text:
Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Countering systemic bias/Archive 1

Venn

Image:Crossbow_diagram.png: I don't really care about the outdated name of this, but the image itself needs to be altered to remove the word "CROSSBOW" (in "Area targetted by CROSSBOW": should just be "Area targetted"). Can someone take this on? I'd really like to see this already dealt with before we publicly announce this as a WikiProject. -- Jmabel 23:21, Oct 4, 2004 (UTC)

 * I hope this isn't a controversial idea, but can we just abandon the image -- I just don't like the whole idea of a "weapon" "targetting" certain deficient areas as a metaphor for improving Wikipedia. Thanks, BCorr | Брайен 00:15, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * I agree though could there be another image somewhere to break the text up? That's perhaps a more controversial idea than getting rid of this one... -- Graham  ☺ | Talk 00:20, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)

As far as I'm concerned, feel free to do whatever. The same Venn diagram minus the military metaphor would be fine by me, but so would all sorts of things. And if someone can identify some appropriate existing images to add, please go for it. -- Jmabel 00:50, Oct 5, 2004 (UTC)

New image:

 * I'm not totally sure I understand the Venn diagram right, but to me it seems to imply that an "Ent" article does not belong in an "imaginary ideal" Wikipedia. Although I do understand the arguments that could be made for this position, I think there is a serious risk that such a position becomes the target of a lot of criticism that would divert attention from the main purpose of this project. Which, in my interpretation, is to expand the Wikipedia, not to single out existing articles that we want to take away. Alarm 23:14, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Though there hasn't been much criticism from people within the project, it may put off people joining. I don't know. I thought it got the point across, in an easy to understand way. I'm not suggesting Ent should be removed - Wikipedia will always have that "bulge". --Xed 03:36, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

"would normally be longer"
I've taken the liberty of deleting from the list of the concerns of this project the phrase "Subjects which would normally be longer in other encyclopaedias." It's awfully vague, and I don't think it's useful. I've added one remark, reminding people that there already is a Requests for expansion. -- Jmabel 00:02, Oct 5, 2004 (UTC)

Comments eagerly solicited
I've done about what I can to set this up as a project. My inclination is to give about 48 hours for comments and revisions by the other people who have been actively involved in this, then announce it on the Village Pump, link it into the list of WikiProjects, maybe even add it to the template on maintenance tasks (what do people think of this last possibility)?

Anyway, I've put most of today into putting this together. It's time for someone else to weigh in. -- Jmabel 00:48, Oct 5, 2004 (UTC)

"Third World"
Can I just point out that the term "Third World" is very US/Euro-centric and is frowned upon by globalist organisations/academics. Alternatives include "The South", "Majority World" and "Developing World"; can we agree on standard alternative to use, please? -- Graham ☺ | Talk 00:51, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * "Developing world" is a good alternative. [[User:Poccil|Peter O. (Talk)]] 03:03, Oct 5, 2004 (UTC)

 * Fine by me. -- Jmabel 05:58, Oct 5, 2004 (UTC)

Page title move to: WikiProject Countering systemic bias
Before we go live could we move this page to:

WikiProject Countering systemic bias

so it is in line with usual WikiProject naming conventions, i.e. WikiProject Animals etc. "WikiProject" is a like a pseudo namespace, so the first letter should be capitalized, then subsequent letters in lowercase. --Lexor|Talk 08:09, Oct 6, 2004 (UTC)
 * Makes sense, done. -- Solitude 09:30, Oct 6, 2004 (UTC)

Template update
I have tried to incorporate the garish table above into the existing template design. It needs a lot of work design-wise. Anyone with the knowledge can try and make it look better. One thing that needs doing is making the "Country carousel" block a different color from the "Voted items" block. Leave comments and suggestions below.---Xed 02:03, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Here are some open tasks in the project on countering systemic bias: Feel free to edit or discuss this list.

I think this is way too many topics to be worth listing at once on a to-do list. Are we suggesting that we will meaningfully take on, as a group, in the near future, a number of unrelated topics exceeding our number of participants? -- Jmabel 02:19, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC)
 * well, tell me what you think would work - a 4 x 4 grid, with 2 cols country carousel, and 2 cols of voted?--Xed 02:37, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * Cut the voted items back to no more than 8 at time. (so I guess 2 columns in this arrangement)
 * Use background color to make it clear that the columns in the country carousel are meaningful. No loss of information, but fewer separate items for the eye to grasp.
 * No need to mention Congo Civil War as a voted item when it's already our current collaboration.
 * Also, in my experience, it's easier to get a group to maintain a table with meaningful rows than with meaningful columns, because the related data is all together in the source. You might want to rearrange this so that the countries each ger a row rather than a column. And then, instead of needing each item to be in a separate column, they could just be free form. I'll take a shot at this, but thought I'd get my comments up here first. -- Jmabel 02:48, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC)

Since we seem to be in agreement about the general layout, I'll confine myself to showing what we could do with the grid. Keeping the "columns" approach, but reducing number of topics and adding color:

-- Jmabel 03:07, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC)

Making rows rather than columns meaningful and using free form as appropriate:

 * }

In fact, now that I look at it, this might even let us get back to as many items as you had in the first place without it being confusing (although that still might be an awful lot to list as we launch this. Separate issues). -- Jmabel 03:29, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC)

This may not be perfect, but it's better than what I did before, so I will revise Template:WikiProjectCSBTasks accordingly. -- Jmabel 06:29, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC)

Good work. I've simplified the code a bit, padded the cells, added categories to the carousel, and made carousel and voted items to diff color blocks, and turned the carousel items into a plain list. ---Xed 12:12, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Suggested direction
This is a rough idea of how I see the project working. Ethan Zuckerman (weblog) has supplied us with a list of countries that he has calculated receive least attention, using his Global Attention Profile resource:

 * 1) Benin
 * 2) Burkina Faso
 * 3) Burundi
 * 4) Cameroon
 * 5) Central African Republic
 * 6) Chad
 * 7) Comoros
 * 8) Congo Dem. Rep.
 * 9) Congo Rep.
 * 10) Cote d'Ivoire
 * 11) Ethiopia
 * 12) Gambia
 * 13) Georgia
 * 14) Guinea
 * 15) Guinea Bissau
 * 16) Kyrgyzstan
 * 17) Madagascar
 * 18) Malawi
 * 19) Mali
 * 20) Mozambique
 * 21) Myanmar
 * 22) Niger
 * 23) Papua New Guinea
 * 24) Suriname
 * 25) Tajikistan
 * 26) Tanzania
 * 27) Togo
 * 28) Turkmenistan
 * 29) Western Sahara

I suggest the systemic bias section should be a small box be made up of 6 columns, with 5 items in each column. This would be a box on the 'Community portal page'. (A link would go to main page, which would also have this box, as well as more detailed information)

Three of the columns should have as the first item one of the countries above. The remaining items in these columns should relate to this country, with items 2 and 3 being the History and Politics of that country. The next column would have the name of a popular language (other than english) used by Wikipedia (German, Spanish, Japanese etc), and below it 4 subjects which have more detailed entries in that language than in English. The next colum female oriented. The sixth column would be.... I don't know.

So it would look roughly like:

Table design (evolving)

The countries would rotate every week, so that the next group of countries would be Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad. As would the 4th column language. The main page would have more in-depth details, including a list of the above countries, main languages of wikipedia etc--Xed 12:38, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * I think this is an excellent setup. How about putting this in some sort of table, so it can be put up the top of the page? Ambi 12:47, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * While I think Xed's emphasis on the poorest and least represented countries is a valid part of the systemic bias within Wikipedia, it is just one aspect, there are other aspects of systemic bias which are equally important. As I see it this project is a broad church of people interested enough in the problem of systemic bias to do something about it. To my mind Xed's suggestion would make a superb child wikiproject from this one; when we get enough critical mass that we can so to speak procreate; but for the moment lets spend so more time defining the problem space, before we jump to a definitive solution. I rather suspect what we focus on in three months time will be quite different to what we are focusing on now, as we begin to identify the major holes in Wikipedia. :ChrisG 14:24, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * I agree. If you look at the project page, it would appear that women's studies is at least as big an area as countries. Filiocht 14:45, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * From the list, all I conclude is that it is a lot easier to come up with Women and Ethnic Minority subjects that have been underdeveloped, than ones from Africa and Asia. Personally, I am most keen to work on articles on major events in the African and Asian countries mentioned above. Its just I don't know many of them (I guess you'd call it my systematic bias!). Even to produce a list of major areas need knowledge ChrisF 23:25, 5 Oct 2004 (GMT)

 * As far as I can see, Xed's table gives room for both women's and ethnic minority subjects, as well as pursuing the countries that need the most help. One thing which we may want to do here is dig through the histories of the respective national articles, and try and find some of the editors that specialise in that area. They may then be able to help us pinpoint articles that need targeting. I can certainly help with Central Asia in this respect, but we'll need people with the appropriate knowledge to point us in the right direction (like with the Guinea-Bissau civil war) on certain others. Ambi 00:15, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * To me, this seems like an advanced To do-list. As such, it might be useful, since it is quite easy to understand and clear in its priorities. But there are a few things I think need to be discussed further. I don't doubt that the general tendency of Zuckerman's study applies to Wikipedia as well. But if we are going to choose a number of top priority countries, wouldn't it make sense to do it on the basis of their (lack of) Wikipedia coverage, rather than the amount of attention they get in the news media? Judging from a quick look, Mongolia (including History of... and Politics of...) seems about as much in need of attention as Kyrgyzstan.

