Melitte, czyli apologia kobiecości w Opowieści o Leukippe i Klejtofoncie Achilleusa Tationa
Melite, or an Apology of Womanhood as Presented in The Story of Leucippe and Clitophon by Achilles Tatius

Summary/Abstract: In the plot of The Story of Leucippe and Clitophon by Achilles Tatius Melite, a heroine pictured quite differently than women in all other ancient Greek novels, plays an important role. This article attempts at answering these three questions: first, which aspects are decisive when it comes to the originality of the female portrait of interest to us; second, what the function of this portrait is; and finally, whether this portrait decodes the meanings significant for a broader discussion on the stereotypical and critical portrait of womanhood in the Greek literary tradition. The analysis of the novel in question allows us to formulate a thesis that the originality of Melite’s portrait is closely connected to its realistic and moralistic traits, these being an effect of a game of character types and gender standard which the novel’s author plays with the audience. For the purpose of attaining the expected effect the intertextual associations with the novel Callirhoe by Chariton and Plutarch’s Amatorius have also been taken into consideration.

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