Paper short abstract:

Greek novel was a literary genre developed during the Hellenistic age. Though it was a genre created for girls, it shows us how easily people could travel around different regions of the Mediterranean.

Paper long abstract:

By the end of Hellenistic age the Greeks developed a new literary genre: the novel. At least five of these novels arrived to nowadays. These are simple stories, whose main characters are usually a young couple, who fall in love with each other. Yet, a series of circumstances take them apart, travelling around the Hellenistic world, suffering all sorts of adventures, distresses and even harassment until they meet again and live happily for ever.

This genre illustrates, on the one hand, some of the policy of Alexander, when he built his empire: the cultural unity of Greece, Macedonia and the other Hellenistic Kingdoms. But, on the other hand, it illustrates the difference between Classical and Hellenistic Greece. It also constitutes a way of telling the readers about the different habits of people living around the Mediterranean.

This paper intends to show how relevant Greek novel can be as a way to describe Greek life in the Hellenistic age.