 * Another thing that is not fully clear to me is how item 4 and 5 in the country column and the items in the "women-oriented" column are to be selected. Does anyone have any thoughts on this process?

 * Regarding the proposed Language column, my first reaction is that very few Wikipedians will be able to do much with a list of articles that are longer in the Japanese Wikipedia. How about asking for translation help on the Wikipedia of the source language in question, rather than on the English Wikipedia? Alarm 00:45, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

See also Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Countering systemic bias/Archive 1.

Incongruity
Does anyone find it incongruous that our countering systemic bias page includes the line "Female oriented/dominated subjects ... Nursing, Fashion" - SimonP 19:38, Oct 6, 2004 (UTC)

 * Yeah, that jarred a bit when I read it. :) But so too did the word "feminism". I wonder if feminist issues might not be one of the best covered of all women-related topics on wikipedia, given that feminism has a reasonably high profile among the majority of wikipedians. I've not checked out my suspicious but I bet that we have massive holes in many areas relating to the history of women and of biographies of women who had nothing to do with feminism, or did not support it.

 * [The word] "feminism" also tends to make people think of western women, and their women's right's movements. We should not forget to seek out notable women, and information on the lives of the whole spectrum of rich/powerful to poor women, who live in the developing world. fabiform | talk 20:26, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * The prime concern is Countering Systemic Bias, which is why female-oriented subjects need addressing, since there are more men than women on Wikipedia. This doesn't automatically mean articles related to Feminism - though of course there are some missing pieces there too. The parochial nature of the women on list on the page (almost all are western) reminds me that western feminists have long been criticised (internally and externally) for seeing non-western woman as a homogenous mass who are simply passive objects and weak victims. The western feminist seems only interested in these women when they fit into this stereotype. Ironically, western feminism is very paternalistic towards non-western women. Elements of patronising racism are probably inherited from the wider western society.---Xed 22:11, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

When is a to-do article done enough?
Thrilled to see this as an official project. Kudos to the organizers!!

I'm working, bit by bit, to improve Smith College. It is by no means done, but I'm pleased to report it is no longer a stub with an unannotated list of alumnae. :) What I'm wondering is, how will we decide when it's good enough to come off of our to-do list here?  And how should I indicate that when/if we do?

I will probably dig into Spelman College next if nobody beats me to it. —Bsktcase 02:32, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * I think we need some way to monitor what we are doing, e.g. stub to article, stub created, featured article status. :ChrisG 04:11, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * I'm hoping the comments area next to each article on the project page will help with this. We'll probably want to "rotate" what gets put on the shorter to-do list. If someone wants to suggest some "canonical" statuses for the comments section (as I did for translation) that would be great. -- Jmabel 05:55, Oct 5, 2004 (UTC)

 * This doesn't really answer your question, but I was visiting a university library yesterday and took the opportunity to look up Tanzania - one of my interests, and various other things, in the print version Encyclopædia Britannica. Most of the country entries that I've looked at in Wikipedia have a very long way to go before they are so complete!

Location of the to-do list
I feel it is important the todo list is the first thing someone sees when browsing the project page; so that potential contributors are can see at one glance that it is an active project and well worth involving themselves with. Usability research on the internet shows very clearly that most people do not scroll down a page, unless their first view of a page grabs their attention. I think the to-do list should be treated as an advertisment as well as active tool. The current location of the to-do list (below the table of contents) means it is out of sight and so out of mind. ChrisG 07:08, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * I suggest placing the to-do list ala the regional noticeboards, with the to-do list at the top of the main page (i.e. Australian wikipedians' notice board, with all the discussions going under that. Ambi 08:51, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * I'd agree. In fact, I think a lot of the project pages could be based on the regional noticeboards. For instance, each project could have a COTW subpage. Filiocht 09:00, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Done. Size of box could be smaller though--Xed 22:36, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

We have COTW, but we don't have any indication of which week (e.g dates). Perhaps we could add a date for this? This gives the immediate impressions, on arriving at the project that there is an active community. It also avoids confusion. cgfoz 12:25, 9th Oct 2004 (GMT)

Current direction of page
I had to return to comment about the astonishing direction the page in taking. The page as it stands is completely contrary to what I envisaged when I started the project. It has been watered down to the point of irrelevance. The idea was to concentrate on subjects which fall OUTSIDE the systemic bias zone. The current page seems mainly about filling some missing pieces INSIDE the zone. The bias noted was primarily towards American, European and Developed Countries. Look at the list of names on the page and you find 95% of them are from these countries! It's a joke. The page should be renamed 'Encouraging Systemic Bias'. Completely contrary to the original idea.

It's as if a botanist, instead of searching far and wide for new plants, has just taken a few steps to the other side of his garden - and then congratulated himself for his adventurousness. Writing about US, Euro and Developed countries and people adds to the bias.

Wikipedia founder Jimbo Wales has said he plans to create a printed version of the Wikipedia to distribute for free in the Developing World. What will people in these countries think when there's more articles on Middle Earth than their own countries? And what will they say if we claim to have tried to address this problem by writing about.... Joan Jett..?

The Guinea-Bissau Civil War doesn't even have it's own article, and has only two or three sentences in the whole of Wikipedia. PJ Harvey has a reasonably large article - and yet we are asked by this page to concentrate on PJ Harvey - it's insane! (and I say that as someone who went to Harveys early gigs)

The idea for the page at the moment seems to be that topics are be chosen on individual basis. Logic dictates that more popular topics will be chosen. Instead of a popularity contest, there needs to be a systematic mechanism for choosing subjects. I have outlined such a mechanism below. A popularity contest just chooses popular subjects - and if you're writing 'against' systemic bias, then who cares about those subjects. --Xed 12:38, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * Xed: I was willing to stay out of the way of what you envisioned if you were willing to follow it through. I still am. I'm not willing to engage repeatedly in debate with someone who wants to sit on the sidelines and tell other people that they are not doing the right work. I literally know nothing about the Guinea-Bissau Civil War. I can't suggest topics I don't know about. I will, of course, add this to the list of suggested articles — it's obviously appropriate — but why didn't you do this yourself?

 * At the time I made up a to-do list, there were exactly two Africa-related topics that anyone had actually suggested in the course of this discussion. The article we singled out for collaboration (Congo Civil War) is one that you and I presumably both agree is a priority. The other was Tuareg), which I also put on the to-do list. If you want to suggest ten, twenty, thirty worthwhile Africa-related topics, great, and I am sure they will get rather high priority. If you want to sit on the sidelines and criticize others for not knowing the terrain well enough to suggest such topics, then you are nothing but a useless scold. And if you want to assert that topics related to women and African-Americans are, in general, adequately covered in Wikipedia, most of my likely responses would violate the code about ad hominem remarks, so I will restrain myself.
 * Let's analyse comparative coverage. Africans-Americans (population 38 million) have a list of 267 individuals (see List_of_African_Americans). The country on my list with a population count similar to African-Americans is Tanzania (population 36 million). There is no List_of_Tanzanians, but I could (with difficulty) find a dozen Tanzanians with articles on Wikipedia. So there is one article for every 142,000 African-Americans, and one article for every 3 million Tanzanians. As another comparison, the US Hispanic population is roughly the same size as the African-American one, yet I would guess there is fewer articles on US Hispanic people than African-Americans. My analysis should give you an idea of priorities.--Xed 10:23, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * Again, if you want to actively contribute in areas related to the developing world, great! If you want to suggest topics in that realm fine. If you want to sit on the sidelines and heckle... once again, I'll restrain myself, but read between the lines. -- Jmabel 23:57, Oct 5, 2004 (UTC)
 * I have suggested, after analysis, 29 countries, mainly African. And created a map of them. And linked to their categories. And created a new venn - which you asked for. And created three logos. And come up with a mechanism for ensuring that the page doesn't become purely a popularity contest. And created an example table below, with a dozen more topic suggestions. All this has taken time. So your comment about me being a useless scold sitting on the sidelines is both factually incorrect and has indeed violated codes for ad hominem remarks. Xed 08:35, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

