Callirhoe, Love Story in Syracuse (Loeb Classical Library) Book

Old? Yes. A novel? Yes. Good? ... Yes!

This book is, to some extent, a prototype of soap operas, lurid romances, and damsel-in-distress stories. It engages in some hyperbolic absurdities and plot contrivances. Characters often launch into laments in order to summarize the plot development and drive home how incredibly unfortunate they've been. Callirhoe, the heroine, is more admirable than any of the men, including Chaereas, who are enchanted by her. Notably, it's the men who do most of the weeping and fainting. But the novel is also remarkably sophisticated... and strange in its way. It shows insight into the darker instincts and motivations of people, and the ways in which they manipulate one another.

"...we were driven out into these waters by violent winds. Then we were becalmed for a long time, and everyone died of thirst except me--I survived because of my piety."

The capture of the pirate Theron is one indicator of this novel's sophistication (and, to a degree, cynicism). Theron has been preserved by his cunning and impiety, while the gods are planning for him to survive only to suffer more for his wickedness... yet this same philosophy that the novelist puts forward--that all happens according to the gods' will--provides the very argument by which he almost escapes punishment: his survival at sea must be proof of his piety and innocence.

A central theme of the book is beauty and the dangers it attracts. Callirhoe is one of those dazzling beauties who can cause entire cities to swoon. Extraordinary beauty is, of course, a great virtue. Especially for a woman. But, though we moderns may find it hard to believe, beauty isn't everything. It even has its downside. Envy, lust, and covetousness are inspired everywhere.

This book also explores the relationship between private individuals and the crowd. The public is an interesting force. It is emotional, it is unpredictable, it is prone to manipulation, and it is swayed by rumor, but it also is generally inclined to the good. Its greatest significance is its power to restrain the wickedness of individuals. Because every powerful man would act without moral restraint if not for fear of lost honor and reputation. Perhaps not *every* man, but the genuinely virtuous are rare. I think we cannot even count our male protagonist Chaereas as virtuous. After all, though he was a victim of plots, and he was brave in his kind, he suffered for his own outrageous jealousy after he kicked his wife in the chest so viciously she was presumed dead and was buried. But his sidekick Polycharmus acts only out of loyalty and devotion to virtue, and Callirhoe herself is governed only by virtuous considerations, though they contradict one another (e.g. the virtue of constancy to one's husband vs. the virtue of a mother preserving her child in a crisis).

The book is peppered with quotations from Homer, given a new context. Meanwhile, there's a bit of ridiculous military adventure thrown in. There is the particular case of the assault on Tyre, which is at the same time incredible and surprising in its... can I call it realism?... well, I can hardly credit Chaereas with the wit to pull off this adventure, nor can I believe the Tyreans to be so easily swindled, yet the detail of the gates being impossible to shut because they are blocked by the fallen bodies killed in the panicked crush sounds like something that might actually happen (the translator states that the assault on Tyre was somehow imitative of an episode from the Alexander Romance, but I don't currently know which detail or details originate from that source).

As one additional point, there is some unexpected sympathy expressed for a character who might, in a flatter novel, have been portrayed strictly as a villain. There is some maturity in the way the novel treats Callirhoe's ambiguous relationships.

The novel serves as a prototype for many imitations in the second century. It also forecasts developments in the mainstream literature of the western world. While it has its clunkiness in some scenes, it also has its unique charm and shows a lot of inspiration.