Essays on the Greek Romances
II _CHARITON'S_ CHAEREAS AND CALLIRHOE
There are two reasons for beginning a perusal of the Greek Romances withChariton's _Chaereas and Callirhoe_. It is "the earliest Greek romanceof which the text has been completely preserved." It is "a lively taleof adventure in which a nobly born heroine is kidnapped across the seafrom Syracuse to Asia Minor, where her beauty causes many complicationsand she is finally rescued by her dashing lover." I quote from Warren E.Blake whose publication of the Greek text and a literary translation ofit are a monument to American scholarship.
The date of the manuscript of this novel has been proved to be not laterthan the middle of the second century A.D., by the recent discoveries ofpapyrus fragments of it.[25] Warren Blake comments on the significanceof these discoveries:[26]
"In view of the complete absence in ancient literature of any certain allusion to Chariton, he was long supposed to be the latest of the authors of Greek romance, and was dated, purely by conjecture, about 500 A.D. But by a turn of fortune as truly remarkable as any attributed by Chariton himself to that fickle goddess, three scraps of his book have been turned up in Egypt during the last forty years. One of these scraps was found in company with some business documents which date from about the end of the second century of our era. Inasmuch as the place of discovery was a small country town to which new works of literature would not likely penetrate immediately on publication, and since in any case an expensive book is almost sure to be preserved longer than day-by-day business papers, we seem quite justified in setting the date of publication back some twenty-five or even fifty years. Thus it is probable that this novel was written at least as early as the middle of the second century, only about one hundred years later than most of the books of the New Testament."
The identity of the author is made known by the first sentence: "I amChariton of Aphrodisia, secretary to the advocate Athenagoras."Aphrodisia was a town in Caria in southern Asia Minor. Its localityhelps little in expanding the autobiography of the author out of thisone crisp sentence. But the romance itself reveals more of hispersonality. His fondness for court-room scenes and his elaboratedescriptions of them are what we would expect from a secretary to a{rhetor} or advocate. His learning is evident from his many literary andmythological references. And occasionally he steps out of the role ofthe impersonal narrator into his own character and speaks in the firstperson to his reader. We will come to feel rather sure of his interestsand tastes as we read his {pathos erotikon}.
Before proceeding to outline the plot of the eight books of thisromance, it will be well to clarify the story by presenting a list ofthe characters.
The chief characters are:
_Chaereas_, the handsome young Greek hero, son of Ariston of Syracuse _Callirhoe_, the beautiful young Greek heroine, daughter of Hermocrates, a famous general of Syracuse _Polycharmus_, a young Greek, the devoted friend of Chaereas _Hermocrates_, the general of Syracuse _Theron_, a pirate _Dionysius_, the governor of Miletus _Mithridates_, satrap of Caria _Artaxerxes_, king of the Persians _Statira_, his wife, queen of the Persians _Pharnaces_, the governor of Lydia and Ionia _Rhodogyne_, the sister of Pharnaces, daughter of Zopyrus, wife of Megabyzus, a Persian beauty.
The minor characters of importance are:
_Leonas_, a slave-dealer of Miletus _Plangon_, a female slave of Dionysius _Phocas_, slave and overseer of Dionysius, husband of Plangon _Artaxates_, the eunuch of Artaxerxes _Hyginus_, a servant of Mithridates.
The list of characters reveals at once a connection of Chariton's novelwith the Ninus Romance because of the use of historical characters.Hermocrates, the great general of Syracuse who defeated the Athenians inthe naval battle, 414 B.C., is the father of the heroine and is referredto repeatedly with the greatest pride. Artaxerxes, the king of thePersians, appears in person in courts and in wars. Historical events tooare mentioned as if to give a background of reality: the contestsbetween the Syracusans and the Athenians; the war between the Greeks andthe Persians; the rebellion of Egypt against Persia; the merit of Cyrusthe Great in organizing the army.
Against such a background of plausible reality, the plot develops alongthree main lines of interest: love, adventure and religion. The storybegins with the introduction of the radiant young hero and heroine ofSyracuse when they fall in love at first sight at a festival ofAphrodite. Almost immediately they are married, but their ecstatichappiness is short, for Callirhoe's many other suitors, angry at herchoice, plot revenge. They make her husband jealous by false stories ofa lover whom his bride favors, and, by staging a surreptitious admissionto his house of a lover of Callirhoe's maid, convince Chaereas that hiswife is faithless. In passionate fury he dashes to his wife's room andwhen Callirhoe overjoyed at his unexpected return rushes to meet him, hekicks her with such violence in the middle of her body that she fallsdown, to all appearance dead. Chaereas is tried for murder and pleadsfor his own condemnation, but is acquitted against his will by theappeal of Hermocrates.
