Personae romanesques.Voix enchassees comme miroir de l'auteur-narrateur

Abstract

Two specificities distinguish Leucippe and Clitophon from the other sentimental Greek novels: the narrative is effectuated by the hero himself and includes numerous excursuses by the narrator and by other figures. Focusing on the narrative digressions by characters, this contribution proposes a panoramic view of them according to the order in which they appear in the novel. Thus, various progressive movements are individualized: on the one hand, the digressions characterize, and even favour Clitophon’s ‘I’ qua character; on the other, it is rather his ‘I’ of narrator which is given a higher profile; yet, the latter is finally subordinated to the enhancement of Leucippe and Clitophon, a work by another ‘I’, Achilles Tatius.