American Journal of Philology

I argue that the tragic allusions in Chariton, Callirhoe 2.9.3 (to Euripides, Medea) and 3.8.8 (to Sophocles, Ajax 550-51), are to be read in combination with a hitherto unnoticed verbatim citation of a portion of Euripides, Heracles 1307-8 at Chariton 3.10.6. These three allusions occur in speeches by the novel's heroine and have a more or less obvious connection to the surrounding context and thereby lend a clearly tragic tone to Callirhoe's situation. Both individually and taken together, however, they have deeper resonances and introduce complex thematic interplay among child-murder, suicide, heroism, and redemption.