An epigram in the Palatine Anthology, attributed to Photius, patriarch of Constantinople, but by some to Leon the philosopher gives a bird’s eye view of the story.[141]
“The story of Clitophon reveals to the eyes, as it were, a bitter love but a virtuous life. The very virtuous life of Leucippe puts all in ecstasy, (for the story tells) how she was beaten and shorn of her hair and clothed pitiably, and—the greatest point—having died three times she endured to the end. And if you too wish to be virtuous, friend, do not consider the side issues of the plot, but learn first the outcome of the story, for it joins in marriage those who love sanely.”
For the expansion of this epitome it is necessary to have before us a list of the many characters in the romance.
_Clitophon_, a Greek of Tyre, son of Hippias _Leucippe_, daughter of Sostratus of Byzantium, the uncle of Clitophon _Clinias_ of Sidon, cousin of Clitophon _Chaereas_ of Pharos, a fisherman _Melitte_, a woman of Ephesus _Thersander_, the husband of Melitte _Callisthenes_ of Byzantium _Calligone_, the half-sister of Clitophon
_Sostratus_, of Byzantium, father of Leucippe _Panthea_, his wife _Hippias_, a Tyrian, father of Clitophon and Calligone _Charicles_, the _amicus_ of Clinias _Menelaus_, an Egyptian _Sosthenes_, the bailiff of Thersander _Satyrus_, a slave of Clitophon _Clio_, Leucippe’s chambermaid, in love with Satyrus _Charmides_, an Egyptian general _Gorgias_, an Egyptian soldier
For the plot I condense Phillimore’s well-written summary.[142] The author begins with a description of Sidon. He has reached Sidon in his travels and is touring the city, looking at the temples. He describes a painting of Zeus and Europa, also a statue of Eros. He was reflecting on the Eros: “Think of such a brat being lord of earth and sea!” When a young man near testifies to Eros’ power which he has felt, the author invites him to tell his story. In a Platonic scene under a plane-tree near a stream they sit down.
The stranger, Clitophon, a Greek of Tyre, tells his story in the first person. Clitophon has been unwillingly betrothed at nineteen to his half-sister, Calligone. Now his uncle, Sostratus, writes that he is sending his daughter Leucippe and her mother from their home in Byzantium to Tyre for safety during a war. Clitophon at once falls in love with Leucippe. He makes his cousin, Clinias, his confidant. Clinias is sympathetic because he had a tragic love affair with a youth who was killed by a fall from a horse which Clinias gave him. (Here is introduced a purple patch on the driving accident.)