They are peculiarly significant because of their
bearing on Heliodorus’ philosophical and religious interests.
bearing on Heliodorus’ philosophical and religious interests.
Elizabeth Haight - Essays on Greek Romances
So at
Chariclea’s suggestion, Theagenes said they were brother and sister.
Cybele went to Arsace’s apartment to tell her all, locking the guests in
their room. In her absence, her son Achaemenes came home, listened at
their door and from their talk and from a glimpse at Theagenes realized
that this was the very youth who had been taken from him by Thyamis.
As the days passed, Arsace tried to win the love of Theagenes first
through subtle allurement, then through open confession of her passion
and at last through domination. Achaemenes finally told Arsace who they
were so the queen informed Theagenes that they were now her slaves as
they had been the captive slaves of Mithranes and he must obey her. Then
in the presence of Cybele Theagenes promised himself to Arsace on
condition that she would never give Chariclea to Achaemenes, who had
demanded her. He confessed that Chariclea was not his sister but his
fiancée. On hearing this Achaemenes rode away to inform Oroondates of
all.
Oroondates was engaged in a campaign against Hydaspes, King of the
Ethiopians, who had got possession of Philae. On hearing Achaemenes’
report Oroondates despatched his eunuch Bagoas with fifty horsemen to
Memphis to bring Theagenes and Chariclea to his camp. He sent two
letters to this effect to Arsace and to his chief eunuch. Achaemenes he
kept with himself.
In Memphis Thyamis had been unable to procure the release of the young
Greeks from Arsace. Moreover the frustrated queen had begun to try
imprisonment and torture on Theagenes. When he was still obstinate,
Cybele advised getting rid of Chariclea to free his heart and she
prepared to poison the girl. Fortunately a maid exchanged the goblets.
Cybele herself drank the poison and expired, but with her last breath
she declared Chariclea had murdered her. So Arsace threw the girl into
the prison where Theagenes was and had her tried. In the court-room
Chariclea pleaded guilty, for this was the plan that she and her lover
had agreed on in the prison, that they might die together. The Supreme
Council ordered that she be burned alive. Chariclea was saved by a
miracle, for the flames on the pyre refused to touch her person. Arsace
then consigned her again to prison on the ground that she was a witch.
In prison, Chariclea and Theagenes had a long talk about the
dream-visions they had each seen. To each Calasiris had appeared and
given a metrical prophecy. To Chariclea he had said:
“Bearing Pantarbè, fear not flames, fair maid,
Fate, to whom naught is hard, shall bring thee aid. ”
And to Theagenes:
“From Arsace, the morrow sets thee free—
To Aethiopia with the virgin flee. ”[109]
Chariclea interpreted these oracles to mean that her jewel, the
Pantarbè, was protecting her; and that on the next day they would be
freed from Arsace and go to Ethiopia.
Meanwhile Bagoas arrived at Memphis and Euphrates on receiving the
letter of Oroondates sent Theagenes and Chariclea off secretly with
Bagoas. On their journey they received first the news that Arsace had
killed herself and second that Oroondates had gone to Syene. Later on
the way they were seized by a band of Troglodite Ethiopians who took
Bagoas and the two Greeks to their king, Hydaspes. He planned to save
them as victims to be sacrificed to the gods.
Hydaspes was besieging Syene. Oroondates had got inside the city before
the blockade and was directing the defense. But Hydaspes used a new
weapon against him, inundation. His army dug a great trench around Syene
with earth-works encircling it. This trench he connected with the river
Nile by a long canal, fifty feet wide, banked by high walls. When the
works were finished, he cut away the embankment between his canal and
the Nile and let the river in. Syene became an island city and the
pressure of the water on the walls threatened inundation. So Oroondates
and the people of Syene had to sue for peace. This was granted, and
Hydaspes built up again the embankment between his canal and the Nile
and proceeded to drain off the water.
During the festival of the overflowing of the Nile Oroondates and his
army slipped away in the night, bridging the mud swamps about Syene by
planks, and went to Elephantine, which revolted with him against
Hydaspes. In the new battle Hydaspes was again victorious and took
Oroondates prisoner, but the Ethiopian was a generous conqueror and sent
Oroondates back to be again viceroy of his province.
Hydaspes on his way home stopped two days at Philae and from there sent
home letters announcing his victory to Persinna and the Gymnosophists.
Persinna recalled a dream that she had brought forth a full-grown
daughter and interpreted the daughter as this victory. The people
assembled for the celebration at the island city of Meroe and according
to their traditions demanded human sacrifice of foreign captives of war.
The prisoners now underwent the test of chastity by ascending the altar
of fire and of course Theagenes and Chariclea passed the test.
The Gymnosophists through their leader Sisimithres refused to witness
human sacrifice and foretold that this one would never be consummated.
Chariclea begged them to stay and hear her case. (She had recognized
Sisimithres’ name as that of the one who had given her to Charicles at
Catadupa). Chariclea declared that she was a native, not a foreigner,
and produced her fillet and her jewels, among them the mystic ring,
Pantarbé. Sisimithres narrated his part in her story. Hydaspes was
puzzled over how he could have a _white_ child, but Sisimithres
explained that Persinna at the time of conception had fixed her eyes on
a picture of the naked, white Andromeda. When the picture was brought in
as evidence, Chariclea’s resemblance to its Andromeda was found
startling. Moreover a birthmark of a black ring around Chariclea’s arm
attested her black blood.
The people now refused to have Chariclea sacrificed, but the fate of
Theagenes still hung in the balance. Chariclea begged that if he were to
be sacrificed, she might perform the deed. (Apparently she planned to
carry out a kind of suicide pact. ) Hydaspes thought his daughter was
insane and sent her into a tent with her mother while he received
ambassadors and their gifts of victory. His nephew Meroebus brought a
mighty athlete. Hydaspes as a joke gave him in return an elephant, but
also promised him the hand of Chariclea. The Axiomitae presented a
giraffe, an animal so strange that it terrified some of the natives.
Moreover, one bull and two horses broke their fetters and dashed madly
around the inside of the circle of guards. Theagenes mounted another
horse, pursued the bull, wore it out and finally downed it. The
enchanted spectators now demanded that he be matched with the champion
Meroebus. Him too he vanquished. Oroondates crowned Theagenes as victor,
but nevertheless prepared to sacrifice him.
At that moment ambassadors from Syene arrived with a letter from
Oroondates. He begged that a young woman captive be sent to him with her
father who was one of the ambassadors. This was Charicles. He recognized
Theagenes and accused him of having stolen his daughter at Delphi.
Theagenes revealed that Chariclea was the one demanded. Sisimithres told
the rest of the story. Chariclea rushing out of the tent begged
Charicles to forgive her elopement. Persinna told Hydaspes that she had
learned that Chariclea was betrothed to Theagenes.
Sisimithres speaking not in Greek but in Ethiopian for all the people to
hear ordered Hydaspes to submit to the will of the gods who had saved
the two young lovers and who did not approve of human sacrifice and
exhorted him to end human sacrifices forever. So Hydaspes asked the
people to observe the will of the gods and to sanction the marriage of
Theagenes and Chariclea. This they did. Then Hydaspes consecrated the
two as priest and priestess of the Sun and the Moon and on their heads
he placed the mitres which he and Persinna had worn as symbols of their
offices. Thus was fulfilled the oracle:
“In regions torrid shall arrive at last;
There shall the gods reward their pious vows,
And snowy chaplets bind their dusky brows. ”
Then a great procession escorted them to Meroe there to fulfill the more
mystic parts of wedlock.
In this brief re-telling of Heliodorus’ long story, certain striking
features of his structure appear. Geography and ethnography are
important as in the other novelists. The eastern basin of the
Mediterranean is the center of the adventures, the district which for
centuries was the scene of the conflict for power between many nations.
As in Xenophon, many geographical details are given, often with little
accuracy. [110] As Maillon points out, imagination and fantasy falsify
the historical and geographical allusions. Heliodorus gathers everything
that can satisfy the taste for the strange and the marvellous. At a time
when the critical spirit was so little developed in the historians, a
writer of romance would naturally produce marvellous narratives and
vague descriptions. Heliodorus confuses the Ethiopia of Herodotus with
that of the Ptolemies and imagines an Ethiopian empire which did not
exist during the domination of Egypt by the Persians. [111] As in
Chariton, the superiority of the Greeks over the barbarians is part of
the author’s faith.
In the development of the plot Heliodorus makes his set more unified,
less cinematic than Xenophon had done. The scene of action lies almost
entirely in Egypt with a shift to Ethiopia for the final climax. This
Egyptian set is to be sure varied by different local scenes: the Nile,
an island village in its delta, towns such as Chemmis, Memphis, Syene
and Philae, the battle-fields of Bessa and Elephantine, but nearly the
whole plot develops in Egypt. The exceptions are in the sub-plot
presented in Cnemon’s narrative of his life-history which is laid in
Athens, and in Calasiris’ long account of his visit to Delphi. These
however are clearly set off as insets in the unity of the Egyptian
scene.
The plot itself is an original combination of epic and dramatic
structure. The other writers of Greek romance begin at the beginning
with a detailed account of the hero and heroine, their family, their
background. Heliodorus in true epic style plunges us _in medias res_
with his startling opening scene of a seascape where a ship rides at
anchor, treasure-laden but not manned, where the shore is littered with
the remains of a banquet, but strewn with corpses, where a young man
lies wounded with a beautiful maiden dressed as a goddess ministering to
him. The reader is as amazed and puzzled at the sight as are the pirates
who are peering down from the hills.
Another epic part of the structure is that the narrative of events does
not proceed in a straight line but zigzags back and forth while a new
arrival contributes his part to the development of the plot, or the
author himself gives a retrospective résumé of past events to explain
the present. Calasiris’ long narrative is the best illustration of this
resumptive method but Cnemon, Achaemenes, Sisimithres and Charicles all
contribute their share of résumés. [112] In general, Heliodorus uses
résumés with great effect to clarify his complicated plot. Sometimes he
merely suggests a summary of events (V. 16, 5); sometimes he gives a
full succinct recapitulation of events (II. 14, 1-2); sometimes his
heroes recount their adventures to complain of them (V. 11). [113]
Many episodes too are taken from Homer. The games in Delphi in honor of
Apollo are indebted to those given by Achilles in honor of Patroclus.