Callirhoe is now given a magnificent funeral and buried with muchtreasure. The heroine, however, who had only fainted, soon revives, butwhile she is bemoaning her sad fate, a band of pirates, led by Theron,breaks open the tomb, steals the treasure, kidnaps the girl, then setssail with all speed for the east. At Miletus, Theron sells Callirhoe asa slave to Dionysius, a noble Ionian prince. He soon falls in love withhis slave, but learning her story (except the fact that she was alreadymarried which Callirhoe omits) respects her tragic position and woos herwith delicacy and consideration. Callirhoe, on finding that she is twomonths with child, decides to accept the advice of the maid Plangon andmarry Dionysius to give her baby a father. Plangon assures Callirhoethat the child will be considered a premature seven months baby, and shesecures from Dionysius a promise to bring up as his honored children anysons of the marriage. Book III tells how Chaereas found the tomb empty;how Theron was captured, forced to tell the truth by torture andcrucified; how Chaereas and his bosom friend Polycharmus went on awarship to Miletus in search of Callirhoe but were captured and sold asslaves to Mithridates, satrap of Caria.
Now Mithridates too had fallen in love with Callirhoe on seeing her atMiletus. On returning to Caria he discovers the identity of his slaveChaereas just in time to save him from crucifixion because of anuprising of his fellow-slaves, and tells him that his wife is nowmarried to Dionysius. Chaereas writes a letter to Callirhoe full ofpenitence and of love and Mithridates forwards it by Hyginus, hisfaithful slave, adding another letter of his own promising Chaereas andCallirhoe his aid. Unfortunately these letters fall into the hands ofDionysius himself and that noble prince, in his mad passion for hiswife, conceals from her the news that Chaereas is alive and makes a plotfor the protection of his own interests. He appeals to Pharnaces,governor of Lydia and Ionia, who is also in love with Callirhoe, to helpa scheme he has made. Pharnaces thus prompted writes a letter toArtaxerxes, King of the Persians, accusing Mithridates of trying tocorrupt Dionysius' wife. The great King then summons Mithridates to atrial for plotting adultery and sends also for Dionysius and Callirhoe.
The court scene is full of magnificence and surprises. Mithridates hasno fear because in answer to the denunciations of Dionysius he is ableto produce as a witness Chaereas who swears to his innocence andfriendship. Mithridates is acquitted and departs. Then the Kingdismisses the court for five days before adjudging whose wife Callirhoeis to be since now she has two living husbands. Meanwhile he intruststhe lady for safe keeping to his wife, Statira. Dionysius is tornbetween the promptings of passion and reason. Chaereas is in despair atthe possibility of losing Callirhoe again. And Artaxerxes, the King,like all the other great gentlemen in the story, falls madly in lovewith Callirhoe for her beauty.
The King's passion makes him postpone the court trial a month on thepretext of a dream which demanded sacrifice to the gods. His eunuchtries to persuade the heroine to do herself the honor of submitting tothe King's emb
races, but only horrifies and offends her purity. NowFortune again takes a hand in separating once more Chaereas andCallirhoe, for a revolt of the Egyptians is announced, the King must beoff to war, and as usual the queen and her suite go with him. Callirhoeaccompanies the queen by royal orders.
Dionysius of course serves as one of the King's generals. He has acrafty piece of news conveyed to Chaereas that in reward for hisfaithful service the King had given him Callirhoe. Chaereas, believingthis false story, and no longer caring to live, enlists with thefaithful Polycharmus in the Egyptian army to fight against his rival. Heis allowed to collect an army of three hundred Greeks in memory ofThermopylae and with them captures Tyre. News of this loss makes thePersian King so anxious that he decides not to travel with all hisretinue, but to leave the women on the little island of Aradus. Chaereaswho is proving a valiant warrior soon takes the island and discoversCallirhoe among his captives. Both faint on seeing each other but sincejoy never kills, they soon recover and reunited tell all and forgiveall.
