Chariton

Chariton Greek Χαρίτων from Aphrodisias in Phrygia is the author of the novel Chaereas and Callirhoe ( Τὰ περὶ Χαιρέαν καὶ Καλλιρρόην ) in eight books.

Life

About the author nothing is further known, it was even suggested that Chariton (such as " gifted " ) is a pseudonym. At the beginning of the book the author calls " Chariton of Aphrodisias, the secretary of the speaker Athenagoras ". After all, the name Chariton and Athenagoras are covered in inscriptions in Aphrodisias, therefore it is now believed that the self-description of the author 's true.

Content of the novel

The action takes place at the beginning of the 5th century BC Chaereas falls in love with the most beautiful Kallirrhoe. She is the daughter of General Hermokrates of Syracuse. The novel begins with the marriage of Chaereas and Callirhoe, usually the happy ending to a story, but by a cabal of rejected candidates holding Chaereas Kallirrhoe for unfaithful, she comes down, it falls and seems dead Man buries them and the only seemingly dead -been Kallirrhoe awakened want plunder as the grave robbers. It is sold by the robbers in Miletus as a slave. My Lord, Dionysius, falls in love and marries her. Kallirrhoe However pregnant by Chaereas, but Dionysius says the father of Kallirrhoës to his son.

As Chaereas learns that Callirhoe is still alive, he sets out on a quest, but is himself captured and sold as a slave. Finally, both end up at the court of the Persian ruler Artaxerxes, to decide whether or Chaereas Dionysius is the rightful husband, thereby, of course, but even in love with Callirhoe. Finally, it is possible Chaereas by force of arms to regain Kallirrhoe: Egypt rebelled against the Persian ruler, Chaereas reflected on the side of the rebels conquered Tyre and defeated the Persians in a naval battle. Kallirrhoe asks Dionysius, take good care of her son and send him to Syracuse, when he grows up. Then the unified pair returns back to Syracuse.

Dating

The novel was previously dated to the Late Antiquity due to linguistic and stylistic evidence. More recent papyrus finds and their palaeographical dating drafting a date before AD 200, but must be adopted today. Latest time points of writing can be inferred from the content itself, since both Ephebeninstitut as well as the Olympic Games are still consisting provided, resulting in a time results before the end of the 4th century.

Wilhelm Schmid, Otto Weinreich, Karl Kerényi and Albin Lesky represent now a dating to the 1st century BC or earlier, ie in the Late Hellenistic.

Anyway, Chaereas and Kallirrhoe one of the earliest fully preserved ancient novels and the earliest representatives of the genre of the historical novel.