The τειχοσκοπία where Arsace on the wall of Memphis watches the combat
in the plain recalls Helen on the walls of Troy. The duel there between
Thyamis and Theagenes is like one of the Homeric single combats. In it
Theagenes’ pursuit of Thyamis around the walls owes something to the
pursuit of Hector by the swift-footed Achilles. The scar of Theagenes
which is to be a sign of recognition was surely suggested by Odysseus’.
The scene where the old woman evokes her dead son on the field of battle
imitates the Homeric Νέκυια. [114]
Even more prominent than his debt to epic poetry is Heliodorus’ use of
dramatic structure. All the usual devices of Greek tragedy appear.
Indeed the plot centers on the recognition of the young Greek heroine as
the white Ethiopian princess by the tokens exposed with her in babyhood:
her jewels, her mystic ring, her lettered fillet. This dramatic device
of an agnorisis or recognition is multiplied by Heliodorus for repeated
situations: the recognition of Chariclea in beggar’s rags by Theagenes
through her watchword, the identification of Charicles as her
foster-father and of Sisimithres as the noble Greek who found and saved
the exposed child.
No less important is the usual Greek peripeteia, or reversal of fortune,
for hero and heroine are repeatedly reunited only to be separated anew;
together or separately they are rescued from one catastrophe only to be
plunged into a worse danger. Calasiris’ long narrative resembles not
only the minstrel’s songs at the court of Alcinous of old far-off divine
events, but also the messenger’s speeches in tragedy wherein events too
horrible or too complicated to be presented on the stage are told with a
realism which starts the imagination. The mechanism of a parallel
subplot is employed in Cnemon’s life-story. The letter in Thisbe’s dead
hand is indebted to Phaedra’s in Euripides’ _Hippolytus_. Cybele,
Arsace’s maid, owes much in her character of confidant to Phaedra’s
nurse though she is more cynical and familiar. The crowd takes the place
of the chorus, now demanding human sacrifice in the name of tradition,
now releasing Chariclea from it through pity, now approving of the
appeal of the noble Gymnosophists in the name of the gods to abolish the
immolation of human victims. The _deus ex machina_ is supplied by these
very gods of the Gymnosophists, Helios, the Sun, and Selene, the Moon,
celestial symbols of pure deities of space and time conceived in the
philosophical mind.
Against this structure of drama the characters move as though on a stage
and even through the stylized formulae of dramatic conventions usually
attain individuality and vitality. Maillon seems to me undiscriminating
when he speaks of them all as general types, not individuals, as
marionettes who can talk, lament and complain, but are without
life. [115] Even characters that fall into general groups may as in real
life have distinguishing traits and in the list of characters certain
are unforgettable personalities.
The hero Theagenes is of course supremely handsome and physically
strong. He is also as Wolff says spectacularly courageous but easily
discouraged. [116] He has to be kept from suicide by Cnemon. He has to be
cheered by Chariclea. And his Lady Fair is the resourceful partner in
emergencies who whispers to him “Call me your Sister” or invents means
of recognition in case of separation or makes a plot to share with him
his fate be it life or death. She demands too when they start off on
travels together that her lover swear a sacred oath to respect her
virginity. Indeed her leadership deserves the tribute given Dido, _dux
femina facti_. As Calderini notes, cleverness and deception were valued
traits in those times and both she displayed. [117] But she guarded her
chastity even from her dearest and her courage never failed. On the
battle field she can shoot her arrows. She is surrounded by a divine
aura of radiant beauty that illuminates her holy garb.
The real hero of the romance is her father, the Ethiopian King Hydaspes,
whose qualities she seemed to have inherited. He is the type of the good
king, but beyond that he is very human. He has his humor so that when
his nephew presents him with a gigantic athletic champion he smilingly
gives him in exchange an elephant. He is generous to a defeated foe,
freeing Oroondates and restoring him to his office so that the viceroy
makes obeisance to him and calls him the most just of mortals. He
follows tradition in preparing to offer to the gods foreign captives as
human victims, but when convinced by the Gymnosophists of the
inappropriateness of such sacrifice he leads his people to the right
decision about abolishing it and happily crowns his daughter and her
lover as new priests of a purified worship.
Persinna his queen is a type of frustrated motherhood, timid enough to
expose at birth her beautiful white baby for fear of the charge of
adultery, but when her daughter is restored to her she glows with ardent
parentalism and interprets Chariclea’s wishes to her husband.
The characters in the sub-plot (Cnemon’s story) are less clearly
delineated than those in the main narrative. The story serves however
not merely to introduce Thisbe, who is useful for the main plot, but
anticipates and prepares for certain main characters. Aristippus the
betrayed husband, Demaeneta the wanton wife, Thisbe the corrupt maid and
Cnemon the coveted youth parallel Oroondates, Arsace, Cybele and
Theagenes himself.
The far east opens up before us under the shadow of the Great King of
the Persians. He never appears, but his viceroys, their lieutenants,
their eunuchs work his will with the complete subservience which their
act of obeisance symbolizes. Oroondates is a good fighter, but he is
ready to desert secretly the city of Syene, which he has been defending,
before terms of surrender had been concluded, to start another war in
the name of the Great King. His will conveyed by letters must be law to
his eunuch or his wife. This arbitrariness when imitated by his eunuch
Euphrates becomes sadistic tyranny over prisoners given to his care.
Arsace his wife finds her escape in intrigue and amours. [118] Highly
over-sexed she stops at nothing to satisfy her passion as her wanton
fancies shift from one desired lover to another. She has no mercy for
Theagenes when he is obdurate or for Chariclea when she finds she is the
object of Theagenes’ affections.
Cybele her maid abets her machinations and her lust. Though her position
as confidante recalls Phaedra’s nurse in the _Hippolytus_, her character
reproduces all the venality, cunning and complaisance of the maids in
new Attic comedy. Torture and murder are natural tools for success in
her eyes and when she is hoist with her own petard, she dies asserting
that she has been poisoned by the innocent girl whom she had hoped to
make her victim. Arsace with her Cybele is a complete foil for the
purity and loyalty of Chariclea.
The most interesting among the upright characters in the play are the
priests: Calasiris, high-priest of Isis in Egypt, Charicles, priest of
Apollo at Delphi, Sisimithres, the Greek Gymnosophist. They are
consecrated to service, devoted to worship. They are men of the world
extending their knowledge by travel and talk. Calasiris on his visit to
Delphi spent his days in philosophical discussion of religious rites and
the meaning of the gods of Greece and of Egypt. Charicles is a
humanitarian who educates the little waif Chariclea as his own daughter.
Sisimithres dares withdraw from the human sacrifices proposed by a great
king and people and by his personal authority converts them from such
abominable customs to a purer conception of deity and of worship.
Calasiris in his role of interpreting the events of the story and
solving its problems, in his clear philosophical interests probably
represents Heliodorus himself. [119]
To return to the structure of the romance, the plot with such borrowings
from epic and dramatic poetry, with such characters, some types, some
highly individualized, moves forward in a manner that resembles the
modern cinema. There is no carefully interwoven plot such as tragedy
presents, for example in _Oedipus Rex_. Rather there is a progression of
episodes, each a clear picture in itself, all after many involutions and
evolutions falling into an orderly narrative. Rattenbury thinks that
after Heliodorus’ original beginning which secures the interest and
sympathy of the reader through his curiosity he fails to maintain the
interest throughout. The long retrospective narrative of Calasiris
becomes monotonous. The reader is irritated by the postponement of the
denouement after he as well as the hero and heroine knows the secret of
Chariclea’s parentage. Maillon, however, finds in Heliodorus a great
talent for narration. After the impressive opening scene, he says, from
narrative to narrative, from description to description, one is led
slowly but without ennui to the grandeur of the final chapters. The
variety of the episodes does not detract from the unity of the narrative
because we keep returning to Theagenes and Chariclea in whom we have
been interested from the first. [120]
To me personally the defects in the romance lie not in the long
narrative of Calasiris or in the early revelation of Chariclea’s
identity, but in the excessive use of descriptive passages. Planned
though they undoubtedly are to satisfy the craving of the age for a
knowledge of the novel and the strange, or to give local color, they
retard the development of the story. Often they are prolix and difficult
because of an unfamiliar vocabulary and a complicated sentence
structure. There are many such passages: descriptions of natural
phenomena (the island city in the delta of the Nile, the straits at
Calydon); of curious animals (crocodile and giraffe); of operations of
war (a naval battle, the siege of Syene, the duel of Thyamis and
Petosiris); the religious ceremonies at Delphi. These vary greatly in
clarity and effectiveness, but in general they tend to be verbose and to
retard the narrative. Such descriptions are however one of the
conventional features of the Greek romance. And with all Heliodorus’
originality in plot, in his tripartite structure of epic, dramatic and
cinematic features, he employs all the usual devices of Greek romance.
These are oracle and oath, résumés, conversation and rhetorical
speeches, letters and soliloquies, meditated suicide and apparent death,
dreams and epiphanies. But Heliodorus makes these conventional devices
integral parts of his plot.
The oracle given by the Pythian priestess at Delphi early in the story
motivates the plot until the very end when its meaning is explained and
its prophecy fulfilled. The oath which Chariclea requires of her lover
early in her travels protects her chastity through all the intimacies of
palace apartment and prison dungeons. Résumés of events given several
times by Cnemon, by Calasiris in his long narrative, by Charicles,
clarify and facilitate the plot. [121] Conversation is used constantly on
the battle field or in the boudoir, in palaces, in dungeons. Turn over
the pages of Heliodorus’ Greek as you would a modern novel and test how
often the pages are broken and enlivened by talk. Rhetoric colors some
of the longer speeches, but in the court-room scene (the trial of
Chariclea for poisoning Cybele) the procedure is described but the
speeches are not quoted.
Letters are as important as oracles for the development of the plot. The
letter of Persinna inscribed on the fillet exposed with her child
furnishes the indisputable evidence for the recognition of Chariclea.
The letter in Thisbe’s dead hand is of prime importance in the sub-plot
in announcing to Cnemon the death of his wicked step-mother. Business
letters of Mithranes to Oroondates, of Oroondates to Arsace and to the
eunuch Euphrates, of Hydaspes to the Supreme Council of Ethiopia and to
his queen Persinna furnish documentation for the march of events. The
letter of Oroondates to Hydaspes in the last book prepares the way for
Charicles’ final explanation of his relation to his foster-daughter and
his own recognition of Chariclea.
