“For They Suddenly Attacked Me Like Wolves”: The Topos of Abduction in Late Byzantine Romance

Narratives frequently portray abduction either as the forced kidnapping of a noblewoman who is unwilling to marry or as the consensual elopement of two lovers who marry against their relativesʼ wishes. Due to the widespread popularity of Arthurian legends, which include the story of Guinevereʼs abduction — echoed in the 12th-century French romance Lancelot, ou Le Chevalier à la charrette, as well as in 12th-century Middle High German romances Iwein and Lanzelet and the 14th-century English romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, to mention but a few — the phenomenon has been classified as a literary topos. In Greek literature, the abduction of Helen of Sparta, as described in Homerʼs Iliad, exemplifies the use of the thematic device. Since ancient epic, it has been a recurring motif in Hellenistic and Komnenian novels and Late Byzantine romances. This contribution investigates the topos of abduction in a corpus of six Late Byzantine romances, including the mid-13th-century Livistros and Rhodamne, the second half of the 13th-century The War of Troy, the late 13th-century Velthandros and Chrysantza, as well as The Tale of Achilles, the first half of the 14th-century Kallimachos and Chrysorrhoe, and the second half of the 14th-century Florios and Platziaflore. First, it explores how the characters are translated from their natural environment to a foreign one, and how they adapt to the new surroundings, as well as how the new surroundings accept the characters. Second, it examines the cognitive aspect of this translation, which, by enabling otherwise impossible interactions within the storyworld, displays a potential to evoke a range of emotions, including suspense and empathy, in the audience.