The zone of bias is not just geographic: there are, for instance, more Asian topic articles on WP:FA than there are women. And there are no women artists or writers. We need to address all the holes tha bias creates, not just one. Please, Xed, add Africa topics to the todo list so that we can see what needs doing there. Filiocht 08:43, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * I never said the bias is just geographic. I'm not going to add topics to the todo list at the moment because currently the page has no mechanism for dealing with subjects outside the systemic zone - it's just a popularity contest.--Xed 09:05, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * Currently we are trying to identify examples of systemic bias. I for one, despite my recognition of the need for the project, have been really quite shocked at the limited coverage of the big issues for the developing world. It may be just a popularity contest as you put it at the moment; but at least its a popularity contest within articles that clearly represent some sort of systemic bias. In addition, I'm sure we will at some point agree mechanisms for prioritisation and working on the articles, but we have only just started. Rome was not built in a day. :ChrisG 15:12, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * I think Filiocht is absolutely right in what he is saying. Bias zones could be defined in very different ways. From a geographical perspective US, Euro and other Developed countries are certainly well covered in comparison to most African countries, and all additions to African subjects would be most welcome. But just as Xed notes under "Incongruity" below, "female-oriented subjects need addressing, since there are more men than women on Wikipedia". In my opinion, female-oriented subjects in the developing as well as in the developed world need to be expanded, although female-oriented subjects in the developing world is clearly doubly neglected.

 * I'd also like to point out that although there might be some truth to the claim that the current topic selection mechanism is a kind of popularity contest, the Congo Civil War example on COTW clearly shows that it is actually possible to state the case for a topic outside the systemic bias zone convincingly enough to make it very popular.

 * Regardless of which topic selection mechanism we decide to use, however, I think we need to be realistic about what any kind of "to do-list" can actually achieve in terms of contributions from Wikipedians in general. The choice to contribute to an article, which after all is what is ultimately needed in order to overcome the systemic bias, will always be in the hands of the individual Wikipedian. I think we'll have to accept that some people will try hard to convince others of the importance of expanding Congo Civil War, but, when it is actually listed as a collaboration, will concentrate their personal efforts on John Kerry. Alarm 00:04, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Labor issues
In my opinion, a subject area that seems to be generally undercovered in Wikipedia is labor issues. My theory is that this is at least partly due to systemic bias (white American computer users is generally not very interested in the area, I think). I added Congress of South African Trade Unions the other day, after having found it on Articles requested for more than a year. I'll take the liberty to add this to the list on the project page, along with a number of examples, but I'd also really appreciate comments on this. Alarm 01:01, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * Completely concur. -- Jmabel 02:20, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC)

 * Me also. The Australian coverage is absolutely atrocious - I think we have about one stub. Ambi 09:06, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Are we ready to "go live"?
While there will always be room for improvement, I think we've reached the level of "unembarrassing" and should announce that this project is live. Anyone disagree? I'll give it 24 hours for objections, because I know people are in different time zones and all that. -- Jmabel 06:42, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC)

 * I think we're ready. Filiocht 07:43, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * Ditto. Ambi 09:03, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * Not quite yet. Some things are not clear. Some things are too complicated. I'm away today, so I'll just list some things below --- Xed 13:07, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * I think we should go live. Just because we go live doesn't mean we can't continue to evolve as a project, there are always going to be issues to resolve. Moreover the more contributors the better, and I'm sure they will want to contribute to the ongoing discussion. Creating an issue list is a good idea though. :ChrisG 16:03, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Because Xed and I have been often at loggerheads, I'm really hesitant to overrule him on this, especially in his absence. However right now, he's a minority of one out of five. Here's my suggestion: there is still about 12 hours until when I proposed going live. If even one more person weighs in saying we should hold it up, either on their account or for Xed's sake, I will yield to that no matter how strong the consensus the other way, but I'm not willing to let one person unsupported hold this up. -- Jmabel 19:32, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC)
 * Ready.--- Xed 23:00, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Spelman
Being an Atlantan, I went ahead and added a bit to Spelman College. Along with a significant addition from an anonymus contributer, this article is almost up to par with articles on most other small schools. However, it could use some checking for grammar and spelling and a bit more info. Spelman's brother college, Morehouse College, also needs some work. Sayeth 17:25, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC)
 * Great, I'll take the liberty of moving a digest of that onto the project page (which is in general where this sort of thing should go). -- Jmabel 20:17, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC)


text: User talk:24.166.218.150

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User talk:24.166.218.150


text:
User:ZekeMacNeil

Welcome to ZekeMacNeil's corner of Wikipedia

I currently live in Chattanooga, Tennessee and I am an economics major at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. I'm a member of Clan MacNeil and the United Campus Workers/Communications Workers of America, Local 3865. I'm also a PK and a bleeding heart liberal

Stuff I want to help Wikipedia with

 * Helping to remove vandalism
 * Helping to maintain NPOV

Stuff I'm interested in

 * All things related to Tennessee, my home state.
 * Especially Knoxville and East Tennessee, which is where I'm from.
 * Also Chattanooga, Tennessee (my adopted hometown) and UTC (GO MOCS!)
 * Transportation, especially railroads.
 * Economics, Law and Politics
 * Religion (all of them)
 * Languages and etymology: New Testament Greek, Latin, Spanish and German
 * Historic Preservation and Urban renewal
 * Music
 * Classical, Delta Blues, Rock and Roll
 * Telecommunications
 * Rolling Rock, Evan Williams, and Shrimp scampi
 * Your mom :-Þ

Some articles I have started or contribute to

 * Chattanooga, Tennessee
 * Fort Wood National Historic District and Saint Elmo National Historic District (future)
 * University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
 * Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (still needs work)

To start or expand

 * List of Tennessee state highways
 * Avery Trace
 * Politics of Tennessee
 * Categorization of topics related to Chattanooga and Tennessee.

Also
I suck at placing images.

title: User:ZekeMacNeil


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Bum Art

Bum Art
Long and carefully written, but vanity/hoax/spam. Google for "bum art" returns 300, but take a good close look, almost nothing actually matches this, and what does, at least on my first page of results, was a blog. See also author profile. — Bill 20:31, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * ""Aaron Carlson" art" returns only 210 Google hits, none of which on the first page are related. Delete, hoax . - RedWordSmith 21:04, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Probably not a hoax, but too obscure to be verifiable. Somewhat agree with Improv below. - RedWordSmith 17:44, 8 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete and BJAODN. Amusing. May even be encyclopedic someday, see Ern Malley, but the bar is getting higher every year. Andrewa 21:25, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I'm the writer of this article, so let me defend it. I did start Bum Art and one could call this a vanity page, but the ideas of the movement have actually spread beyond my own work. The page is unfinished because I am waiting on pictures from MCAD (Minneapolis College of Art and Design) where there are several members of this school producing paintings. We have had several showings in Minneapolis (at the Fallout and at Hard Times Cafe) and many people have been a part of our "gatherings". I understand the feeling that this is a vanity article, and I would be completely willing to remove many of the personal details and take my own name, and take Aaron Carlson's name off the page, essentially deleting most of the history. I will however protest the entire article's removal. This is a legitimate art movement that is in it's infancy, yes, but has reached many people. There isn't any internet presence because most of the Bum Art movements are best described as "happenings" (although I destest the word). We meet and paint together, coming out with 10-12 paintings with about 20 people involved in the spontaneous act of painting. There was a page dedicated to it, but it was removed because no one in the movement is really interested in keeping up a website.(bloody long link). Here I gave a presentation to the local High School about Bum Art and they asked us to make a page. All I ask is that the history, which I agree does seem vain, be the only part deleted.

P.S. Were there some legitimate pictures involved with this picture, and more of an emphasis on the historical influences and the progression of this art form, would this be more acceptable?

