Anonymous, The Old English Apollonius of Tyre

Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast)

Ed. by Hugh Magennis, Queen's University Belfast
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.01: English Writing and Culture: Old English, 500-1066.
Vol. editors: Richard William Dance (University of Cambridge), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1000

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Romance

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

The Old English prose text

Apollonius of Tyre

is a translation from Latin into the vernacular of a tale of romance that was widely known in the Middle Ages and later. It is a tale of love and adventure, set in the pagan mediterranean world of classical antiquity, with exciting episodes involving shipwreck, piracy, separation and reunion, and supernatural intervention. As such,

Apollonius of Tyre

conforms closely to the conventions of the popular genre of Greek romance, which developed in the late classical period. It is not known whether

Apollonius

itself was originally written in Greek, since early texts of the romance are known only in Latin, but whether composed originally in Greek or Latin,

Apollonius

amply demonstrates the hallmarks of romance, and it provided diverting entertainment…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

630 words

Citation: Magennis, Hugh. "The Old English Apollonius of Tyre". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 April 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11995, accessed 21 November 2024.]

Anonymous, The Old English Apollonius of Tyre

Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

Resources

Save this article

Leave Feedback