Soliloquies reveal emotional states and meditated suicide. At Chemmis
one night Chariclea left alone yields to despair and vows that if she
learns Theagenes is dead, she will join him in the shades. An apparent
death nearly precipitates tragedy when in the dark of the cave the body
of Thisbe is mistaken for that of Chariclea. Theagenes bursts into
despairing lamentation and proposes suicide. But Cnemon foreseeing this
has filched his sword and presently the light of Cnemon’s torch reveals
the truth and there ensues a happy reversal of fortune.
Among all these usual features of the plot a new importance is given to
dreams and epiphanies.
They are peculiarly significant because of their
bearing on Heliodorus’ philosophical and religious interests. Some
motivate minor events or simply create atmosphere. Thyamis in the night
before the battle with another band of brigands had a vision of Isis who
gave Chariclea to him with the mystic words: “Having her, you will not
have her, but you will be unjust and will kill the stranger. And she
will not be killed. ” At first Thyamis, interpreting the dream in
accordance with his own wishes, thought it meant that he would murder
her virginity, but she would live. Then when the battle went against
him, he changed his interpretation and to save Chariclea from his foes,
killed her (as he thought) in the cave. So Thisbe’s death is explained.
Another dream of little importance is Chariclea’s in which a wild
looking man appeared and pierced her right eye with his sword. Opposing
interpretations are given by Theagenes and Cnemon. The epiphanies,
however, which are vitally significant for the plot all foretell the
final fortunes of the hero and the heroine. To Calasiris Apollo and
Diana appeared, the god leading Theagenes, the goddess Chariclea, and
intrusted them to him. Diana too bade him consider the pair as his
children and take them to Egypt when and how the gods should decree.
Charicles too dreamed that an eagle flew from the hand of Apollo, seized
Chariclea and bore her away from Delphi to a land of dark forms.
Calasiris again had a vision, this time of Odysseus, the great
traveller, who demanded sacrifices and presented Penelope’s blessing on
Chariclea. Calasiris after his death himself appeared simultaneously to
Chariclea and Theagenes, telling the heroine that the Pantarbè jewel
would protect her, and telling the hero that he would be freed from
Arsace and take his Lady to Ethiopia. Hydaspes, when the prisoner
Chariclea is brought before him, recalled a dream that a full-grown
daughter was born to him and the face of this dream-girl was
Chariclea’s. This prepared him for the real recognition of her identity.
Now the validity of these apparitions is sometimes questioned: are they
dreams or visions? The author comments that desire often prompts
favorable interpretation. He has Hydaspes’ officers tell him that the
mind creates for itself fantasies which seem to foretell future events.
He has the optimistic Chariclea encourage Theagenes to trust in the gods
and interpret Calasiris’ prophecies as beneficent. But all the same
Heliodorus motivates his plot by this popular belief in dreams and
epiphanies.
This structural element fits in with the religious-philosophical
coloring of the whole background. Dreams and epiphanies, miracles and
necromancy are partial manifestations of a deep-seated interest in cults
and philosophies that is a phenomenon of the times. There is a long
description of the festival of Neoptolemus at Delphi with its pageantry,
sacrifices, hymn, dance, libations and the lighting of the pyre. It is
here that Theagenes and Chariclea meet and at first sight fall in love.
Nausicles the merchant must sacrifice to Hermes, god of trade. The
festival of the overflowing of the Nile is celebrated in Egypt. And
among the Ethiopians the first fruits of victory in war are offered in
the form of sacrifice of human captives to their gods. The most
prominent cults are those of Apollo-Helios of Delphi, Egypt and Ethiopia
and of the Egyptian Isis. These are savior gods to whom mortals offer
petitions for salvation.
Opinions differ as to whether the representation of the cult of Helios
is the usual conventional religious background of a Greek romance or
whether it is the author’s glorification of the cult of his native city
with which he and his family had some official connection. At the
antipodes in criticism are Rattenbury who perceives only the usual
religious conventions and Calderini who thinks the unique feature of the
_Aethiopica_ is its rich philosophical coloring. [122] All would agree on
marked influence in Heliodorus of Neo-Pythagoreanism and the teachings
of Apollonius of Tyana as recorded by Philostratus. [123] Maillon in his
preface gives this discriminating summary of his own position towards
Heliodorus’ philosophical interests. He says that the Pantheon of
Heliodorus does not contain many deities. He refers to the gods under
the Neo-Pythagorean name of οἱ κρείττονες. Calasiris whose role is most
important may well represent the author’s state of mind. This priest of
Isis practices a large eclecticism. He goes to Delphi and divides his
time between the service of the temple and theological discussion. He
worships especially one god, Apollo of Delphi, Helios of Emesa. Apollo
directs the drama of his story, Helios crowns it in Ethiopia. One sees
in Heliodorus the intention of simplifying and unifying mythology and of
bringing back religion to its eastern and Egyptian origins. Instead of
wishing to discredit pagan stories, he treats them philosophically to
make them acceptable to an age which was becoming emancipated and more
severe and to a new faith which wished to reconcile the philosophical
tradition and the sense of the divine and the mysterious.
Neo-Pythagoreanism was a curious attempt to found a religion which would
satisfy both the critical spirit and the people. At the beginning of the
third century appeared _The Life of Apollonius of Tyana_, a magician and
a disciple of Pythagoras. Philostratus takes his hero to the Orient,
Ethiopia, Greece, Rome. He writes a real romance. And that of Heliodorus
recalls it often. Both authors show the same admiration for the
Gymnosophists, the same distinction between magic and theurgy. Both
Apollonius and Calasiris are opposed to impure sacrifices. The story of
the magical Pantarbè jewel appears in both Philostratus and Heliodorus.
Calasiris like Apollonius is a model of Pythagorean asceticism.
Apollonius defends himself about working miracles and lets a doubt
appear about his theurgic powers. Calasiris shows in daily life a common
wisdom and reserves for exceptional cases an appeal to great demons.
In the _Aethiopica_ dreams play a more important role than the demons.
Communications with the invisible world are constant, but only
exceptional human beings who have had long experience in divine matters
and a life mortified and purified by expiation know the mysteries of the
invisible world.
This paraphrase of Maillon’s paragraphs shows how completely logical is
the conclusion of the romance where the noble Gymnosophist Sisimithres
persuades the king of the Ethiopians and his people to renounce human
sacrifice and accept the divine blessing on the loves of Theagenes and
Chariclea.
“At length Hydaspes said to Sisimithres, ‘O sage! What are we to do?
To defraud the gods of their victims is not pious; to sacrifice those
who appear to be preserved and restored by their providence is
impious. It needs that some expedient be found out. ’
Sisimithres, speaking, not in the Grecian, but in the Ethiopian
tongue, so as to be heard by the greatest part of the assembly,
replied: ‘O king! The wisest among men, as it appears, often have the
understanding clouded through excess of joy, else, before this time,
you would have discovered that the gods regard not with favour the
sacrifice which you have been preparing for them. First they, from the
very altar, declared the all-blessed Chariclea to be your daughter;
next they brought her foster-father most wonderfully from the midst of
Greece to this spot; they struck panic and terror into the horses and
oxen which were being prepared for sacrifice, indicating, perhaps, by
that event, that those whom custom considered as the more perfect and
fitting victims were to be rejected. Now, as the consummation of all
good, as the perfection of the piece, they show this Grecian youth to
be the betrothed husband of the maiden. Let us give credence to these
proofs of the divine and wonder-working will; let us be fellow workers
with this will; let us have recourse to holier offerings; let us
abolish, for ever, these detested human sacrifices. ’”[124]
A few words must be said on the style of Heliodorus. It is predominantly
literary, but extremely varied. He uses Homer almost as much as Chariton
does. His adaptation of Homeric episodes has already been
described. [125] A discussion of Homer and his parentage between
Calasiris and Cnemon is introduced in the style of the rhetorical
schools. [126] Descriptions as well as episodes owe much to Homeric
coloring, witness the epiphany of Odysseus. [127] But above all the
language itself is almost as rich in quotations from Homer as is
Chariton’s.
Often reminiscent phraseology betrays quotations in solution. Frequently
too very famous phrases are quoted directly. Calasiris greets Nausicles
with that best of all wishes: “May the gods give you your heart’s
desire! ” Nausicles reminds Calasiris that the gifts of the gods are not
to be despised. The maid Cybele assures Arsace that soon Theagenes will
desert Chariclea for her, exchanging bronze for gold. [128] Emotional
crises are described or expressed in Homer’s words. Arsace’s
sleeplessness has the same manifestations as Achilles. Cnemon upbraids
Chariclea for her pessimism about Theagenes’ fate in the words of
Agamemnon to Chalchas. And Chariclea when she is questioned by
physicians as to the cause of her illness only keeps repeating:
“Achilles, Peleus’ son, noblest of Greeks! ” as though only the
apostrophe uttered by Patroclus could describe her dear Theagenes. [129]
These are but a few illustrations of Heliodorus’ constant use of Homeric
diction.
No less did he use the language of the theater. [130] We have already
seen how much his plot owes to the structure of Greek tragedy. From
drama he took also a vocabulary of pungent metaphors to describe the
progress of events in his story. Repeatedly the action is referred to as
a tragedy. [131] And certain scenes by their wording imply a recognition,
a _deus ex machina_, a prologue and a change from tragedy to comedy.
These may, as Calderini suggests, be reminiscences of contemporary plays
now lost, which readers of the time would recognize. [132] Certainly
structure and language of the romance attest Heliodorus’ deep interest
in the theater.
The third striking element in the diction of Heliodorus is the
rhetorical. He often uses all the artifices taught in the schools:
alliterations, antitheses, set phrases. He loves the grand style. A
speech, even one uttered by his charming heroine, is an opportunity for
pomposity. He uses in excess that fine writing for descriptive passages
which the schools taught and he scatters throughout his narrative pithy
truisms or _sententiae_ which were part of the capital of the
rhetorician.
But these lapses into over-refined phrases, laborious symmetry and
decorative rhetoric are less of a barrier to a modern reader than is his
syntax. His sentence structure in general is not paratactic as is so
much of Chariton and of Xenophon, but complex. Moreover these complex
sentences are often exceedingly long with a kind of agglutinative
accumulation of participial constructions that demands re-reading for
comprehension. Yet he can be simple and pellucid in rapid narrative and
emotional crises as the final Book shows. And it is just because much of
his narrative is so exciting that we fall into resentful criticism when
Homer nods in dull drowsiness. [133]
Although we cannot date the _Aethiopica_ more exactly than somewhere in
the third century (probably in the first half), the romance reflects in
general the life of the times in which Heliodorus lived. The east daubs
its brilliant colors upon the story as the power of oriental rulers
impinges on the life of the Greeks. The absolutism of the Great King of
Persia is the model for minor courts of viceroys and their queens who
demand of their subjects and captives the obeisance that they must
render to their Super-Ruler. Military officers and eunuchs are the
descending steps in this hierarchy of tyranny.
