著者

引地 正俊

出版者

早稲田大学地中海研究所

雑誌

地中海研究所紀要 (ISSN:13482076)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.1, pp.121-131, 2003-03-20

著者

引地 正俊

出版者

日本西洋古典学会

雑誌

西洋古典学研究 (ISSN:04479114)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.13, pp.116-126, 1965

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The story of Leucippe and Clitophon has, more than any other Greek novel, a striking peculiarity in its structure In the introductory part of the novel where Chtophon is first introduced to us, the author (supposed to be Achilles Tatius) himself puts in an appearance as one of the characters, who, admiring the great force of the god of love, draws our attention to Eros depicted in a painting The force of Eros is, through the words of various characters, emphasized repeatedly in the novel the whole world, under the dominion of Eros, is considered to be provided with a "dynamic" harmony But why is that harmony dynamic ? It is made dynamic by Tyche, who actualizes or crystallizes the force of Eros in various ways All the incidents in the story are caused by Tyche (who is identified as the goddess to develop the very plot of the novel) Mehtte, Thersander's wife, who appears in the Book 5, should be regarded as one of such παιδια of Tyche And Clitophon, as a faithful slave to Eros, returns Melitte's violent love behind the back of Leucippe But here the author of the novel puts himself in a dilemma his is now obliged to admit Thersander's love for Leucippe and to give up the heroine's chastity, which has been traditionally important for the composition of novels, for Thersander too might be regarded as one of Tyche's victims burning with the flames of Eros On the other hand, Tyche is used in another sense for the composition of the novel Achilles Tatius, who holds that we are often informed beforehand of the actions of Tyche in various ways, interposes at regular intervals several descriptions of the pictures seen by certain characters and gives us hints of the incidents which are to happen in each successive part of the plot But his "oracular" method of composition is used up while the heroine's chastity is in peril, and the names of Eros and Tyche, which have so far appeared quite often, begin to vanish after the sixth volume, and Thersander soon turns out to be a thorough rascal Then, finally but abruptly, ignoring the plan laid out at the outset, Achilles Tatius puts an end to the novel without any words to thank Clitophon for his long narration and gives us an unsatisfactory impression, which might be attributable to the fact that the author has given up at midpoint the inner structure of his novel together with the outer one