The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon - Complete Works of Achilles Tatius

by Achilles Tatius

The sole surviving work of Achilles Tatius, a Greek writer from Alexandria, is a novel in eight books, ‘The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon’, one of the five surviving Ancient Greek romances. Delphi’s Ancient Classics series provides eReaders with the wisdom of the Classical world, with both English translations and the original Greek texts. This comprehensive eBook presents the complete extant text of ‘The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon’, with relevant illustrations, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)

* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Achilles Tatius’ life and work
* Features the complete text of ‘The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon’, in both English translation and the original Greek
* Concise introduction to ‘The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon’
* Includes Stephen Gaselee’s translation from the Loeb Classical Library edition of Achilles Tatius
* Images of famous paintings inspired by ‘The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon’
* Excellent formatting of the texts
* Provides a special dual English and Greek text, allowing readers to compare the sections paragraph by paragraph – ideal for students
* Features a bonus biography – discover Achilles Tatius’ ancient world

Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to explore our range of Ancient Classics titles or buy the entire series as a Super Set

CONTENTS:

The Translation
LEUCIPPE AND CLITOPHON

The Greek Text
CONTENTS OF THE GREEK TEXT

The Dual Text
DUAL GREEK AND ENGLISH TEXT

The Biography
INTRODUCTION TO ACHILLES TATIUS by Stephen Gaselee

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Genres: Classics, Fiction, Ancient, Ancient History, Romance, Mythology, Literature

648 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 196

About the author

Achilles Tatius (Greek: Ἀχιλλεὺς Τάτιος) of Alexandria was a Roman era Greek writer whose fame is attached to his only surviving work, the ancient Greek novel or romance The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon.

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

To tell you the truth, it doesn't matter to me if one classifies this as a novel, or romance, or something else altogether. Those are, in any case, categories invented long after this text was written. Let's call it a novel, for convenience. Leucippe and Clitophon , written by the Alexandrian Greek Achilles Tatius in the 2nd century CE, is one of a canon of seven Greco-Roman novels which includes the remarkable Satyricon , reviewed here:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Unlike the Satyricon , Leucippe and Clitophon has come down to us apparently intact, as have the other 4 Greek novels of this canon. In light of the fragments we have of many other fictional works from the same period, it seems evident that there was an very rich and variegated output of fiction in the early centuries of the Common Era. I was told nothing of this when I was in school. Apparently, at that time, barely more recent than the time these novels were inked onto papyrus, the classicists frowned upon these novels as lowbrow rubbish written for the consummation of women (?!). So they were kept out of the hands of impressionable youngsters like myself. More recently, a new generation of classicists has tried to rehabilitate these works in academica, resulting in some new translations, of which this quite enjoyable translation by Tim Whitmarsh is one. Though, thankfully, I can remain blithely indifferent to the turmoil in academic fashion, at least now there are fresh translations of these works available in mass market editions, instead of stodgy versions in obscenely expensive editions which have been cleansed of all naughtinesses. And naughtinesses abound here.

The text is narrated by Clitophon to a stranger met in Sidon and includes, roughly, Clitophon falling in love with Leucippe, their flight from discovery, their being parted again and again, and their various adventures through most of the eastern Mediterranean Sea while trying to be reunited, which is finally accomplished in marriage. However, along this trajectory the real pleasures of this text are met. First, this is the ancient Greek world au vif - youthful, energetic, surrounded by gods and perils, deaths of all kinds, and still hungry for life. One gets an authentic sense of a world full of slaves and pirates, where for a woman rape is preferable to premarital sex (and is not a rare occurrence). The lengthy description of a ferocious Mediterranean storm harrying and then wrecking the typical small craft of the day is outstanding. Second, Tatius runs his text through the gamut of ancient Greek literature, giving us stories of metamorphosis, fables, amazing and doubtful natural history, gods and heroes, orations at trials, and detailed descriptions of marvelous paintings. Digressing, diverting, horrifying, the stories flow, tripping over one another in their haste to be heard.

And, of course, there is the obligatory argument about which form of love, for boys or for women, is better. Though there is a brief allusion to Pausanias' speech from the Symposium

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

here the points of view are presented with wit and passion, not with deadly and noble seriousness. Not to be missed, whichever your own position may be.

