Book

Book: Aithiopika

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Heliodorus

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Lifespan: c. 3rd century (Syria)

First Published: 1534 (written c. 250)

Original Language: Ancient Greek

Alternate Title: Theagenes and Chariclea

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“The influential early “novel” begins with a puzzling scene of carnage not explained until mid-story. The divinely beautiful heroine Charikleia, and her lover, Theagenes, are captured by bandits, and the chief bandit insists that the heroine must marry him. The hero and heroine escape and once again fall in with their guide, the Egyptian priest Kalasiris. Kalasiris’s mission is to restore the lovely Charikleia to her native royal house in Ethiopia. The girl’s mother, the Queen of Ethiopia, had looked at a picture of white Andromeda at the moment of conception, causing the girl to be born the wrong color. Her mother was forced to give her up at birth, and Charikleia was adopted by a man of Delphi, where Kalasiris found her; Theagenes was already in love with her. They all journey to Ethiopia, as the Egyptian priest is confident that he will be able to explain the girl’s identity; but when he suddenly dies, the young pair are left at the at the mercy of a Persian satrap’s court and the jealousy of a noblewoman. The couple endure many ordeals before the young princess, white except for a ring of a black flash about her arm, arrives home and is ultimately accepted by her parents.

Riddles, wordplay, and ambiguous prophecies abound in this story which may have influenced Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Heliodorus’ elaborate and playful Greek is difficult, but early European translations have had an impact on modern literature, influencing writers as diverse as Shakespeare, Cervantes, and Henry Fielding. (MD)

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