Leucippe and Clitophon, composed in the second century AD, is the most bizarre and risqué of the five 'Greek novels' of idealized love between boy and girl that survive from the period of the Roman empire. Achilles' narrative covers adultery, violence, evisceration, pederasty and virginity-testing and in execution is subtle, stylish, moving, brash, tasteless, and obscene.
Achilles Tatius' Leucippe and Clitophon is the most bizarre and risque of the five "Greek novels" of idealized love between boy and girl that survive from the time of the Roman empire. Stretching the capacity of the genre to its limits, Achilles' narrative covers adultery, violence, disembowelment, pederasty, virginity-testing, and a conveniently happy ending. Ingenious and sophisticated in conception, Leucippe and Clitophon is at once subtle, stylish, moving, brash, tasteless, and obscene. This new translation aims to capture Achilles' writing in all its exuberant variety.
