( Arabic صور Ṣūr, Phoenician Phoenician wawsvg|12px|ו]] Ṣur, Hebrew Callirhoe writes to Dionysius, telling him to bring up her son and send him to Syracuse when he grows up. Chaereas and Callirhoe return in triumph to Syracuse, where Callirhoe offers prayers to Aphrodite, who has guided the events of the narrative.
Historical basis
Several characters from Chaereas and Callirhoe can be identified with figures from history, although their portrayal is not always historically accurate. [8][9] Hermocrates was a real Syracusan general, and did have a daughter (her name is unknown), who married Dionysius I of Syracuse. Hermocrates ( Ancient Greek:) was a general of Syracuse during the Athenians ' Sicilian Expedition. Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder (ca 432&ndash367 BC Greek: Διονύσιος) Tyrant of Syracuse, conquered several cities This Dionysius was tyrant of Syracuse from 405 to 367 BC and not a resident of Miletus. However, Callirhoe's expectation that her son will return to Syracuse after being brought up as Dionysius' own has been connected to the fact that the historical Dionysius I was succeeded in Syracuse by his son, Dionysius II. Dionysius the Younger or Dionysius II (ca 397 BC – 343 BC ruled Syracuse, Sicily from 367 BC to 357 BC and again from 346 BC to 344 BC [9] The historical daughter of Hermocrates died after a violent attack by soldiers; that Callirhoe merely appears to be dead after being kicked by Chaereas has been seen as a deliberate change allowing Chariton "to resurrect her for adventures abroad". [10]
Chariton's Artaxerxes represents Artaxerxes II of Persia. Artaxerxes II Mnemon ( Old Persian: 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎠 Artaxšaçrā, Ἀρταξέρξης (ca Since Hermocrates died in 407 BC and Artaxerxes did not come to the throne until 404 BC, Chariton is anachronistic in having Hermocrates alive during Artaxerxes' reign. An anachronism (from the Greek "ana" " ανά " "against anti-" and "chronos" " χρόνος " The hero Chaereas is not a historical figure, although his name recalls Chabrias, an Athenian general who fought in an Egyptian revolt against Persia in about 360 BC. Chabrias ( Greek: Χαβρίας) was a celebrated Athenian general of the 4th century BC His capture of Tyre may be based on that by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' [9]
Despite the liberties Chariton took with historical fact, he clearly aimed to place his story in a period well before his own lifetime. Tomas Hägg has argued that this choice of setting makes the work an important forerunner of the modern historical novel. An historical novel is a Novel in which the story is set among historical events or more generally in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the Author [11]
Style and influences
There are echoes of Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, and other historical and biographical writers from the ancient world. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash Thucydides ( C 460 BC &ndash C 395 BC) ( Greek Θουκυδίδης Thoukydídēs) was a Greek Xenophon (Ancient Greek, Modern Greek "Ξενοφών" "Ξενοφώντας" ca The novel is told in a linear manner; after a brief first person introduction by Chariton, the narrator uses the third person. Much of the novel is told in direct speech, revealing the importance of oratory and rhetorical display (as in the presentation before the King of Persia) and perhaps as well the influence of New Comedy. Comedy was one of two principal dramatic forms in ancient Greece the other being Tragedy. Dramatic monologues are also used to reveal the conflicted states of the characters' emotions and fears (what should Callirhoe do, given that she is pregnant and alone?). The novel also has some amusing insights into ancient culture (for instance, the pirates decide to sell Callirhoe in Miletus rather than in the equally wealthy Athens, because they considered Athenians to be litigious busybodies who would ask too many questions). Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's
The discovery of five separate fragments of Chariton's novel at Oxyrhynchus and Karanis in Egypt attest to the popularity of Chaereas and Callirhoe. Oxyrhynchus (Ὀξύρρυγχος "sharp-nosed" ancient Egyptian Pr-Medjed; Coptic Pemdje; modern Egyptian Arabic Karanis (Καρανίς located in modern Kom Aushim was an agricultural town in Graeco-Roman Egypt,located in the northeast corner of the Fayum. One fragment, carefully written on expensive parchment, suggests that some, at least, of Chariton's public were members of local elites. [12]
Notes
- ^ a b Edmund P. Cueva (Fall 1996). "Plutarch's Ariadne in Chariton's Chaereas and Callirhoe". American Journal of Philology 117 (3): 473–484.