Adventures center in war and travel. Cities and tribes revolt. Heroes
must display military virtues. Merchants, priests and women travel
widely, braving the dangers of storms at sea and of attacks by pirates.
Women have found a new freedom and are leaders in courage and endurance
as the story of Chariclea shows. Women take part in banquets and
religious ceremonies as well as in adventures. Romantic friendship
between men and admiration of young men’s beauty are a counterpart of
the famous relation between Hadrian and Antinous. Slaves and captives
may become court favorites or be subjected to indignities, imprisonment,
torture.
The times are characterized too by an eager search for the new, the
unfamiliar, by scientific curiosity, by an interest in art. So
descriptions of strange countries and peoples, accounts of strange
adventures and sights are part of the novelist’s stock in trade. He
describes vividly the island city in the Nile’s delta, its water-ways
through the reeds, its cave refuge with its secret entrance; or he gives
a technical account of the engineering processes by which a city is
besieged by threat of inundation; or he pictures such a curiosity in the
animal world as a giraffe. Works of art are featured with admiring care:
Theagenes’ embroidered robe and its clasp, Chariclea’s robe and its
girdle, the amethyst ring with its carved scene, the painting of Perseus
and Andromeda, nude, shining, chained to the rock.
And part of the picture of the times centers in man’s quest for new
values for life itself. Ethical standards for conduct are weighed and
emphasized in contrasts between Greeks and barbarians. Aspiration
towards the higher life is portrayed in the worship of the gods and its
ceremonials and in the philosophical discussions in which the priests
take part. The Gymnosophists and Calasiris share a large humanity.
The primary interests of the romance, however, far outweighing its
philosophy and its adventures, is love. Once more two enchanting young
people meet at a festival of a god, fall in love at first sight, plight
their troth, accompany each other through world-wide adventures,
preserve their faith and their chastity and for their piety are at last
united in perfect happiness. Theagenes and Chariclea join Chaereas and
Callirhoe, Habrocomes and Anthia, Clitophon and Leucippe, Daphnis and
Chloe in the undying annals of true love. And the reader closes
Heliodorus’ novel with Cnemon’s comment:
“I am at feud with Homer, father, for saying that love, as well as
everything else, brings satiety in the end; for my part I am never
tired either of feeling it myself, or hearing of its influence on
others; and lives there the man of so iron and adamantine an heart, as
not to be enchanted with listening to the loves of Theagenes and
Chariclea, though the story were to last a year? ”[134]
V
THE ADVENTURES OF LEUCIPPE AND CLITOPHON
_BY ACHILLES TATIUS_
“Every romance,” says Aristide Calderini in writing of the Greek novels,
“represents successively a new advance or a new type in its genre. Now
the closest affiliation is with history, now with pastoral poetry, now
with philosophy. While certain common elements persist, the general
pattern of the whole changes; often the content is varied; often the
limits. ”[135]
The variation within this new form of literature is richly illustrated
by the novel we are now to study, the one which was probably written
last of the extant Greek Romances as Chariton’s was the first. This is
_The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon_ of Achilles Tatius.
We know little of the author. Suidas, the lexicographer of the tenth
century, wrote his brief biography:
“Achilles Statius” (note the incorrect form of the name ‘Tatius’) “of
Alexandria: the writer of the story of Leucippe and Clitophon, as well
as other episodes of love, in eight books. He finally became a
Christian and a bishop. He also wrote a treatise on the sphere, and
works on etymology, and a mixed narration telling of many great and
marvellous men. His novel is in all respects like that of the other
writers of love-romances. ”[136]
Now though Suidas used earlier material and essayed accuracy, two
statements in this biography are manifestly incorrect. There is nothing
whatever in the romance to indicate that Tatius was ever a Christian and
the story about his conversion and bishopric probably duplicates the
similar tradition about his predecessor, Heliodorus, who was identified
with a bishop of Tricca who bore his name. Moreover Tatius’ novel is
very different in many particulars from all the romances which are now
known. And it is these contrasts rather than the similarities which make
him in our studies so excellent a foil for Chariton.
The date of about A. D. 300 is probably right for the novel because the
author seems to imitate the style of certain romancers of the third
century and because a recently discovered papyrus fragment[137] shows
that for palaeographical reasons this earliest manuscript could not have
been written later than the first half of the fourth century. This
evidence about the lateness of Achilles Tatius we shall find borne out
by a deterioration in style from Chariton’s simplicity to an
over-elaboration and exaggeration and a change in spirit from sincerity
to ironic parody. [138]
One important reason for knowing Achilles Tatius is “his contributions
to Elizabethan prose fiction and, through this, to the making of the
modern novel. ”[139] The first Greek text was not published until 1601
but before this he was made known to the sixteenth century by
translations in Latin, Italian and French. And in 1597 the first English
translation, that of William Burton, appeared. Todd succinctly states
his resulting influence:
“With Heliodorus, though in less measure, he furnished structure and
material for Sidney’s Arcadia, and thus was among the influences that
formed the novels of Richardson and Walter Scott; of Greene, as Dr. S.
L. Wolff puts it, he was the ‘first and latest love’; in Lyly himself,
and not only in him, we recognize Tatius as one of the sources of
English Euphuism. ”[140]
My plan in taking up Achilles Tatius is first to analyze briefly his
plot and then summarize its similarities to _Chaereas and Callirhoe_ and
the other Greek novels. Then I shall discuss more in detail the unique
features in Tatius and his special characteristics.
An epigram in the Palatine Anthology, attributed to Photius, patriarch
of Constantinople, but by some to Leon the philosopher gives a bird’s
eye view of the story. [141]
“The story of Clitophon reveals to the eyes, as it were, a bitter love
but a virtuous life. The very virtuous life of Leucippe puts all in
ecstasy, (for the story tells) how she was beaten and shorn of her
hair and clothed pitiably, and—the greatest point—having died three
times she endured to the end. And if you too wish to be virtuous,
friend, do not consider the side issues of the plot, but learn first
the outcome of the story, for it joins in marriage those who love
sanely. ”
For the expansion of this epitome it is necessary to have before us a
list of the many characters in the romance.
Chief characters:
_Clitophon_, a Greek of Tyre, son of Hippias
_Leucippe_, daughter of Sostratus of Byzantium, the uncle of Clitophon
_Clinias_ of Sidon, cousin of Clitophon
_Chaereas_ of Pharos, a fisherman
_Melitte_, a woman of Ephesus
_Thersander_, the husband of Melitte
_Callisthenes_ of Byzantium
_Calligone_, the half-sister of Clitophon
Minor characters:
_Sostratus_, of Byzantium, father of Leucippe
_Panthea_, his wife
_Hippias_, a Tyrian, father of Clitophon and Calligone
_Charicles_, the _amicus_ of Clinias
_Menelaus_, an Egyptian
_Sosthenes_, the bailiff of Thersander
_Satyrus_, a slave of Clitophon
_Clio_, Leucippe’s chambermaid, in love with Satyrus
_Charmides_, an Egyptian general
_Gorgias_, an Egyptian soldier
For the plot I condense Phillimore’s well-written summary. [142] The
author begins with a description of Sidon. He has reached Sidon in his
travels and is touring the city, looking at the temples. He describes a
painting of Zeus and Europa, also a statue of Eros. He was reflecting on
the Eros: “Think of such a brat being lord of earth and sea! ” When a
young man near testifies to Eros’ power which he has felt, the author
invites him to tell his story. In a Platonic scene under a plane-tree
near a stream they sit down.
The stranger, Clitophon, a Greek of Tyre, tells his story in the first
person. Clitophon has been unwillingly betrothed at nineteen to his
half-sister, Calligone. Now his uncle, Sostratus, writes that he is
sending his daughter Leucippe and her mother from their home in
Byzantium to Tyre for safety during a war. Clitophon at once falls in
love with Leucippe. He makes his cousin, Clinias, his confidant. Clinias
is sympathetic because he had a tragic love affair with a youth who was
killed by a fall from a horse which Clinias gave him. (Here is
introduced a purple patch on the driving accident. )
Encouraged by Clinias, Clitophon makes love constantly. Various scenes
of his wooing, for example a garden, are described in detail. Finally
the lovers elope, find a ship at Berytus, embark and start to
Alexandria. They meet an Egyptian fellow-passenger, Menelaus. There
comes a great storm. Hero and heroine are cast on shore at Pelusium near
the temple of Zeus Casius. Enter black brigands. Soldiers rescue
Clitophon, but Leucippe is kidnapped. Clitophon joins in an attempt to
save her, but it is baulked by a deep, impassable canal between the
rescuing party and the ten thousand brigands. Across it Clitophon
watches the bandits perform a human sacrifice by disembowelling the
victim before an altar. It is Leucippe. The body is put in a coffin.
The next day the canal is diked and crossed. Clitophon resolves to die
on Leucippe’s body, but suddenly he meets his slave Satyrus and
Menelaus, both saved from the wreck, who assure him that Leucippe is
alive. On the coffin being opened, she comes out—“Gashed open and minus
all viscera. ” But the murderers had been deceived by a sheepskin full of
animal entrails attached to her and by a stage sword which never
penetrated her body. Clinias too was saved from the wreck. Now a
punitive expedition under Charmides, the Egyptian, starts, but
unfortunately he falls in love with Leucippe and has a philtre given her
which drives her insane. On her recovery they go to Alexandria. There a
new rival, Chaereas, abducts Leucippe. Clitophon pursues on a ship of
war, but has to endure seeing Leucippe beheaded on the deck of the
enemy’s vessel. Clitophon recovers the head from the sea and gives it
burial.
Six months later Clitophon meets Clinias again. Clinias who had been
home in Sidon reports that “the cruel parent had actually betrothed the
loving cousins” so Clitophon and Leucippe might have married in peace.
Clitophon who naturally believes Leucippe dead is pursued by Melitte, a
lovely, wealthy and amorous widow of Ephesus. He finally yields to her;
they are betrothed in the temple of Isis and are to be married when they
reach Ephesus. On their arrival, Melitte drives Clitophon around her
great estates. There he has the overwhelming surprise of encountering
Leucippe who is working in the garden as a miserable slave. This
difficult situation is made more complicated by the sudden reappearance
of Melitte’s husband, Thersander, who had been falsely reported drowned
at sea.