Another amusing aspect of this text is that it can be partially read as a parody of Platonic thought. Clitophon is the name of a dialogue attributed to Plato. Aristophanes' mad myth from Plato's Symposium appears early in nightmarish form; many of the ideas expressed in Phaedrus are repeated and parodied.

Though there are plenty of realistic elements, as I indicated above, one will not find realism, but instead deus ex machina , coincidences and miracles; one will not find character development, but instead "cardboard" characters behaving as their stereotypes demand. At the center of this text one finds instead humor, melodrama and wide-eyed wonder at marvelous stories.

The introduction by Helen Morales and the notes by the translator are informative. They inform the reader that Tatius wrote the book mostly in Attic Greek, the Greek of classics written 5 or 6 centuries earlier, and that he mixed in other styles, puns and wordplay. Morales assures us that Whitmarsh does a fine job transmitting some of this to the English reader. There is also a nice bibliography to follow up on.

[Yann · Rating 5 out of 5]

L'amertume de l'amour, mais une vie chaste, voilà ce que l'histoire de Clitophon nous met en quelque sorte sous les yeux. Mais la vie si chaste de Leucippe ravit tout le monde en extase; on admire comment, battue, les cheveux coupés, outragée, et par-dessus tout, trois fois en danger de mort, elle tenait bon. Si tu veux aussi être vertueux, ami, ne t'arrache pas à l'aspect accessoire du tableau, mais retiens avant tout le dénouement de l'histoire: il unit ceux qui aiment avec chasteté.

Anthologie Palatine

Mosaïque d'Europe à Beyrouth

De tous les romans Grecs que j'ai pu lire, j'ai envie de donner à celui-là une place particulière. Ce n'est pas tant pour son originalité : il s'agit toujours des amours de deux jeunes gens contrariées par les vicissitudes classique du genre: fuite, enlèvement par des pirates, esclavage, enfermement, séducteurs corrompus, individus fourbes et retors. On ne voyage pas non plus autant que dans Les Ethiopiques. Par contre, celui-ci l'emporte par la variété de ce que propose l'auteur : descriptions de tableaux à la Philostrate, description de villes et d'animaux exotiques à la Hérodote, prosopopée des sentiments et passions à la manière des poètes, contes de métamorphoses à la Ovide, interprétation des rêves à la Artémidore, duels rhétoriques à la manière des écoles, pastiches bouffons à la Aristophane, et procès judiciaire à la Lysias, ou tel qu'on en trouve dans bon nombre de fictions états-uniennes. Tout est construit pour le plaisir du lecteur, afin que la variété des styles ne laisse pas de soutenir son intérêt.

Mais le plus plaisant, c'est de voir dans ces tableaux naïfs une antiquité terriblement jeune et vivante, vibrante d'émotion et de sentiments. On y voit aussi avec plus d'acuité cette vie quotidienne où l'esclavage est omniprésent, la religion et l'art omniprésents, la sécurité difficile à établir. C'est curieux de noter que la chose la plus abominable qui puisse arriver, l'horreur absolue pire que la mort elle-même, c'est que la jeune fille puisse perdre sa virginité avant que d'être liée par des noces à un époux légitime. Sur le héros, par contre, semble peser une contrainte bien moins stricte; certes, par fidélité, il refuse de céder aux avances parfois pressantes de femmes aux mains desquelles il tombe à la merci, mais on apprend qu'il a hanté les lupanars, et lorsqu'une femme le presse de céder, il s'exécute finalement mu selon l'auteur par une sorte de magnanimité dont on se demande si la fiancée en aurait été gratifiée également, si elle s'était retrouvée dans la même situation.

Une lecture fort distrayante en somme.

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

09/08/18
Still loved it!

30/05/18
I am so glad to have finally gotten around to reading this book.

It didn't quite make it up there with Longus' Daphnis and Chloe to be one of my favourite books of all time, but definitely one of the most entertaining pieces of classical literature I've read. It had absolutely everything that you want and expect from this genre: young love, sexual encounters, pirates, kidnapping, sacrifices, the list goes on. It was so entertaining and the ending so ridiculously (and improbably) happy.