- ^ a b c B. P. Reardon [1996] (2003). "Chariton", in Gareth Schmeling (ed. ): The Novel in the Ancient World, revised ed. , Boston: Brill Academic Publishers, 309–335, pp. 312–317. ISBN 0-391-04134-7.
- ^ Consuelo Ruiz-Montero (1991). "Aspects of the Vocabulary of Chariton of Aphrodisias". Classical Quarterly 41 (2): 484–489.
- ^ Ewen Bowie (2002). "The chronology of the earlier Greek novels since B. E. Perry: revisions and precisions". Ancient Narrative 2: 47–63.
- ^ She is the daughter of Hermocrates, a hero of the Peloponnesian War and the most important political figure of Syracuse, thus setting the narrative in time and social milieu. Her beauty (kallos) overawes crowds, like an earthly counterpart of Aphrodite's, as noted by Douglas R. Edwards (Autumn 1994). "Defining the Web of Power in Asia Minor: The Novelist Chariton and His City Aphrodisias". Journal of the American Academy of Religion 62 (3): 699–718, p. 703.
- ^ The seeming-dead Callirhoë seems like Ariadne asleep on the shore at Naxos, Chariton says (1. Naxos (in Greek, Νάξος) is a Greek island the largest island ( in the Cyclades island group in the Aegean. 6. 2), and her second husband will be named for Dionysus. In Classical mythology, Dionysus or Dionysos (in Greek, Διόνυσος or Διώνυσος; associated with Roman
- ^ A parallel is in some versions of the myth of abandoned Ariadne.
- ^ B. E. Perry (1930). "Chariton and His Romance from a Literary-Historical Point of View". American Journal of Philology 51 (2): 93–134, pp. 100–104.
- ^ a b c Reardon (1996), pp. 325–327.
- ^ G. P. Goold (1995). Chariton: Callirhoe, Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, p. 11. ISBN 0-674-99530-9.
- ^ Tomas Hägg (1987). "Callirhoe and Parthenope: The Beginnings of the Historical Novel". Classical Antiquity 6: 184–204. Reprinted in Simon Swain (ed. ) (1999). Oxford Readings in the Greek Novel. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 137–160. ISBN 0-19-872189-7 (hbk. ), ISBN 0-19-872188-9 (pbk. ).
- ^ Edwards (1994), p. 700.
See also
Other ancient Greek novelists:
- Xenophon of Ephesus - The Ephesian Tale
- Achilles Tatius - Leucippe and Clitophon
- Heliodorus of Emesa - The Aethiopica
- Longus - Daphnis and Chloe
Further reading
Editions
- D'Orville, Jacques Philippe (1750). Xenophon of Ephesus (fl 2nd century&ndash3rd century? was a Greek writer The Ephesian Tale of Anthia and Habrocomes by Xenophon of Ephesus is a novel written in the mid- 2nd century CE. Achilles Tatius (in Greek Ἀχιλλεύς Τάτιος) of Alexandria was a Roman era Greek writer whose fame is attached to his The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon (in Greek τα κατα Λευκιππην και Kλειτoφωντα written by Achilles Tatius, is one of Heliodorus of Emesa, from Emesa, Syria, was a Greek writer generally dated to the third century AD who is known for the ancient Greek romance Longus, sometimes Longos (Λόγγος was a Greek Novelist and romancer and author of Daphnis and Chloe. Daphnis and Chloe (Δαφνιν και Χλοην Daphnin kai Chloēn) is the only known work of the 2nd century AD Greek Novelist ΧΑΡΙΤΩΝΟΣ Αφροδισιέως τῶν περὶ ΧΑΙΡΕΑΝ καὶ ΚΑΛΛΙΡΡΟΗΝ ΕΡΩΤΙΚΩΝ ΔΙΗΓΗΜΑΤΩΝ ΛΟΓΟΙ Η. Amsterdam: Apud Petrus Mortier. The first printed edition. In Classical scholarship, editio princeps is a Term of art. It means roughly the first printed edition of a work that previously had existed only in With Latin translation by Johann Jacob Reiske. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome.
