Heliodorus of EmesaRecensioni

Referring to 9780282743642 Heliodori Aethiopicorum Libri X: 'Abandoned' rather than 'Read'. I wanted a volume comprising all of and only the Greek text, but this turned out to be a murky reprint of an edition from 1611 with an indecipherable Greek text together with Latin translation. (More about reading Heliodorus at https://wp.me/pBfTB-2R1.)

This seems to be the only readily-available version of the Ethiopica with all the Greek text in one volume. It is certainly cheap enough (presently 6,95 € on amazon.it) and has an Italian translation. However, I found that the translation was not particularly accurate and the Greek text could be difficult to read. (More about reading Heliodorus at https://wp.me/pBfTB-2R1.)

LAS ETIÓPICAS

Como elogio de las aspiraciones de su Persiles, Cervantes escribe en el prologo a las Novelas ejemplares que "se atreve a competir con Heliodoro", Gracián declara en el prólogo al Criticón que ha querido imitar "los empeños de Heliodoro", y Lope de Vega le llama "griego poeta divino". Las Etiópicas se tradujeron al castellano cuatro veces en el siglo XVI, en lo que se refleja cuánto la apreciaron los humanistas. Y no sólo en España, puesto que su fama se extendía a Europa; Rabelais, Racine y Shakespeare lo admiraban también. Fue el modelo clásico para los novelistas barrocos: su habilidosa técnica narrativa y la peripecia intrincada de su trama influyeron en la narrativa europea de todo el siglo XVII.
Heliodoro (Ἡλιόδωρος) de Emesa (Siria) fue un escritor griego, autor de la novela Etiópicas (Αἰθιοπικά), conocida también como Teágenes y Cariclea (Θεαγένης καὶ Χαρίκλεια).

Biografía

Nada se sabe con seguridad de su vida, que se data de forma variable entre los siglos III y IV. Sócrates de Constantinopla (siglo V) identifica al autor de Etiópicas con un cierto Heliodoro, obispo de Trica, pero dicho nombre era muy común en la época. La noticia apareció por primera vez en la Historia de la Iglesia de Sócrates; 5, 22). Nicéforo Calixto (siglo XIV) extiende esta historia, relatando que el trabajo fue escrito en los primeros años de este obispo, antes de convertirse al cristianismo, y que forzado a elegir entre renegar de su autoría o renunciar al obispado, prefirió lo segundo. Sin embargo, la mayoría de eruditos rechazan esta identificación.

Obra
Dos particularidades asignan a la novela de Heliodoro un puesto especial. En primer lugar, el inusitado virtuosismo en la técnica narrativa; por otra parte, constituye un relevante testimonio de que nuevas fuerzas religiosas penetran en esa época. En esta novela de Heliodoro, como en las demás, se percibe con especial claridad que la lengua es producto artificioso. Todos los recursos del arte retórico y apoyaturas poéticas no pueden desmentir el carácter pobretón de este estilo. Se construyen pero no se redondean grandes períodos. La manía, sobre todo, de recargar las oraciones amontonando participios conduce a la formación de cláusulas monstruosas.[cita requerida]

Heliodoro, el más tardío de los novelistas griegos (siglo III o IV), domina con maestría todos los recursos del arte narrativo, y logra un efectismo teatral, un colorido de decorados exóticos y un patetismo principesco que dan un aire singular a su novela.

In this ancient Greek romance/adventure novel, Theagenes and Chariclea, two beautiful youths who are in love, are forced by various circumstances to wander through Greece, Egypt, and Ethiopia and face one perilous situation after another before being granted a happy ending by the gods. I found this novel to be fairly similar to the other ancient Greek texts on the 1001 list. It wasn’t great, but it was interesting to experience a different culture’s literature. The only real complaint I have is that the paragraphs in my translation were too long, which made the book more difficult to read than it should have been.

Aethiopica is an early Greek Romance. It tells the tale of two lovers: Chariclea, daughter of Ethiopian Royalty and Theagenes. The plot begins at what seems to be halfway through the progression of events, and much of the story is told as tales by other characters (stories within the stories). The poor lovers always seem to fall from one misfortune into the next and of course all is resolved at the very last minute. It’s very dramatic, fast-paced, and surprisingly easy to read for such an old text.

I thought it was entertaining enough but not something I really felt that I was missing out on by not having read it previously. I do always find it amusing in these older romances how just the mere sight of someone from across the room is enough to make characters want to marry each other. It seemed like these two lovers were cursed by being so beautiful that they couldn’t walk down the street without someone wanting to kidnap them and/or force them into marriage or relationships. I would say formulaic and unoriginal but since it was one of the earliest (maybe the earliest) of Greek Romances, it can be considered an original and likely drove the structure of other similar romances.

4 down, 997 to go. This was not a very satisfactory experience at all, and as as a matter of fact, gets a full star only because if I leave the star off, one might think I forgot to apply a rating. I had no idea what was happening at any point, save for a few paragraphs that may have been coherent. The book went back and forth in time, without advising the reader exactly when this was happening. I was so lost and confused that I checked reviews to figure out what was generally happening at certain points in the narrative, because I sure couldn't tell just by reading the darn thing! There wasn't even clever wordplay as a redeeming value. I hope this is the nadir of the 1,001 book reading project. It better be. I certainly won't be able to withstand too many more experiences like this, which is an insult to the word "experience."

Chariclea is an Ethiopian princess whose mother left her to the elements just after her birth. She was adopted by a priest, served in Aphrodite's temple and eventually fell in love with Theagenes. This is the story of their exploits and their trials.

This was one of the books on the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list. I'd never read it before and quite enjoyed the complex story line.