This book comprises a new and exciting collection of critical work on the ancient Greek novel. It offers students and researchers twelve of the most influential studies of recent years together with an introduction, by the editor, which explores the nature of the Greek novel in its historical context.

The Readings are in two sections. The first examines aspects which are common to several or all of the novels, for example, themes and plots; the portrayal of emotions; the role of the countryside; female readers and characters; and the 'historical novel'. The second section contains studies of the narrative and plot of Chariton, the genre of and literary responses to Longus, Achilles Tatius' ego-narrative, the narrative technique and message of Heliodorus, and the humour found in Lucian's A True Story. Six of these pieces have been translated for the first time from French, German, and Italian, thereby bringing some of the best of European scholarship to an Anglophone audience. The most important Greek quotations have been rendered into English making these texts easily accessible to readers without Greek.