- Hirschig, Wilhelm Adrian (1856). "Charitonis Aphrodisiensis De Chǣrea et Callirrhoe", Erotici Scriptores (PDF), Paris: Editore Ambrosio Firmin Didot, pp. 413–503. Retrieved on 2007-02-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1249 - Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols With a reprint of Reiske's Latin translation.
- Hercher, Rudolf (1858-1859). Rudolf Hercher ( 11 January[[ 821]]– 26 March[[ 878]] was a German classical scholar Erotici Scriptores Graeci. Leipzig.
- Blake, Warren E. (1938). Charitonis Aphrodisiensis De Chaerea et Callirhoe Amatoriarum Narrationum libri octo. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Molinié, Georges [1979] (1989). Chariton: Le Roman de Chairéas et Callirhoé, revised by Alain Billault, 2nd edition, Collection des universités de France, Paris: Belles Lettres. The Collection Budé, or the Collection des Universités de France, is a series of books comprising the Greek and Latin classics up ISBN 2251000755. With French translation. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people
- Goold, G. P. (1995). Chariton: Callirhoe, Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-99530-9. With English translation. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States
- Reardon, Bryan P. (2004). De Callirhoe Narrationes Amatoriae Chariton Aphrodisiensis, Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana. K. G. Saur. ISBN 3598712774. [Reviewed in BMCR]
English translations
- Anonymous (1764). The Loves of Chǣreas and Callirrhoe. London: printed for T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt.
- Blake, Warren E. (1939). Chariton's Chaereas and Callirhoe. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
- Reardon, Bryan P. (1989). "Chariton: Chǣreas and Callirhoe", in Bryan P. Reardon (ed. ): Collected Ancient Greek Novels. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, pp. 17–124. ISBN 0-520-04306-5.
- Goold, G. P. (1995). Chariton: Callirhoe, Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-99530-9. With Greek text.
Studies
- Hägg, Tomas (1987). "Callirhoe and Parthenope: The Beginnings of the Historical Novel". Classical Antiquity 6: 184–204. Reprinted in Simon Swain (ed. ) (1999). Oxford Readings in the Greek Novel. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 137–160. ISBN 0-19-872189-7 (hbk. ), ISBN 0-19-872188-9 (pbk. ).
- Helms, J. , (1966) Character Portrayal in Chariton (Paris/The Hague:Mouton)
- Perry, B. E. (1930). "Chariton and His Romance from a Literary-Historical Point of View". American Journal of Philology 51 (2): 93–134.
- Reardon, B. P. (1982). "Theme, Structure and Narrative in Chariton". Yale Classical Studies 27: 1–27. Reprinted in Simon Swain (ed. ) (1999). Oxford Readings in the Greek Novel. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 163–188. ISBN 0-19-872189-7 (hbk. ), ISBN 0-19-872188-9 (pbk. ).
- Schmeling, Gareth L. (1974). Chariton, Twayne's world authors. New York: Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0-8057-2207-6.
James N. O'Sullivan, Xenophon of Ephesus, Berlin-New York 1995,pp. 145-170 (chapter on "Xenophon and Chariton").
- Smith, Steven D. (2007). Greek Identity and the Athenian Past in Chariton: The Romance of Empire, Ancient Narrative Supplementum 9. Groningen: Barkhuis & Groningen University Library. ISBN 9789077922286. [Reviewed in BMCR]
External links
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