Longus: Daphnis and Chloe

by Longus, Ewen Bowie (Editor)

Longus' Daphnis and Chloe is arguably our finest surviving Greek novel. Written under the Roman Empire and engaging with romantic, pastoral and rhetorical themes, the story and characterisation have captured the imaginations of artists over the centuries. Despite a growing interest in ancient novels over the past half-century, this is the first full commentary to address Longus' linguistic texture and its implications for his literary aspirations, as well as his narrative skills and intertextuality with earlier Greek writers. The commentary provides a detailed analysis of Longus' Greek and its relation to other Greek prose and poetry of the second century AD and earlier, and emphasises the construction and style of the original text, drawing out key points for clarification and discussion. A wide-ranging introduction ensures that this book will be an indispensable guide for teachers and students of all levels who are looking to engage with Longus' writing.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Romance, Mythology, Ancient, Ancient History, Greek Mythology

346 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 150

About the author

Longus, sometimes Longos (Greek: Λόγγος), was a Greek novelist and romancer, and author of Daphnis and Chloe. Very little is known of his life, and it is assumed that he lived on the isle of Lesbos during the 2nd century AD.

Reviews

[Meghhnaa (On a Review-Writing Break!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novelist generally reproduces a slice of life, where he is judged by his realism, or else he expresses criticism of life, in which case he is judged by his philosophy.

In this novel, Longus does neither, he just tries to translate a beautiful picture into words, replacing the brazen world of actuality! Giving readers a bountiful nature-laden blissful experience.

“Daphnis and Chloe” , is a story of love, nature, adventure, and wedding bells!
Instead of dragging the reader through uninterrupted series of breathless adventures, Longus has alternated the passages of exciting action and passages of idyllic description!
It is a pristine pastoral romance fun-filled romantic tale of the 2nd century based on the Greek Isle of Lesbos, and has a tint of magical timelessness to it. It is a fun tale demonstrating the ancient art of falling in love.

This appealing tale of two charming youths, of undisclosed identities, raised by simple farmers in the countryside, was written in an era where people believed in the existence of nymphs, respected Gods, and believed in magic!
Raised as a shepherdess and a goat herder, Daphnis and Chloe, gambol in nature and innocence. They seek pleasure swimming in rivers, playing with the pipes, and weaving garlands for the sea nymphs.

Longus has delved into the importance of nature and festooned this romantic tale with the novelty of nature.

Both grow into charming and strikingly beautiful humans. Subsequently, all the frolicking around and touching each other in nature starts awakening the sensual side of the two.
But they can’t recognize or understand their feelings.

When Chloe first falls for Daphnis, both of them are clueless about what is happening to them?

“She cared not for her food, lay awake at night and disregarded her flock; she laughed, then she cried; she sat down, then she leaped up; her face was pale, and then again it was fired red.”
“‘Whatever did Chloe’s kiss do to me? Her lips are softer than roses, her mouth is sweeter than honey, but her kiss is sharper than a bee sting. I’ve kissed kids many times, I’ve kissed newborn puppies many times . . . . But this kiss is something new. I’m short of breath, my heart is pounding, my soul is melting away: yet I want to kiss her again.'”

The opening of the book is idyllic-
“While I was gazing on and admiring these and other love scenes in the painting, suddenly I was seized by a longing to write an idyll to describe it. So I found a man to explain it for me and I have written a story in four books, an offering to the god of Love and to the Nymphs and Pan, and a joy for ever to mankind to heal their sickness and soothe their grief, to recall the sweets of love to those that have tasted them and to initiate those who have not into its secrets.


There is a lot of drama and adventure, with a lot of impediments, threats and temptations, the intervention of God Pan and nature, other suitors, abduction, trickery, attempted rape, and a lot of other twists and turns. Do they end up being together? Read for yourself to explore!

I look forward to reading more Greek adventures and ornate this beautiful tale of romance with 3.75 stars! 😊

[Jan-Maat]

A shepherd and a shepherdess fall in love in those ancient days before this became a literary trope.

They are even more innocent than the sheep they herd and have no idea how to satisfy their feelings. They ask an old woman for help. She cackles and tells them that they have to sleep together. So the couple go back to the field, lie down together and fall asleep. They wake up and feel as unsatisfied as before.