By the way, that is a vote to keep. --TheGrza 22:02, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC)

 * Comment: Please read Deletion policy, and also autobiography. No change of vote. Andrewa 22:36, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * I've removed all mention of myself. The only reason that I'm the one to write the article is that I'm the one who knows the most about it.  The publication of "The Bum Manifesto" has layed out all the ideology, but as the author (of the philosophy not the manifesto; this seemed unclear), I'm the foremost authority. --TheGrza 22:41, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC)
 * Comment: You are I see a student, and that's not a criticism, you have made many good contributions. But your being the foremost authority on this doesn't exactly make it sound like an encyclopedic subject. I'm even wondering, are you perhaps the only authority? Incidentally, thanks for changing your vote from oppose to keep, that makes it a lot clearer. Please consider using strikethrough ( like this ) when changing part of a thread so following comments don't lose their coherence. No change of vote. Andrewa 23:03, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * I'm not the only source on Bum Art, and I'm currently trying to get a copy of "The Bum Manifesto", a piece written by an Artist in Minneapolis which, as I said, details much of the philosophy. There are other people who know this philosophy and practice it whenever they decide to be "creative" (a complicated term in Bum Art).  I just happen to be the foremost authority because I introduced this idea to these other people and the very premise of this philosophy is in its stoicism, in its rigidity, remaining unchanged regardless of contribution by others so as to stay pure (unlike my beloved Wikipedia).--TheGrza 23:12, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC) (still voting to keep.)
 * I have now added the great Mose Tolliver to the page, Mose being a well known southern artist (who should have his own page!!!) who utilized many of the same techniques and inspired the movement more than anyone. I think with the rewording, the reorganizing, a picture of an actual Bum Art piece and the removal of all supposed "vanity" connections, and the fact that many people ARE interested in this form of expression (regardless of internet hits), this article should not be removed. --TheGrza 00:23, Oct 8, 2004 (UTC)

Neutral : Is this perhaps better known by some other name? Assuming it's real (and not just one or two people) it might qualify as interesting enough that its obscurity should not be held against it. -- Jmabel 00:32, Oct 8, 2004 (UTC)

 * It specifically isn't known by any other name. It is derived from many sources which resemble it, and you've heard of those, Dada, Taoist painting techniques, surrealism, Buddhist sculpture, Ghandian economic theory, all of these look a lot like parts of Bum Art, but it is an offshoot of all of them.  And I again assure that it is real and it started a technique that is continuing to gain momentum. --TheGrza 00:44, Oct 8, 2004 (UTC)

Obviously not a lot of web citations. TheGrza, can you give us print citations? The problem, as I see it, looks mostly like one of verifiability. Mose Tolliver does, indeed, merit an article, but does he associate himself with this term "Bum Art"? Has some significant critic used it in talking about his work? Even one citation to that effect would, in my mind be sufficient to keep. (BTW, I find 22,000 Google citations for "Tramp art", which lacks an article). -- Jmabel 05:10, Oct 8, 2004 (UTC)

 * No Vote. But congratulations to all the participants in this discussion.  It is a real pleasure to see Vfd and Wikipedia working exactly the way it shouldwork. A sensible and mature discussion about a tricky subject.  ping 06:35, 8 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * I actually have a print copy of "The Bum Manifesto" a newspaper article written about Bum Art. I'm in the process of retrieving it (the author has a copy) so I'll try and get it this weekend at least.--TheGrza 06:53, Oct 8, 2004 (UTC)

 * Keep this. The Recycling Troll 07:25, 8 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * Delete. Not yet notable enough to keep. Bum luck. --Improv 14:50, 8 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * Is this a case where if we vote to delete it would be appropriate for TheGrza to move this to his user area with the possibility of working on it further and demonstrating notability at a later date? -- Jmabel 17:39, Oct 8, 2004 (UTC)
 * I really want to keep this article in some way until I get my hands on some actual evidence of the existence of Bum Art, so if the votes to delete continue, could we possibly move it to my User Page? --TheGrza 00:12, Oct 9, 2004 (UTC)
 * Comment: That's an excellent idea. If by some accident it gets deleted without you keeping a copy, any sysop can still provide you with one, that's part of our job here and I'd be happy to. I'm not sure we have any procedure for then moving it back to the article namespace, but I'm sure we can manage it. At worst votes for undeletion. Andrewa 16:59, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. It's a good article.  But it's clearly not yet a notable art movement.--Tomheaton 19:42, 8 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. This is notable, despite being obscure.  There is a difference between the two.  --L33tminion 19:45, Oct 12, 2004 (UTC)

 * Keep. A far more legit form of expression than the previously examined airplane graffiti, which was approved on much more tenuous grounds. Denni ☯ 01:46, 2004 Oct 9 (UTC)

 * Delete for non-notability. There is such a thing as "Tramp Art", but this ain't it. func(talk) 18:05, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I think we have the opportunity to accept an art movement before its contributers are dead and buried. Can we actually be upset that the author is the philosopher, rather than someone who cannot truly express his intentions? Since he has deleted his name from the text, this is clearly more than a vanity project. I feel it is authentic, fascinating, and a valuable contribution.
 * keep this.   Anna nym 20:58, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Anna nym's only contributions are to this page, account started after vote began. func(talk) 01:21, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * I am new to wikipedia, and this was my first contribution. I can only apologize for becoming a member after the vote began.  I assure you, however, that my vote was sincere and I have made several contributions since.Anna nym 05:10, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I have returned with some form of evidence (however small) of Bum Art. Here is a newspaper article about the seminar I gave. --TheGrza 03:42, Oct 13, 2004 (UTC)

Clearly not a hoax, but I've come to think that (at least at present) it is below the threshhold of notability. TheGrza: suggest you just move this to your user area, where it would be perfectly acceptable; if the term gets broader currency beyond your own use — numerous newspaper citations, many artists identifying themselves with the term, etc. — I'd encourage you then to work on it further and demonstrate notability? -- Jmabel|Talk 19:03, Oct 13, 2004 (UTC)

Well, I guess trying to introduce some new information to the world was...say, a losing proposition?--TheGrza 07:50, Oct 17, 2004 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia is about getting you new information, that's why we link articles to other articles; to introduce people to new things (to them, not to the world) and so my use of words was inaccurate and I apologize. This is information that would be new to many people and I think it should be in.  Also, this post does little to betray the humor with which the previous post was made.  Thanks, --TheGrza 06:58, Oct 18, 2004 (UTC)

Wikipedia is precisely not about introducing new information to the world: see No original research. -- Jmabel | Talk 08:51, Oct 17, 2004 (UTC)

title: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Bum Art


text:
Guitar Vader

Guitar Vader (ギターベイダージオ) was a Japanese underground indie rock band. Formed in 1998, the band is best known for their contributions to the soundtracks of Sega's Jet Set Radio and Jet Set Radio Future games. The band disbanded in 2007.

Guitar Vader had two lead vocalists and songwriters, guitarist Miki Tanabe and bassist Ujuan Shozo. Miki's childlike voice and Ujuan's tenor are often used in harmony and call and response, but many songs are sung exclusively by one or the other. Their music generally features pop-oriented melodies, often coupled with aggressive power chords and hard rock influences, and sometimes playfully shifts between genres in mid-song. Band members claimed influences like Nirvana, The Beatles, The Pixies and the Ramones, as well as lesser influences like Air and Guitar Wolf. Others have likened their sound to bands as disparate as The B-52's and Smashing Pumpkins.

History
Miki and Ujuan first met in Kawasaki, Kanagawa while the two were in different bands. The two became friends, and after their other bands broke up, they decided to collaborate. Yuki Takumiya joined them as the band's drummer. The trio began recording at Berry Records soon after, and in October 1998, they released their first cassette tape, a collection of four songs titled Guitar Vader Vol. 1. More than 1,000 copies were sold at an independent record store in Tokyo called High-Line. The tape was followed by another release, which sold another 1000 units. Empowered by their success, the two volumes were compiled along with new material and one remix onto the two tape set, Die Happy!. The album gained distribution in Tower Records and HMV stores, but was never released officially on CD. This gave the band, who only performed live shows irregularly, their first real exposure to a larger audience. Later that year, they released one more tape, containing three new songs, including the exclusive rarity "Generation Revolution".

Following Die Happy!, Guitar Vader was asked to contribute original music to the Dreamcast game RoomMania No. 203, a life sim following a virtual college student. Guitar Vader contributed ten songs to the game's extensive soundtrack. The successful release of the game suddenly skyrocketed Guitar Vader's profile and the need for a proper CD release became increasingly apparent.

It was around this time that the band departed from the lo-fi recording sensibilities of their earlier work with their second album Wild at Honey (a reference to the Beach Boys album Wild Honey) containing two songs from Guitar Vader Vol. 3 and new material. Shortly thereafter, the band released a single, Beach Panic, containing two songs. Following its completion, drummer Takumiya left the band.

Video game composer Hideki Naganuma was among the many who discovered Guitar Vader through the Die Happy! tapes. A lover of underground music, Naganuma decided that they would be a perfect fit for the upcoming game, Jet Set Radio, set in an alternate-reality version of Shinjuku, Tokyo. The game was widely praised for its unique soundtrack, which prominently featured Guitar Vader's song "Magical Girl" in the opening tutorial, and "Super Brothers" (another Die Happy! track) in a later stage.

In 2000, Guitar Vader began work on their third album, From Dusk. Joined by Suzuki Yoshifumi on drums, the album marked a major evolution for the band, particularly for its prominent use of keyboards, played by producer Taichi Ohira, as well as its more polished, melodic sound. The album was released in early 2001, and although it was not a big seller, the album remains Guitar Vader's commercial peak. Jet Set Radio Future was released in 2002, and featured a song from the album, "Baby-T" as well as a remix (by Naganuma) of "I Love Love You," which had previously been released on the remix album Remixes GVR.

