Leucippe Takes Refuge in a Sanctuary of Artemis

Abstract

Abstract author: Virtually nothing is known about the author. The text itself can be dated, on the basis of several ancient papyrus fragments, to the second century c.e. The plot of the novel conforms to the basic ancient Greek romance (see comments at entry 23). translation: John J. Winkler, in B. P. Reardon, ed., Collected Ancient Greek Novels (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989). text: LCL (S. Gaselee, 1917; rev. ed., 1969); E. Vilborg, ed., Achilles Tatius: “Leucippe and Clitophon,” 2 vols. (Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell 1955–62). bibliography: See entry 23. And so, since the sanctuary of Artemis was close to the estate, she ran to it and took refuge in the temple. From ancient days this temple had been forbidden to free women who were not virgins. Only men and virgins were permitted here. If a nonvirgin woman passed inside, the penalty was death, unless she was a slave accusing her master, in which case she was allowed to beseech the goddess, and the magistrates would hear the case between her and her master. If the master had in fact done no wrong, he recovered his maidservant, swearing that he would not bear a grudge for her flight. If it was decided that the serving girl had a just case, she remained there as a slave to the goddess.