Byzantine Novel: Drosilla & Charikles

"I went then, running in front,in order to have a good place to see the girls dancing together. there I saw the moon down on the earth, moving in a circle together with the stars; such was Drosilla among the dancing girls." Know for its sensitive representations of the endearing love of a young man, and woman, Drosilla and Charikles is one of four existing Byzantine Greek novels, and the first one to be translated into English. Written in the 12th century, during the time of the crusades, these novels revived the pagan Greek world, with its pagan gods and beliefs, but also reflected the customs and beliefs of their own time.

Drosilla and Charikles is a novel chock-full of love songs and letters, lyrical passages and pastoral motifs, and features characters that include stern parents, pirates who capture and separate lovers, a best friend with his own tragic love story, a helpful old woman, an inn-keeper's son inept at wooing, and a traveling merchant who offers salvation. Christian themes and imagery also come into play.

The Bilingual Edition includes:

• Introduction
• Aids to reading comprehension:
• Alphabetical list of characters
• List of characters by relationship
• List of gods and legendary figures
• Select places and people
• Greek text with facing English translation
• Explanatory notes on the English translation
• Bibliography