Heliodorus: An Ethiopian Romance [Paperback]

Moses Hadas (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1999

"Upon a rock sat a maiden of such inexpressible beauty as to be supposed divine. . . . Her head inclined forward without moving, for she was looking fixedly at a young man who lay at her feet. The man was disfigured with wounds, but seemed to rouse himself a little as from a deep sleep, almost of death itself. Pain had clenched his eyes, but the sight of the maiden drew them toward her. He collected his breath, heaved a deep sigh, and murmured faintly. "My sweet," said he, "are you truly safe, or are you too a casualty of the war?"

The Romance novel didn't begin with Kathleen Woodiwiss or even with the Bronte sisters. By the time Heliodorus wrote his Aethiopica—or Ethiopian Romance—in the third century, the genre was already impressively developed. Heliodorus launches his tale of love and the quirks of fate with a bizarre scene of blood, bodies, and booty on an Egyptian beach viewed through the eyes of a band of mystified pirates. The central love-struck characters are Charicles, the beautiful daughter of the Ethiopian queen, and Theagenes, a Thessalian aristocrat. The story unfolds with all the twists and devices any writer would employ today, with the added attractions of dreams, oracles, and exotic locales in the ancient Mediterranean and Africa.

Hadas's was the first modern English-language translation of this story, which was first translated into English in 1587 and was a favorite among the Elizabethans. His version of this earliest extant Greek novel remains accessible and appealing.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Greek (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Moses Hadas (1900-1966) was Jay Professor of Greek at Columbia University. Well known for his translations of and interpretive works about classical literature, he was also the author of general histories of Greek and Latin literatures and editor of the Modern Library editions of Tacitus, Cicero, the Greek poets, and Caesar.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812216725
• ISBN-13: 978-0812216721
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #176,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing and Engrossing Novel, November 1, 2000

By 

mp - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heliodorus: An Ethiopian Romance (Paperback)

Heliodorus' "Ethiopian Romance" is an absolutely wonderful piece of literature! A novel from around the third century AD, the "Ethiopian Romance" centrally concerns a young man, Theagenes, and his beloved, Charicleia. The novel begins with an epic scene in which the two lovers console each other in the midst of a scene of total destruction - a banquet scene has degenerated into violence, and they remain on the field alone. Thyamis, the leader of a band of Egyptian pirates, takes them prisoner, and we are pulled into a spectacular adventure.

Beginning in medias res, much of the novel concerns itself with catching the reader up with the events leading to the astounding initial scene. Heliodorus accomplishes this by way of nested narratives, primarily between two men who, by various accidents, have an interest in Theagenes and Charicleia: Calasiris, an exiled Egyptian priest, and Cnemon, an exiled Athenian youth. The novel draws heavily on the universal human tendency to tell, and eagerness to hear stories. In a novel where various marriages are proposed and deferred, it is appropriate that the internal stories and their audiences should express the need to hear stories in terms of desire and gratification. You find yourself desperate to see how each individual story leads to clarification and understanding of the whole.

Heliodorus' characters are well-developed and interesting. He gives us lovers, pirates, nobles, eunuchs, witches, priests, and schemers, among others. His plot is as complicated as that of any traditional modern novel, and manages to deal not only with the primary love affair, but with a host of other social issues that still bear importance to-day. To wit, the ravages of war, economic relationships, ethnic diversity and acceptance, political wranglings, and issues of identity and self-definition in an increasingly cosmopolitan world.

Heliodorus' major influences are clearly the epics of Homer, which are invoked directly and subtly to wonderful effect. One can sense here that even in the third century, novel writers saw themselves both indebted to the Iliad and the Odyssey, and striving to claim for fiction an artistic worth to rival epic poetry. The "Ethiopian Romance" is presented in accessible and lively English by Moses Hadas, and comes to you highly recommended. It is simply a beautiful work and deserves to be read by more people.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Review of Hadas' Ethiopica, July 31, 2010

By 

Ryan S. Mease "scott.godwin" (Chicago, IL, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Heliodorus: An Ethiopian Romance (Paperback)

Hadas, as usualy, presents a readable and interested translation. However, I'll note that I couldn't 'feel' the Greek beneath the translation. Perhaps Heliodorus simply wrote with very English syntax, but to be honest I feel like the translator must have worked hard to reconstruct the grammar as he did. This reads very much like Jane Austen.

However, considering content, this is more a Pride and Prejudice and Zombies affair, with various scenes of suppliant infants crawling in the dust and naked warriors chasing down horses. Much of the early writing is the usual romantic affair--the ending is most promising. The book also presents a rare picture of ancient Ethiopia (however accurate, I cannot say).

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book!, July 21, 2011

By 

rockinfilmmaker44 - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Heliodorus: An Ethiopian Romance (Paperback)

I liked the book, the book came pretty speedily from the company I bought from, and it was definitely a joyful read. I read it for a college class, but even if I weren't in a class and found this book it would have been nice to read, this coming from someone that reads all over the place anyways, but is the least likely to read classical stories.