Achilles Tatius knew how to write a good novel.

[Boo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star crossed lovers and their lurid adventures. But, wait, do I detect parody?

[Andreas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of all the 2000 year old romance stories I've read this definitely is my favourite one. It's also the only one, but I digress. All in all, I thought it was great and I had a lot of fun reading it. Can see myself going back to it again, for sure.

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wild ancient novel has almost everything- homosexuality, pirates, cannibalism, adultery, prostitutes, true love, magic, torture. The list is too long. However, despite all the cruelty, immoral acts (let me clarify, I mean attempted murder and rape), and the sorrow (Clinias's loss is heartbreaking), the author manages to convey a simple theme masked behind clever puns and thick clouds of sophist and platonic philosophy- that the desire, love, whatever the heck you want to call it, between two human beings is powerful and without limits. The language itself is beautifully crafted upon the elements of desire and love. " You do not understand the sight of the beloved: it yields more pleasure than the act itself. You see, when two pairs of eyes reflect in each other, they forge images of each other's body, as in a mirror. The effluxion of beauty floods down through the eyes to the soul, and effects a kind of union without contact."

[Saimi Korhonen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Olen kahden vastapuolen välissä: Eros ja isäni taistelevat keskenään. –– Isä! Tahdon antaa oikeutta sinulle, mutta vastustaja on voimakkaampi. Hän kiduttaa tuomion antajaa, uhkaa nuolillaan, pakottaa tulellaan! Ellen tottele häntä, isä, minä palan poroksi hänen liekeissään!"

Leukippe ja Kleitofon on yksi viidestä meille säilyneestä antiikin kreikkalaisesta romaanista. Tarinassa seurataan nuorta hyväsukuista Kleitofonia ja hänen rakastettuaan, Leukippea, jotka karkaavat voidakseen olla yhdessä. Karkumatkallaan he joutuvat vaikka minkälaisiin selkkauksiin: kirjassa on haaksirikkoja, rosvoja, myrkyttäjiä, ihmisuhrausta, intensiivinen oikeudenkäynti, viattomien orjuuttamista ja vaikka mitä muuta.

Tämä kirja oli aivan hulvatonta luettavaa – nauroin useamman kerran ääneen juonelle sekä oivalle käännökselle. Tarina eteni rytinällä kommelluksesta toiseen, eikä kirjassa todellakaan ollut ainuttakaan tylsää hetkeä. Minua huvitti erityisesti se, miten Akhilleus Tatios saattoi kolmen sivun aikana kuvailla niin taistelua, kidnappausta kuin mahdollista ihmisuhria, mutta viettää sitten pari sivua kuvaillen miten mies- ja naispuut voivat harrastaa seksiä (jep...), kertoja Kleitofonin näkemiä tauluja ja Niilin tärkeyttä egyptiläisten kulttuurille. Tarina eteni yhtä aikaa nopeasti sekä hupsun hitaasti. Nämä välipuheet ja turinoinnit eivät olleet koskaan tylsiä – miksi valittaisin siitä, kun saan lukea tarinoita kreikkalaisen mytologian hahmoista tai oppia miten Tatioksen hahmot (ja ehkä Tatios itse?) luulivat elefanttien lisääntyvän? Kirjassa oli myös mielenkiintoisia keskusteluja seksistä, romantiikasta ja seksuaalisuudesta ylipäätänsä – onhan kyseessä sentään rakkausromaani, jossa seksuaalinen halu ja siitä pidättäytyminen kunniallisuuden nimissä on isossa osassa. Kleitofon, hänen serkkunsa Kleinias ja heidän kohtaamansa Menelaos väittelivät esimerkiksi siitä ovatko tytöt vai pojat parempia rakastajia, ja onko poikien välinen rakkaus jumalallisempaa kuin tyttöjen ja poikien välinen. Queerina ihmisenä ja queerhistorioitsijana kaikki tämä oli kiintoisaa.

