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[German version] (Χιόνη; Chiónē). A Greek novel, usually thus named after the putative female protagonist; three fragments survive, known to us only from Wilcken's summary transcription of a Coptic palimpsest, the so-called Codex Thebanus, which was subsequently lost. The meagre fragments are difficult to interpret, but seem to show Chione as protagonist, courted by many suitors and then forced into marriage against her will; with her lover, she considers how she can end her life. Clear similarities to the  Chariton novel (also contained in the Cod. Thebanus) lead to the supposit…

(Ἡλιόδωρος; Heliódōros). [German version] [1] Chancellor under Seleucus IV, 2nd cent. BC Son of Aeschylus of Antioch on the Orontes, was educated with Seleucus IV and was a courtier (τῶν περὶ τὴν αὐλήν) and well-respected chancellor (ὁ ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων τεταγμένος) under him in 187-175 BC (IG XI 4,1112-1114, or OGIS 247; App. Syr. 45). When financial difficulties after the defeat of Seleucus' father Antiochus III against the Romans (190/188), in conjunction with internal Jewish intrigues, had led to special…

[German version] The name of a work well known because of a papyrus fragment (PDubl. inv. C3; early 2nd cent. AD), which almost [3] all scholars acknowledge to be a novel. A narrator portrays how he and a woman, after a painful separation, board two different ships. Then follows the detailed, rhetorically virtuoso description of a storm (a typical theme for a novel). The text breaks off with the appearance of St Elmo's fire. The name of the woman is usually read as Herpyllis but it has been surmis…

[German version] (Βαρλάαμ, Ἰωάσαφ; Barláam, Iōásaph). Greek novel from Byzantine times; there is uncertainty regarding date and author, (see below). The story of I., an Indian prince, is told; his father, king Abenner, an enemy of Christianity, was worried because of prophecies that his son would take on the new religion and ordered him to live, locked away in a magnificent palace, without learning about human suffering. Despite surveillance, the monk B. succeeds in approaching I. and initiating him …

[German version] A. Greek (Ἀντώνιος; Antṓnios). [German version] [1] Thallus Epigrammatic poet, 2nd half of the 1st cent. BC Epigrammatic poet from Miletus (according to [2] he had received Roman citizenship, through the patronage of Antonia Minor) lived in the 2nd half of the 1st cent. BC (in Anth. Pal. 6,235 the birth of a Καῖσαρ [ Kaîsar] is celebrated, who is to be equated with either C. Julius Caesar, the grandson of Augustus, or with Germanicus). His five epigrams, which derive from the ‘Garland’ of Philippus, are certainly conventional in their…

[German version] The discovery of the first fragments of the so-called ‘ Ninus Romance’ (NR) and their publication in 1893 by U. Wilcken mark a turning-point in the study of ancient narrative literature. The NR was the first of a large number of other Greek novels recovered from Egyptian papyri. Its early dating (not later than the 1st cent. AD) led to the rejection of  E. Rohde's thesis, widely accepted at that time, that the flowering of the Greek novel was connected with the Second Sophistic (2nd cent. AD) [1]. As well as fragments A and B of the PBerolinensis 6926 (ed. Wilcken), …

[German version] [1] Author of 'Daphnis and Chloe' (Λόγγος; Lóngos). We have no information about the person who wrote the most famous Greek novel, ‘Daphnis and Chloe’: the name L. in the MSS is typically Roman and frequently attested on Lesbos, the island where the action of the novel takes place, but Roman names were very common among Greeks in the Imperial period. Also as far as the dating of the work is concerned, we only have few indications which leave room for doubt. The refinement of the tale con…

(Ἀχιλλεὺς Τάτιος; Achilleùs Tátios). [German version] [1] Of Alexandria of Alexandria, 2nd cent. AD Fusillo, Massimo (L'Aquila) [German version] A. Life As well as the novel ‘Leucippe and Cleitophon’ (in eight books), he wrote a treatise on the sphere of heaven, a treatise on etymology and a polygraphic work. According to the Suda lexicon (α 4695 Adler) he is said to have converted to Christianity -- a fiction like that circulating about  Heliodorus. It notes that on the whole his style is similar to that of other authors of romantic novels [1. 1710]. Fusillo, Massimo (L'Aquila) …

(Ξενοφῶν; Xenophôn). [German version] [1] Of Athens, strategos, 5th cent. BC Athenian. Initially commander of the cavalry ( hippárchēs; IG I3 511); then participated in the campaign against Samos in 441/40 BC as stratēgós (Androtion FGrH 324 F 38), was also stratēgós the following years and operated as such in Thrace in 430/429. He was treated with hostility due to his unauthorized acceptance of the capitulation of Potidaea (Thuc. 2,70), but remained in office and fell as stratēgós at Spartolus in the summer of 429 during a campaign against the Chalcidians and Bottians (…

[German version] The epistolary novel is a literary sub-genre, almost exclusively familiar in numerous modern examples dating from the 18th and 19th cents. (Richardson, Rousseau, Laclos, Goethe etc.), yet was already known in classical antiquity. However, ancient examples of this genre have only been critically studied in terms of their authenticity and sources, but never evaluated in terms of literary aspects. At least this was true prior to the publication of the latest works in this field. The …

[German version] By convention, the title ‘Parthenope romance’ or ‘Romance of Metiochus and Parthenope’ is given to a Greek prose narrative known from a number of papyrus fragments (PBerol. 21179 + 7927 + 9588, palaeographically dated to the 2nd cent. AD; further evidence may be provided by PBodl. 2175 and POxy. 435). The love story of Metiochus and Parthenope and Parthenope's wanderings (also the inspiration for a pantomimus, see Lucian, De saltatione 2; 54) can be reconstructed with the aid of some later adaptations (the Coptic story of the martyrdom of St. Barta…