Word suddenly comes that the Persian King has defeated the Egyptians andtheir King is dead. Chaereas and his men decide to sail home toSyracuse, but first in response to the plea of Callirhoe Chaereas sendshis prisoner, the queen Statira, back to the King because she hadbefriended Callirhoe in her woes. Callirhoe without the knowledge ofChaereas writes a beautiful and affectionate letter of farewell toDionysius, intrusting to him the care of her son. (Dionysius stillbelieves he is the boy's father!) The ship of Chaereas is driven by fairwinds to Sicily where Hermocrates and the people of Syracuse receive thehero and heroine in amazement and joy. Chaereas tells the story of alltheir adventures and Callirhoe ends the tale with a prayer to Aphrodite:"I beg thee, never again part me from Chaereas, but grant us both ahappy life, and death together."
With this simple outline of the plot before us let us study the way inwhich the story is told. Notable first of all are the shifting scenes,for the action moves rapidly from Syracuse, to Miletus, to Caria, toBabylon, to the sea, to Tyre, to the island of Aradus and then at lastback to Syracuse after the full circle of adventures. The contrastbetween the free Greek city of Syracuse and the oriental kingdoms isconstantly emphasized, but it is the love of adventure for adventure'ssake that spices the narrative. The settings include, besidespicturesque descriptions of localities, court-room scenes which are fullof contrasts: the murder-trial of Chaereas in Syracuse and the trial ofTheron also; the arraignment of Mithridates for adultery before theGreat King in Babylon. Pageantry of weddings and of religious ceremoniesalso enrich the plot.
The characters are painted in bold, rich colors. Hero and heroine are sobeautiful that they can be compared only to great works of art: Chaereasresembles the pictures and statues of Achilles, Nireus, Hippolytus,Alcibiades. Callirhoe is now Aphrodite incarnate, now Artemis. Love isenflamed by their great beauty and enters through their eyes at theirfirst sight of each other. Chaereas is proud and arrogant because of hislooks and so passionate that he is unrestrained in his anger when hebelieves Callirhoe false. The kick which he gave his bride is a blot onhis character which the reader finds harder to condone than Callirhoedid. She declares that cruel Fortune forced her husband to this act, forhe never before had struck even a slave. He is also so mercurial that herepeatedly gives way to despair and is repeatedly saved from committingsuicide by his devoted friend and companion, Polycharmus. He appears inmore heroic guise as a warrior when he joins the Egyptians againstArtaxerxes and Dionysius, resolved to die in battle, and wins a greatnaval victory. He is generous in sending the captive queen back to herlord. And he fulfills the ideals of romantic chivalry by declaring toCallirhoe at the end that she is the mistress of his soul.
Callirhoe like Helen had the gift of fatal beauty so that all men whosaw her fell in love with her and she incurred for a time the jealousyof Aphrodite. But in spite of every temptation her spirit remainedvirginal and she was persuaded to marry Dionysius only to give a nominalfather to her unborn child. She meets misfortune with natural tears, butwith more fortitude than Chaereas shows. And she rules her anger evenwhen the eunuch of King Artaxerxes makes insulting proposals to her byremembering that she had been well brought up and as a Greek taughtself-control. She handles difficult situations with a woman's intuitivetact as when she writes a consoling farewell letter to Dionysius,without letting her husband have the pain of knowing of it and itstenderness. By it she secures Dionysius' care for the son he stillbelieves his own. She wins from Chaereas with gentle tact a promise tosend back the captives Statira and the beautiful Rhodogyne to thePersians. And in meek devotion at the end she essays to win even thegoddess Aphrodite to complete reconciliation.
Polycharmus is a type more than an individual, for he is to Chaereaswhat Achates was to Aeneas, the faithful friend who accompanies himthrough all adventures. With boyish zeal, he hides from his parents inSyracuse his plan to go with Chaereas on his search for Callirhoe, buthe appears on the stern of the ship as it sails in time to wave afarewell to his father and mother. His chief function is to encourageChaereas and prevent his suicide. At the end on their return to Syracusehe is rewarded by being given Chaereas' sister for a bride and a part ofthe spoils of war for a dowry.
