Discourses of identity and freedom: Representations of Athens in Chariton (Greece)

Readers of Chariton's Callirhoe encounter a curious dissonance between characters who despise Athens and a narrative voice that continually emulates classical Athenian authors. I focus on representations of Athens in the novel to investigate precisely this narrative dissonance. After considering the representations of Athens by Greek and Roman authors contemporary with Chariton, I look at the diverse representations of Athens in Chariton's text, analyzing the influence of classical Athenian literature on the novel's form and content. An interpretation of Chariton's Alcibiadean hero confirms my conclusion that Athens figures prominently within the novel's discourses of identity and freedom. Ultimately Chariton represents a world of negotiations with imperial power, relevant to Rome's hegemony in the East.; Athens is significant for the construction of national, civic, and individual identities. Characters from Syracuse to Persia talk about Athens as a means of defining their own identities in the socio-political world of the novel. Though characters attempt to diminish Athens' status, frequent references to Athens paradoxically reinforce its influence. Criticisms of Athens by Syracuse reflect Syracuse's own weaknesses, undermining the idealization of Syracuse within the narrative. On the individual level, Callirhoe defines herself in terms of her father's military victory over Athens, while Chaereas' ambivalent persona is suggested by numerous allusions to his Alcibiadean qualities. Fundamentally influenced by classical Athenian literature, in which notions of public and private are closely intermingled, Chariton's novel demonstrates how the heroes' private experiences take on political dimensions.; Athens' participation in the identity politics of the novel affects the novel's thematic discourse on freedom and tyranny. Although Athens is despised as an imperialist threat, the narrative complicates a straightforward opposition between freedom and tyranny. Instead, allusions to the problematic relationship between Athenian democracy and tyranny at the end of the 5th century suggest the often subtle transition from one political extreme to the other. The interrelatedness of freedom and tyranny is further illustrated by the novel's bifurcated representations of Athens: while the characters attempt to escape Athenian hegemony, the narrator indulges in a sophisticated homage to the Athenian literary tradition, suggesting the inevitability of confronting the literary influence of Athens.