Novel

Finally, at least a brief mention should be made of the Greek novel and the relationship that such post-classical works had with epic. B. P. Reardon has stated that ‘‘the Odyssey itself is the fountainhead of Greek romance’’ (1991: 6), and when one looks at the story-patterns of the Greek novels with their love interests, problematic journeys, and climactic reunions, it is hard not to see the resemblance between these Hellenistic works and their epic predecessor. Additionally, similar first-person narrative techniques can be seen within Odysseus’ tale to the Phaeacians and sections of Achilles Tatius’ work (Hagg 1971: 318); and Heliodorus’ technique of beginning his work in medias res with an accompanying flashback also seems to have its model in the Odyssey (Reardon 1991: 40).

But because Greek novels were probably intended as lighter reading for the well educated (Bowie 1985: 128; Reardon 1989: 11), their authors also found it advantageous to interface with Homeric and Hesiodic material by means of epic quotations, allusions, and imitations. On one hand, Chariton represents a somewhat simplistic approach in his usage of epic material, with the majority of his approximately thirty quotations of Homer embedded organically into his narration as uncited substitutions for words that he might otherwise have written himself (Hagg 1971: 95). Nearly all of Chariton’s quotations represent gnomic statements or other well-known selections from Homer’s texts that any educated Greek would understand immediately. As a contrast, Heliodorus represents an author using epic material in a much more refined manner. Heliodorus also includes embedded quotations alongside cited references to epic within his novel, but he often further adapts epic material for his own purposes, for instance at 2.19 reversing an insulting Homeric verse concerning beggars (Od. 17.222) so that it instead praises the noble heroes of the romance (noted by Morgan (1989: 391 n. 43); see Garson 1975 for further examples). Both authors gain stylistic ornamentation and associative value from their epic usages, but Heliodorus’ epic adaptations create a much richer text for learned interpretation.