The Coming of Age and Political Accommodation in the Greco-Roman Novels
Abstract
I consider how the novels of Apuleius, Longus andCharitonportray the protagonists, as they mature, coming to terms with socio-political realities, the nature of this necessary accommodation and how it is motivated. Apuleius’ Lucius experiences the harsh realities of Greece under Roman rule, and abandons his homeland and culture for Isis worship and life and work at Rome; Chaireas and Callirhoe, coming from an ideal Syracuse, accommodate themselves to and create an alternative to Persian imperial rule, while Daphnis and Chloe learn about the realities of their slave status and create a superior form of a slave-holding society.
Jean Alvares is an associate professor in the Department of Classics and General Humanities at Montclair State University. He has published on Chaireas and Callirhoe and other Greco-Roman novels, and is currently working on a volume on ideal themes in the Greco-Roman novels.