Kirjan hahmot olivat ihan hauskoja, mutta eivät mitään niin upeaa, että intoilisin heistä vielä viikkojen päästä. Mieshahmot olivat kaikki jossain määrin samankaltaisia – he kaikki olivat rakkauden ja himon ajamia, ja hurmaantuivat Leukippesta – mutta jotkut vain hillitsivät itseään paremmin ja olivat moraalisesti hieman vankempia. Mietin koko ajan, että onko kaikkien ihannoima Leukippe vain todella jumalainen, vai ovatko kirjan kaikki miehet vain todella heikkoja. Ken tietää. Leukippe oli kiinnostava, koska lukija ei saa viettää hänen pääkopassaan niin paljoa aikaa – hänet nähdään lähinnä aina häntä haluavien miesten näkökulmasta – mutta kun lukija sitten saa hetkiä hänen kanssaan – ilman Kleitofonia – hän on varsin kiinnostava. Hän on jossain määrin antiikin kirjallisuudelle perinteinen miesten väkivallan uhri, mutta hänelle annetaan myös loistavia puheenvuoroja, jossa hän puolustaa itseään ja koskemattomuuttaan. Toki, hänen motiivinsa on lähinnä suojella neitsyyttään, jotta ei menetä Kleitofonia, mutta silti, hän raivoaa raiskauksen uhkaa vastaan ja puolustautuu. Tämä puhe oli erityisen hyvä: "Minä olen puolustuskyvytön, yksin, nainen. Ainoa aseeni on vapauteni, ja sitä eivät lyönnit murskaa eikä miekka katkaise eikä tuli tuhoa. Siitä minä en koskaan luovu. Vaikka yrittäisit sen polttaa, saat huomata, ettei tulikaan ole niin palava kuin se!" Leukippen tarina on myös kiinnostavampi kuin Kleitofonin – hän kokee niin paljon enemmän ja monet tarinan villeimmät käänteet ovat juuri häneen liittyviä (kuten hänen kaksi valekuolemaansa (en kestä että toisessa tapauksessa mukana huijauksessa oli vanha kunnon teatteriveitsi ja vale-vatsalaukku, hänen orjuuttamisensa ja niin edespäin) – joten tavallaan olisi ollut hauskaa nähdä tämä tarina hänen näkökulmastaan. Mutta siinä tapauksessa kirjan parhaimmat yllätyshetket menisivät hukkaan, joten ehkä Kleitofonin näkökulma on loppujen lopuksi parempi.

Lopuksi haluan vielä mainita sen, kuinka hienosti kirjassa kuvataan tunteita. Kreikkalainen kirjallisuus on täynnä ylenpalttisia tunteita ja ihmisiä reagoimassa pienimpiinkin vastoinkäymisiin sataprosenttisella dramaattisuudella, mutta vaikka paikoittain hahmojen ylireagointi saattaa huvittaa lukijaa, tässä tunteiden voimakkuudessa on samalla jotain koskettavaa ja ihailtavaa. He tuntevat kaiken täysillä. Kleitofon viettää puolet romaanista himoiten Leukippea ja toisen puolikkaan peläten menttävänsä tämän, ja kumpaakin tunnetta kuvataan hienosti. Rakkauden, himon ja ihailun palo riehuu tulisena, ja suru musertaa ihmisen sisältä päin, jättäen jäljelle vain ikuiset verestävät haavat. Tämä lainaus oli erityisen koskettava, koska Nioben tarina, johon siinä viitataan, on varsin karmaiseva kertomus: "Kaikki rajat ylittävä kauhu vyöryi ylitseni. Varmaan Niobesta kerrottu tarina ei ollutkaan valhetta, vaan hänkin koki jotain tällaista lastensa kuollessa, kun hän näytti liikkumattomuudessaan muuttuneen kiveksi."

Suosittelisin tätä kirjaa ilolla kelle tahansa antiikin kirjallisuudesta kiinnostuneelle. Antiikin romaanit jäävät usein eeposten, runojen ja näytelmien varjoon, ja vaikka ne eivät ole yhtä eeppisiä ja hienoja (se on ehdottomasti antiikin kirjallisuuden lajeista vähiten lempparini), mutta ainakin Leukippe ja Kleitofon on ehdottomasti lukemisen arvoinen. Se on rakkaustarina ja seikkailukertomus, eikä sen lukeminen vaadi sen kummempaa tietämystä antiikin mytologiasta tai historiasta.