Dionysius is a sympathetic and noble character; indeed his sins are allfor love. He is in deep mourning for his dead wife when Callirhoe ispurchased as a slave by his manager. Although he believes that no personwho is not free-born can be truly beautiful, he is overwhelmed with loveat the first sight of Callirhoe. With tactful sympathy he draws out herstory and believes it. He never forces his passion upon her, but woosher delicately through his maid-servant, Plangon, and is overjoyed whenCallirhoe finally consents to legal marriage for the purpose of raisinga family. Even then in spite of his desire he delays the marriage thathe may do Callirhoe the honor of a great wedding in the city. Hishappiness is complete to his mind when after seven months a son is born.So it is because of his sincere love that when he hears that a Syracusanwarship has arrived to demand Callirhoe back, he commends his slavePhocas who out of loyalty to his master had persuaded barbarians todestroy the ship and its crew. Dionysius' only anxiety is that sincesome of the men escaped, Chaereas may still be alive. This last fact heconceals from Callirhoe and to comfort her for Chaereas' supposed deathpersuades her to erect a cenotaph to her first husband's memory. Laterwhen he receives the intercepted letter of Chaereas to Callirhoe, hefaints with grief and fear, but coming to he believes the letter forgedas part of a plot of Mithridates to win the favor of his bride, so heaccuses Mithridates to the Great King. Summoned to Babylon to the trialhe is in constant terror, for "he looked on all men as his rivals"knowing the devastating effects of Callirhoe's beauty. When Chaereas isproduced alive in the trial, he argues valiantly for the retention ofhis wife with some telling thrusts at Chaereas, but finally when he haslost his love, he bears his grief like a man, having remarkableself-control, treasuring Callirhoe's affectionate letter as true solace,and devoting himself to her son. Dionysius, as Callirhoe reminds himonce, is a Greek with a Greek education.
Among the orientals, resplendent princes appear often only to benumbered among the disconsolate lovers of Callirhoe and because of theirpassion to assist in furthering the complications of the plot. Such areMithridates and Pharnaces. More individualized portraits are painted ofKing Artaxerxes and Queen Statira. Oriental magnificence is the aura ofthe Great King's personality whether he appears presiding in thecourt-room, or hunting in Tyrian purple with golden dagger and elegantbow and arrow on his caparisoned horse, or riding to war with his greatarmy and his retinue: his queen, her attendants, his eunuchs, all theirgold and silver and fine raiment. Yet through this rich setting appearsa wise ruler who takes counsel of his advisers in times of crises,listens judiciously to evidence in the court-room, and in war followsthe military traditions of Cyrus the Great. But he has his human side:is influenced by wine, loneliness and the dark, and succumbs toCallirhoe's beauty though he is married to a great and subtle queen.Hoping to win the object of his
passion he is not above machinationswith his eunuch who acts as his go-between and with optimistic hope ofsuccess even has Callirhoe taken along with the queen when he goes towar. Yet when Statira is restored to him by Chaereas' magnanimity, hewelcomes her warmly although her news that Callirhoe is with Chaereas islike "a fresh blow upon an old wound." He appears most human afterhearing Statira's story of all that happened, for he is filled withvaried emotions: wrath at the capture of his dear ones, sorrow at thedeparture of Chaereas, and final gratitude that Chaereas had ended thepossibility of his seeing Callirhoe. Out of his own conflict ofemotions, he breaks gently to Dionysius the news of his loss ofCallirhoe and calls him away from personal sorrow by giving him higherresponsibility in the realm. Artaxerxes is really made to appear in thenovel as the Great King.
Statira is no less the queen. She is delighted when her husband suddenlyintrusts Callirhoe to her care, regarding his action as an honor and asign of confidence. She encourages Callirhoe with tactful sympathy andsecures needed rest for her, keeping away the curious ladies who hurryto the palace to call. After a few days Statira can not resist askingCallirhoe which husband she preferred, but her curiosity is not rewardedfor Callirhoe only weeps. As time goes on Statira's jealousy is arousedbecause Callirhoe's beauty outshines her own and because she is fullyaware of the significance of the King's more frequent visits to thewomen's quarters. So when Artaxerxes is preparing to start off for war,the queen does not ask what will become of Callirhoe because she doesnot wish to have to take her, but the King at the end demands herpresence. Apparently Statira never betrayed her jealousy to Callirhoe,for after Chaereas took captive all the women in Aradus, Callirhoe hasonly praise for her kindness to relate to Chaereas and calls Statira herdearest friend. Her generous happiness in being able to return Statira'scourtesy by sending her back to her husband wins from Statira a justencomium: "You have shown a noble nature, one that is worthy of yourbeauty. It was a happy sponsorship indeed which the King intrusted tome." Callirhoe on parting commends her child to the queen's care andsecretly consigns to the queen her letter to Dionysius. Statira is stilla subtle enough woman to enjoy telling the King at once on her returnwithout her rival: "You have me as a gift from Callirhoe."