Chiesa, Paolo (Milan) I. From Late Antiquity to the 12th Century (CT) [German version] A. Gothic Rule (CT) The fall of the Western Roman Empire in Italy (I.) did not result in any perceptible 'decline' in cultural level as compared to the previous decades. However, there was a decisive change in the public perception of the system of government and the role and function of the state. After a break in continuity during the reign of Odoacer (476-493), the Gothic kingdom of Theoderic followed late-antique tradition,…

(Χαρίτων; Charítōn). [German version] A. Life We have no direct information about the author of the earliest complete surviving novel, beyond that given by him at the beginning of the book; there he presents himself as secretary to the orator Athenagoras, originating from Aphrodisias in Caria. It has been conjectured that all these details, including the name Chariton, were invented in order to establish a symbolic link to the theme of love and to the setting (on the Syracusan Athenagoras cf. Thuc. 6…

[English version] (Εὐήμερος) aus Messene (um welches Messene es sich dabei handelt, ist unbekannt; einige Testimonien bezeugen andere Geburtsstädte). Von seinem Werk, der Ἱερὰ ἀναγραφή ( Sacra historia), sind die Zusammenfassung in der Histor. Bibliothek des Diodoros [18] Siculus (5,41-46 und 6,1) und verschiedene Testimonien und Fragmente auf uns gekommen. E. gab vor, eine Reihe von Reisen im Auftrag des Königs Kassandros (305-297 v.Chr.) unternommen zu haben. Im besonderen erzählte er von seinem Besuch eines Archipels: Auf der…

[English version] Die Entdeckung der ersten Fr. des sog. “N.-R.” und ihre Veröffentlichung im J. 1893 durch U. Wilcken bezeichnen einen Wendepunkt im Studium der ant. narrativen Lit. Der N.-R. war der erste von zahlreichen weiteren aus ägypt. Papyri wiedergewonnenen griech. Romanen; seine Frühdatierung (nicht nach dem 1. Jh.n.Chr.) leitete die Widerlegung der damals allg. akzeptierten These von E. Rohde ein, der die Blüte des griech. Romans mit der Zweiten Sophistik (2. Jh.n.Chr.) in Verbindung setzte [1]. Vom N.-R. ist neben den Fr. A und B des PBerolinensis 6926 (ed.…

[English version] Als K.-R. bezeichnet man einen griech. Roman, von dem uns zwei Fr. erh. sind, eines davon noch unveröffentlicht [3]. Im anderen (PSI 981, 2. Jh.n.Chr.) kommt die Protagonistin K. in das Zelt eines Eubiotos; ihr Schmerz scheint durch eine Nachricht über das Schicksal eines Eraseinos verursacht. K. sucht daher ihr Schwert, doch Eubiotos hat es ihr in weiser Voraussicht schon von der Seite her abgenommen. Der Name Eubiotos und die Erwähnung der Sauromaten lassen eine gewisse Beziehung zu Lukians ‘Toxaris erkennen [4]. Fusillo, Massimo (L'Aquila) Galli, Lucia (Flore…

[English version] Die lit. Untergattung des B., die fast ausschließlich durch die zahlreichen modernen Beispiele aus dem 18. und 19.Jh. bekannt ist (Richardson, Rousseau, Laclos, Goethe usw.), existierte in Wirklichkeit schon in der klass. Antike. Die ant. Beispiele sind jedoch nur echtheits- und quellenkritisch untersucht worden und nie unter lit. Gesichtspunkten; das war wenigstens bis zum Erscheinen der jüngsten Arbeiten der Fall. Folgende Texte können zu dieser Gattung gezählt werden: Die Brie…

[English version] Lat. Roman eines unbekannten Verf., in dem die Wanderungen des Apollonios, des Königs von Tyros, bis zur Wiedervereinigung mit seiner totgeglaubten Frau und seiner Tochter Tarsia und zu seiner Wiedereinsetzung in sein Amt erzählt werden. In der H. finden sich christl. Elemente, in eine eindeutig pagane Umgebung eingebettet, ohne jedoch völlig integriert zu sein. Die Rekonstruktion der Genese des Werks, seine Datierung und die Textkonstitution sind umstritten. Die ältesten Zeugnisse zur H. gehen auf das 6. Jh. n.Chr. zurück (Ven. Fort. carm. 6,8,5f.:…

(Λολλιανός). [English version] [1] Romanautor der ›Phöniz. Geschichten‹, vor 2. Jh. Verf. eines Romans in mehreren B. mit dem Titel ‘Phönizische Geschichten (Φοινικικά, Phoinikiká), der uns aus den Frg. eines Papyrus-Cod. vom Ende des 2. Jh.n.Chr. bekannt ist (PColoniensis inv. 3328; die Zuweisung ist sicher); es gibt gute Gründe, dem Roman des L. auch die Reste eines Prosatextes zuzuweisen, der nicht später als um die Mitte des 3. Jh.n.Chr. auf die Versoseite von POxy. 1368 (= Pack2 2620) geschrieben wurde. Die erh. Fr. lassen verschiedene Episoden erkennen: eine Tan…

[English version] I. Griechisch Es gibt keine griech. Bezeichnung, die den mod. Begriff “N.” genau übersetzt, und in der erh. griech. Lit. tritt nichts in Erscheinung, was mit den ma. Novellisten oder den mod. Slg. von Erzählungen vergleichbar wäre (am ehesten erinnern daran vielleicht der Tóxaris des Lukianos [1] und die Historia lausiaca des Palladios, während man Werke wie die dem Plutarchos zugeschriebenen Narrationes amatoriae besser der Mythographie zurechnen sollte). Auch wenn keine ant. Quelle es ausdrücklich bezeugt, ist die opinio communis, einer Hypothese von E. R…