Chariclea’s suggestion, Theagenes said they were brother and sister.
Cybele went to Arsace’s apartment to tell her all, locking the guests in
their room. In her absence, her son Achaemenes came home, listened at
their door and from their talk and from a glimpse at Theagenes realized
that this was the very youth who had been taken from him by Thyamis.
As the days passed, Arsace tried to win the love of Theagenes first
through subtle allurement, then through open confession of her passion
and at last through domination. Achaemenes finally told Arsace who they
were so the queen informed Theagenes that they were now her slaves as
they had been the captive slaves of Mithranes and he must obey her. Then
in the presence of Cybele Theagenes promised himself to Arsace on
condition that she would never give Chariclea to Achaemenes, who had
demanded her. He confessed that Chariclea was not his sister but his
fiancée. On hearing this Achaemenes rode away to inform Oroondates of
all.
Oroondates was engaged in a campaign against Hydaspes, King of the
Ethiopians, who had got possession of Philae. On hearing Achaemenes’
report Oroondates despatched his eunuch Bagoas with fifty horsemen to
Memphis to bring Theagenes and Chariclea to his camp. He sent two
letters to this effect to Arsace and to his chief eunuch. Achaemenes he
kept with himself.
In Memphis Thyamis had been unable to procure the release of the young
Greeks from Arsace. Moreover the frustrated queen had begun to try
imprisonment and torture on Theagenes. When he was still obstinate,
Cybele advised getting rid of Chariclea to free his heart and she
prepared to poison the girl. Fortunately a maid exchanged the goblets.
Cybele herself drank the poison and expired, but with her last breath
she declared Chariclea had murdered her. So Arsace threw the girl into
the prison where Theagenes was and had her tried. In the court-room
Chariclea pleaded guilty, for this was the plan that she and her lover
had agreed on in the prison, that they might die together. The Supreme
Council ordered that she be burned alive. Chariclea was saved by a
miracle, for the flames on the pyre refused to touch her person. Arsace
then consigned her again to prison on the ground that she was a witch.
In prison, Chariclea and Theagenes had a long talk about the
dream-visions they had each seen. To each Calasiris had appeared and
given a metrical prophecy. To Chariclea he had said:
“Bearing Pantarbè, fear not flames, fair maid,
Fate, to whom naught is hard, shall bring thee aid. ”
And to Theagenes:
“From Arsace, the morrow sets thee free—
To Aethiopia with the virgin flee. ”[109]
Chariclea interpreted these oracles to mean that her jewel, the
Pantarbè, was protecting her; and that on the next day they would be
freed from Arsace and go to Ethiopia.
Meanwhile Bagoas arrived at Memphis and Euphrates on receiving the
letter of Oroondates sent Theagenes and Chariclea off secretly with
Bagoas. On their journey they received first the news that Arsace had
killed herself and second that Oroondates had gone to Syene. Later on
the way they were seized by a band of Troglodite Ethiopians who took
Bagoas and the two Greeks to their king, Hydaspes. He planned to save
them as victims to be sacrificed to the gods.
Hydaspes was besieging Syene. Oroondates had got inside the city before
the blockade and was directing the defense. But Hydaspes used a new
weapon against him, inundation. His army dug a great trench around Syene
with earth-works encircling it. This trench he connected with the river
Nile by a long canal, fifty feet wide, banked by high walls. When the
works were finished, he cut away the embankment between his canal and
the Nile and let the river in. Syene became an island city and the
pressure of the water on the walls threatened inundation. So Oroondates
and the people of Syene had to sue for peace. This was granted, and
Hydaspes built up again the embankment between his canal and the Nile
and proceeded to drain off the water.
During the festival of the overflowing of the Nile Oroondates and his
army slipped away in the night, bridging the mud swamps about Syene by
planks, and went to Elephantine, which revolted with him against
Hydaspes. In the new battle Hydaspes was again victorious and took
Oroondates prisoner, but the Ethiopian was a generous conqueror and sent
Oroondates back to be again viceroy of his province.
Hydaspes on his way home stopped two days at Philae and from there sent
home letters announcing his victory to Persinna and the Gymnosophists.
Persinna recalled a dream that she had brought forth a full-grown
daughter and interpreted the daughter as this victory. The people
assembled for the celebration at the island city of Meroe and according
to their traditions demanded human sacrifice of foreign captives of war.
The prisoners now underwent the test of chastity by ascending the altar
of fire and of course Theagenes and Chariclea passed the test.
The Gymnosophists through their leader Sisimithres refused to witness
human sacrifice and foretold that this one would never be consummated.
Chariclea begged them to stay and hear her case. (She had recognized
Sisimithres’ name as that of the one who had given her to Charicles at
Catadupa). Chariclea declared that she was a native, not a foreigner,
and produced her fillet and her jewels, among them the mystic ring,
Pantarbé. Sisimithres narrated his part in her story. Hydaspes was
puzzled over how he could have a _white_ child, but Sisimithres
explained that Persinna at the time of conception had fixed her eyes on
a picture of the naked, white Andromeda. When the picture was brought in
as evidence, Chariclea’s resemblance to its Andromeda was found
startling. Moreover a birthmark of a black ring around Chariclea’s arm
attested her black blood.
The people now refused to have Chariclea sacrificed, but the fate of
Theagenes still hung in the balance. Chariclea begged that if he were to
be sacrificed, she might perform the deed. (Apparently she planned to
carry out a kind of suicide pact. ) Hydaspes thought his daughter was
insane and sent her into a tent with her mother while he received
ambassadors and their gifts of victory. His nephew Meroebus brought a
mighty athlete. Hydaspes as a joke gave him in return an elephant, but
also promised him the hand of Chariclea. The Axiomitae presented a
giraffe, an animal so strange that it terrified some of the natives.
Moreover, one bull and two horses broke their fetters and dashed madly
around the inside of the circle of guards. Theagenes mounted another
horse, pursued the bull, wore it out and finally downed it. The
enchanted spectators now demanded that he be matched with the champion
Meroebus. Him too he vanquished. Oroondates crowned Theagenes as victor,
but nevertheless prepared to sacrifice him.
At that moment ambassadors from Syene arrived with a letter from
Oroondates. He begged that a young woman captive be sent to him with her
father who was one of the ambassadors. This was Charicles. He recognized
Theagenes and accused him of having stolen his daughter at Delphi.
Theagenes revealed that Chariclea was the one demanded. Sisimithres told
the rest of the story. Chariclea rushing out of the tent begged
Charicles to forgive her elopement. Persinna told Hydaspes that she had
learned that Chariclea was betrothed to Theagenes.
Sisimithres speaking not in Greek but in Ethiopian for all the people to
hear ordered Hydaspes to submit to the will of the gods who had saved
the two young lovers and who did not approve of human sacrifice and
exhorted him to end human sacrifices forever. So Hydaspes asked the
people to observe the will of the gods and to sanction the marriage of
Theagenes and Chariclea. This they did. Then Hydaspes consecrated the
two as priest and priestess of the Sun and the Moon and on their heads
he placed the mitres which he and Persinna had worn as symbols of their
offices. Thus was fulfilled the oracle:
“In regions torrid shall arrive at last;
There shall the gods reward their pious vows,
And snowy chaplets bind their dusky brows. ”
Then a great procession escorted them to Meroe there to fulfill the more
mystic parts of wedlock.
In this brief re-telling of Heliodorus’ long story, certain striking
features of his structure appear. Geography and ethnography are
important as in the other novelists. The eastern basin of the
Mediterranean is the center of the adventures, the district which for
centuries was the scene of the conflict for power between many nations.
As in Xenophon, many geographical details are given, often with little
accuracy. [110] As Maillon points out, imagination and fantasy falsify
the historical and geographical allusions. Heliodorus gathers everything
that can satisfy the taste for the strange and the marvellous. At a time
when the critical spirit was so little developed in the historians, a
writer of romance would naturally produce marvellous narratives and
vague descriptions. Heliodorus confuses the Ethiopia of Herodotus with
that of the Ptolemies and imagines an Ethiopian empire which did not
exist during the domination of Egypt by the Persians. [111] As in
Chariton, the superiority of the Greeks over the barbarians is part of
the author’s faith.
In the development of the plot Heliodorus makes his set more unified,
less cinematic than Xenophon had done. The scene of action lies almost
entirely in Egypt with a shift to Ethiopia for the final climax. This
Egyptian set is to be sure varied by different local scenes: the Nile,
an island village in its delta, towns such as Chemmis, Memphis, Syene
and Philae, the battle-fields of Bessa and Elephantine, but nearly the
whole plot develops in Egypt. The exceptions are in the sub-plot
presented in Cnemon’s narrative of his life-history which is laid in
Athens, and in Calasiris’ long account of his visit to Delphi. These
however are clearly set off as insets in the unity of the Egyptian
scene.
The plot itself is an original combination of epic and dramatic
structure. The other writers of Greek romance begin at the beginning
with a detailed account of the hero and heroine, their family, their
background. Heliodorus in true epic style plunges us _in medias res_
with his startling opening scene of a seascape where a ship rides at
anchor, treasure-laden but not manned, where the shore is littered with
the remains of a banquet, but strewn with corpses, where a young man
lies wounded with a beautiful maiden dressed as a goddess ministering to
him. The reader is as amazed and puzzled at the sight as are the pirates
who are peering down from the hills.
Another epic part of the structure is that the narrative of events does
not proceed in a straight line but zigzags back and forth while a new
arrival contributes his part to the development of the plot, or the
author himself gives a retrospective résumé of past events to explain
the present. Calasiris’ long narrative is the best illustration of this
resumptive method but Cnemon, Achaemenes, Sisimithres and Charicles all
contribute their share of résumés. [112] In general, Heliodorus uses
résumés with great effect to clarify his complicated plot. Sometimes he
merely suggests a summary of events (V. 16, 5); sometimes he gives a
full succinct recapitulation of events (II. 14, 1-2); sometimes his
heroes recount their adventures to complain of them (V. 11). [113]
Many episodes too are taken from Homer. The games in Delphi in honor of
Apollo are indebted to those given by Achilles in honor of Patroclus.
The τειχοσκοπία where Arsace on the wall of Memphis watches the combat
in the plain recalls Helen on the walls of Troy. The duel there between
Thyamis and Theagenes is like one of the Homeric single combats. In it
Theagenes’ pursuit of Thyamis around the walls owes something to the
pursuit of Hector by the swift-footed Achilles. The scar of Theagenes
which is to be a sign of recognition was surely suggested by Odysseus’.
