HELIODORUS

This article appears in Volume V13, Page 223 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: HEG-HIG

HELIODORUS , of Emesa in Syria, Greek writer of romance. According to his own statement his father's name was Theodosius, and he belonged to a family of priests of the sun. He was the author of the Aethiopica, the oldest and best of the Greek romances that have come down to us. It was first brought to light in modern times in a MS. from the library of Matthias Corvinus, found at the sack of Buda (Ofen) in 1526, and printed at Basel in 1534. Other codices have since been discovered. The title is taken from the fact that the action of the beginning and end of the story takes place in Aethiopia. The daughter of Persine, wife of Hydaspes, king of Aethiopia, was born white through the effect of the sight of a

marble

MARBLE (from Lat. marmor, Gr. pApľapos, shining stone)

statue upon the queen during pregnancy. Fearing an accusation of

adultery

ADULTERY (from Lat. adulterium)

, the mother gives the babe to the care of Sisimithras, a gymnosophist, who carries her to

Egypt

EGYPT

and places her in charge of Charicles, a Pythian priest. The child is taken to Delphi, and made a priestess of Apollo under the name of Chariclea. Theagenes, a noble Thessalian, comes to Delphi and the two fall in love with each other. He carries off the priestess with the help of Calasiris, an Egyptian, employed by Persine to seek for her daughter. Then follow many perils from sea-rovers and others, but the

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

personages ultimately meet at Meroe at the very moment when Chariclea is about to be sacrificed to the gods by her own father. Her

birth

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

is made known, and the lovers are happily married. The rapid succession of events, the variety of the characters, the graphic descriptions of manners and of natural scenery, the simplicity and elegance of the style, give the Aethiopica

great

GREAT

charm. As a whole it offends less against good

taste

TASTE (from Lat. taxare, to touch sharply; tangere, to touch)

and morality than others of the same class.

Homer

HOMER, WINSLOW (1836-191o)

and Euripides were the favourite authors of Heliodorus, who in his turn was imitated by French, Italian and Spanish writers. The early life of Clorinda in Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered (

canto

CANTO (from the Lat. cantus, a song)

xii. 2I sqq.) is almost identical with that of Chariclea; Racine meditated a drama on the same

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