Chariton's Chaereas and Callirhoe

by Warren Blake (Translator)

Chaereas and Callirhoe . . . is the earliest Greek romantic novel the text of which has been completely preserved; hence it is among the first ancestors of modern European fiction. In this lively tale of adventure, a nobly born heroine is kidnapped across the seas from Syracuse to Asia Minor, where her beauty causes many complications and she is finally rescued by her dashing lover. This book in antiquity took the place of such stories as Dumas and Sabatini have written for later generations.

Genres: Classics

134 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1939

Reviews

[Simon Bostock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pdf available at: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9690373

This is tale of Chaereas and Callirhoe, two young people who rival the gods and goddesses, in their beauty. Meet on a street corner and fall deeply in love. After marrying, outside forces conspire to drive them apart, which results in them ending up on an adventure, featuring, pirates, slavery, new husbands and war. It also reads like a comedy of errors, given some of the situations, the two main characters find themselves in.

As an early example of a piece of historical fiction, this was a fun read, there are moments when I wondered if they would be able to extricate themselves from the position they found themselves in, which were not down to their own choices, just really bad luck, there were a couple of moments, that I thought were quite amusing.

When Chaereas is in the process of trying to be reunited with Callirhoe, the women of Persia, are concerned that Callirhoe will turn all their husbands heads, with her astounding beauty, Queen Statira remarks.

They speak of the ‘beauty’ of Callirhoe in the same breath with the ‘wealth’ of Dionysius. So when she comes, let some one of us appear beside her and cast this poor slave in the shade’

Which feels like the modern equivalent of, well she's ugly and probably sleeps around.

And this one, which made Chaereas seem like a modest young fellow, for a gorgeous, directed by the gods type.

“Now I have no desire to be your general, but I am ready to follow any man of
you who may wish to hold command.
He will find me obedient, since my ambition is not for personal glory but for the common glory of us all?’
At this they all shouted, “You must be our general!”
“Since you wish it; he said, “I will be your general

Oh, I don't want the job, oh well, since you insist. Not trying too hard to turn down the position, Chaereas mate.

Reading up, a lot of the story seems to be cribbed from some actual history, although, some of the people being written about, didn't exist in the same time period.

Overall, a fun read.

[Kate]

Ха-ха, древнегреческая программа "Пусть говорят".
*Собравшиеся в амфитеатре зрители аплодируют*
Добрый день, добрый день. Это передача "Пусть говорят". Тема нашей сегодняшней программы "Красота - порок или дар богов". И первая наша участница - Каллироя. Но давайте сначала принесём жертву богам...
Такое откровенное смешное мыло. Больше всего я хрюкала, когда этот самый Херей свою любимую-единственную, прекрасней которой нет среди живых, руки которой добивались сотни доблестных царей, по навету, не дав никому разъяснить ситуацию, уе**л с ноги. Извините, но другого слова тут не подобрать. Он её не ударил. Он сходу убил её ногой в грудь, потому что ему там показалось, что она вроде как ему изменить хочет. После этого и завязалась основная трагедия: все подумали, что Каллироя умерла, похоронили, а пришедшие грабить могилу разбойники нашли её живой и продали в рабство в другую страну. А дальше на столь прекрасной женщине женился умный, доблестный, знатный сатрап. Но она продолжала любить своего пупусика Херея, который чуть что может и по щщам заехать. Мда, любовь чертовски зла.
Не знаю, насколько серьёзно к такого рода повестям относились современники. Но такое впечатление, что это всё-таки как если бы от нашей цивилизации остались только бульварные эротические книжонки и их потомки считали бы величайшим памятником нашей культуры.

[Miriam Bitango · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this ancient novel for my Greek studies class, so I thought I would add it into my list of completed books! I am reading this novel from B.P. Reardon’s Collected Ancient Greek Novels!

It was very interesting to read one of the earliest books and one of the first romances (written in the 1st century CEA; set in the 5th century BCE)! The story itself is quite comical, with a range of random occurrences all happening to Chaereas and Callirhoe at once, like being buried alive then stolen by a grave robber or everyone falling in love at first sight with Callirhoe! With this, it’s curious to look deeper at the text and try to understand the perspective of the author, Chariton. One of the main questions to ask when reading this novel is “what is the basis of marriage?” At times, it seems that even Chariton himself is unsure of the answer, suggesting that love and reason could be valid at the same time!!