After the acquisition of Berry Records by Sony Music, Guitar Vader became increasingly unhappy with their contract, in particular their lack of ownership of their music, low royalties, and inability to get a new album released. At the time, both members of the band still worked part-time jobs to earn their living. The band left Berry in 2003 and formed an independent label, Plugs House. They built their own studio and produced a fourth album, Dawn. The release marked a continued evolution of the band's sound, with synths and programming performed by Ujuan. In 2003, the band also played two shows in England, hosted by Pixelsurgeon, their only shows outside Japan.

To replicate these songs in live performances, the band recruited American keyboardist Steve Laity. Although Laity was made an official member of the band, he only appeared in live performances, not on the band's albums. In October 2004, Guitar Vader released what would be their final album, Happy East. It continued the expanded sound of Dawn with an eclectic mix of songs, including an electronica instrumental "Suspense" that marked the only song of its kind in the band's catalog.

In 2006, the band began work on another album, and had nearly completed it, when Ujuan suffered a vital heart infection that left him hospitalized for months, with continuing health issues long after. The band cancelled their first scheduled concert in the United States at that year's FanimeCon. Although the album was either completed or close to completed, a falling out between Miki and Ujuan prevented its release, despite pressure from Suzuki and Laity to release it. In 2007, Laity confirmed on Guitar Vader's message board that the band had disbanded and a "very large rift" had formed between the band's two key members. No official announcement was ever made.

Former members

 * Ujuan Shozo - vocals, bass, programming
 * Miki Tanabe - vocals, guitar
 * Suzuki Yoshifumi - drums

Touring members

 * Steve Laity - live keyboards, backing vocals

EPs

 * Guitar Vader Vol. 1 (1998)
 * Guitar Vader Vol. 2 (1998)
 * Guitar Vader Vol. 3 (1999)

Studio albums

 * Die Happy! (1999)
 * Wild at Honey (2000)
 * From Dusk (2001)
 * Dawn (2003)
 * Happy East (2004)

Singles

 * Beach Panic! (2000)
 * Baby-T/GVTV/Shimanagashi (2001)

Remixes

 * REMIXES_GVR (2001)

title: Guitar Vader


text:
User:Gmhobbit

a small hairy dweller of the land of shaw.

title: User:Gmhobbit


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Treibhaus

Treibhaus was proposed for deletion. This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was DELETE

 Treibhaus -- appears to be Portuguese. Diberri | Talk 19:26, Sep 14, 2004 (UTC)
 * I did some of this. If you want to work on it further, note that I've left some  in the text. Looks like youth subculture stuff from Brazil, marginally encyclopedic, certainly under the wrong title, but might be worth finishing the translation & working out if it's worth keeping. -- Jmabel 23:19, Sep 16, 2004 (UTC)

end moved discussion It's been over two weeks, no one has continued the translation, and it doesn't look particularly encyclopedic. I'd welcome a good salvage job, but failing that, delete. -- Jmabel 20:34, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC)
 * From what I can tell it's a meandering discussion about bands and clubs that are/were really cool. Delete: no evidence of notability. Wile E. Heresiarch 21:34, 8 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete: Neato stuff out of date before the pixels dry. Geogre 13:59, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC)

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like other '/delete' pages is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion or on the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.


text:
Louis Duchesne

Louis Marie Olivier Duchesne (13 September 1843 – 21 April 1922) was a French priest, philologist, teacher and a critical historian of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions.

Life

Descended from a family of Breton sailors, he was born on 13 September 1843 in Saint-Servan, Ille-et-Vilaine, Place Roulais, now part of Saint-Malo on the Breton coast, and was orphaned in 1849, after the death of his father Jacques Duchesne. Louis' brother, Jean-Baptiste Duchesne, settled in Oregon City, Oregon in 1849.

Louis Duchesne was ordained to the priesthood in 1867. He taught in Saint-Brieuc, then in 1868, went to study at the École pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. From 1873 to 1876, he was a student at the École française in Rome. He was an amateur archaeologist and organized expeditions from Rome to Mount Athos, to Syria, and Asia Minor, from which he gained an interest in the early history of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1877, he obtained the chair of ecclesiastical history of the Catholic Institute, but left the theological faculty in 1883. He then taught at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, where he influenced Alfred Firmin Loisy, a founder of the movement of Modernism, which was formally condemned under Pope Pius X. In 1895, he was appointed director of the École française.

In 1887, he published the results of his thesis, followed by the first complete critical edition of the Liber Pontificalis. At a difficult time for critical historians applying modern methods to Church history, drawing together archaeology and topography to supplement literature and setting ecclesiastical events with contexts of social history, Abbé Duchesne was in constant correspondence with like-minded historians among the Bollandists, with their long history of critical editions of hagiographies. He gained fame as a demythologizing critical historian of the popular, pious lives of saints produced by Second Empire publishers.

In 1888, he became a member of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, and in 1910, he was elected to the Académie française. Abbe Duchesne was made an apostolic prothonotary in 1900.

As editor of the Bulletin critique du littérature, d'histoire et de théologie, Duchesne kept up with current intellectual developments.

He also wrote Les Sources du martyrologe hyéronimien, Origines du culte chrétien (translated as Christian Worship: Its Origin and Evolution and often reprinted), Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule, and Les Premiers temps de l'État pontifical. These works were universally praised, and he was appointed a commander of the Legion of Honor. However, his Histoire ancienne de l'Église, 1906‑11 (translated as Early History of the Christian Church) was considered too modernist by the Church during the "Modernist crisis" and was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books in 1912.

The London Tablet said,"By his rigid application of scientific methods of research and judgment, by his caustic tongue and pen, Mgr. Duchesne was regarded by some as a scoffer and a vandal among pious traditions. But by those who knew him, he was regarded as a master of the sciences which are auxiliary to ecclesiastical history."

He died in 1922, in Rome, and is buried in the cemetery of Saint-Servan.

Works

 * Mémoire sur une mission au mont Athos (Paris: E. Thorin, 1876)
 * Les Nouveaux textes de Saint Clément de Rome, 1877
 * De codicibus MSS Graecis Pii II in bibliotheca Alexandrino-Vaticana, Paris 1880
 * Origines du culte chrétien: etude sur la liturgie latine avant Charlemagne (1889)
 * . Next printing 1919 and 1931 (5th ed.) also in New York : Macmillan Company.
 * second edition (in French)
 * Vol. III
 * second edition (in French)
 * second edition (in French)
 * - commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of Louis Duchesne.
 * - commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of Louis Duchesne.

title: Louis Duchesne


text:
Leucippe and Clitophon

The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon (τὰ κατὰ Λευκίππην καὶ Kλειτoφῶντα), written by Achilles Tatius in eight books, is the second-longest of the five surviving Ancient Greek romances, and the only one to exhibit genuine humour.

Sidon and Tyre
I. Landing in Sidon after a storm, an unnamed narrator visits the local temple, to make an offering of thanks to Astarte, the Phoenician goddess of love. He sees there a painting depicting the rape of Europa by Zeus disguised as a bull. The pair are led by Eros (Cupid) and the narrator exclaims how that little boy dominates land, sea and sky. He is unexpectedly answered by a handsome young man, Clitophon, who explains that he is a case in point: he has suffered many blows at the hands of Love. Intrigued, the narrator begs him for his tale. Clitophon agrees reluctantly, and leads his new friend to a grove of plane trees, where he begins his story.

Clitophon explains that he is from Tyre, and is the son of Hippias, whose half-brother Sostratus lives in Byzantium. Shortly after his 18th birthday his father decides that Clitophon should marry his half-sister, Calligone. Alarmed by this prospect, Clitophon has a nightmare in which he imagines himself joined to Calligone from the waist down, but they are cut apart by Medusa brandishing a sickle. Although alarmed by this portent, he believes it signifies that Fate has destined another to be his mate.

Hippias receives word from Sostratus that war has broken out between Thrace and Byzantium. He sends his wife Panthea and his daughter Leucippe to Hippias for safe-keeping. When Clitophon sees Leucippe disembarking on the beach, he is immediately smitten by her stunning beauty. His father arranges a meal for his new guests and seats Clitophon next to Leucippe. This excites the young man further, and he spends the entire meal gazing at her in a daze. Not knowing what to do, he confides his love to his older cousin Clinias. Clinias offers him only a few tips, explaining that Love is really a self-instructed expert, and he should trust his instincts. As they are talking, Clinias' lover Charicles bursts in, complaining that he is being married off to an ugly girl. Clinias consoles him, and Charicles goes off riding on a horse Clinias had given him to take his mind off the marriage. Later, in the midst of their continued discussion, a servant announces that Charicles has been killed in a tragic riding accident. Clitophon consoles his friend, and after attending Charicles' funeral he returns to the house determined to make an amorous approach to Leucippe.