Oh, and as so often in the literature of this period there are some pirates too.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first classical novel, having only read plays/poems beforehand. Daphnis and Chloe has been cited by many booktubers (whose opinions on classical literature I trust) as a great place to start with literature from antiquity, and the premise of this book was too good to pass up.

Daphnis and Chloe is a very sweet tale of Daphnis (a 15-year-old goatherd) and Chloe (a 13-year-old shepherdess) who fall in love without understanding what 'Love' is. Through a series of bizarre and comedic mishaps (and with a little help from Pan and the Nymphs), they learn about love and find their true happiness - as well as something about themselves to boot!

This was very easy to read, which was a great surprise. I usually approach classical literature with some trepidation, but Longus' novel was intensely readable. I put this all down to the excellent translation by Ronald McCail, and would recommend picking up this particular Oxford World's Classics edition. The only thing that I found a little disrupting to my reading experience was having to constantly refer to the notes throughout (there were a lot). It made reading a little disjointed at times. However, having read it once, if I do go back to this text I won't have to refer to the notes the second time around, which should make for a more fluid reading experience. However, the notes are well worth reading as they provide some great background information on certain words and passages.

Overall I highly enjoyed this read. It was fun and ,despite the subject matter, not crude in the slightest. This has made me more excited to read more classical literature. So classical lit fans, feel free to chuck recommendations at me!

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aww 😊 such a lovely, romantic and erotic tale of young love and the trials and tribulations that it entails.
Pirates, masters ,Gods, nymphs, and Pan all have parts to play in this story of a goatherd who loves a shepherdess in times long ago.
My goodness they were forward thinking in there attitudes towards love and sex.
Definitely the oldest literature I've ever read (it's dated around the second century AD)
This was a great Sunday short story and I will read more about Greek mythology. ( I have the penguin book of Greek myths on my bookshelf).

[Pia G. · Rating 2 out of 5]

mitolojiyle iç içe geçmiş kitapları okumaya bayılıyorum. tanrılar, kehanetler, eski dünyanın mistik atmosferi.. bunlar beni hep içine çeker. ancak daphnis ile khloe’nin aşkı beni hayal kırıklığına uğrattı. pastoral hikâyelerin doğası gereği yavaş olması sorun değil ama bazen hikâye bir noktada takılı kalıp kendini tekrar etmeye başlıyor. sürekli aynı döngü: genç âşıklar, bir engel, bir çözüm, doğanın sessiz tanıklığı derken yine başa sarıyoruz.

bir noktadan sonra kitabı elimden bırakıp tekrar başına döndüğümde, sanki hiç ilerlememişim gibi hissettim. eğer hikâye biraz daha kısa ve tadında olsaydı, içine daha çok çekilirdim. yine de hakkını yemeyeyim: daphnis ve khloe’nin dünyayı keşfetme süreci ve doğanın bir karakter gibi hikâyeye dahil olması hoşuma gitti. keşke bu güzel detaylar, hikâyenin durağanlığı içinde kaybolmasaydı.

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An idealised tale of first love (give or take the odd abduction or attempted rape).. A boy is rescued by a young girl and immediately falls in love with her. She loves him in return but has another admirer, Dorco, who tries to kidnap her when her father refuses to allow their marriage. There follows an inordinate amount of kidnappings, Daphnis by pirates and Chloe by Methymneans whereby they are saved by each other. Chloe is later pursued by another suitor who her father is agreeable to, before the young couple finally get together. Quite the series of adventures for a young goatherd and shepherdess, who when not being kidnapped spend their days kissing and being confused about the mechanics of sex (Daphnis is helpfully, and she claims altruistically, enlightened by an older woman from the city). It is soothingly wholesome in the depiction of their innocent enjoyment of each other. The word bucolic could have been invented for this pair minding their flocks.

Of course this being somewhat of a fairytale, and fairytales are not the stories of mere livestock watchers, the couple are really the abandoned offspring of wealthy high-born families and it is only once they recognise this they can marry. So, like all fairy tales a happy ending, albeit a entirely conventional and predictable one.

Remarkably readable and fun for a 2000 year old text.

