Achilles Tatius: The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon (Loeb Classical Library) [Hardcover]

Achilles Tatius (Author), S. Gaselee (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0674990501 | ISBN-13: 978-0674990500 | Publication Date: January 1, 1969 | Edition: Revised

Achilles Tatius was a Greek from Alexandria in Egypt; he is now believed to have flourished in the second century CE. Of his life nothing is known, though the Suidas says he became a Christian and a bishop and wrote a work on etymology, one on the sphere, and an account of great men. He is famous however for his surviving novel in eight books, The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon, one of the best Greek love stories. Clitophon relates to a friend the various difficulties which he and Leucippe had to overcome before they are happily united. The story is full of incident and readers are kept in suspense. There are many digressions giving scientific facts, myths, meditations, and so on, the interest of which redeems irrelevance.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tim Whitmarsh is Leverhulme Lecturer in Hellenistic Literature at the University of Exeter. Helen Morales is Lecturer in Classics and a Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge University.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Loeb Classical Library; Revised edition (January 1, 1969)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674990501
• ISBN-13: 978-0674990500
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,809,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enoyable romance/adventure, September 25, 2004

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wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leucippe and Clitophon (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

These days there is a genre of romantic literature set in a romaticized, fictional Victorian era. It's interesting that, even in classical Roman times, an analogous kind of writing existed. Leucippe and Clitophon, written in Roman times, was set in the still older Greece.

It's an adventure story with all the trimmings - wrecks at sea, love lost and regained a number of times, travels across the known world, mistaken identities, courtroom drama, and lots more. The premise behind all this is Clitophon's passion for the chaste (and chased) Leucippe. The details are too much to tell, but chains of improbable events keep the lovers just moments from consummation until the very end, when all the other loose ends are tied up as well.

This could be read as a drama, with waves of emotion cresting and crashing at each gain or loss. It may be easier to read this as comedy, though, especially near the end. There are so many silly subplots and misunderstandings, before all is made right, that it get just a little hard to take seriously.

It's also easy to read this as an academic translation. Although the story is pleasant enough, the reading isn't as smooth or idiomatic as I'd hope, and the footnotes add technical detail without insight that supports the story. As translations go, however, some are lots worse.

This is a pleasant romp. Despite it's talk of eroticism, the physical passions are mostly hoped or imagined. That leaves an enjoyable, safe story of adventure and romance. It's goofy and overdrawn, but fun.

//wiredweird

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very readable, October 18, 2007

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Justin Lo - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leucippe and Clitophon (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

Overall Leucippe and Clitophon was very readable. It itself is organized into eight "books" or chapters with numbered divisions internally (though I considered these internal divisions unnecessary). This book also has a well-developed introduction with a timeline put this novel in the historical context. Furthermore, the explanatory notes at the end help clear up any obscure cultural or social references.

The plot of Leucippe and Clitophon is meant to be universal, though at times you will have to suspend your disbelief. There are many exciting and unexpected anecdotes occurring throughout the tale, but as always, the boy gets the girl at the end.