Longos

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Longos (Greek Λόγγος, in Latin : Longus ) was an ancient Greek writer . He is the author of the famous pastoral and love novel Daphnis and Chloe and the Second Sophistic .

Life

We don't know anything about his life. All speculations about his origin are based on his only work, the novel Daphnis and Chloe , which is set on the island of Lesbos . Hence it was sometimes called "Longos of Lesbos". The origin cannot be proven by anything, so the name is out of date. Nonetheless, Longos seems to have known the topography of Lesbos well, as can be seen from the distances and descriptions in his novel.

The lifetime of Longo can only be deduced from his novel, whose writing time is generally set to the end of the 2nd century AD due to stylistic and content-related features as well as some realities.

Surname

The name Longos was common in ancient times and is also evidenced by inscriptions from Lesbos. Although the name Longos is widely recognized today for the author of Daphnis and Chloe , there have been doubts as to its authenticity. We only have two manuscripts in which the novel has survived. The Codex Vaticanus offers the following heading of the first book of the novel: ΛΟΓΓΟΥ ΠΟΙΜΕΝΙΚΩΝ ΤΩΝ ΚΑΤΑ ΔΑΦΝΙΝ ΚΑΙ ΧΛΟΗΝ ΛΟΓΟΣ ΠΡΩΤΟΣ , thus: "Des Longo's shepherd's stories about Daphnis and Chloe, first book". The Codex Florentinus offers instead of ΛΟΓΓΟΥ as an indication of the author ΛΟΓΟΥ , thus "the logo". However, since the Codex Olomucensis, which contains an excerpt from the novel, also refers to the author as Longos, the Codex Florentinus will be a transcription error.

plant

In his novel, Longos mixes elements of the ancient love and adventure novel with motifs from the bucolic and develops his own kind of poetry in prose. The author puts a style in the mouth of the narrator, the simplicity of which corresponds to the protagonists, the simple shepherds. But he refines this with virtuoso rhythms and numerous end rhymes.

Daphnis and Chloe are abandoned as infants by their wealthy parents and found by shepherds. At the beginning of the plot he is 15 years old, she is 13. Both grow up together in mutual and unsuspicious affection. The development of this affection for love is the main theme of the novel. In Longos' work, the god of love, Eros, also acts as a source of impetus for poetry, and that is why the novel is dedicated to him. The kidnappings by pirates and other antagonists, who otherwise represent a driving element of the ancient novels, are indeed present in Longos, but they do not lead to extensive wanderings, but rather strengthen our lovers on their inner journey to achieve true love. Finally the rich parents are found and the lovers are allowed to marry happily. Nevertheless, Daphnis and Chloe do not give up the simple pastoral life.

Editions and translations

The authoritative text-critical edition is that of Michael D. Reeve (Teubner Leipzig 1982). The classic translation into German is that of Friedrich Jacobs (Stuttgart 1832). A widely used and often reissued translation is that by Otto Schönberger (Tusculum Collection, first Berlin 1960). In 1987 the Budé Collection published the edition with a French translation by J.-R. Vieillefond. The 2009 edition with English translation by Jeffrey Henderson was published in the Loeb Classical Library. The German translation, which also imitates the rhymes and the rhythm, is that of Ondřej Cikán and Georg Danek (Vienna, Prague 2018).

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Longos  - Sources and full texts

Remarks

  1. ↑ S. z. B. Ondřej Cikán / Georg Danek (eds., Transl., Comm.): Longos: Daphnis and Chloë - A poetic romance novel , Vienna and Prague 2018, p. 302.
  2. ↑ S. Michael D. Reeve (ed.): Longus: Daphnis et Chloe , Leipzig 1994 (3rd edition), p. 1.
  3. ↑ S. z. B. Ondřej Cikán / Georg Danek (eds., Transl., Comm.): Longos: Daphnis and Chloë - A poetischer Liebesroman , Vienna and Prague 2018, esp. Pp. 288–289.
personal data
SURNAME Longos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Longus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek author
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd century
DATE OF DEATH 2nd century or 3rd century