Love at First Sight
in the
Greek Novels
and
Bollywood
Dr Regine May
r.may@leeds.ac.uk
1st June 2012
Greek Novels
• Chaereas and Kallirhoe by
Chariton of Aphrodisias
• An Ephesian Tale (or
Anthia and Habrokomes)
by Xenophon of Ephesus
• Leukippe and Kleitophon
by Achilles Tatius
• Daphnis and Chloe by
Longus
• An Ethiopian Story
(Chariklea and
Theagenes) by Heliodorus
Greek Novels: The General Plot
•
•
•
•
Boy meets girl: love at first sight
Couple gets separated
Love for each other remains constant
End: the couple lives happily ever after.
Bollywood Films:
Sholay 1975 – “Curry Western”
Mughal-E-Azam 1960 –
Historical Epic
Bollywood: The General Plot
•
•
•
•
Boy meets girl: love at first sight
Couple gets separated
Love for each other remains constant
End: the couple lives happily ever after.
Escapism & Exotic Locations
Greek Novels:
Athens, Sicily, Egypt, Aethiopia, Persia,
Mediterranean
Greek Novel: Ekphrasis
Heliodorus, Aethiopian Story 10.27
… they brought various gifts, including a specimen of an unusual and bizarre
kind of animal: in size it stood as tall as a camel, buts hide as marked with
garish leopard spots. Its hindquarters and rear parts were squat and
leonine, but its withers, forelegs, and chest were disproportionately taller
than the rest of its anatomy. Notwithstanding the bulk of the rest of its
body, its neck was as slender and elongated as the crop of a swan. In
appearance its head was like a camel’s, in size not quite twice that of a
Libyan ostrich. Its eyes were rimmed with a black line like mascara and
darted hither and thither with an expression of pompous disdain. Even its
method of locomotion was unique, since it rolled from side to side like a
ship at sea, in a manner quite unlike any other creature, terrestrial or
aquatic: it did not advance each of its legs individually, in rotation, but its
two right legs moved forward in unison, separately from the two left legs,
which also functioned as a distinct pair, thus leaving each side of its body
in turn without support. It was so halting in its gait and so docile in its
temperament that its keeper could lead it on a slender cord wound around
its neck, and it obeyed the directions of his will as if it were a chain that
brooked no disobedience.
Escapism & Exotic Locations
Song sequences: Kabhi Khushi Kabhie
Gham 2001
From Chandni Chowk to Egypt...
and back
Inset Tales
Aaja Nachle 2007 (inset tale: Layla &
Majnun)
Devdas 2002 (inset tales in song
sequences: Krishna & Radha for the songs
Bairi Piya and Kaahe Chhed Mohe)
Inset Tales
Longus, Daphnis and Chloe 1.27 (one of 3 myths reflecting and
commenting on the love story)
One day, a wood pigeon pleased them by singing a pastoral
song from the wood. When Chloe wanted to know what its
song meant, Daphnis taught her, telling her a story that had
often been told.
“There was a young girl, young girl, as beautiful as you are; and
she had a herd, like you, keeping many cows in a wood. She
was a beautiful singer too, and her cows enjoyed her singing.
She managed her herd without hitting them with a stick or
prodding them with a goad; sitting under a pine and garlanded
with pine, she sang the story of Pan and Pitys, and the cows
stayed close to hear her voice. There was a boy who kept a
herd of cows not far away…
Social Status and Caste
Devdas 2002: Devdas = zamindar; Paro’s mother = dancing girl
Veer Zaara 2004:
Veer = Sikh brought up by Indian Hindus;
Zaara brought up by strict Muslim
Pakistanis
Social Status I
Longus 3.25: Chloe has higher status than Daphnis
This summer, there were a great number of suitors
after Chloe; many of them, from many different
places, visited Dryas, asking to marry her; some
brought a present with them; others promised big
presents if they won her. Nape was buoyed up by
hopes; her advice was to give Chloe away and not
to keep a girl of her age at home. […] they should
make her mistress of a house and make a good
deal of money themselves and keep it for their own
real son. […] Dryas was sometimes attracted by
these arguments; for gifts were being named by
each of the suitors that were greater than one would
expect for a shepherd girl.
Social Status II
Longus 4.23
[Daphnis and Chloe are foundlings brought up together and
very much in love. Believed to be slaves, but then
Daphnis is recognised as the master’s long lost son]
They all started throwing their arms around him,
kissing him, happy and weeping at once. But he
embraced his father and mother before the others;
he held them to his breast and was unwilling to
leave their arms as if he had known the truth for a
long time. So quickly can nature win our trust! He
even forgot about Chloe for a moment.
Love at First Sight: Chariton 1.1
[During a public festival for Aphrodite, the goddess of
love]
Now, chance would have it that at the
corner of a narrow street the two walked
straight into each other; the god had
contrived the meeting so that each
should see the other. At once they were
both smitten with love … beauty had met
nobility.