[Jose Moa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The adolescent,real pure love,the discovery of sensuality,the birth of sexuality,the exploration of one another body,is one of the most beautiful and tender events in the life of a human being;yet no ever happens and if it do, mostly only one time, and by that is a intemporal subject of novels and poetry.

This pastoril bucolic novel ,written in Adrianos time,located in the Lesbos island ,near the turkish coast,tells all this with a lot of references to grek mithology and with happy end.

Is striking in this novel not contamined with the christian or at least catholic concept of sexual morality,the exquisite delicacy in describing the sexuality, mostly by using metaphores and ellipses,also is striking,or no so much in that time, the natural treatment of homosexuality and the value of virginity.
Is a beautiful novel ,permeated by inocence ,ingenuity and simplicity.
The arquetipe of the coming bucolic or not, adolescent love novels.

I am thinking that perhaps this novel has influenced another classic novel over adolescent love,Paul and Virginie by Bernardine Saint Pierre,similar in circustances and environement,yet here there are not,in some way obvious, sexual references nor happy end

[Oguzcan Yesilyaprak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Son zamanlarda okuduğum en güzel kitap . Kitabın sayfa sayısı az ama içindeki olaylar insana yaşattığı haz doruklarda. Epeydir antik yunan okumamıştım ama yine antik yunan'a yöneltecek bu kitap beni. Yine spoiler vermemek adına çok övmedim ama okuyun okutun sıkmayan bir aşk hikayesi var içeride.

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ένα όμορφο παραμύθι που αναφέρεται, όχι μόνο στον έρωτα 2 παιδιών/εφήβων, αλλά και γενικά στην αγροτική ζωή στην Αρχαία Ελλάδα.

Likes:
1) Μικρο, με λίγες σελίδες και ευκολοδιάβαστο (παρόλο που έχει πολύ λίγους έως και καθόλου διαλόγους (και ό,τι θέλουν να πουν ή σκέφτονται το λένε ή το εκφράζουν σε στυλ μονολόγων) αλλά πολλές περιγραφές της φύσης και γενικά της αγροτικής ζωής.).
2) Πολυ chic εξώφυλλο.
3) Το όμορφο τέλος.

Dislikes:
1) Το cheating (οποιασδήποτε μορφής για οποιονδήποτε λόγο και αν γίνεται).
2) Η συχνή επανάληψη των ρημάτων "kiss" και "embrace", με πιο συχνή του "kiss".
3) Το ότι η κυρία πρωταγωνίστρια φαίνεται τόσο χαζή και ανόητη. Σύμφωνα με τον συγγραφέα, η γυναίκα δεν χρειάζεται να μαθαίνει και γενικά να ξέρει πολλά, παρά μόνο αν είναι ανάγκη μεγάλη, που σε περίπτωση που χρειαστεί να ξέρει ή να μάθει κάτι παραπάνω θα της τα εξηγήσει/διδάξει άντρας που αυτός ξέρει. Και τώρα θα μου πεις να μην κάνω συγκρίσεις διαφορετικών εποχών γιατί εδώ το βιβλίο μας μιλάει για άλλες παραδόσεις και άλλες εποχές. Θα συμφωνήσω. Αλλά αυτό δεν σημαίνει ότι κάθε φορά που διαβάζω βιβλία που κάνουν αναφορά σε αυτού του είδους το στερεότυπο - που επικρατούσε από την αρχαιότητα και επικρατεί ακόμα κα�� σήμερα, δυστυχώς, σε κάποια μέρη του κόσμου- δεν θα εκνευρίζομαι.

[L.S. Popovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book seems so out of place. This little novel of pastoral love when set against the epics of Greek and Roman poetry seems like something the contemporaries couldn’t have taken seriously. Yet it’s a captivating and sensuous read, perhaps more now than it was then. It bears some resemblance to Sorrows of Young Werther and many books with simple plots, but it contains the magical elements of myth, like Shakespeare’s more lighthearted plays. It was a lot of fun, and could be considered one of the archetype texts of the pastoral genre. It is definitely an important book, though considering it a perfect novel is impossible. The plot is eccentric and the characters highly naïve, and it partakes of many of the elements of fable and bedtime stories. The descriptions are well-done and the action is brief and unimportant. It could have been written by Flaubert, or an admirer of Flaubert. It is the only thing Longus ever wrote that survived, if he even existed as an actual person. Nothing is known about him, yet he is remembered for this slight and charming tale, the type of thing he might have scribbled out over a few weeks, composed with wide brush strokes that spoke to many different sorts of people and appealed to the desires we all feel for the freedom of the heathens who enjoy Nature more than busy city folk.