The scene where the old woman evokes her dead son on the field of battle
imitates the Homeric Νέκυια. [114]
Even more prominent than his debt to epic poetry is Heliodorus’ use of
dramatic structure. All the usual devices of Greek tragedy appear.
Indeed the plot centers on the recognition of the young Greek heroine as
the white Ethiopian princess by the tokens exposed with her in babyhood:
her jewels, her mystic ring, her lettered fillet. This dramatic device
of an agnorisis or recognition is multiplied by Heliodorus for repeated
situations: the recognition of Chariclea in beggar’s rags by Theagenes
through her watchword, the identification of Charicles as her
foster-father and of Sisimithres as the noble Greek who found and saved
the exposed child.
No less important is the usual Greek peripeteia, or reversal of fortune,
for hero and heroine are repeatedly reunited only to be separated anew;
together or separately they are rescued from one catastrophe only to be
plunged into a worse danger. Calasiris’ long narrative resembles not
only the minstrel’s songs at the court of Alcinous of old far-off divine
events, but also the messenger’s speeches in tragedy wherein events too
horrible or too complicated to be presented on the stage are told with a
realism which starts the imagination. The mechanism of a parallel
subplot is employed in Cnemon’s life-story. The letter in Thisbe’s dead
hand is indebted to Phaedra’s in Euripides’ _Hippolytus_. Cybele,
Arsace’s maid, owes much in her character of confidant to Phaedra’s
nurse though she is more cynical and familiar. The crowd takes the place
of the chorus, now demanding human sacrifice in the name of tradition,
now releasing Chariclea from it through pity, now approving of the
appeal of the noble Gymnosophists in the name of the gods to abolish the
immolation of human victims. The _deus ex machina_ is supplied by these
very gods of the Gymnosophists, Helios, the Sun, and Selene, the Moon,
celestial symbols of pure deities of space and time conceived in the
philosophical mind.
Against this structure of drama the characters move as though on a stage
and even through the stylized formulae of dramatic conventions usually
attain individuality and vitality. Maillon seems to me undiscriminating
when he speaks of them all as general types, not individuals, as
marionettes who can talk, lament and complain, but are without
life. [115] Even characters that fall into general groups may as in real
life have distinguishing traits and in the list of characters certain
are unforgettable personalities.
The hero Theagenes is of course supremely handsome and physically
strong. He is also as Wolff says spectacularly courageous but easily
discouraged. [116] He has to be kept from suicide by Cnemon. He has to be
cheered by Chariclea. And his Lady Fair is the resourceful partner in
emergencies who whispers to him “Call me your Sister” or invents means
of recognition in case of separation or makes a plot to share with him
his fate be it life or death. She demands too when they start off on
travels together that her lover swear a sacred oath to respect her
virginity. Indeed her leadership deserves the tribute given Dido, _dux
femina facti_. As Calderini notes, cleverness and deception were valued
traits in those times and both she displayed. [117] But she guarded her
chastity even from her dearest and her courage never failed. On the
battle field she can shoot her arrows. She is surrounded by a divine
aura of radiant beauty that illuminates her holy garb.
The real hero of the romance is her father, the Ethiopian King Hydaspes,
whose qualities she seemed to have inherited. He is the type of the good
king, but beyond that he is very human. He has his humor so that when
his nephew presents him with a gigantic athletic champion he smilingly
gives him in exchange an elephant. He is generous to a defeated foe,
freeing Oroondates and restoring him to his office so that the viceroy
makes obeisance to him and calls him the most just of mortals. He
follows tradition in preparing to offer to the gods foreign captives as
human victims, but when convinced by the Gymnosophists of the
inappropriateness of such sacrifice he leads his people to the right
decision about abolishing it and happily crowns his daughter and her
lover as new priests of a purified worship.
Persinna his queen is a type of frustrated motherhood, timid enough to
expose at birth her beautiful white baby for fear of the charge of
adultery, but when her daughter is restored to her she glows with ardent
parentalism and interprets Chariclea’s wishes to her husband.
The characters in the sub-plot (Cnemon’s story) are less clearly
delineated than those in the main narrative. The story serves however
not merely to introduce Thisbe, who is useful for the main plot, but
anticipates and prepares for certain main characters. Aristippus the
betrayed husband, Demaeneta the wanton wife, Thisbe the corrupt maid and
Cnemon the coveted youth parallel Oroondates, Arsace, Cybele and
Theagenes himself.
The far east opens up before us under the shadow of the Great King of
the Persians. He never appears, but his viceroys, their lieutenants,
their eunuchs work his will with the complete subservience which their
act of obeisance symbolizes. Oroondates is a good fighter, but he is
ready to desert secretly the city of Syene, which he has been defending,
before terms of surrender had been concluded, to start another war in
the name of the Great King. His will conveyed by letters must be law to
his eunuch or his wife. This arbitrariness when imitated by his eunuch
Euphrates becomes sadistic tyranny over prisoners given to his care.
Arsace his wife finds her escape in intrigue and amours. [118] Highly
over-sexed she stops at nothing to satisfy her passion as her wanton
fancies shift from one desired lover to another. She has no mercy for
Theagenes when he is obdurate or for Chariclea when she finds she is the
object of Theagenes’ affections.
Cybele her maid abets her machinations and her lust. Though her position
as confidante recalls Phaedra’s nurse in the _Hippolytus_, her character
reproduces all the venality, cunning and complaisance of the maids in
new Attic comedy. Torture and murder are natural tools for success in
her eyes and when she is hoist with her own petard, she dies asserting
that she has been poisoned by the innocent girl whom she had hoped to
make her victim. Arsace with her Cybele is a complete foil for the
purity and loyalty of Chariclea.
The most interesting among the upright characters in the play are the
priests: Calasiris, high-priest of Isis in Egypt, Charicles, priest of
Apollo at Delphi, Sisimithres, the Greek Gymnosophist. They are
consecrated to service, devoted to worship. They are men of the world
extending their knowledge by travel and talk. Calasiris on his visit to
Delphi spent his days in philosophical discussion of religious rites and
the meaning of the gods of Greece and of Egypt. Charicles is a
humanitarian who educates the little waif Chariclea as his own daughter.
Sisimithres dares withdraw from the human sacrifices proposed by a great
king and people and by his personal authority converts them from such
abominable customs to a purer conception of deity and of worship.
Calasiris in his role of interpreting the events of the story and
solving its problems, in his clear philosophical interests probably
represents Heliodorus himself. [119]
To return to the structure of the romance, the plot with such borrowings
from epic and dramatic poetry, with such characters, some types, some
highly individualized, moves forward in a manner that resembles the
modern cinema. There is no carefully interwoven plot such as tragedy
presents, for example in _Oedipus Rex_. Rather there is a progression of
episodes, each a clear picture in itself, all after many involutions and
evolutions falling into an orderly narrative. Rattenbury thinks that
after Heliodorus’ original beginning which secures the interest and
sympathy of the reader through his curiosity he fails to maintain the
interest throughout. The long retrospective narrative of Calasiris
becomes monotonous. The reader is irritated by the postponement of the
denouement after he as well as the hero and heroine knows the secret of
Chariclea’s parentage. Maillon, however, finds in Heliodorus a great
talent for narration. After the impressive opening scene, he says, from
narrative to narrative, from description to description, one is led
slowly but without ennui to the grandeur of the final chapters. The
variety of the episodes does not detract from the unity of the narrative
because we keep returning to Theagenes and Chariclea in whom we have
been interested from the first. [120]
To me personally the defects in the romance lie not in the long
narrative of Calasiris or in the early revelation of Chariclea’s
identity, but in the excessive use of descriptive passages. Planned
though they undoubtedly are to satisfy the craving of the age for a
knowledge of the novel and the strange, or to give local color, they
retard the development of the story. Often they are prolix and difficult
because of an unfamiliar vocabulary and a complicated sentence
structure. There are many such passages: descriptions of natural
phenomena (the island city in the delta of the Nile, the straits at
Calydon); of curious animals (crocodile and giraffe); of operations of
war (a naval battle, the siege of Syene, the duel of Thyamis and
Petosiris); the religious ceremonies at Delphi. These vary greatly in
clarity and effectiveness, but in general they tend to be verbose and to
retard the narrative. Such descriptions are however one of the
conventional features of the Greek romance. And with all Heliodorus’
originality in plot, in his tripartite structure of epic, dramatic and
cinematic features, he employs all the usual devices of Greek romance.
These are oracle and oath, résumés, conversation and rhetorical
speeches, letters and soliloquies, meditated suicide and apparent death,
dreams and epiphanies. But Heliodorus makes these conventional devices
integral parts of his plot.
The oracle given by the Pythian priestess at Delphi early in the story
motivates the plot until the very end when its meaning is explained and
its prophecy fulfilled. The oath which Chariclea requires of her lover
early in her travels protects her chastity through all the intimacies of
palace apartment and prison dungeons. Résumés of events given several
times by Cnemon, by Calasiris in his long narrative, by Charicles,
clarify and facilitate the plot. [121] Conversation is used constantly on
the battle field or in the boudoir, in palaces, in dungeons. Turn over
the pages of Heliodorus’ Greek as you would a modern novel and test how
often the pages are broken and enlivened by talk. Rhetoric colors some
of the longer speeches, but in the court-room scene (the trial of
Chariclea for poisoning Cybele) the procedure is described but the
speeches are not quoted.
Letters are as important as oracles for the development of the plot. The
letter of Persinna inscribed on the fillet exposed with her child
furnishes the indisputable evidence for the recognition of Chariclea.
The letter in Thisbe’s dead hand is of prime importance in the sub-plot
in announcing to Cnemon the death of his wicked step-mother. Business
letters of Mithranes to Oroondates, of Oroondates to Arsace and to the
eunuch Euphrates, of Hydaspes to the Supreme Council of Ethiopia and to
his queen Persinna furnish documentation for the march of events. The
letter of Oroondates to Hydaspes in the last book prepares the way for
Charicles’ final explanation of his relation to his foster-daughter and
his own recognition of Chariclea.
Soliloquies reveal emotional states and meditated suicide. At Chemmis
one night Chariclea left alone yields to despair and vows that if she
learns Theagenes is dead, she will join him in the shades. An apparent
death nearly precipitates tragedy when in the dark of the cave the body
of Thisbe is mistaken for that of Chariclea. Theagenes bursts into
despairing lamentation and proposes suicide. But Cnemon foreseeing this
has filched his sword and presently the light of Cnemon’s torch reveals
the truth and there ensues a happy reversal of fortune.
