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English fiction and the ancient novel
Carver, Robert Henry Fielding
Carver, Robert Henry Fielding
Abstract
This chapter considers the influence of the fiction of classical antiquity on the emergence and form of novelistic texts from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Four distinct forms of ancient prose are identified: Greek epic romance, exemplified by Heliodorus; pseudo-history; Menippean satire, as in Petronius’ Satyricon; and Milesian short, generally lurid tales, such as those of Apuleius’ The Golden Ass. The direct influence of these forms can be traced in the Italian novelle tradition and in French and Italian romance, while François Rabelais was particularly indebted to the Greek satirist Lucian, and Spanish picaresque shared deep affinities with the Roman novel. Greek works began to have a more direct influence on English fiction following their translation in the Elizabethan period, as seen in Sidney and Greene, and classical fiction continued to influence English novels into the eighteenth century, though often indirectly through early modern texts.
Keywords
ancient fiction, classical reception, epic, romance, satire, translation, influence, Heliodorus, Petronius, Apuleius
Date
2018
Type
Book chapter
Journal
Book
The Oxford History of the Novel in English: Volume 1: Prose Fiction in English from the Origins of Print to 1750
Volume
Issue
Page Range
123-145
Article Number
ACU Department
Faculty of Education and Arts
Collections
Relation URI
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled