dundancy of rich, though too often, reiterated Next to Heliodorus in merit, is his imitator for detail, I must refer the reader to the admirable volume of *Korai, of whom I shall have occasion to speak present- † Τὰ κατὰ Λευκίππην καὶ Κλειτοφῶντα, Schoell, l. vi. c. 78. During a fit of mental aberration, induced by a too § In the Greek romances, it is no unusual exploit for these Longus, a writer of whose name, nation, life, or era, we have no authentic particulars,* was the author of Daphnis and Chloe, the earliest pastoral romance with which we are acquainted, and which, with a little change of manners, climate, and costume, has served as the foundation of innumerable productions of a similar class, and amongst others, according to M. Villemain, of Paul and Virginia. Unlike the writings of his successors, however, the work of Longus aims at being natural, not heroic. His descriptions of life belong to his own, and not to the golden age; and his characters, instead of aspiring to discourse philosophy, content themselves with the expression of merely human passions.† There seems to be a blank in productions of this kind, from the age of Tatius till the end of the eighth century, when John of Damascus, whose works on philosophy and theology I have had occasion to mention elsewhere, wrote his Jehosaphat and Barlaam, one of the earliest of the class denominated spiritual romances. He is said to have lived about the time of Tatius. Dunlop, v. i. p. 56. + Chereas and Callirhoe, a romance of little or no merit, by a writer calling himself Chariton Aphrodisiensis, is generally attributed to the same age as the works of Tatius and Longus. See Schoell, 1. vi. c. 78. Dunlop, v. i. p. 74. See vol. ii. p. 112. Abounding with scriptural imitations and simi litudes, and referring solely to subjects of a sacred cast, martyrdoms, temptations, and triumphs; it possesses but few attractions to a carnal reader.* It relates the life of Jehosaphat, son to Abenner, an Eastern Prince, who is converted to christianity by means of Barlaam, a monk of Senaar. After a series of efforts on the part of his father to induce him to abjure his newly-adopted faith, in which Jehosaphat is exposed to most grievous temptations, the truth at length triumphs, and Abenner, reconciled to his conversion, shares his kingdom with his son. His newly begun power is employed in the furtherance of christianity, and amongst the list of his converts, he has shortly the satisfaction to number Abenner himself and the officers of his court. On the subsequent death of his father, Jehosaphat, retiring from the world, betakes himself to the solitary retreat of his first instructor, Barlaam, and after a penance of five-and-thirty years, expires, and is buried in the same grave with his early friend. The story is embellished with some highly poetical and beautiful allusions, and is altogether worthy of the reputation of its learned and celebrated author.+ The next important incident in the history + Ib. p. 83. " Dunlop, v. i. p. 85. of Grecian fiction was the appearance, in the twelfth century, of the metrical tale of Rhodante and Dosicles, by Theodore Prodromos,* known likewise by his monastic name of Hilarion. Written in execrable iambics, it can boast neither originality nor genius, and is interesting merely as the first modern effort at poetic narrative, and the earliest ascertained specimen of purely Romaic versification.† Still its popularity at the period of its composition was extreme, and served to induce a crowd of imitators. Of the latter the most prominent were Constantine Manasses, a fragment of whose verses is preserved in the " Garden of Roses" of Makarius Chrysocephalus; and Nicetas Eugenianus, whose story of Drosillus and Chariclea‡ To this interval has been attributed the Ismene and Ismenias of Eumathius, or Eustathius, a work of which Huet (who attributes its composition to the twelfth century) observes that" rien n'est plus froid, rien n'est plus plat, rien n'est plus ennuyeux :" it exhibits "nulle bienséance, nulle vraisemblance, nulle invention, nulle conduite," &c. + See Leake's Researches, pp. 72 and 167, where specimens of the poem are extracted. I have said here “ascertained" since M. Fauriel properly remarks that " il n'y a point d'apparence que ces vers vulgaires fussent les premiers que l'on eût écrits à Constantinople." Disc. Prel. p. xiii. Mr. Dunlop is incorrect in saying that the romance of Eugenianus is in iambics (vol. i. p 109); it is written in the ordinary political verses. is merely a miserable imitation of a miserable original. The romances which I have here specified, and which were written previous to the commencement of the thirteenth century, were mere efforts to create a powerful excitement by the narration of startling and surprising events they aimed at no delineation of character, no portraiture of nature; their lovers were rude, adventurous boors, and their heroines insipid and unamiable beauties. In the popular literature or romances of other countries, we learn something of the manners and character of their times; in those of the Greeks we perceive neither; their incidents are incredible, and their embellishments fictitious; and although, after the occupation of the Franks, they assumed a new and more defined character, when chivalry blazed in the pages, and their heroes, from nondescript wanderers, became knights of admirable gallantry and superhuman valour, neither the spirit nor the tendency of their fables was improved; and down to the Turkish conquest their writers displayed neither advancing talent nor fresh developements of mind.* * My limits will not allow me to do more than mention the general character of the works of fiction of this age, and in fact, I fear that during this chapter the reader will have |