He finds her taking a stroll with her mother in the garden, which is in full bloom, with the birds and crickets contending in making music. When Leucippe and Panthea stop to examine a peacock trying to attract his mate, Clitophon launches into a philosophical discussion with a slave of his household, Satyrus, about how love is a fundamental force of nature. He explains that love can occur not only between people, but also between birds, snakes, trees, rivers, and even rocks. The examples get ever more absurd, and Leucippe is charmed by the explanation of two magnetic rocks that are drawn together by 'love'. She then retires to the house with her mother for her lyre recital.

II. During the recital a bee flies in and stings Clio, Leucippe's maid. Leucippe sings a charm taught to her by an Egyptian woman over the place where the bee had stung, and Clio declares that she feels much better. This gives Clitophon an idea. For the next ten days they glance at each other over dinner, but under the watchful eyes of their parents they can make no further move. Clitophon approaches Satyrus, who explains that Clio has fallen in love with him, and will help contrive a private meeting for him with the maiden. However, when he finally finds himself alone with her in the garden he is at a loss for words, until a bee buzzes around his face. He swats it away and then pretends to be stung on the face, on the lips. Leucippe soothes him with her Egyptian charm, singing it over his lips, which he turns into a kiss. After initially resisting, she kisses him back, but they are disturbed by an approaching servant.

Satyrus helps develop the relationship further. He exchanges their cups at dinner, allowing them to 'kiss' under the noses of their parents by touching with their lips the place on the cup where the other had drunk. He also arranges another meeting in the garden.

Meanwhile, troubled by dreams, his father hurries on Clitophon's marriage to Calligone. Her dress is purple and decorated with gold, her jewelry also expensive. However, the preliminary sacrifice to Aphrodite in the garden does not go well. The offering is stolen by an eagle, who flies off towards the beach. The soothsayers advise Hippias to sacrifice again to Zeus on the beach at midnight to avert the bad omen.

Leucippe had once been pursued unsuccessfully by a certain Callisthenes, a rich but profligate young man of Byzantium. According to the laws of that city, if a man raped a virgin he could be forced to marry her as punishment. So he got himself appointed as holy ambassador for a pilgrimage to Tyre. When Leucippe's mother goes to the ceremony with Calligone, he assumes the young woman is Leucippe, and points her out to his servant Zeno. When Hippias performs his midnight sacrifice on the beach, Zeno goes ashore with eight men disguised as women, who grab the torches of Hippias' party and extinguish them, and in the dark carry off Calligone to Callisthenes' ship. They set sail for Byzantium, thinking they have kidnapped Leucippe.

With his marriage to Calligone now impossible, Clitophon begs Leucippe to perform the 'mysteries of Aphrodite' with him. She agrees, but only if they can meet in her bedroom at night. However, Panthea sleeps across the corridor, and access to that part of the house is barred by a locked door, and guarded by the eunuch Conops. Satyrus obtains a copy of the key and befriends Conops, discussing with him fables about gnats (the meaning of Conops' name), and then offers him a meal with a spiked drink that puts him to sleep. Satyrus at once informs Clitophon, who unlocks the door and enters Leucippe's bedroom with the assistance of Clio. Unfortunately, Panthea wakes up, having had a nightmare about a robber slitting open her daughter's belly with a sword. In a panic she enters Leucippe's bedroom and discovers that she is not alone, but Clitophon escapes in the dark without being recognised.

Panthea assumes that Leucippe's virginity has been stolen, and takes out her rage on Clio. She accuses Leucippe of complicity, but she denies it, suggesting it was a slave, demigod or burglar, and reassures her mother that her virginity is still intact. She did not cry out because she was paralysed by fear. Suspecting that Clio will be forced to reveal the plot in the morning, Satyrus and Clitophon take her by night to Clinias' house. He advises Clitophon to elope to Alexandria, if he can persuade Leucippe. Satyrus and Clinias agree to accompany them, and Clio is sent away to safety at Clinias' suggestion.

In the morning Panthea seeks out Clio, but she has disappeared. Again she accuses Leucippe of knowing her attacker. Leucippe is distraught by her mother's accusations, and when Satyrus tells her of the plan to elope to Alexandria she agrees, threatening to kill herself otherwise. A few days later Clinias arranges for a carriage to come to the house at dusk. They all get on and press on through the night, reaching Sidon by midnight and the port of Berytus (Beirut) at dawn. They catch a ship bound for Alexandria.

On board they meet Menelaus, an Egyptian who has just completed three years' exile in Phoenicia for accidentally killing his male lover in a boar hunt. Clinias sympathises with him, having lost Charicles in similar circumstances. Clitophon suspects that Clinias, with Menelaus' support, will now embark on his usual tirade against women, and questions why homosexuality has become so fashionable. A philosophical argument ensues between Clitophon and Menelaus, arguing the case for heterosexual versus homosexual love. Clitophon says that the beauty of women is longer-lasting, but Menelaus counters that the charm of love lies precisely in its fleeting nature. Clitophon says that women's bodies are built for intercourse with men. Their kisses are more skillful and their orgasms more powerful. Menelaus counters that women are all makeup, hair dye and perfume. He prefers the sweet smell of a boy's sweat, and their kisses, which taste like nectar.

III. After three days at sea in gentle winds they are suddenly struck by a storm. Struggling to keep the ship afloat, they shift their baggage from one side to the other and begin throwing the cargo and even their baggage overboard. Eventually the captain gives the order to abandon ship. The crew climb into the lifeboat being towed behind, and suddenly cut the hawser, leaving the passengers to their fate. The ship hits a rock and breaks up. Clitophon and Leucippe cling to a fragment of the prow. They watch as Menelaus, Clinias and Satyrus drift away on separate pieces of wreckage. Clitophon prays to Poseidon, the storm abates, and they are washed up on the coast of Egypt near Pelusium in the eastern delta.

Pelusium and Nicochis
They enter the temple of Zeus where they admire two paintings: one of Andromeda being attacked by Cetus, and rescued by Perseus, the other of Prometheus whose liver is being torn out by an eagle, with Hercules aiming his bow at the bird, painted by an otherwise unknown artist Euanthes. The paintings are a hint about Leucippe's fate. After waiting two days for their friends, who do not appear, they hire a boat for Alexandria which goes via the Nile. However, they have not gone far when they are attacked by bandits, who steal their money and shut them in a hut. Clitophon bewails the misery of their wedding, which he imagines he is now having with Leucippe: instead of necklaces she has ropes, the guard is her bridesman, their bridal chamber is a prison, etc., but Leucippe, mortified by her situation, says nothing.

At dawn a savage man arrives on horseback and takes Leucippe away, to be sacrificed as a virgin on behalf of the army. Clitophon is distraught, but the bandits force their remaining captives to move on. On the way, they are attacked by a small force of soldiers, who make light work of the bandits and free Clitophon. Their commander is Charmides, who enlists him in the army as a cavalryman and gives him an Egyptian servant.

On receiving some reinforcements, Charmides advances towards the bandit capital Nicochis, but his way is blocked by a ditch, on the other side of which thousands of bandits have built an altar to which they lead Leucippe. After preparing her for sacrifice, their priest slits open her belly and roasts her innards over the fire, then distributes them for eating. Clitophon is rooted to the spot by the horror of the spectacle, but she cannot be saved. The remains of Leucippe's body are then placed in a coffin. By evening the soldiers are able to build a causeway and cross the ditch. Clitophon tries to kill himself over Leucippe's coffin, when he spies Menelaus and Satyrus running towards him. Menelaus knocks on Leucippe's coffin and she emerges unscathed. Clitophon is astonished, and Menelaus explains that after the shipwreck he and Satyrus were captured by the bandits but freed because some of them recognised him. Satyrus pleaded with Menelaus to save her, and he staged a conjuror's trick using a knife with a retracting blade and a fake belly made of a sheep's skin and sheep innards. Clitophon thanks Menelaus and adopts him as his firm friend.

Charmides decides not to attack before more reinforcements arrive, which have been delayed by the arrival of the Phoenix, a sacred bird from Ethiopia.

IV. Charmides moves the army to a nearby village, where Clitophon is allocated a house. Here Clitophon attempts to make love to Leucippe, but she rebuffs him, claiming that Artemis told her in a dream that she must remain a virgin until they are formally married. He admits that he had a similar dream, in which he was refused entry to the temple of Aphrodite by the goddess, but with a promise that he will later be made her priest.

While they are enjoying the spectacle of the hippopotamus, Charmides casts his eye on Leucippe. He asks Menelaus privately to bring Leucippe to his bedroom for a fee of 50 gold pieces. Menelaus refuses, and instead reports the story to Clitophon and Leucippe. They decide to tell the general that she will give him what he desires once they reach Alexandria, but right now she has her period. Charmides agrees, but asks to converse with her in the meantime, and even to kiss her, which infuriates Clitophon.

