Seeing Double(s)

Abstract

This article considers the Lucianic Erôtes a receptor of Greek novels and focusses on Chariton’s Callirhoe as hypotext. It argues that Chariton’s construction of Callirhoe as a double of Aphrodite, and the plot that this predicament generates, are central to the presentation of the statue of Aphrodite in the Erôtes. This is revealed by consistent verbal echoes and by the re-enactment of memorable scenes in the novel. The Erôtes emerges as an important document for the early reception of Greek novels, and its author as an attentive reader of them.