Greek
writer, author of Daphnis and Chloe, the first pastoral prose
romance (see pastoral literature) and one of the most popular of the
Greek erotic romances.
The story concerns Daphnis and Chloe,
two foundlings brought up by shepherds in Lesbos, who gradually fall
in love and finally marry. The author is less concerned with the
complications of plot, however, than with describing the way that
love developed between his hero and heroine, from their first naïve
and confused feelings of childhood to full sexual maturity. Longus'
penetrating psychological analysis contrasts strongly with the inept
characterization of other Greek romances. His stylized descriptions
of gardens and landscapes and the alternating of the seasons show a
notable feeling for nature. The general tone of his romance is
dictated by the quality prescribed by ancient critics for the
bucolic genre—glykytes, a “sweetening” of the pastoral life.
Daphnis and Chloe:
Frontispiece
Lamon Discovers Daphnis
Dryas Discovers Chloe
Lamon's and Dryas's
Dream
The Wolf Pit
Daphnis and Chloe beside
the Fountain
Springtime in the Meadow
Chloe's Judgement
Chloe's Kiss
Dorcon's Strategy
Noon, in Summer
Death of Dorcon
The Little Swallow
The Nymph's Cave
The Wine Harvest
Philetas's Lesson
The Young Methymneans
Daphnis' Dream and the
Nymphs
Philetas's Orchard
Chloe is Carried Off by
the Methymneans
Captain Bryaxis's Dream
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