[Lee Foust · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now this is more like it. I'm working through the Greek romances of the Roman period, and definitely found the first two (Chaereas and Callirhoe and An Ephesian Tale), although quite interesting and even entertaining in their way, sadly lacking in greatness from any sort of modern aesthetic storytelling viewpoint. Leucippe and Clitoophon, on the other hand, adds some of the earmarks of the modern novel that are present in the real masterpiece of this period (Apuleius's Golden Ass).

Formally, we have a bit of meta-narrative in a series of storytellers both introducing the narrative as a whole, as well as filling in the gaps of Leucippe's adventures when she and Clitophon (the narrator of all) are apart. While this is a nice gesture toward a kind of realism, it is a bit awkward at times and rather twists and turns the overall flow of the tale told from a rhetorical standpoint. Yet, as a narratologist of sorts in by former academic incarnation and in my own attempts at novel writing, I found these tellers within other tellers' tales rather more interesting than clumsy, even if they become somewhat laughable the third time Leucippe is "killed" and we know then we'll get another contradictory narrative from another witness later showing how things "Really" went. Cleverly, this technique also mirrors the virginity theme standard in these Greek romances since everything endlessly hinges on the lover's trust in one another as they're separated and undergo all of their many tribulations. They always have to tell a good tale in a way to convince each other of their purity when they're eventually reunited. (Even if here Leucippe never gets to tell her own tales--there's a feminist critique waiting to be written here about how we're specifically told that she doesn't get to tell her own story, only lesser men--slaves!--get to explain her experiences.)

Another advance here is the slightly cynical narrator/hero. This realism deepens the narrative and even seems to question and thus undercut the whole idea of a hero--something that prose seems more prone to than heroic verse, and thus becomes a staple of the novel, a kind of parody or cynical mirror to the standard noble or propagandistic registers of legal rhetoric, epic poetry, political speechifying, and all forms of religious gobbledygook be it holy story, gospel, or preaching. Quite humanely, I thought, our protagonist protests but never really resists or fights back much, thus both surviving but eschewing consistently to do anything heroic other than put up with yet another beating or similar humiliation. Thus even in the classical world we begin the kind of middle class protagonist which again will be the staple of the prose tradition against the kings and heroes of epic and much Medieval romance.

This type of character of course lends himself to the cynical viewpoint. For, without military prowess or the power to command armies his strength lies in his verbal manipulation of the recounting of events. Also you notice his cowardice a tad less perhaps since he recounts it so unashamedly. Clitophon is thus in the end something of a lovable yet total anti-hero. He is never stoic nor brave, frequently threatens to take the easy way out through suicide, and he even totally undercuts the romance theme by--after chapters and chapters of defending his virginity for Leucippe's sake--just giving in and making love to Melite with a "Well, just this once, what can it hurt?" attitude. In retrospect he's rather despicable yet hearing the story from his point of view of course makes us identify with him and we hardly notice. What an insidious technique--I hadn't expected that complex a strategy, but of course it's not unlike Apuleius's Golden Ass or particularly Petronius's Satyricon, which also feature anti-heroic and bungling ne'er-do-well narrators. The ancient Roman world, given its prose writers and Ovid's sometimes snarky voice, feels like a pretty deeply cynical place.

On to Daphnis and Chloe!

[Lina]

Har ingen korrläst denna innan utgivning? Har aldrig läst en bok med så många slarvfel. Jag blev så glad när jag såg att den givits ut på svenska, men hela läsningen förstördes av slarvfelen som dyker upp på var och varannan sida. Hoppas den kommer i en reviderad upplaga.

Berättelsen i sig är verkligen läsvärd, speciellt om man vill läsa antik litteratur men tycker att t.ex. Homeros är svår och tråkig. Leukippe och Kleitophon är väldigt lättillgänglig jämfört med mycket annan antik litteratur.

[Arthur Sperry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read this because even as a Latin and Greek Major in College, it is one that I was not familiar with. I really agree with the description writeup. I enjoy reading and re-reading Greek and Roman Literature.