Among all these usual features of the plot a new importance is given to
dreams and epiphanies.
They are peculiarly significant because of their
bearing on Heliodorus’ philosophical and religious interests. Some
motivate minor events or simply create atmosphere. Thyamis in the night
before the battle with another band of brigands had a vision of Isis who
gave Chariclea to him with the mystic words: “Having her, you will not
have her, but you will be unjust and will kill the stranger. And she
will not be killed. ” At first Thyamis, interpreting the dream in
accordance with his own wishes, thought it meant that he would murder
her virginity, but she would live. Then when the battle went against
him, he changed his interpretation and to save Chariclea from his foes,
killed her (as he thought) in the cave. So Thisbe’s death is explained.
Another dream of little importance is Chariclea’s in which a wild
looking man appeared and pierced her right eye with his sword. Opposing
interpretations are given by Theagenes and Cnemon. The epiphanies,
however, which are vitally significant for the plot all foretell the
final fortunes of the hero and the heroine. To Calasiris Apollo and
Diana appeared, the god leading Theagenes, the goddess Chariclea, and
intrusted them to him. Diana too bade him consider the pair as his
children and take them to Egypt when and how the gods should decree.
Charicles too dreamed that an eagle flew from the hand of Apollo, seized
Chariclea and bore her away from Delphi to a land of dark forms.
Calasiris again had a vision, this time of Odysseus, the great
traveller, who demanded sacrifices and presented Penelope’s blessing on
Chariclea. Calasiris after his death himself appeared simultaneously to
Chariclea and Theagenes, telling the heroine that the Pantarbè jewel
would protect her, and telling the hero that he would be freed from
Arsace and take his Lady to Ethiopia. Hydaspes, when the prisoner
Chariclea is brought before him, recalled a dream that a full-grown
daughter was born to him and the face of this dream-girl was
Chariclea’s. This prepared him for the real recognition of her identity.
Now the validity of these apparitions is sometimes questioned: are they
dreams or visions? The author comments that desire often prompts
favorable interpretation. He has Hydaspes’ officers tell him that the
mind creates for itself fantasies which seem to foretell future events.
He has the optimistic Chariclea encourage Theagenes to trust in the gods
and interpret Calasiris’ prophecies as beneficent. But all the same
Heliodorus motivates his plot by this popular belief in dreams and
epiphanies.
This structural element fits in with the religious-philosophical
coloring of the whole background. Dreams and epiphanies, miracles and
necromancy are partial manifestations of a deep-seated interest in cults
and philosophies that is a phenomenon of the times. There is a long
description of the festival of Neoptolemus at Delphi with its pageantry,
sacrifices, hymn, dance, libations and the lighting of the pyre. It is
here that Theagenes and Chariclea meet and at first sight fall in love.
Nausicles the merchant must sacrifice to Hermes, god of trade. The
festival of the overflowing of the Nile is celebrated in Egypt. And
among the Ethiopians the first fruits of victory in war are offered in
the form of sacrifice of human captives to their gods. The most
prominent cults are those of Apollo-Helios of Delphi, Egypt and Ethiopia
and of the Egyptian Isis. These are savior gods to whom mortals offer
petitions for salvation.
Opinions differ as to whether the representation of the cult of Helios
is the usual conventional religious background of a Greek romance or
whether it is the author’s glorification of the cult of his native city
with which he and his family had some official connection. At the
antipodes in criticism are Rattenbury who perceives only the usual
religious conventions and Calderini who thinks the unique feature of the
_Aethiopica_ is its rich philosophical coloring. [122] All would agree on
marked influence in Heliodorus of Neo-Pythagoreanism and the teachings
of Apollonius of Tyana as recorded by Philostratus. [123] Maillon in his
preface gives this discriminating summary of his own position towards
Heliodorus’ philosophical interests. He says that the Pantheon of
Heliodorus does not contain many deities. He refers to the gods under
the Neo-Pythagorean name of οἱ κρείττονες. Calasiris whose role is most
important may well represent the author’s state of mind. This priest of
Isis practices a large eclecticism. He goes to Delphi and divides his
time between the service of the temple and theological discussion. He
worships especially one god, Apollo of Delphi, Helios of Emesa. Apollo
directs the drama of his story, Helios crowns it in Ethiopia. One sees
in Heliodorus the intention of simplifying and unifying mythology and of
bringing back religion to its eastern and Egyptian origins. Instead of
wishing to discredit pagan stories, he treats them philosophically to
make them acceptable to an age which was becoming emancipated and more
severe and to a new faith which wished to reconcile the philosophical
tradition and the sense of the divine and the mysterious.
Neo-Pythagoreanism was a curious attempt to found a religion which would
satisfy both the critical spirit and the people. At the beginning of the
third century appeared _The Life of Apollonius of Tyana_, a magician and
a disciple of Pythagoras. Philostratus takes his hero to the Orient,
Ethiopia, Greece, Rome. He writes a real romance. And that of Heliodorus
recalls it often. Both authors show the same admiration for the
Gymnosophists, the same distinction between magic and theurgy. Both
Apollonius and Calasiris are opposed to impure sacrifices. The story of
the magical Pantarbè jewel appears in both Philostratus and Heliodorus.
Calasiris like Apollonius is a model of Pythagorean asceticism.
Apollonius defends himself about working miracles and lets a doubt
appear about his theurgic powers. Calasiris shows in daily life a common
wisdom and reserves for exceptional cases an appeal to great demons.
In the _Aethiopica_ dreams play a more important role than the demons.
Communications with the invisible world are constant, but only
exceptional human beings who have had long experience in divine matters
and a life mortified and purified by expiation know the mysteries of the
invisible world.
This paraphrase of Maillon’s paragraphs shows how completely logical is
the conclusion of the romance where the noble Gymnosophist Sisimithres
persuades the king of the Ethiopians and his people to renounce human
sacrifice and accept the divine blessing on the loves of Theagenes and
Chariclea.
“At length Hydaspes said to Sisimithres, ‘O sage! What are we to do?
To defraud the gods of their victims is not pious; to sacrifice those
who appear to be preserved and restored by their providence is
impious. It needs that some expedient be found out. ’
Sisimithres, speaking, not in the Grecian, but in the Ethiopian
tongue, so as to be heard by the greatest part of the assembly,
replied: ‘O king! The wisest among men, as it appears, often have the
understanding clouded through excess of joy, else, before this time,
you would have discovered that the gods regard not with favour the
sacrifice which you have been preparing for them. First they, from the
very altar, declared the all-blessed Chariclea to be your daughter;
next they brought her foster-father most wonderfully from the midst of
Greece to this spot; they struck panic and terror into the horses and
oxen which were being prepared for sacrifice, indicating, perhaps, by
that event, that those whom custom considered as the more perfect and
fitting victims were to be rejected. Now, as the consummation of all
good, as the perfection of the piece, they show this Grecian youth to
be the betrothed husband of the maiden. Let us give credence to these
proofs of the divine and wonder-working will; let us be fellow workers
with this will; let us have recourse to holier offerings; let us
abolish, for ever, these detested human sacrifices. ’”[124]
A few words must be said on the style of Heliodorus. It is predominantly
literary, but extremely varied. He uses Homer almost as much as Chariton
does. His adaptation of Homeric episodes has already been
described. [125] A discussion of Homer and his parentage between
Calasiris and Cnemon is introduced in the style of the rhetorical
schools. [126] Descriptions as well as episodes owe much to Homeric
coloring, witness the epiphany of Odysseus. [127] But above all the
language itself is almost as rich in quotations from Homer as is
Chariton’s.
Often reminiscent phraseology betrays quotations in solution. Frequently
too very famous phrases are quoted directly. Calasiris greets Nausicles
with that best of all wishes: “May the gods give you your heart’s
desire! ” Nausicles reminds Calasiris that the gifts of the gods are not
to be despised. The maid Cybele assures Arsace that soon Theagenes will
desert Chariclea for her, exchanging bronze for gold. [128] Emotional
crises are described or expressed in Homer’s words. Arsace’s
sleeplessness has the same manifestations as Achilles. Cnemon upbraids
Chariclea for her pessimism about Theagenes’ fate in the words of
Agamemnon to Chalchas. And Chariclea when she is questioned by
physicians as to the cause of her illness only keeps repeating:
“Achilles, Peleus’ son, noblest of Greeks! ” as though only the
apostrophe uttered by Patroclus could describe her dear Theagenes. [129]
These are but a few illustrations of Heliodorus’ constant use of Homeric
diction.
No less did he use the language of the theater. [130] We have already
seen how much his plot owes to the structure of Greek tragedy. From
drama he took also a vocabulary of pungent metaphors to describe the
progress of events in his story. Repeatedly the action is referred to as
a tragedy. [131] And certain scenes by their wording imply a recognition,
a _deus ex machina_, a prologue and a change from tragedy to comedy.
These may, as Calderini suggests, be reminiscences of contemporary plays
now lost, which readers of the time would recognize. [132] Certainly
structure and language of the romance attest Heliodorus’ deep interest
in the theater.
The third striking element in the diction of Heliodorus is the
rhetorical. He often uses all the artifices taught in the schools:
alliterations, antitheses, set phrases. He loves the grand style. A
speech, even one uttered by his charming heroine, is an opportunity for
pomposity. He uses in excess that fine writing for descriptive passages
which the schools taught and he scatters throughout his narrative pithy
truisms or _sententiae_ which were part of the capital of the
rhetorician.
But these lapses into over-refined phrases, laborious symmetry and
decorative rhetoric are less of a barrier to a modern reader than is his
syntax. His sentence structure in general is not paratactic as is so
much of Chariton and of Xenophon, but complex. Moreover these complex
sentences are often exceedingly long with a kind of agglutinative
accumulation of participial constructions that demands re-reading for
comprehension. Yet he can be simple and pellucid in rapid narrative and
emotional crises as the final Book shows. And it is just because much of
his narrative is so exciting that we fall into resentful criticism when
Homer nods in dull drowsiness. [133]
Although we cannot date the _Aethiopica_ more exactly than somewhere in
the third century (probably in the first half), the romance reflects in
general the life of the times in which Heliodorus lived. The east daubs
its brilliant colors upon the story as the power of oriental rulers
impinges on the life of the Greeks. The absolutism of the Great King of
Persia is the model for minor courts of viceroys and their queens who
demand of their subjects and captives the obeisance that they must
render to their Super-Ruler. Military officers and eunuchs are the
descending steps in this hierarchy of tyranny.