Set off against the Great King of the Persians is Hermocrates, thegeneral of Syracuse who defeated the Athenians. His greatness as anadmiral is matched by his leadership as a citizen. At the trial ofChaereas for the murder of Callirhoe it is Hermocrates whose generousplea in his daughter's name secures from the people a vote of acquittal.He listens to the wish of the people assembled when they urge him tomarry his daughter to Chaereas. When Theron, the pirate, is captured andthe crowd at Syracuse is milling about him, Hermocrates insists on apublic trial for him in accordance with the laws and after the evidenceis presented it is by a vote of the people that he is condemned. ThenHermocrates asks the people to vote to send a ship in search of hiskidnapped daughter as a reward for his patriotic services. Callirhoe'spride centers in her father no less than in her Greek blood. Her reunionwith her father at the end of the romance is almost as moving as herrestoral to Chaereas. Hermocrates shines forth in untarnished glory as apatriotic admiral, a leader of thought in a democratic state, and adevoted father.
The minor parts are painted with less subtlety. Theron, the villain ofthe story, is a black-hearted pirate dominated only by gain andself-interest, ready to save his life at the expense of hisfellow-sailors. Slaves are presented as vivaciously as they are incomedy. Plangon, the maid of Dionysius, is a shrewd, cunningopportunist, ready to serve her master's interests but not withoutkindness to the distraught Callirhoe in her plight of pregnancy.Artaxates, the eunuch of Artaxerxes, is venal, wily, complaisant andlow-minded. As the confidant of Artaxerxes he takes his cues from hismaster's words, and solicits his favor by an attempt to seduceCallirhoe's heart for him. As a eunuch, a slave and a barbarian (saysChariton) he could not conceive that Callirhoe would not yield to thewishes of the King. When he is unable to persuade her by flattery, hethreatens her with the King's vengeance. And when her words betray herlove for Chaereas, Artaxates can call her only a poor, foolish girl forpreferring a slave to the Great King of the Persians.
The use of the crowd by Chariton is another link between his romance anddrama, for it often fulfills the function assumed by the chorus intragedy, that is, the part of the spectator who comments on the actionand interprets it. It is the people of Syracuse in assembly thatpersuades Hermocrates to wed his daughter to Chaereas. The crowd votesthe crucifixion of Theron and attends it. At Miletus the crowd joins inDionysius' prayer to Aphrodite to protect Callirhoe and her son. Thecrowd at Babylon is struck dumb with amazement at the radiance ofCallirhoe. And when the Great King is to decide whether Chaereas orDionysius is to be her husband, all Babylon becomes a court-room as thepeople discuss the rival partners. At the end of the romance, all theharbor of Syracuse is filled with men to watch the ship come in, andwhen Chaereas and Callirhoe are revealed on it, the crowd bursts intotears. All rush to the theater and demand that there at once Chaereastell them his adventures. "Tell us everything," they keep shouting. Theygroan at his misfortunes. They offer prayers for the future of his son.They shout assent to his proposal to make his three hundred valiantGreek soldiers fellow-citizens of Syracuse. Indeed the crowd isconstantly the background of the action of the romance.
Various mechanical devices used in the development of the plot showChariton's art of narration. Conversation as any novel demands isconstantly used. Soliloquies are introduced frequently: at someemotional crisis, Chariton, instead of describing the thoughts andfeelings of his characters, has them burst into speech to themselves.Callirhoe on hearing of the supposed loss of Chaereas with the warshiplaments his death and the destruction of her father's gallant vessel.Later beside the Euphrates river when she can no longer see "the oceanwhich led back to Syracuse," she upbraids cruel Fortune for driving herfarther and farther from home. Again, in horror at the proposals of theeunuch, she laments all her misfortunes and expresses her resolve to dieas befits Hermocrates' daughter rather than become the mistress of theGreat King. So too Dionysius on the return of Chaereas, after attemptsat self-control, bursts forth with despair and jealousy into a lamentover the imminent loss of his love. At the same time Chaereas, believingthat Callirhoe loves Dionysius and will never return to him from thewealthy Ionian, utters a bitter lament before attempting to hanghimself.