While they are negotiating this, Leucippe falls ill with an unexplained madness. When Menelaus and Clitophon ask her what is the matter she kicks them and struggles against them. When Charmides sees her, he suspects the illness is feigned and orders her tied up. Menelaus asks Charmides for the army doctor, who prescribes purging and sedation.

A message then arrives from the prefect of Egypt, urging Charmides to attack with the troops he currently has. They cross the causeway, and the bandits gather all their old men and send them out with branches of palm to make them look like suppliants. They offer the general a huge bribe to call off his attack. Charmides refuses, so the old men accept their fate and only ask to be killed in their village. Meanwhile, the bandits have been flooding the area around the causeway. When the old men retreat, they part ranks and let through their main force, which was hidden behind them. Isolated on the causeway and surrounded by water, the army is defeated, and Charmides is killed.

Back at the village Leucippe is still sick. A soldier called Chaereas offers to cure her. He explains that Gorgias, an Egyptian soldier (now dead), also fell in love with Leucippe and tricked her into drinking an aphrodisiac. Chaereas fetches an Egyptian doctor, who offers her a potion to cure her for four pieces of gold. Eventually Clitophon agrees and they administer the drug. Leucippe sleeps through the night and by morning is cured. In the meantime a large army is sent from Alexandria, which razes Nicochis to the ground. They resume their journey to Alexandria on the Nile, observing the crocodiles en route, and Chaereas accompanies them.

Alexandria
V. They arrive at Alexandria via the 'Sun Gate' and travel through the city from south to north, amazed by its beauty, its size and the number of its inhabitants. In the evening they watch the torch festival of Serapis and visit the temple of Zeus. Later they retire to the lodgings Menelaus has hired for them.

The next day Chaereas invites them to dinner in his house on Pharos for his birthday. However, as they are leaving, a hawk chasing a swallow stikes Leucippe's head with its wing. They also notice nearby in a studio a painting depicting the story of Procne, Tereus and Philomela, in which Procne serves the body of her son Itys to Tereus for dinner as punishment for the rape of her sister Philomela. Menelaus says that because of these bad portents, they should postpone their journey to Pharos.

The next day Chaereas returns in the morning and they cannot put off the visit to Pharos any longer. They travel there by boat, leaving Menelaus behind, and visit the lighthouse. Then they retire to Chaereas' house for dinner. However, it is a trap, as Chaereas harbours a secret passion for Leucippe. During the meal Chaereas leaves to go to the toilet and while he is absent armed pirates burst in to grab Leucippe. Clitophon is wounded in the thigh defending her, and cannot stop them from carrying her off in their ship. Hearing the commotion, the commander of the naval forces on Pharos offers to pursue the pirates in his warship. Gradually they close the distance, but when they get near, the pirate captain takes Leucippe bound onto the deck and yells out: 'Is this the prize you seek?' He then cuts off her head and throws the rest of her body overboard. Two sailors retrieve it and they resume the pursuit, but another pirate vessel appears and the naval commander is forced to retreat to Alexandria.

When they reach the docks, Clitophon laments the fact that although he has the larger part of Leucippe's body, the sea has the more important, smaller part. So, not knowing what else to do, he kisses the wound of her neck, and later buries her body. Over the next six months Clitophon recovers from his physical wound, but continues to mourn for the emotional loss of Leucippe.

One day he unexpectedly bumps into Clinias and they embrace one another. Clinias explains that after the shipwreck he was saved by some Sidonian merchants and returned to Tyre. There he discovered that Hippias had recently received a letter from Sostratus betrothing Leucippe to Clitophon. Hippias learned that Clitophon was in Alexandria, and Clinias agreed to go there and fetch the two lovebirds home. When Clitophon tells him what has happened to Leucippe, Clinias is aghast and suggests that he return immediately to Tyre. However, Satyrus tells Clinias that there is a rich young widow of Ephesus, Melite, who has been importuning Clitophon for four months to accompany her home. Clinias also urges the union, and reluctantly Clitophon agrees, on condition that he will not be her husband in deed until he reaches Ephesus. She invites him to a sumptuous meal and although they kiss each other pleasurably he refuses to spend the night with her, citing their earlier agreement.

Clitophon boards a boat headed for Ephesus with Melite, Satyrus and Clinias, while Menelaus stays in Alexandria. Melite has hired a cabin on deck and when they are sleeping there she implores him to make love to her now, before they arrive in Ephesus. Clitophon maintains that they are travelling over Leucippe's grave and he cannot bear to make love on a marriage bed rocked by the waves. Melite points out that Aphrodite herself was born from the sea foam, and around them are many positive portents, such as the 'yoke' where the yard and the mast join, like the yoke of marriage, and the curved sail like the belly of a pregnant woman. Clitophon reminds her of their agreement in Alexandria and holds her off for now.

Ephesus
After five days sailing they reach Ephesus. Her house is large and one of the most prominent in the city. Melite orders an elaborate feast for the evening, and in the meantime they set out to visit her country estate. While walking through the gardens, Melite is importuned by a wretched young woman, Lacaena from Thessaly, who was once free and is now a slave. She is wearing rags and her hair has been shorn off. She begs Melite to free her and tells her that her family will pay her ransom. She accuses Sosthenes, Melite's overseer, of whipping her and trying to rape her. Melite summons Sosthenes, who is unable to explain himself beyond saying that he had bought her for 2000 drachmas from a slave dealer who got her from some pirates. Melite dismisses him and sends Lacaena to the house to recover. Clitophon is curious about this 'Lacaena', suspecting that she may actually be Leucippe.

Back at the house, Clitophon is tended by slaves and prepared for his dinner with Melite. During the meal Satyrus asks Clitophon to come aside for a moment. He shows him a letter written by Leucippe, accusing him of causing her much pain and asking him to ransom her, and to send her back to Byzantium. Confused as to how Leucippe can have survived, he writes her a reply swearing that he is still a virgin and begs her not to judge him in spite of his current situation.

On his return to the meal he excuses himself on the grounds that he is not feeling well. Melite follows him to bed and demands sexual gratification. He says he cannot do this right now, but promises to fulfil her wishes soon.

Melite enlists Leucippe, who she imagines is a Thessalian witch, to make a love-potion. Leucippe asks who it is for. Melite explains it is for her husband to be, who refuses to have sexual relations with her. Leucippe is delighted at the news and agrees to make the potion, knowing that it will be ineffective, since she knows nothing about it. She sets off to the cottage on the estate to gather herbs for the potion, accompanied by some maids.

That evening, while dining with Melite, they are both disturbed by Melite's husband Thersander, who, it seems, is not dead after all. He has heard all about Clitophon, and grabbing him by the hair, rains down blows upon him. Suspecting that there may be some reason for this attack, Clitophon does not defend himself. Once Thersander tires of hitting him, Clitophon dusts himself down and asks 'Who are you Sir, and why have you attacked me?' Thersander is enraged by this impudence, and locks Clitophon in a storeroom.

After Thersander leaves in a huff, Melite notices Leucippe's letter, which Clitophon had dropped in his struggle with Thersander. She reads it and suddenly realises who Lacaena is. In tears, she visits Clitophon in the storeroom, accusing him of being a 'wet blanket', of offering her only the pleasure of seeing him, of teasing her more cruelly than a pirate. She begs him for a one-time cure for her ailing heart. Taking pity on her, Clitophon makes love to her in the storeroom.

VI. Melite tells Clitophon where Leucippe is. She swaps clothes with him and gives him 100 pieces of gold. He sneaks out of the house, heading for the cottage on the estate, but soon runs into Thersander and Sosthenes. After publicly abusing him, they haul him off to prison, charging him with adultery. Later he is visited by Clinias and Satyrus, who tell him that Leucippe has gone missing.

Sosthenes tells Thersander that he has been saving a beautiful girl for him, and is told to take her to a private location. Sosthenes goes to the estate where he distracts the serving maids and seizes Leucippe. He then takes her to a hut in a secluded location, telling her that she is soon to become the mistress of her master. When Thersander arrives he is immediately smitten by Leucippe's beautiful eyes. He tries to flatter her, but she just cries. He decides to return when she is in a better mood and asks Sosthenes to speak well of him in his absence.

On returning to the house Thersander accuses Melite of adultery and of freeing Clitophon. Melite denies the adultery, only saying that she was helping a shipwrecked trader who had lost his wife at sea.

