Peculiarities of the non-Greek world in Heliodorus’ Aethiopica

Abstract

All that was non-Greek, strange, and exotic regarding people and their environment was also always a point of interest in Greek literature. That interest got a new stimulus in the Hellenistic times, and was still vivid at the end of Antiquity, and in the novel, as well. As an example we may mention the Ethiopian Story of Heliodorus, and his novel is the main point of interest of this article. I discuss in it some characteristic places, that show the non-Greek world, its variety and peculiarities. They refer to the nature and its phenomena, to the world of plants and animals, and to the customs of various nations, mostly from the area of Egypt, and Ethiopia. In conclusion, I pay attention to the superiority of Greek world in Heliodorus’ novel in comparison with non-Greek.