Letters also are an important means of developing the plot in the GreekRomances, especially in Chariton. He uses seven letters.[27] Chaereas'first letter to Callirhoe is an impassioned love-letter with an appealfor forgiveness and for an assurance that she still loves him. This is acrucial letter in the plot because it is sent by Bias of Priene toDionysius himself who conceals it from Callirhoe. Bias sends a briefbusiness letter with it. Pharnaces, governor of Lydia, on theinstigation of Dionysius writes a letter to Artaxerxes accusingMithridates of trying to seduce Dionysius' wife. This letter isimportant for the plot, because it motivates the trial of Mithridates.The Great King on receiving it dispatches two laconic business lettersto Pharnaces summoning Dionysius and to Mithridates calling him totrial. The other two letters do not affect the plot, but reveal thecharacters of the senders. These are the letters in Book VIII ofChaereas to Artaxerxes and of Callirhoe to Dionysius. Chaereas proudlysends back Statira unharmed as the gift of Callirhoe to the Great King.Callirhoe with a woman's intuition comforts Dionysius for her loss bygratitude for his protection, by assuring him that she is with him inspirit in the presence of her son whom she intrusts to his care. Shebegs him not to marry again, but to bring up the daughter of his firstwife and her own son, eventually marry them to each other and send himto Syracuse to see his grandfather. She includes a message to Plangonand ends with an appeal to good Dionysius to remember his Callirhoe. Itis hardly strange that Callirhoe concealed this masterpiece ofepistolography from her jealous husband, Chaereas.
The taking of an oath is often an important feature of Greek Romances.In Chariton,
Dionysius swears solemnly by the sea, by Aphrodite and byEros that he will marry Callirhoe according to the Greek laws "for thebegetting of children" and will bring up any child she bears.[28] Dreamstoo play their part in the plot. In a dream Dionysius sees an apparitionof his dead wife as she looked on her wedding-day. His slave Leonasinterprets the dream as prophetic of his coming happiness with the newlypurchased slave, Callirhoe.[29] Callirhoe in her sleep sees a phantom ofChaereas who says to her: "My wife, I intrust our son to you." Thisdream determines her to bring up her baby and so to marry Dionysius.[30]In Babylon when she is dreading having to appear in court, she has adream of her happy wedding to Chaereas in Syracuse. The maid Plangoninterprets the dream as a good omen for future happiness.[31] KingArtaxerxes had a dream of gods demanding sacrifice so he proclaimed afestival of thirty days throughout Asia. This delayed his decisionbetween Chaereas and Dionysius, hence was most important for the plotbecause wars arose before the court was held and in them Chaereas andCallirhoe came together.[32]
Apparent deaths are a common device of the Greek novelists andChariton's plot turns on two, the supposed death of Callirhoe fromChaereas' blow and her subsequent burial; the reported death of Chaereason his warship. Concomitant with such deaths are the unexpectedreappearances which add the element of surprise, so essential for thecharacters and the crowd.
Descriptive passages are few and brief in Chariton and are often workedout in a suggestive simile rather than in a conspicuous purple patch.Chaereas was as "radiant as a star. The flush of exercise bloomed on hisglowing face like gold on silver." Callirhoe, recognizing her lover,became more stately and lovely than ever, as a flickering lamp againflares up when oil is poured in.[33] Public ceremonies are described atmore length: the funeral procession of Callirhoe,[34] her wedding toDionysius.[35] Space is given too to the description of Artaxerxes'hunt, that favorite ancient sport;[36] to storm at sea;[37] to war.[38]But all these descriptions are concise in their picturesqueness.
Finally clarity in the narrative is secured by repeated resumes of thestory either by the characters or by the author himself. Callirhoe tellsher tragic tale to Dionysius with such sincerity that he believes it andhonors her as a free-born woman.[39] Polycharmus relates his adventureswith Chaereas to Mithridates and thereby saves his friend and himselffrom crucifixion.[40] Chaereas at the end unfolds the whole Odyssey ofhis wanderings to the populace in the theater of Syracuse.[41] At thebeginning of Book V Chariton epitomizes all the preceding part of thenovel and at the beginning of Book VIII he recapitulates the precedingbook and reassures his audience about the final book.
"Furthermore, I think that this last book will be the most pleasant of all to my readers, and in fact will serve as an antidote to the tragic events of the former ones. No more piracy or slavery or court trials or battles or suicide or war or capture here, but true love and lawful marriage! And so I am going to tell you how the goddess brought the truth to light and revealed the unsuspecting lovers to each other."
The happy ending which Chariton here forecasts is an essential featureof a Greek romance. For in this type of literature in which Chariton isa pioneer, virtue must triumph. The ethics demands that the hero andheroine must be noble in character as well as in station and thattherefore justice must be done to virtue. The hero we have seen mustpossess personal courage and military courage. He must be capable ofemotional devotion, first of all to his lady, then to his friend, andalways to his father. His faults are those of pride, arrogance andpassion and his moments of brutality are condoned by his contemporarieson account of his passionate temperament. He can be generous to hisfoes. He can show pity to the unfortunate. But his sympathies, even whenthe type is embodied in as noble a character as Dionysius, are evoked bythe free-born in distress, rarely by slaves. The virtues of the heroineare first of all chastity, then loyal devotion to parents, husband andchild, pride of family, generosity of spirit and sympathy. She iscapable of resolute decision and heroic action if her chastity ismenaced or her dear ones are in danger. Standards different from our ownbest ones appear in the general attitude towards slaves as an inferiorclass and in the brutality manifested in the hero's kick, in executionson the cross, in torture of witnesses. Cleverness and deception aretraits which are prized more highly than we admit now. The noblestsentiments expressed are in behalf of liberty and patriotism.
