Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/661

Rh ROMANCE 637 which he becomes purified. The first two books of the cyclopaedia of the 5th century, the Satyrica of Martianus Capella, known as De Nuptiis Philologies et Mercurii, form a kind of philosophico-allegorical romance in prose mingled with verse. Mercury, wishing to marry, goes, accompanied by Virtue, to Apollo on Parnassus and finds him occupied in taking from four urns the elements of all things. Apollo proposes that Mercury should marry Philology, but the consent of Jupiter must be asked. Jove hesitates and assembles a council of the gods to decide the ques- tion. The request is granted and Philosophy transcribes a decree permitting mortals of superior merit to be ad- mitted among the gods. The second book is devoted to the marriage. At first Philology has fears as to its ad- visability, and the Muses form a chorus by whom she is admonished. She is visited by Prudence, Justice, Tem- perance, and the three Graces. At last the bride goes to Mercury's house and all set out for the palace of Jupiter, who receives them surrounded by the gods and many deified mortals. Of these three works the last does not comply with all our conditions, and of the first two Apuleius is after all merely a translator. The Satires, of Petronius is thus the sole genuine representative of Latin prose romance. When compared with the Greek compositions it will be found to offer a remarkable variation. In the Satires, we at once come in contact with contemporary scenery and habits ; the characters have well-marked individuality ; and the book is full of life. It must not, however, be considered merely as a novel ; its chief object was to satirize the manners of the time. The same tendency to draw a strongly marked picture of the vices and follies of the hour appears also in the Asinus. In the qualities of vigour, interest, and originality of form and substance Apuleius and Petronius are far beyond their Greek rivals. The texts of the Scriptores Erotici Graeci have been edited by C. W. Mitscherlich (Zweibriicken, 1792-94, 3 vols. in four parts) ; by F. Passow (Leipsic, 1824-33, 2 vols. 8vo) ; in Didot's collection, the most complete (Paris, 1856, la. 8vo) ; and by R. Hercher (Leipsic, 1858-59, 2 vols. 12mo). The texts of many of the fictitious historians and biographers are given in Fragmcnta Historicorum Grsecorum (Paris, 1841-51, 4 vols. la. 8vo), and Scriptures de Rebus Alexand. M. (ib., 1846, 8vo). Photius (Bibliothcca, Berlin, 1824, 2 vols. 4to) has analysed a great many writings now lost. Early biographical information (not always trustworthy) is supplied by Suidas, and latterly and more perfectly by Fabricius ( Biblioth. Greeca). Trans- lations into French are contained in Bibliotheque des romans grecs, tr. en franijois (Paris, 1797, 12 vols. 18mo) ; Collection de romans grecs, tr. avec des notes par Courier, Larcher, <kc. , precedee d'un essai sur les romans grecs par M. Villemain (Paris, 1822, 12 vols. 18mo, unfinished) ; Romans grecs, tr. en fran. par Ch. Zevort, precedes d'une introduction sur le roman chez les grecs (Paris, 1856, 2 vols. sm. 8vo). In Italian we have Erotici greci (Florence, 1814-17, 6 vols. 8vo), and in English, Greek Romances, by C. Smith (1855, sin. 8vo). The general authorities are referred to under GREECE (vol. xi. p. 147). The following are special treatises on the subject : J. C. F. Manso, "Ueber den griech. Roman," in his Verm. Schriften (Leipsic, 1801) ; F. Jacobs, " Conjecture de locis nonnullis Achillis Tatii," &c., in Wolf s Litt. Analecten (Berlin, 1820); Wiedemann, "Der gr. Roman," in Arb. der kurldnd. Ges., 1848, hft. 3 ; R. Hercher, "Zur Litt. d. gr. Erotiker," in Jahrb.f. class. Phil., 1858, vol. Ixxvii. ; 0. Jahn, " Bine antike Dorfgeschichte," in Aus d. Alterthumsw. ; H. Peter, " Der Roman bei den Griechen," in Neues Schweiz, 1866 ; A. Nicolai, Ueber Entstehung u. Wesen d. gr. Romans (Berlin, 1867, 8vo) ; B. Erdmannsdb'rffer, "Das Zeitalter der Novelle in Hellas," in Preus. Jahrb., vol. xxv. ; C. Hartung, "Die byzantinische Novelle," in Archiv f. d. Stud. d. n. Spr., 1872 ; H. Usener, "Zur Gesch. des gr. Romans," in Rhein. Mus., 1873, vol. xxviii. (N. F.); E. Rohde, " Ueber gr. Novelleudichtung, " in Vcrsamml. deutscher Philologen, 1875 ; Id., Der gr. Roman u. seine Vorlaufer (Leipsic, 1876, 8vo) ; J. Wimmer, "Der