Adventures center in war and travel. Cities and tribes revolt. Heroes
must display military virtues. Merchants, priests and women travel
widely, braving the dangers of storms at sea and of attacks by pirates.
Women have found a new freedom and are leaders in courage and endurance
as the story of Chariclea shows. Women take part in banquets and
religious ceremonies as well as in adventures. Romantic friendship
between men and admiration of young men’s beauty are a counterpart of
the famous relation between Hadrian and Antinous. Slaves and captives
may become court favorites or be subjected to indignities, imprisonment,
torture.
The times are characterized too by an eager search for the new, the
unfamiliar, by scientific curiosity, by an interest in art. So
descriptions of strange countries and peoples, accounts of strange
adventures and sights are part of the novelist’s stock in trade. He
describes vividly the island city in the Nile’s delta, its water-ways
through the reeds, its cave refuge with its secret entrance; or he gives
a technical account of the engineering processes by which a city is
besieged by threat of inundation; or he pictures such a curiosity in the
animal world as a giraffe. Works of art are featured with admiring care:
Theagenes’ embroidered robe and its clasp, Chariclea’s robe and its
girdle, the amethyst ring with its carved scene, the painting of Perseus
and Andromeda, nude, shining, chained to the rock.
And part of the picture of the times centers in man’s quest for new
values for life itself. Ethical standards for conduct are weighed and
emphasized in contrasts between Greeks and barbarians. Aspiration
towards the higher life is portrayed in the worship of the gods and its
ceremonials and in the philosophical discussions in which the priests
take part. The Gymnosophists and Calasiris share a large humanity.
The primary interests of the romance, however, far outweighing its
philosophy and its adventures, is love. Once more two enchanting young
people meet at a festival of a god, fall in love at first sight, plight
their troth, accompany each other through world-wide adventures,
preserve their faith and their chastity and for their piety are at last
united in perfect happiness. Theagenes and Chariclea join Chaereas and
Callirhoe, Habrocomes and Anthia, Clitophon and Leucippe, Daphnis and
Chloe in the undying annals of true love. And the reader closes
Heliodorus’ novel with Cnemon’s comment:
“I am at feud with Homer, father, for saying that love, as well as
everything else, brings satiety in the end; for my part I am never
tired either of feeling it myself, or hearing of its influence on
others; and lives there the man of so iron and adamantine an heart, as
not to be enchanted with listening to the loves of Theagenes and
Chariclea, though the story were to last a year? ”[134]
V
THE ADVENTURES OF LEUCIPPE AND CLITOPHON
_BY ACHILLES TATIUS_
“Every romance,” says Aristide Calderini in writing of the Greek novels,
“represents successively a new advance or a new type in its genre. Now
the closest affiliation is with history, now with pastoral poetry, now
with philosophy. While certain common elements persist, the general
pattern of the whole changes; often the content is varied; often the
limits. ”[135]
The variation within this new form of literature is richly illustrated
by the novel we are now to study, the one which was probably written
last of the extant Greek Romances as Chariton’s was the first. This is
_The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon_ of Achilles Tatius.
We know little of the author. Suidas, the lexicographer of the tenth
century, wrote his brief biography:
“Achilles Statius” (note the incorrect form of the name ‘Tatius’) “of
Alexandria: the writer of the story of Leucippe and Clitophon, as well
as other episodes of love, in eight books. He finally became a
Christian and a bishop. He also wrote a treatise on the sphere, and
works on etymology, and a mixed narration telling of many great and
marvellous men. His novel is in all respects like that of the other
writers of love-romances. ”[136]
Now though Suidas used earlier material and essayed accuracy, two
statements in this biography are manifestly incorrect. There is nothing
whatever in the romance to indicate that Tatius was ever a Christian and
the story about his conversion and bishopric probably duplicates the
similar tradition about his predecessor, Heliodorus, who was identified
with a bishop of Tricca who bore his name. Moreover Tatius’ novel is
very different in many particulars from all the romances which are now
known. And it is these contrasts rather than the similarities which make
him in our studies so excellent a foil for Chariton.
The date of about A. D. 300 is probably right for the novel because the
author seems to imitate the style of certain romancers of the third
century and because a recently discovered papyrus fragment[137] shows
that for palaeographical reasons this earliest manuscript could not have
been written later than the first half of the fourth century. This
evidence about the lateness of Achilles Tatius we shall find borne out
by a deterioration in style from Chariton’s simplicity to an
over-elaboration and exaggeration and a change in spirit from sincerity
to ironic parody. [138]
One important reason for knowing Achilles Tatius is “his contributions
to Elizabethan prose fiction and, through this, to the making of the
modern novel. ”[139] The first Greek text was not published until 1601
but before this he was made known to the sixteenth century by
translations in Latin, Italian and French. And in 1597 the first English
translation, that of William Burton, appeared. Todd succinctly states
his resulting influence:
“With Heliodorus, though in less measure, he furnished structure and
material for Sidney’s Arcadia, and thus was among the influences that
formed the novels of Richardson and Walter Scott; of Greene, as Dr. S.
L. Wolff puts it, he was the ‘first and latest love’; in Lyly himself,
and not only in him, we recognize Tatius as one of the sources of
English Euphuism. ”[140]
My plan in taking up Achilles Tatius is first to analyze briefly his
plot and then summarize its similarities to _Chaereas and Callirhoe_ and
the other Greek novels. Then I shall discuss more in detail the unique
features in Tatius and his special characteristics.
An epigram in the Palatine Anthology, attributed to Photius, patriarch
of Constantinople, but by some to Leon the philosopher gives a bird’s
eye view of the story. [141]
“The story of Clitophon reveals to the eyes, as it were, a bitter love
but a virtuous life. The very virtuous life of Leucippe puts all in
ecstasy, (for the story tells) how she was beaten and shorn of her
hair and clothed pitiably, and—the greatest point—having died three
times she endured to the end. And if you too wish to be virtuous,
friend, do not consider the side issues of the plot, but learn first
the outcome of the story, for it joins in marriage those who love
sanely. ”
For the expansion of this epitome it is necessary to have before us a
list of the many characters in the romance.
Chief characters:
_Clitophon_, a Greek of Tyre, son of Hippias
_Leucippe_, daughter of Sostratus of Byzantium, the uncle of Clitophon
_Clinias_ of Sidon, cousin of Clitophon
_Chaereas_ of Pharos, a fisherman
_Melitte_, a woman of Ephesus
_Thersander_, the husband of Melitte
_Callisthenes_ of Byzantium
_Calligone_, the half-sister of Clitophon
Minor characters:
_Sostratus_, of Byzantium, father of Leucippe
_Panthea_, his wife
_Hippias_, a Tyrian, father of Clitophon and Calligone
_Charicles_, the _amicus_ of Clinias
_Menelaus_, an Egyptian
_Sosthenes_, the bailiff of Thersander
_Satyrus_, a slave of Clitophon
_Clio_, Leucippe’s chambermaid, in love with Satyrus
_Charmides_, an Egyptian general
_Gorgias_, an Egyptian soldier
For the plot I condense Phillimore’s well-written summary. [142] The
author begins with a description of Sidon. He has reached Sidon in his
travels and is touring the city, looking at the temples. He describes a
painting of Zeus and Europa, also a statue of Eros. He was reflecting on
the Eros: “Think of such a brat being lord of earth and sea! ” When a
young man near testifies to Eros’ power which he has felt, the author
invites him to tell his story. In a Platonic scene under a plane-tree
near a stream they sit down.
The stranger, Clitophon, a Greek of Tyre, tells his story in the first
person. Clitophon has been unwillingly betrothed at nineteen to his
half-sister, Calligone. Now his uncle, Sostratus, writes that he is
sending his daughter Leucippe and her mother from their home in
Byzantium to Tyre for safety during a war. Clitophon at once falls in
love with Leucippe. He makes his cousin, Clinias, his confidant. Clinias
is sympathetic because he had a tragic love affair with a youth who was
killed by a fall from a horse which Clinias gave him. (Here is
introduced a purple patch on the driving accident. )
Encouraged by Clinias, Clitophon makes love constantly. Various scenes
of his wooing, for example a garden, are described in detail. Finally
the lovers elope, find a ship at Berytus, embark and start to
Alexandria. They meet an Egyptian fellow-passenger, Menelaus. There
comes a great storm. Hero and heroine are cast on shore at Pelusium near
the temple of Zeus Casius. Enter black brigands. Soldiers rescue
Clitophon, but Leucippe is kidnapped. Clitophon joins in an attempt to
save her, but it is baulked by a deep, impassable canal between the
rescuing party and the ten thousand brigands. Across it Clitophon
watches the bandits perform a human sacrifice by disembowelling the
victim before an altar. It is Leucippe. The body is put in a coffin.
The next day the canal is diked and crossed. Clitophon resolves to die
on Leucippe’s body, but suddenly he meets his slave Satyrus and
Menelaus, both saved from the wreck, who assure him that Leucippe is
alive. On the coffin being opened, she comes out—“Gashed open and minus
all viscera. ” But the murderers had been deceived by a sheepskin full of
animal entrails attached to her and by a stage sword which never
penetrated her body. Clinias too was saved from the wreck. Now a
punitive expedition under Charmides, the Egyptian, starts, but
unfortunately he falls in love with Leucippe and has a philtre given her
which drives her insane. On her recovery they go to Alexandria. There a
new rival, Chaereas, abducts Leucippe. Clitophon pursues on a ship of
war, but has to endure seeing Leucippe beheaded on the deck of the
enemy’s vessel. Clitophon recovers the head from the sea and gives it
burial.
Six months later Clitophon meets Clinias again. Clinias who had been
home in Sidon reports that “the cruel parent had actually betrothed the
loving cousins” so Clitophon and Leucippe might have married in peace.
Clitophon who naturally believes Leucippe dead is pursued by Melitte, a
lovely, wealthy and amorous widow of Ephesus. He finally yields to her;
they are betrothed in the temple of Isis and are to be married when they
reach Ephesus. On their arrival, Melitte drives Clitophon around her
great estates. There he has the overwhelming surprise of encountering
Leucippe who is working in the garden as a miserable slave. This
difficult situation is made more complicated by the sudden reappearance
of Melitte’s husband, Thersander, who had been falsely reported drowned
at sea.