[Adam McPhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kept thinking how pleasant it would be to live the bucolic/pastoral life, then contradicting myself to realize that no, it would suck, I'd constantly be worrying about ticks and lyme disease. Interesting story told with a lot of like fairy tale narrative techniques, which made it kind of surprising that there wasn't a whole lot of fabulism/fantasy aside from the pirates and the circumstances of Daphnis' and Chloe's births. If anything it reminded me more of like Zola or a certain kind of 19th century social literature. A lot of the story is just an excuse to explain to city people how life in the country works, although in a lot of ways it's rather naive about the actual hardships of that sort of life.

[Pink · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a sweet and funny classic from Ancient Greece. Written in prose and exploring the problems of two lovers, who don't know how to make love. With help and hindrance from the Gods (of course), some neighbours, as well as the odd pirate adventure, things end happily ever after...

[Benji · Rating 5 out of 5]

Things like this make me lament the difference in curriculum between what I studied in school in the US and what my friend studied in Italy in Lecce. At least I'm aware that I missed out, and so I have to fill in the gaps! The way I do so is through this: the Penguin Classics list I found on Wikipedia (see below for the links)

And this is exactly one of the kinds of books that make me glad to have this list to refer to when I choose the next book to read--especially since most of them are free and I can put them immediately on my Kindle.

And as an American, how would we have had exposure to this, unless some Hollywood film company decides to make a new iteration of it? Without that kind of leverage behind it, it's not something that would ever come again ever onto the Bestseller list even if it is better than the majority of those books there.

Listening to a great episode of RADIOLAB ''Words'' about how a language spontaneously grew among the deaf community in Nicaragua, and how the second generation had 10x more subtle words for the idea of ''to think'', with the result that they scored many orders better on a test that examined their ability to have strong interpersonal empathy. I.e., their ability to think from the point of view of another person was much stronger because their ''islands of information'' in their brain had more subtle bridges that could be more fully utilized, and so they functioned at a higher level (until the 2nd gen taught the 1st gen the new words, and the scores normalized). To me, this says a lot about the influence and evolution of literature, even the use and function of it. Furthermore, larger vocabulary literally is empowering in a very concrete way, and that applies also to the way words are used and the kind of constantly evolving complexity in the spiritual field of the different worlds created by good literature. You can become more human by reading books. In the program, the man says the 27 years when he was deaf and languageless -- not even knowing until then that objects had names that people used -- were his dark years, and once he had the growing vocabulary, he was less and less able to remember what he felt then before his first teacher opened him up, and was never able to interact in the same way with his other languageless friends because he could no longer think in a way that was intelligible to his friends.

So with this in mind, I open a Penguin Classic and I wonder, how far removed am I from the way this writer understands his world? And its a tricky thing, especially in this instance. Longus wrote the amazing Daphnis and Chloe 1800 years ago. Which in Greek antiquity time, is the end of Greek antiquity time. Its surprising that it doesn't feel dated. It isn't overly elaborate, but neither is it extremely simplistic. The writer really seems to have thought about the arc of the story, when to bring or when to pull the emotional punches. Things are mentioned that have an impact dozens of pages later, there's a good economy of words, but the author also is able to elaborate when necessary rather than rushing the story. I read it in about 3 hours, and didn't once have my attention wander. I meant to read half last night and half today but I liked it enough that I kept going until 1230 AM.

It's worth your time! It easily rivaled any other classical text that I've come across. I've not really read a lot from this time, but have enjoyed nearly everything that I've come across. Other Antiquities classics that I love: Xenophon's Persian Journey, the Satyricon, the Heroides by Ovid, and Edith Hamilton's Mythology. Drama, I like : The Seven Against Thebes, Aristophanes and Aeschylus. People make a great to-do about Euripides, but I read a thing about him that was pretty scathing and have stayed away from him. Plus there are many good Shakespeare plays that incorporate these characters.