gr. Roman," in Blatter f. d. bayer. Gymn., 1877) ; "Greek Romances," in For. Quar. Rev., ''Nov. 1829 ; "Early Greek Romances," in Blackwood's Mag., July 1843; S. Baring Gould, "Early Christian Greek Romances," in Contemp. Rev., Oct. 1877 ; Chardon de la Rochette, "Notice sur les romans grecs," in Melanges (Paris, 1812, rol. ii.) ; Struve, "Romans et nouvelles chez les grecs," in Journal gin. de I'Instr. Publ., 13th Aug., 17th Sept., 1835 ; V. Chauvin, Les romemcitrs grtcs tt latins (1864, sm. 8vo) ; A. Chassang, Hist, du roman dans I'antiq. grec. et lat. (1862, sm. 8vo) ; P. D. Huet, De orig. fab. rom. (Hague, 1682) ; P. Paciaudi, De Libris Eroticis Antiquorum (Leipsic, 1803, 8vo) ; H. Paldamus, Romische Erotik (Greifswald, 1833, 8vo). (b) Pseudo-Classical Works. The literature of the Middle Ages recognized three great epic cycles, distinctly defined by Jean Bodel (13th century) in his Chanson des Saisnes (i.e., Saxons) : " Ne sont que troi materes, a nul homme entendant De France, de Bretaigne, et de Rome la Grant ; Et de ces troi materes n'i a nule semblant." Under " Rome la Grant " were comprehended the stories of Troy and the Trojans, ^Eneas, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Judas Maccabaeus, &c., from Latin sources, that is to say, the whole ancient world seen through the language of Rome. The romances derived from antiquity may be arranged in three classes (!) those which were believed to be direct reproductions, such as Eneas, Thebes, Cesar, and the Roman de Troie, whose authors acknowledged indebted- ness, after their fashion, to Virgil, Statius, Dares Phrygius, Dictys Cretensis, &c. ; (2) those based upon ancient histories not previously versified, for example, the legend of Alexander from Quintus Curtius and the Pseudo-Cal- listhenes ; (3) those which merely reproduce the names of antiquity and nothing else, such as Athis et Prqfilias, Ypomedon, and Protesilaw. 1. The chief of the first class was the Roman de Troie, Legend which exercised greater influence in its day and for cen- turies after its appearance than any other work of the same order. Just as the chansons de geste of the 10th century were the direct ancestors of the prose romances which afterwards spread throughout Europe, so, even before the novels of Heliodorus and Achilles Tatius, there were quasi-histories which reproduced in prose, with more or less exactness, the narratives of epic poetry. Among these nothing has ever equalled in vitality the tale of the two sieges and capture of Troy, and the subsequent destinies of the Trojan and Greek heroes. "It would require a large volume," says Grote (History of Greece, t . p. 386), " to convey any tolerable idea of the vast extent and expansion of this interesting fable, first handled by so many poets, epic, lyric, and tragic, with their endless addi- tions, transformations, and contradictions, then purged and recast by historical inquirers, who, under colour of setting aside the exaggeration of the poets, introduced a new vein of prosaic invention." Long previous to the 'H/DWIKOS of Philostratus (2d century) the Trojan War had been the subject of many a prose fiction dignified with the title of history ; but to remodel the whole story almost in the shape of annals, and to give a minute personal description of the persons and characters of the principal actors, were ideas which belonged to an artificial stage of literature. This task was commenced by PHILOSTRATUS (q.v. whose 'H^OKKOS bears ample traces of having been compiled from a number of current figments. Philostratus, however, only pictures several characters and a few isolated scenes. His method was subsequently followed in a more complete fashion by two anonymous writers, who either borrowed from him or from a more ancient source common to all three. A spurious history, professing to give the chief incidents of the siege, and said to have been written by Dictys of Crete, a follower of Idomeneus, was known as early as the time of ^Elian, and has been largely quoted by the Byzantine chroniclers. This was translated into Latin prose at an early period under the title of Dictyos Cretensis de Bello Trojano libri VI. With Dictys is always associated Dares, a pseudo-historian of more recent date. Old Greek writers mention an account of the destruction of the city earlier than the Homeric poems, and also in