It is a common misunderstanding to situate the origin of the novel in early 18th-century English literature. For precisely the most accomplished and important representative thereof, Henry Fielding (1707-1754) with his Tom Jones in particular, can be shown to have been rooted, and most deeply at that, in the history of the European novel since Greek and Roman antiquity. The study uncovers these roots and traces this history from the 2nd century onward, discussing, on the one hand, Heliodorus s Aithiopika (-Egyptian Stories-) and, on the other, Apuleius s Asinus aureus...
It is a common misunderstanding to situate the origin of the novel in early 18th-century English literature. For precisely the most accomplished and i...