This is the intro text on GR from the Marc Chagal version :

In 1831 Goethe called Daphnis and Chloe 'a masterpiece ... in which Understanding, Art, and Taste appear at their highest point, and beside which the good Virgil retreats somewhat into the background ... One would do well to read it every year, to be instructed by it again and again, and to receive anew the impression of its great beauty. 'Touching yet humorous, naive and at the same time highly sophisticated, Daphnis and Chloe is the story of a shepherd boy and girl who fall desperately in love yet find themselves facing great obstacles, because in their passion they behave, as the author says, even more awkwardly 'than rams and ewes.'.

The mentioned segment from Radiolab's WORDS
http://www.radiolab.org/2010/aug/09/n...

Penguin Classics Complete:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...

Penguin 20th Century/ Modern Classics (what they call Novecento in Italian):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...

This is the TIME 1923-Present list that is very nice, too.
http://www.listal.com/list/times-100-...

[Irmak · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5/5

[tine♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

"for there was never any yet that wholly could escape love, and never shall there be any, never so long as beauty shall be, never so long as eyes can see" :')

[Marjolein (UrlPhantomhive) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

I don't think pastoral romance is something for me. I found this one from the ancient Greek author Longus, overly long and without substance of any kind.

A boy and a girl, both foundlings, are raised by poor shepherds/goatherds and while there is pirates and other kind of problems, they only have eyes for each other and are painfully slow acting on it. All the while they seem naive to a fault.

Not for me.

~Little Black Classics #115~

[Czarny Pies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daphnis and Chloé is one of the fundamental works of European civilization that has inspired scores of painters, sculptors, poets, choreographers and composers. Five pages in, I realized it was also the model used by Honoré d'Urfé and Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre.

All in all Daphnis and Chloé was well worth the two hours that it took to read on my dock at the cottage. I would give it one more star if I could see in any way its relevance to the twenty-first century.

[Jessie Pietens · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was super spring-appropriate. I loved how reading the story felt like it was being read to me. It made me laugh and I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of nature and herding goats and sheep. I really appreciated how gentle and lighthearted the story was. The last 20 pages or so were a bit of a drag to me, but I am happy I finally got to this ancient classic. If you’re in the mood for something springy, I would definitely pick it up.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended if the sentence, "I swear by the goats," said not an iota ironically, appeals to you.

[Tamera · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would not let philetas near any kids tbh

[Elif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kısacık ama dolu dolu bir okuma oldu benim için. Doğaya terk edilmiş Dafnis ve Hloi'nin hikayesi. Eros'un müdahalesi, adaklar, dualar... Kurguda ilerlerken kendinizi bir yerden sonra anlatılan doğanın bir parçasıymış gibi hissetmeye başlıyorsunuz.
.
İlk pastoral anlatılardan biri olarak kabul ediliyor kitap. Bilmeyenler için pastoral anlatı; doğa tasvirlerinin, tabiatın, kır hayatının öne çıktığı anlatılardır. Antik Yunan edebiyatının ilk düzyazılarından olduğu için edebiyatta ayrıca bir öneme sahip. Ayrıca mitolojiden de bol bol bahsetmekte ve bence kitabı güzelleştiren de tam olarak buydu. Yer yer Pan, Eros gibi figürlerin anlatıya dahil olması kitabı oldukça renklendirmiş.
.
Tatlı bir kitaptı ama sonlara doğru biraz uzamış gibi hissettim ki incecik olduğundan bu durum ilginç geldi. Shakespeare, George Sand, Colette hatta Yukio Mişima gibi birçok edebiyatçıyı etkilemiş bir eser olduğundan bahsedilmiş. Okurken edebiyatçıların etkilendikleri kısımları kolayca görmek mümkün. Duyguları anlatırken bile doğadan yararlanmanın bu kitapla başlangıcının yapılması gerçekten etkileyici.

[Greer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, this book. I loved it for so many reasons.
1. Finally, finally Eros doesn't produce trauma, attempted/successful r@pe, and women's transformation to just about *anything* to avoid the predatory advances of men. For once there's reciprocity and who doesn't love consent?
2. Successful, wholesome romance not riddled with obnoxious characters or tragedy. I truly haven't experienced a single piece of ancient literature which meets those requirements. It's a breath of fresh air.
3. It is just so, so painfully sweet and silly. My heart!
4. There are no truly awful characters in the whole thing. I didn't hate anybody. Even the suitors of both Daphne and Chloe, though annoying, weren't nearly as problematic as most characters in mythology.

