Milesian tale

TheMilesian tale(Greek:Μιλησιακά,Milesiaka;Latin:fabula milesiaca,orMilesiae fabula) is a genre of fictional story prominent inancient GreekandRoman literature.According to most authorities, a Milesian tale is ashort story,fable,orfolktalefeaturing love and adventure, usually of aneroticor titillating nature.

This resulted in "a complicated narrative fabric: a travelogue carried by a main narrator with numerous subordinate tales carried by subordinate narrative voices". The best complete example of this would beApuleius'sThe Golden Ass,a Roman novel written in the second century of theCommon Era.Apuleius introduces his novel with the words "At ego tibi sermone isto Milesio varias fabulas conseram" ( "But let me join together different stories in that Milesian style" ),which suggests not each story is a Milesian tale, but rather the entire joined-together collection. The idea of the Milesian tale also served as a model for the episodic narratives strung together inPetronius'sSatyricon.

Aristides'sMilesian Tale

The nameMilesian taleoriginates from theMilesiakaofAristides of Miletus(Greek:Ἀριστείδης ὁ Μιλήσιος;fl. 2nd century BCE), who was a writer of shameless and amusing tales notable for their salacious content and unexpected plot twists. Aristides set his tales inMiletus,which had a reputation for a luxurious, easy-going lifestyle, akin to that ofSybarisinMagna Graecia;there is no reason to think that he was in any sense "of" Miletus himself.

Later, in the first century BCE, the serious-minded historianLucius Cornelius Sisennatranslated Aristides intoLatinunder the titleMilesiae fabulae(Milesian Fables) for an intellectual relaxation. Through this Latin translation of the work, the term "Milesian tale" gained currency in the ancient world. Milesian tales quickly gained a reputation forribaldry:Ovid,inTristia,contrasts the boldness of Aristides and others with his ownArs Amatoria,for which he was punished by exile. In the dialogue on the kinds of love,Erotes,Lucian of Samosata—if in fact he was the author—praised Aristides in passing, saying that after a day of listening to erotic stories he felt like Aristides, "that enchanting spinner of bawdy yarns". This suggests that the lostMilesiakahad for its framing device Aristides himself, retelling what he had been hearing of the goings-on at Miletus.

Plutarch,in hisLife of Crassus,explains that, after thedefeat of Carrhaein 53 BCE, some Milesian fables were found in the baggage of the Parthians' Roman prisoners.

Legacy

AByzantinemosaic depicting a scene fromThe Golden AssbyLucius Apuleius

Though the idea of the Milesian tale served as a model for the episodic narratives strung together inTheSatyriconbyGaius Petronius ArbiterandThe Golden AssbyLucius Apuleius(second century CE),neither Aristides's originalGreektext nor the Latin translation survived. The lengthiest survivor from this literature is the tale of "Cupid and Psyche",found in Apuleius, whichSir Richard Burtonobserved, "makes us deeply regret the disappearance of the others".

Aristidean saucy and disreputable heroes and spicy, fast-paced anecdote resurfaced in the medievalfabliaux.Chaucer's "The Miller's Tale"is in Aristides' tradition.

M. C. Howatson, inThe Oxford Companion to Classical Literature(1989), voiced the traditional view the Milesian tale is the source "of such medieval collections of tales as theGesta Romanorum,theDecameronofBoccaccio,and theHeptameronofMarguerite of Navarre".

Gottskálk Jensson of theUniversity of Copenhagen,Denmark,however, offered a dissenting view or corrective, arguing the original Milesian tale was: "a type of first-person novel, atraveloguetold from memory by anarratorwho every now and then would relate how he encountered other characters who told him stories which he would then incorporate into the main tale through therhetoricaltechnique of narrative impersonation ".

In 2010, Nicholas Chong published retold Milesian tales in his book "The Milesian and Malesian Tales",in which he mentions an Arcadian human sacrifice.