Religion plays so important a part in the romance that it demands a fulltreatment. Chariton's novel is dominated by two cults: the worship ofthe abstract goddess Fortune, the worship of the goddess of love,Aphrodite. At the end of Book I Callirhoe, just after she has been soldas a slave, in a soliloquy, upbraids cruel Fortune for all her troubles,for the goddess made her lover her murderer, surrendered her totomb-robbers and now has let her be sold as a slave. Again Callirhoe,when she finds that she is pregnant, reproaches Fortune for letting herbear a child to be a slave. And on the banks of the Euphrates in anothersoliloquy Callirhoe again charges Fortune with all her miseries andblames her for taking "delight in persecuting one lone girl."Mithridates tells Chaereas: "The whims of Fortune have involved you inthis melancholy drama." Queen Statira, when captured, exclaims thatFortune has preserved her to see this day of slavery. And the author ofthe romance as well as the characters repeatedly attributes to Fortunethe strange and sad misadventures of his hero and heroine. Callirhoe,Chariton says, "was overcome by the stratagems of Fortune, against whomalone human reason has no power. She is a divinity who loves opposition,and there is nothing which may not be expected of her." Throughout theromance Fortune seems to be conceived not as blind chance, but as abaleful goddess, who takes delight in cruelty and torture.
In conflict with her machinations is the power of the goddess of lovewhom the young lovers worship. As clearly as in a Greek tragedyAphrodite's influence is predominant throughout the romance. At the verybeginning, Chaereas and Callirhoe see each other for the first time at afestival of the goddess and immediately fall in love. The end of theromance is the prayer of thanks which Callirhoe offers to Aphrodite inher temple at Syracuse. Callirhoe is so beautiful that over and over sheseems Aphrodite incarnate, now to the slave-dealer, Leonas, now toDionysius, now to the crowd at the time of her marriage to Dionysius,now in Babylon. Prayers for aid are constantly offered to the goddess byCallirhoe, by Chaereas, by Dionysius, by Artaxerxes, and theseworshippers offer their petitions in her temples in Syracuse, inMiletus, in Babylon, in Aradus and in Cyprus. Her power is acknowledged;her favor is asked. Chaereas discovers Callirhoe is alive by seeing agolden statue of her which Dionysius had dedicated in the temple ofAphrodite near Miletus. Chariton himself in his resume at the beginningof Book VIII records the influence that Aphrodite had in his story. WhenFortune was maneuvering to have Chaereas leave his wife behind atAradus, all unaware of her presence, "this seemed outrageous toAphrodite," says Chariton, "who, though she had previously been terriblyangered at Chaereas' uncalled-for jealousy, whereby he had insolentlyrejected her kindness after receiving from her a gift more superlativelybeautiful even than Paris' prize, was by now becoming reconciled withhim. And since Chaereas had now nobly redeemed himself in the eyes ofLove by his wanderings from west to east amid countless sufferings,Aphrodite felt pity for him, and, as she had in the beginning broughttogether this noble pair, so now, having harried them long over land andsea, she was willing once more to unite them."