I don't understand its rating because it's an absolute gift to ancient literature and a delight to read. I am so swoony over it. *sigh*

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uno dei primi romanzi, scritto nel III secolo d.c.
La trama oggi fa sorridere per la sua semplicità: due orfanelli, un maschio e una femmina, vengono trovati a distanza di giorni da due diversi pastori. Cresceranno insieme e si innamoreranno, dovendo superare qualche ostacolo prima di poter consumare. Sì, consumare, perchè Longo Sofista non si limita a parlare di sole-cuore-amore ma entra anche nel dettaglio dell'educazione sessuale e dell'innamoramento fisico dei due fanciulli. E bisogna ammettere che ne scriveva meglio lui nel III secolo d.c. di tanti nell'anno del signore 2016.

[Asclepiade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Parlando di quest’opera è ormai diventato quasi di rigore citare Goethe, il quale, se non ricordo male, diceva in uno dei suoi colloqui con Eckermann che la leggeva una volta l’anno (io, più modestamente, ormai l’ho letta tre volte): gioioso e rapito, lo incantavano die herrliche Landschaft, immer der blaueste Himmel, die anmutigste Luft und keine Spur von trüben Tagen che vi rilucevano; ma, messo giù così, l’elogio goethiano rischia di essere travisato dall’uomo d’oggi che, diseducato da un paio di secoli di letteratura punitiva e luttuosa, è avvezzo quasi per riflesso condizionato a diffidare delle Arcadie, se non, poco furbamente, a riderne: scordando, se pur ne abbia ricevuta contezza, che perfino nell’Arcadia più serena qualche teschio si annida sempre fra i teneri arboscelli, come insegna palesemente il Guercino ma insegnano anche, dopotutto, benché di solito in cifra e in disguise, i poeti pastorali d’ogni secolo.
Le parole di Goethe in realtà erano più profonde di quanto possa suggerire una loro lettura cursoria: un’aura di serenità e anzi, direi, d’innocenza, pervade l’intera opera, ma non solo e non tanto negli stilemi di superficie; Dafni e Cloe, il capraio e la pastorella trovatelli che crescono fra pascua et rura nella campagna di Mitilene sull’isola di Lesbo, patria di Saffo e Alceo, scoprono crescendo fianco a fianco il corpo, la sensualità e l’amore in un’atmosfera luminosa e apollinea, dalla quale sono esclusi tanto un ascetismo castigatore quanto una trasgressione maligna e triviale, che rispetto a quello, d’altronde, costituisce di regola il rovescio della medaglia. Eppure Longo (Sofista è il fortunato ma apocrifo appellativo sceltogli da un editore moderno: appellativo, però, non casuale né inopportuno) non ha nulla del Rousseau ante litteram: al pari d’un altro campione del romanzo greco, Achille Tazio, è uno scrittore lontano da qualsiasi primitivismo, anzi civilissimo, venato d’un’ironia tutta colta e urbana, che idealizza forse un’Arcadia immaginaria e sognata – e immaginaria e sognata è anche la sua Lesbo - ma certamente non idealizza il campagnolo semplice non contaminato dalle tentazioni della civiltà corruttrice, né, tantomeno, la vita contadina del suo tempo. Longo è malizioso a tratti, ma con affetto ed eleganza; neppure i cattivi nel suo romanzo sono malvagi sino in fondo. Egli soggiace senza problemi ai canoni etici del suo mondo, lasciando intatta la verginità di Cloe sino alle nozze, ma lo fa con una levità e una grazie tutte da scoprire; soggiace altrettanto alle convinzioni del romanzo ma, proprio come il suo collega Achille Tazio nel Leucippe e Clitofonte, ne sorride garbatamente senza negarle; anzi, di tale atteggiamento costituisce una specie di correlato stilistico la sua lingua, lontana dai barocchismi di Eliodoro nelle sue Etiopiche, ma tutt’altro che sciatta o esangue o fintamente povera: Longo giuoca coi lettori grazie a una scrittura lineare ma colta, in cui tralucono riferimenti alla commedia nuova (come nella figura del parassita Gnatone) o alla letteratura colta, per esempio nelle allusioni molteplici agl’Idilli di Teocrito. L’ombra non è negata o nascosta, ma occhieggia in modo che il lettore sensibile la possa cogliere senza farsene soverchiare: così, nonostante il lieto fine, veniamo anche a conoscere un ambiente in cui l’abbandono dei neonati al proprio destino, l’insensibilità degli abbienti e l’avidità gretta dei poveri avevano, purtroppo, un ruolo triste e reale; ma la grandezza di Longo sta nel lasciarlo intendere con un tocco leggerissimo che non incrina e non offusca la bellezza intatta e armoniosa dell’insieme, perché il male esiste ma non riesce a vincere.
