Abstract

ROJAS ALVAREZ, Lourdes. Jamblichus’ Babyloniaká. A sui generis Erotic Novel. Nova tellus [online]. 2016, vol.34, n.2, pp.39-52. ISSN 0185-3058.  https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.nt.2016.34.2.741.

Iamblichus’ Babyloniaká was written in the Second Century and resumed by Photius in his Bibliotheca (Cod. 94). Classified among the erotic novels, it shares with them many elements: adventures of the protagonists, persecutions, apparent deaths, confusion of characters, second wedding of the female protagonist, letters and astonishing events (mirabilia).

The argument has as a back-set the persecution of the protagonists, instructed by King Garmos, which also combines a series of episodes in a fictional tyme that seems short but that is interrupted by numerous digressions. The aim of this article is to present the above mentioned characteristics of the novel and offer different passages by which we can get a clearer idea of this piece of literature, very popular in its time, as the inmense amount of quotes from the Suda show, detaching its lexical richness.

Keywords : Greek Novel; Iamblichus; Babyloniaká.