The Medieval Greek Romance.

Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (...), 1989. XVII,261p. Hard bound. Cover and spine gilt titled. ?The genre of the novel/romance appeared in late antiquity and became extremely popular; its popularity extended into the Byzantine period, almost without interruption; some ancient novelists, such as Heliodorus, were admired in Greece throughout the Middle Ages. Moreover, the Byzantines eventually developed their own genre of the novel. The study of this genre had been rather neglected by nineteenth-century scholars. (?) The serious study of the ancient and medieval Greek novels began in the last thirty to forty years, and research in this popular genre has been growing steadily. (?) In spite of this scholarly attention, however, the Byzantine novels/romances are not as well known as their ancient predecessors. (?) Professor Beaton, the well-known scholar of medieval and modern Greek literature, has put us all in his debt by producing this informative, albeit slim, volume on this neglected topic. His book is meticulously researched, highly readable, and extremely well organized. It formally covers the period from 1071 to 1453, but through constant reference to the Hellenistic predecessor of the Byzantine novel and to its modern Greek successors a larger period is in fact examined. Even though we are told that this study is intended for the nonspecialist, it will be of immense value to specialists.? (MARIOS PHILIPPIDES in Speculum, 1993, p.105).