L’edizione con versione italiana a fronte su cui ho letto il testo uscì, oltre un quarto di secolo fa, curata da uno studioso che s’è molto dedicato al romanzo greco, Raffaele Di Virgilio; egli nella prefazione (ricca di dati e spunti interessanti, nonostante ciò che sto per dire) contesta, sulla scorta di Wilamowitz, l’idea tralatizia che Longo fosse un greco dell’isola di Lesbo, e riafferma, sulla scorta delle osservazioni sul potere d’acquisto della dracma formulate illo tempore dal nostro Gerolamo Vitelli (peraltro vistosamente tralasciato nella bibliografia, dove figura viceversa, non so bene perché, un discorso di Palmiro Togliatti sulla condizione femminile), che il testo non poteva essere scritto dopo la metà del secondo secolo dopo Cristo; ma sostiene anche, non so se con perfetto fondamento, che l’opera intendeva fungere da omaggio implicito a Massimino il Trace, cosa che a me, tenuto conto di che tipo era Massimino, farebbe ad ogni modo esclamare, come la Settimana Enigmistica, “Strano, ma vero!”; e addirittura sostiene che Longo era italico, per la precisione peligno (come Di Virgilio stesso, nato a Ortona), che nell’opera ricorrono citazioni latine soprattutto di Ovidio (a mio avviso poco visibili, va detto, per ogni lettore che non sia Raffaele Di Virgilio), e che addirittura Longo era brevilineo: un nanerottolo, insomma, e Longo, quindi, per antifrasi, a mo’ di nome da commedia, da presa per i fondelli: “Nella fattispecie Longo fu chiamato “Logo” [in qualche attestazione all’interno della tradizione manoscritta, n.d.r.](…). Ciò fa ritenere, tra l’altro, che Longo fosse di minuta costituzione fisica, dato che già Licinio Calvo, il salaputium disertum, “eloquente cosettino” di catulliana memoria aveva incarnato la potenza miracolosa del lógos, immortalata da Gorgia nell’Encomio di Elena come ospite di un piccolo corpo”. E qui, me lo si lasci dire, al meravigliato lettore tocca riconoscere invero che il famoso passo su Astolfo che constata l’abbondanza di senno smarrito in terra e volato sulla luna, dove “di poeti poi ve n’era molto”, si può a volte applicare, con altrettanto fondamento, anche ai filologi classici.

[kate]

swimming cows warding off pirates is the best thing i’ve ever read

[dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was so sweet

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sex-ed back then really could have used some improvement.

[Lies Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

bloed zweet tranen hieraan gegeven (voor het eerste boek toch heb de rest eig niet gelezen) en misschien ben ik in de process gek geworden maar vond dat er oprecht mooie stukjes inzaten... blokje 23 was echt zo mooi en oprecht het einde vond ik lowkey spannend en ik was echt bang voor Daphnis met de piraten (waarom had ik mij nooit bedacht dat die er al waren in het oude griekenland???) anyways wel beetje icky dat Chloë nog maar 13 ofz is maar ja andere tijden...

[Duarte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amigos do Goodreads, dia 5 de fevereiro será finalmente lançada a minha tradução de Dáfnis e Cloé, publicada pela Assírio e Alvim. Vejam aqui: https://www.bertrand.pt/livro/dafnis-...

A festa de lançamento será no dia 14 de fevereiro, às 18:30 na livraria Snob. Estão todos convidados.

[Katherine McLintock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like a fairytale minus the fun stuff.