[Nadah Hussein · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good I love Ancient Greece, so dramatic for no reason

[Tony Gualtieri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A piece of Greco-Roman popular culture: The plot is inevitable, the characters are unnuanced, and the story is filled with unlikely coincidences and loose ends. But the novel is well-paced and it provides priceless glimpses of everyday life in the 2nd century. There is a marvelous description of Alexandria, which makes it sound like the Los Angeles of the eastern Mediterranean. There are also court scenes, pirates in the Nile Delta, shipwrecks on rocky shores, candid debates about sexual practices, and remarkable examples of the role of pagan religion in everyday life.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect romance novel of the ancient world. So good I wrote a thesis on it.

[Azéline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comment j'aurais abandonné à leur place

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

As one of the few surviving Greek romance novels, Leucippe and Clitophon is an interesting, lively and often surprising book that explores (among many other themes and fun Herodotean-style digressions) sexual morality, erotic ideologies, and social structure in the second-century CE. I came to it from reading Foucault’s The History of Sexuality (Vol 3, The Care of the Self) where he uses this novel as a source on the “new erotics” he identifies in the imperial period, so I have a few thoughts on it from this perspective, as well as on the novel as a piece of literature more generally:
Same-sex love: Foucault basically thinks that reflections on the love of boys loses its intensity, vitality and topicality in this period and that it is “deproblematised” in the sense that there is just less interest in it as a problem, even though there may not be significant changes in the practice itself or in value judgements about it. He sees this phenomenon as evident in Leucippe and Clitophon, as well as other Greek romances, where the theme “manifests its sterility”, is “episodic and marginal”, and where the engagement with classical philosophical treatment of the topic, often Platonic, is “dull”. I suspect that Foucault’s general point is probably largely correct, but I don’t know that Leucippe and Clitophon is evidence for it. The novel is principally focussed on heteroeroticism, but I don’t think the importance of homoerotic love in the narrative should be dismissed or underrated. The first part of the novel sees Clitophon learning from his cousin Clinias (a sympathetic character) the ways of eros through the latter’s same-sex experiences, so heteroticism can be seen as framed within homoeroticism to some extent. Then there’s the debate on the boat between Clitophon and Menelaus arguing whether heterosexual or homosexual love is better where the arguments are based mostly on the respective physical/ sexual advantages of each kind of love (“women’s orgasms are better”, “boy’s sweat is sweeter”(?), etc). Compared with Plato’s Symposium, this view of same-sex eros is obviously less lofty and spiritual, but I don’t think this necessarily represents a “philosophical disinvestment” from pederasty, but rather it seems more the result of generic conventions and some playfulness and parody of the Platonic formulation on Achilles Tatius’ part. I’ve also seen the point made that many of the characters who follow same-sex eros suffer or die in tragic circumstances, as though this indicates that the gods of the Greek romance novel can only support heteroeroticism. I would find this point more convincing if the heterosexual characters didn’t also have similar absurd misfortunes and “die” several times - basically Achilles Tatius just really likes the fake death motif and ‘the workings of fate’ theme, and if a character dies once I don’t think they’ve done too badly honestly.
Conjugality, reciprocity, virginity: the other parallel shift that Foucault sees in this period is the rise of a new erotics organised around the symmetrical and reciprocal relationship between a man and a woman, where virginity is highly valued for both partners and not just the woman. This is clearly seen in Leucippe and Clitophon. Far more importance is placed on Leucippe’s virginity than on Clitophon’s so I don’t know if I would say it’s a symmetrical relationship as such, but there is reciprocity for sure. It felt kind of surprising to hear Clitophon place so much emphasis on his ‘virginity’ even if he does ultimately break it. I think this points to the fact that the importance of virginity/ chastity has less to do with sexual purity than with subjective faithfulness within marriage. This is what we see when Thersander threatens to rape Leucippe but she remains confident that she will maintain her sexual respectability despite his objective power over her. Though it’s obviously a generalisation, I do think Foucault is onto something when he identifies the institutionalisation of marriage and the rise in importance of marriage as a site of male-definition in this period and I think that can be seen here in the celebration of marriage and conjugality as the success of the individual couple and of the wider social order it represents.
Apart from all that and if you set aside the less pleasant parts of the novel (rampant sexual violence, snuff, torture, etc), it’s a fun and fast-paced read. I particularly liked some of the ekphraseis as well as the digressions like the one on the flooding of the Nile. The characters are very one dimensional and there is no attempt at realism, but if you can accept that then I think there’s a lot to be gained from this book.

