Though the Odyssey and the Aithiopika, or Ethiopian Romance, were composed by two different men writing from different worlds and separated by a gap of many centuries, they share many of the same thematic, structural, and literary features. The Odyssey is a Homeric epic poem which is thought to have been composed around the end of the eighth century BCE. A dearth of verifiable biographical information on Heliodorus has led to disagreement among scholars as to the probable date of the Aithiopika, the romantic novel which is his only extant work, but many believe that it was composed sometime between the first and third centuries CE. The influence of Heliodorus' literary predecessor is evident throughout the Aithiopika. Homer's epic works claim a very notable and influential position in the literary canon of the Western world, and Heliodorus clearly looked to the Odyssey for inspiration in constructing the plot and developing the literary features of the Aithiopika, as well as in the themes and values that his work explores, such as the importance of familial, romantic, and platonic relationships; the role of the divine; and conceptions of personal identity.
[...] Heliodorus may have utilized these elements of Homer's text to perform the same function as his inclusion of the characters of Odysseus and Penelope—reminding the audience of the plot and themes of the Odyssey in order to inform their reception and interpretation of his novel and to evoke a critical comparison of the two works. The recognition scenes of both works correspond fairly neatly, in terms of the relationships of the people being recognized to those that recognize them and in terms of the order in which these scenes occur. [...]
[...] It is somewhat unconventional that Heliodorus cast a woman in the same role typically filled by a male hero, as in the Odyssey, but the conventional format of the nostos remains the same—she must return to her homeland of Ethiopia and reclaim her identity and birthright as a princess of Ethiopia, and when she finally arrives there, she must overcome further impediments before she can be reestablished and before she can wed the man she loves, Theagenes. Both Odysseus and Chericleia must follow a similarly lengthy and arduous path before they can return home and achieve their final happiness with the ones they love. [...]
[...] Heliodorus has commanded the audience's close attention from the start by opening with such a graphic, gripping scene, and by keeping them guessing by not immediately answering the questions that that scene raises for the audience—a tack that is perhaps better suited for the romantic novel than the epic poem, which tends to cut more efficiently to the chase, without the titillation, melodrama, or “cheap thrills” of the romantic novel. In this sense, Heliodorus' work is entirely unique from Homer's, although many of the basic plot points that Heliodorus re-imagines with his more flamboyant literary techniques are taken from Homer. [...]
[...] Heliodorus' sweeping romantic novel, the Aithiopika, was preceded by Homer's sweeping epic poem, the Odyssey, by hundreds of years. The many changes in values, culture, literary convention, and the human experience that transpired in the time between the composition of the Odyssey and the Aithiopika are reflected in a variety of ways by the structure, style, and themes of these two texts. However, these two works also share a number of thematic and structural similarities, and Homer's influence on Heliodorus' work, and on the entire literary canon of the [...]
[...] Heliodorus does contend with this shift in religious and philosophical values and with the emerging religious and philosophical eclecticism of the times in his work; for instance, the character of Calasiris is a priest of Isis who also goes to Delphi, where he splits his time between theological deliberation and service to the temple of Delphic Apollo, who steers his story, and he also worships Helios of Emesa, who rounds his story off at the end. Calasiris' religious eclecticism is a symptom of the widespread religious and philosophical eclecticism that emerged after the passing of the Homeric age. [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
