Daphnis and Chloe

Author: Longus

Time Period: 1 CE–500 CE

Country or Culture: Greece

Genre: Myth

Overview

According to the introduction to Daphnis and Chloe, the author, Longus, was inspired to write the novel after seeing a wall painting while hunting in a sacred grove on the island of Lesbos. Such a work is known as an ekphrasis, a literary description of a piece of art. Longus intended his story of Daphnis and Chloe, two innocent pastoral figures from Mytilene, as an offering for Pan, the nymphs, and Eros.

But Daphnis could not convince his heart to feel happy, now he had seen Chloe naked and her hitherto secret beauty revealed. His heart ached as though gnawed by poison . . . he thought his heart was still in the pirates’ hands, being as he was so young and rustic and ignorant of the piracy of Love.

Longus: Daphnis and Chloe

Longus’s tale, which includes several mythic stories, is considered by some scholars to be one of the first Greek novels. Five complete novels survive, with more than twenty fragments of other novels. Although they contained older material such as legends and myths, the novels were written during the first centuries of the Common Era. These early novels combined forms in ways that previous literature had not, by incorporating features of legends and myths, adventure stories, epics, historical writing, and travel stories. Though the authors depicted both aristocratic and common characters, scholars conjecture that members of the upper and middle classes were likely to have been the original audience for this new form of literature.

Longus probably wrote during the second century CE. Little is known about him, other than that his name might be that of a Mytilenean family. His description of the landscape—caves, rivers, and springs—matches the actual topography of the island. He both upholds and upends literary traditions; his first readers would recognize allusions to several classic writers, such as Theocritus, and his setting the scene on Lesbos would bring to mind the love poet Sappho, who lived there and was among the few women writers whose works were preserved.

The main characters of this richly textured novel are Daphnis, a young goatherd, and Chloe, a young shepherdess. Abandoned as infants, Daphnis and Chloe are found in the wild. Each child bears tokens indicating a noble birth. They are brought up by their respective sets of adoptive parents, Lamon and Myrtale, and Dryas and Nape. Other characters include Dorcon, a cowherd smitten by Chloe’s beauty, and Lycaenion, a young wife who casts her eyes on Daphnis. An old man, the storyteller Philetas, is crucial to the young lovers’ understanding of Eros, the god of romantic love. Near the end of the book, Daphnis’s real father, Dionysophanes, appears, with Daphnis’s brother Astylos and his entourage, including Gnathon. In addition, the mythological characters of Pan, Eros, and nymphs appear, and stories are told about others such as Pitys, Syrinx, and Echo.

The novel is divided into four books, each of which has at least one and sometimes two or more cycles of stories that mirror one another, containing a pivotal point as the hinge of the book. Events happen twice, in reverse order. So, for example, book 1 begins with a real wolf threatening the herds, a real trap set, and the rescue of Daphnis; the cycle concludes with the story of a two-legged wolf threatening Chloe, a trap set for her, and her rescue. In between these two sets of events occurs a soliloquy, the plotting of Dorcon, a speech contest (the pivot point), further plotting by Dorcon, and another soliloquy. This chiastic structure, as it is termed, continues throughout the novel, moving the story forward through a year and a half, beginning with spring (MacQueen 48).

Because the novel centers on a young couple learning about romantic love, a feminist analysis is appropriate. Consideration will be given to the novel’s portrayal of men and women, as well as to gender roles and double standards within the novel and in Greek society at the time the novel was written.

Summary

Daphnis and Chloe, who are each exposed as children—as was customary when an ancient Greek family could not support another child—are adopted by peasant families. The goatherd Lamon finds a male baby being suckled by one his goats and takes him home to his wife, Myrtale. With the child were tokens that seemed to indicate noble birth—a gold brooch, a small purple cloak, and an ivory-hilted dagger. Lamon and Myrtale call the child Daphnis and raise him as their own.

Two years later the shepherd Dryas discovers another exposed infant, a girl that one of his ewes is feeding in the sanctuary of the nymphs. She, too, has been left with an offering: solid gold anklets, a pair of golden sandals, and a girdle woven with golden thread. He gathers the child and takes her to Nape, his wife. They name the baby Chloe and care for her.

The two infants grow into fine adolescents, who seem lovelier than the local peasants. Still, as Eros has instructed their fathers in dreams, Daphnis becomes a goatherd and Chloe a shepherdess. The two become daily companions.