Chaereas, so stricken, could barely make
his way home; he was like a hero
mortally wounded in battle, too proud to
fall but too weak to stand. The girl
[Kallirhoe], for her part, fell at Aphrodite’s
feet and kissed them. “Mistress,” she
cried “give me the man you showed me
for my husband!”
Love at First Sight:
Xenophon of Ephesus 1.3
[after a public festival for Artemis, the patron goddess of the city]
And so when the procession was over, the whole crowd went into the
temple for the sacrifice, and the files broke up; men and women and
girls and boys came together. Then they saw each other, and Anthia
was captivated by Habrokomes, while Love got the better of
Habrokomes. He kept looking at the girl and in spite of himself could
not take his eyes off her. Love held him fast and pressed home his
attack. And Anthia too was in a bad way, as she let his appearance
sink in, with rapt attention and eyes wide open…
Love at First Sight: Heliodorus 3.5
For at the moment when they
[Theagenes and Charikleia] set
eyes on one another, the young
pair fell in love, as if the soul
recognised its kin at the very first
encounter and sped to meet that
which was worthily its own. For a
brief second full of emotion they
stood motionless; then slowly, so
slowly, she handed him the torch
and he took it from her, and all
the while they gazed hard into
one another’s eyes, as if calling
to mind a previous acquaintance
or meeting. Then they smiled a
fleeting, furtive smile, discernible
only as a slight softening of their
expressions. And then they
blushed, as if they were
embarrassed at what had
occurred…
His Love at First Sight
Veer rescues Zaara from the abyss
(she is not looking at him)
His Love at First Sight
Rahul falls in love with Anjali at first
sight. Anjali thinks he is either her
cousin’s fiancé or out to steal her
shop…
His Love at First Sight:
Main Hoon Na 2001
The new Chemistry teacher walks into the school…
…and Ram hears violins whenever he sees her
Love at First Sight (for Kleitophon)
Achilles Tatius 1.4
[Kleitophon narrates how he first sees Leukippe]
While I was directing my attention to her [i.e. Leukippe’s mother], there
appeared on her left a young maiden. Her face flashed on my eyes
like lightning. […] delightfully animated yes; light blond hair – blond
and curly; black eyebrows – jet black; white cheeks – a white that
glowed to red in the center like the crimson laid on ivory by Lydian
craftswomen. Her mouth was a rose caught at the moment when it
begins to part its petal lips. As soon as I had seen her, I was lost.
[he contrives to have Leukippe overhear a discussion he has with a slave friend
on the nature of love]
Achilles Tatius 1.19
I was looking at the young lady [Leukippe] to see how she reacted to
my lesson on love. She discreetly indicated that she had not been
displeased by my discourse. The radiant beauty of the peacock
struck me less forcefully than that glance from Leukippe.
Love Rivals
Chariton: Dionysios, the whole harem of the
King of Persia
Xenophon of Ephesus: pirates, robbers,
everybody who sees the lovers
Longus: various shepherds, intruders from
the city, pirates
Heliodorus: pirates, (ex-)friends, relatives,
wives of high placed Egyptian officials
Love Triangles
Devdas 2002: Devdas is torn between Parvati
and Chandramukhi
Lagaan 2001: Gauri and Elizabeth are rivals
for Bhuvan’s heart
Nice Love Rivals
Taal 1999: The not unsympathetic Vikrant Kapoor never
manages to stop Mansi from loving Manav
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai 1998:
Once Anjali’s not unsympathetic fiancé realises that
she is in love with her childhood sweetheart, he
hands her over to him – during their wedding
ceremony!
Love Rivals
Mughal-E-Azam 1960: the jealous Bahar
tries to destroy the love between
Prince Salim and Anarkali
Love Rivals
Devdas 2002: Parvati’s evil son-in-law
makes indecent passes at her and
offends Chandramukhi
Becoming an Adult Greek
Chariton: Chareas turns from a young
ephebe who cannot control his anger into
a celebrated general
Becoming a Responsible Householder
Falling in love means growing up for
Prince Salim, Raj and Rahul – through
love, travel, and occasionally war.
Reaffirming Indian Identity
Kabhi Khushi Khabie
Gham 2001: Anjali
falls for the hero once
he wears Indian
clothes…
...while her younger
sister (temporarily)
loses her Indian
identity and her
niceness in her
London exile…
Reaffirming Indian Identity
… but
everything
is all right
in the end:
the girls
wear saris
& shalwar
kameez for
the family
photo
Arranged Marriages
Kabhi Khushi Khabie Gham 2001:
Anjali’s cousin has a very happy arranged marriage
Ancient Greek Novels to modern
Bollywood
Separate Journeys
Different languages
Unique cultures
Diverse media
One story. A human story. A story of Love