The final consideration about Chariton must be the style of his work.And first of all the inquiry rises to our lips: how did the secretary ofAthenagoras become so distinguished in the art of narration? Homer, I amconvinced, is the master from whom, as Dante from Vergil, he took hisbeautiful style. The romance is rich in literary allusions, but beyondall others Homer is quoted repeatedly (twenty-four times indeed) andwith great effectiveness. Sometimes a mere transitional phrase isadopted:
"while the words were yet on his lips."[42]
In descriptions the brevity and simplicity of Homer are used with suchnicety that the language often trails off naturally into the very w
ordsof the epic. In the thirty day festival at Babylon
"the sweet savor arose to heaven eddying amid the smoke."[43]
Men are pictured fighting and in their close array
"buckler pressed on buckler, helm on helm, and man on man."[44]
And as the conflict joined and Chaereas rushed against his enemies, he
"smote them right and left and there rose a hideous moaning."[45]
Artaxerxes in his court is compared to Zeus among the assembledgods.[46] A phantom of Chaereas appears to Callirhoe resembling him
"in stature, and fair eyes, and voice, and the raiment of his body was the same."[47]
When Callirhoe came into the court-room in Babylon,
"she looked just as the divine poet says that Helen did, when she appeared to 'them that were with Priam and Panthoeos and Thymoetes ... being elders of the people.'[48] At the sight of her, admiring silence fell, 'and each one uttered a prayer that he might be her bedfellow.'"[49]
Besides this use of Homeric phrases in descriptions, quotations arefrequently introduced in conversations as if Chariton found only Homer'swords expressive to convey the thought of one character to another.[50]But far more important than such uses of Homeric phraseology is theintensification of emotional coloring by a quotation from Homer at acrisis of poignant feeling. When Callirhoe's nurse calls her to get upfor it is her wedding day,
"her knees and heart were unstrung,"
because she did not know whom she was to marry.[51] When Chaereas istold that his wife is an adulteress,
"a black cloud of grief enwrapped him, and with both hands he took dark dust and poured it over his head and defiled his comely face."[52]
When Chaereas is determined to set sail in winter in search of hiskidnapped bride, his mother begged him to take her with him and cried inHomer's words:
"My child, have regard unto this bosom and pity me if ever I gave thee consolation of my breast."[53]
When Dionysius suddenly learned at a banquet that Chaereas was alivefrom reading his letter to Callirhoe,
"his knees and his heart were unstrung."[54]
When Artaxerxes was smitten with love for Callirhoe, he lay awake allnight,
"now lying on his side, now on his back, now on his face."[55]
When Chaereas and Callirhoe had their ecstatic reunion on Aradus,
"when they had had their fill of tears and story-telling, embracing each other,
'they came gladly to the rites of their bed, as of old.'"[56]
Enough illustrations of Chariton's use of Homer have been given to showthe manner of it. Different explanations of Chariton's constant use havebeen advanced. Schmid thinks it is an indication of the influence of theMenippean satire with its mingling of prose and verse. Jacob believes itdue to Chariton's desire to make his style poetic. Calderini is moreunderstanding. He thinks that Chariton, thoroughly familiar with Homer,quoted him to express worthily some noble thought and that he saw thepeculiar emphasis which a quotation from Homer could give to theexpression of a sudden, violent emotion. He also uses episodes fromHomer (the appeal of Hecuba from the wall to Hector,[57] the apparitionof Patroclus before Achilles,[58] the Homeric {teichoskopia}).[59] Morethan all, his style is usually Homeric in its brevity and simplicity;and in his use of quotations, of scenes and of style he is the firstexample of those relations between epic and romance which became soimportant in the mediaeval literature of the west.[60]
Other literary influences are apparent. The Milesian Tales may havesuggested Miletus as the locality for the love-story of Dionysius. TheNinus Romance is the precursor of the historical element which paints abackground of realism through the use of historical characters, notablyHermocrates and Artaxerxes, and through allusions to actual wars. Dramacontributed the language of the stage to the description of the action.And at one crisis when Chaereas, who is believed dead, is produced byMithridates in court, Chariton explains:
"Who could worthily tell of the appearance of the courtroom then? Whatdramatist ever produced so incredible a situation on the stage? Indeed,you might have thought that you were in a theater, filled with amultitude of conflicting passions."[61] In another passage Mithridatessays Fortune has forced the lovers to enact a very sad tragedy.[62] Newcomedy contributed types of characters (particularly the slaves), spicydialogue and at least two quotations.[63] The influence of history andespecially of Herodotus is apparent in the use of local history, innarratives of adventure, in depiction of the adulation of the easternsovereign, in the reflection of the great struggle between the west andthe east. The influence of the rhetorical schools is seen in the courtscenes which in both their cases and speeches are strangely like thoseof the _Controversiae_ of Seneca and the _Declamationes_ of Quintilian.
All these different literary forces combined to produce a style ofnarration in Chariton which is at the same time simple and ingenuous,yet rhetorical. His startling baroque effects are achieved by just thisvariation from simple concise epic narrative with strong Homericcoloring, to intense dramatic moments of high tragedy, to comic scenesof slaves' intrigues, to love passages which before had found expressiononly in poetry. Probably Chariton learned the effective use ofparallelism, contrast and surprise from the schools of rhetoric, but hewields all his various tools with such success that he has carved out anew form of literature in his prose romance.