Chariton, Chaereas and Callirhoe
Notes and Discussion Topics

Characters:

• Chaereas, a handsome young man of Syracuse
• Callirhoe, an extremely, outrageously beautiful young woman of Syracuse, daughter of Hermocrates
• Hermocrates, a general who defeated the Athenians in the war, known for his decisiveness and leadership
• Theron, an unscrupulous pirate chief
• Polycharmus, Chaereas’ loyal best friend
• Leonas, the (slave) business manager of Dionysius
• Dionysius, a wealthy civic leader in Miletus
• Plangon, a trusted slave woman of Dionysius, whose husband Phocas manages Dionysius’ estate
• Mithridates, a Persian satrap & governor of Caria, where he has great estates
• Artaxerxes, a.k.a. The King – King of Persia, ruler of the greatest empire of the ancient world at that time
• Statira, the wife of the King
• Artaxates, the eunuch slave and palace manager of the great King

Discussion Topics

Questions: Make a note of any questions or comments you have while reading, to raise in class discussion.  These may be anything from questions about background or factual details to observations about the writing or ideas or characters or events.  WRITE A FEW OF THESE DOWN so you’ll have something to bring to class.

Love: In the world of Chaereas and Callirhoe, how does love work?  Who falls in love and why?  What is love like – what physical or mental effects does it have?  You’ll notice that two gods are associated with the operations of love –Aphrodite and her son, Eros.  How are these gods characterized?  Is love as portrayed in this novel anything like our modern perceptions of love?  In the modern world, do we have different ideas of love which are valid in different contexts (real life vs. TV, romances vs. literary novels, etc.)?

Slavery:  Slavery is an issue at different points in the text: several of the characters are slaves, and the main characters are enslaved for a while.   What are the text’s assumptions about slaves and slavery?  What role does slavery play in the life journeys of the main characters.  And – as a relative newcomer to this culture – is it always apparent to you which characters are slaves and which are free?  What are the telling points in this status division?

Characters: Describe Chaereas and Callirhoe as characters.  Are they similar to the hero and heroine of modern romance or adventure novels/ TV shows?  In what ways are they similar or different to modern hero/ines of genre fiction?

Motifs: As we read more novels, the shared motifs will become more apparent, but even at this early stage, notice what might be “stock characters” or adventure motifs – events  or encounters that have that folktale or genre fiction gloss as themes that will recur in this or other narratives.