Although Chloe cannot name her feelings, one spring she is the first to feel love and desire. Daphnis, who accidentally falls into a trap set for wolves, bathes afterward in the spring at the Nymphs’ sanctuary. Chloe admires his beauty as he bathes and wants to see it again.

A cowherd, Dorcon, is smitten with Chloe. The two young men vie for Chloe’s judgment as to which is more handsome, with a kiss being the prize. When Chloe kisses Daphnis, he, too begins to know love. Yet neither knows what this mysterious passion is or what may be done about it.

When pirates invade, they not only plunder the region but also kill Dorcon and capture Daphnis. Before his death, however, Dorcon explains to Chloe that his cows will come if they hear his panpipes. When Chloe plays the tune, the cows jump from the pirate ship, allowing Daphnis to get free.

Book 2 is set in autumn, during the harvest festival for Dionysus. An old man, Philetas, attends the ceremony and explains to Daphnis and Chloe that he has that very day seen Cupid, who told him that he is caring for the two young people. Philetas further instructs them that there is only one medicine for the pangs of love—to kiss and hug and lie down together naked.

Through a series of misunderstandings, foreigners from Methymna believe that Daphnis’s goats are responsible for the loss of their yacht. After a legal inquiry judges that Daphnis is innocent of the charges, the dissatisfied Methymneans return home and inspire their people to fight. They plunder the flocks and abduct Chloe. In a dream, however, the nymphs assure Daphnis that Chloe, who is under Pan’s protection, would return unharmed the next day. Pan sends various signs and a warning dream to the ship’s captain, who releases Chloe and the flocks. The two families offer sacrifices of gratitude to the nymphs and to Pan.

Book 3 begins with an army being sent to the Methymneans, who ask for peace while the army is still far off, to which the people of Mytilene agree. Winter arrives, bringing misery to Daphnis and Chloe both physically because of the cold and emotionally because they spend less time together, now that their flocks are not being pastured. Daphnis makes an excuse to visit Dryas and ends up with an invitation to dine and to spend the night. Throughout the winter, he visits whenever possible.

When spring’s pleasant weather arrives at last, Daphnis proposes they try the last of Philetas’s remedies for love, lying naked together. Yet neither knows what to do. However, a young wife named Lycaenion tricks Daphnis and becomes his teacher in love. Eager to demonstrate his knowledge to Chloe, Daphnis nevertheless pauses when he recalls what Lycaenion told him about the pain and blood a virgin might experience from intercourse. This makes Daphnis unwilling to subject Chloe to the supposed ordeal.

Meanwhile, suitors begin to press for Chloe’s hand; Dryas wants to have her married, perhaps increasing his own wealth in the process. When Chloe finally tells Daphnis of the situation, he goes to Myrtale, his mother, and expresses his love. Lamon, however, does not think Dryas would approve of a mere goatherd for his daughter. The nymphs come to Daphnis in dreams, telling him where the yacht that had belonged to the Methymneans has sunk, and where to find three thousand drachmas. This sum makes him an appropriate suitor in Dryas’s eyes; Lamon, however, says they will wait for autumn, when his master, Dionysophanes, will come. As a slave, he cannot make decisions about any member of his household.

Book 4 concludes the tale with Lamon preparing for his master’s arrival. Gnathon, a member of the retinue who poses the next danger to the lovers, is interested in Daphnis and asks for the young man as a present. When this becomes known, the crisis prompts Lamon to reveal the tokens he found on Daphnis when he was an infant. When the master sees the tokens, both he and his wife realize that Daphnis is their son. They explain that he was their fourth child, whom they had left to die because they already had two sons to care for them in their old age. The first two children, a boy and a girl, had later died, but Fortune has provided a second son after all. Chloe also faces an unwanted suitor, Lampis, who abducts her; she is rescued before harm comes to her.

To demonstrate that Chloe is a suitable bride for Daphnis, her foster parents bring forth the tokens Dryas found with her when she was a baby. The wedding is agreed to, and all go to town for the ceremony and feasting. When the tokens are displayed, a man who had once been poor but has become rich recognizes that Chloe is his daughter.

The narrative ends with the assurance that Daphnis and Chloe continue to worship Pan and the nymphs after their marriage. The couple later allow a she-goat to nurse their son and a ewe to suckle their daughter. They live with the flocks into old age.

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