[Marcos Augusto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here the omniscient narrator, dominant in the old novel, is replaced by a first-person narration. To this is added the use of ekphrasis: the novel begins with an admirable description of a painting of the rape of Europa, and also includes descriptions of other paintings, such as Andromeda being saved by Perseus and Prometheus being released by Hercules. The story, we are told, is inspired by this image, but it is not based on it, unlike Daphnis and Chloe, a novel that also opens with an ekphrasis, but instead of being inspired by painting this is actually an interpretation of painting , making the whole novel a form of ekphrasis.

Aquiles Tatius takes pleasure in asides and tours on mythology and the interpretation of omens, descriptions of exotic animals (crocodiles, hippos) and landscapes (the Nile Delta, Alexandria) and discussions of love affairs (such as kissing, whether women or boys are better lovers). His descriptions of confused and contradictory emotional states (fear, hope, shame, jealousy and desire) are exemplary ("baroque" concepts like these would often be imitated in the Renaissance). There are also several portraits of almost sadistic cruelty.

[jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fantastically entertaining and informing on many levels. Woots and hoots for this second century romance novel. Clever in its own right, plain fun to read, yet rich with views then of myths and practices, religious and social, of the Mediterranean world. The Greek reader will gain a double measure. I will read again Achilles Tatius, The Adventures of Clitophon and Leucippe. I was put on to the work of Achilles Tatius by the book of Kyle Harper, From Shame to Sin: The Christian Transformation of Sexual Morality in Late Antiquity. For Harper, The Adventures of Clitophon and Leucippe was a touchstone for his broader discussions.

[Naiara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me ha gustado, pero no termino de procesar todas las desgracias y giros de la fortuna que sufren los personajes. Cuando crees que a la pobre Leucipa no le podía pasar nada más, entonces va y la trama te sorprende. Llega a ser un poco surrealista, pero, como es natural, se aprecia el esfuerzo del autor por intentar mantener la coherencia y verosimilitud. Pero bueno, esto es lo característico del género. Sin duda las partes que más me han gustado han sido las largas écfrasis dedicadas a las pinturas de los episodios míticos conocidos de Prometeo, Andrómeda y Filomela, entre otros.

[Eleanor! · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of fun to read, hitting on all the anticipated tropes of an ancient novel. Tatius isn’t exactly the best writer around by any standard, ancient or modern, but he does spin an enjoyable story. I have quite a few issues with how the translator treated several aspects of the story, but it is from 1917, and overall I think he did a solid job.

[×× ri ×× · Rating 2 out of 5]

On paper, it sounds like something right up my alley: a satirical look at the ancient novel. But without knowing that "Leucippe and Clitophon" is regarded as such, I would have never guessed! This reads like a straight ancient greek novel, even if a little campy with Leucippe dying and coming back again and again. This may be a translation issue, but the prose is somewhat clumsy.

[literarydoor]

Well... we do love predatory love (spoilers: no we really don't), endless soliloquies (help), bang-your-head-on-a-wall characters (get me out of there). I skipped. A LOT. And it's only 145 pages!! nope, nope, nope

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as parody goes, this is orders of magnitude better than anything found in Aristophanes. There is a truly moving passage in which Leucippe laments everything that's happened but owns her own resilience, but aside from that, it's just a silly little romp of great melodrama.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book I will say is for serious Classics nerds. I liked it, but parts of this are not for the faint of heart.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bizarre and wonderful. Playing with themes of space and romance and pushing the Greek novel genre to its extremes.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5*

[Kerttu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ihanaa mytologia-hömppää. Tää on myös mielenkiintoisella tavalla kirjallisuushistoriallisesti merkittävä teos.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy, entertaining read of about 150 pages, providing an insight into the lives, loves and perils of the ancients, within a story of fantastical encounters. Recommended.

[Matt Vigneau · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, zany, ancient Greek love novel.

[Sara Siekkinen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5!💗 it feels so silly to rate a book written in 196 AD