Meanwhile, in the secluded hut Sosthenes tells 'Lacaena' what a lucky girl she is. Thersander is handsome, young, rich, of noble birth and very kind. Leucippe replies that his attempt to seduce her amounts to violation of a virgin in the sacred city of Artemis, and is also adultery. When Thersander returns, Sosthenes tells him that he has nearly won 'Lacaena' over. She is only worried about rejection should she once grant him what he desires. Outside the hut they hear Leucippe talking to herself, uttering her true name and declaring that Clitophon is her husband. Thersander vows to take Clitophon's place and gain the love of both Melite and Leucippe. He goes inside and tries to win her over, but she resists his attempts to kiss her. Thersander becomes angry, accusing her of being a harlot, because she was brought here on a pirate ship. Leucippe denies it and swears that she is still a virgin. She dares them to bring out their wheels of torture, whips and fire. She will never surrender her free spirit.

VII. Thersander returns to the gaol and asks the gaoler to let him put a fake inmate in Clitophon's cell, which he agrees to. This new inmate explains to Clitophon that he is accused of being accessory to the murder of a slave girl. He was on his way to Smyrna when he was befriended by a man who took him to an inn. Four ruffians grabbed both of them and started beating them up. Eventually his companion confessed to the murder of Lacaena, having been paid 100 gold pieces by Melite. The ruffians took the money but also accused his innocent companion of being an accessory. Clitophon asks about what happened to the girl's body but the new inmate says he was not involved in her murder, and so does not know.

When Clinias visits the prison again, Clitophon tells him the story of the new inmate and also that he has resolved to revenge Leucippe's apparent death by confessing to the murder himself, citing Melite as his accomplice. Clinias tries to dissuade him to no avail.

At the trial the next day Thersander presents the case for adultery against Clitophon and Melite, but Melite's lawyers defend her well. Then Clitophon gets up and says that he and Melite plotted to kill Leucippe so they could be together and enjoy Melite's wealth. Clinias defends him, explaining that Clitophon merely wishes to die, and so far there is no firm evidence of Leucippe's death. Also, the testimonies of Sosthenes and the serving maids who were with Leucippe when she disappeared have not yet been taken. The court agrees and sends out messengers to summon both Sosthenes and the serving maids. Thersander counters by saying that no new witnesses are needed. He demands the immediate execution of Clitophon for a capital crime freely admitted, and with this opinion the court ultimately concurs.

Clitophon is brought outside into the agora, and stripped so he can be scourged. A wheel and a fire are prepared for the next gruesome stage in his torture and death. Clinias prays to the gods for help, and all seems lost when the high priest of Artemis approaches, leading a sacred embassy from Byzantium. At its head is Sostratus, the father of Leucippe. Since all sentences must be suspended until the sacred embassy has completed its sacrifice, Clitophon is temporarily released. This embassy was sent because Byzantium won its war with Thrace, as the Byzantines believe, with the help of Artemis. Also Sostratus was told in a dream by Artemis that he would find his lost daughter in Ephesus.

Recognising Clitophon, Sostratus asks of what crime he was accused. The bystanders say that he was condemned for killing Leucippe, and in anger Sostratus rushes at Clitophon, and tries to gouge out his eyes. However, Clinias stops him, arguing that if Artemis had said he would find his daughter here then she cannot be dead.

Meanwhile, back at the secluded hut a messenger from Thersander arrives to warn Sosthenes of the bailiffs coming to bring him to court. In fear, he jumps on his horse and makes for Smyrna, but forgets to lock the door. Leucippe escapes and runs to the temple of Artemis, where she throws her arms around the feet of the goddess. For free women to enter there the penalty is death, unless she is a virgin or a slave with a grievance against her master. And if the charge is proven she becomes a servant of the goddess, but otherwise returns to her master.

Back at the agora, a messenger arrives for the high-priest, telling him that a beautiful foreign girl is claiming sanctuary at the temple. Sostratus and Clitophon are overjoyed, believing her to be Leucippe. The high priest gives surety to the magistrate to return Clitophon when summoned, and they all travel to the temple. When they arrive, Leucippe leaves the shrine and embraces her father.

VIII. They re-enter the shrine, but Thersander arrives and accosts the high priest for releasing Clitophon from his bonds. He also demands the return of his slave girl Leucippe, calling her a harlot. Clitophon is enraged and picks a fight with Thersander, but has much the worst of it, and blood is spilt inside the sanctum. Unable to win his fight, Clitophon appeals to the high priest, who declares that Thersander's actions are sacrilegious. The crowd drag away Thersander, who yells out that Clitophon is already condemned to death and Leucippe's claim of viginity will be proven false in the grotto of the 'Pan pipes'.

The high priest invites Clitophon and Leucippe to dinner. Clitophon tells him all of his adventures, except for the bit where he made love to Melite. He also defends Leucippe's actions to her father. The high priest explains Thersander's reference to the Pan pipes. Syrinx was a maiden thought to be equal to the gods in beauty. Pan pursued her into a thick wood, but she transformed herself into a bunch of reeds that blocked his path. Pan cut them down to find his beloved and only then realised that he had in fact killed her. Gathering the reeds up he cried over them and as he breathed on their ends they made a sweet sound. In memory of her Pan shut his new instrument in a cave. Later he gifted the spot to Artemis, on condition that only a pure maid could enter the grotto. If she is a real virgin a beautiful note will be played on the Pan pipes, and if not a groan is heard and after three days the priestess enters and finds the girl gone.

The following day Sostratus and the high priest perform the sacrifices of the sacred embassy, and Thersander then demands the return of Clitophon to the court. There he accuses Leucippe of being a whore who polluted the temple of Artemis, Sostratus of being her pimp, and Clitophon of being an adulterer and murderer. It does not matter if his victim is still alive, he says, the court order condemned him to death and it cannot be rescinded. He also attacks the high priest, accusing him of sleeping with Leucippe, and of turning the temple into a brothel. He likewise charges Melite with adultery and demands the confiscation of her dowry.

The high priest attacks Thersander for his immorality, and asks how Clitophon can be guilty of murdering Leucippe when she is obviously still alive.

Sopater, Thersander's chief counsel, then repeats Thersander's accusations against the priest and claims that the only mistake Thersander ever made in his life was misjudging the character of his wife, who has clearly committed adultery with Clitophon.

Thersander interrupts, issuing two challenges: one to Melite to swear an oath in the sacred water of Styx, that she has not had sexual relations with Clitophon during the period in which he was away. The second challenge is to Leucippe, that if she persists in declaring herself to be a virgin she should submit to the test of the Pan pipes. Leucippe immediately accepts her challenge and likewise Melite, since the requested oath does not cover the period during which Thersander was in Ephesus.

Leucippe enters the grotto of Pan, dressed in sacred robes. Clitophon waits outside worrying that Pan will take advantage of her, but the Pan pipes sound soon after and she emerges triumphantly from the grotto.

Melite's test is to stand in the spring of the Styx with her oath inscribed on a tablet hung about her neck. If the water rises to cover the tablet she is lying, but the water remains low.

Sosthenes is also apprehended and sent to prison awaiting trial for his part in Thersander's subterfuge. Thersander is banished from Ephesus by the court.

The high priest invites Leucippe and Clitophon again to dinner where she explains how she escaped death at the hands of the pirates. They had several prostitutes on board, one of whom resembled Leucippe. Chaereas suggested that they dress her in Leucippe's clothes and then cut off her head, throwing her body overboard without the head, which they disposed of later. This ruse helped them escape and the pirates reckoned on getting a better price for Leucippe than for the prostitute. But when Chaereas insisted on keeping Leucippe as his prize, the pirate captain cut off his head as well.

Sostratus also explains what had happened to Calligone. After abducting her, Callisthenes found out that she was not in fact Leucippe, and apologised for the mistake, promising to respect her virginity. And this experience transformed him from a man of dissolute morality into a virtuous person.

Thersander disappears from Ephesus, and after the statutory delay of three days, fails to renew his claim against Clitophon, and so the court's order for his execution lapses.

They sail to Byzantium, where Clitophon marries Leucippe, and then return to Tyre, where Callisthenes celebrates his marriage to Calligone.

Date
Of the six papyrus copies, the oldest is P. Oxy LVI 3836, originally dated by Parsons to the second century. This date was later firmed up by Cavallo to the first half of the second century, and more recently by Del Corso to the first quarter of the second century. If this dating is accepted for the earliest surviving copy of the romance, then its original composition may plausibly be pushed back to the end of the first century.

All attempts to date the novel based on its vague internal historical references or on stylistic grounds have so far failed to win general acceptance.

However, the connection of the bucoli (literally 'herdsmen', bandits) rebellion of 172 CE to A.T.'s story deserves separate treatment. First noticed by Altheim, the statement in IV.18.1 that from Alexandria a large military force was dispatched to raze the city of the bucoli to the ground, is also described in Dio Cassius (LXXI.12.4) and in the Historia Augusta (Marc. Aurel. XXI, 2). Dio Cassius relates how the bucoli captured a friend of a centurion, and after swearing an oath over his entrails, devoured them, just as the bucoli did to Leucippe's supposed entrails (II.15.5). A.T. gives the name of the bandit capital as Nicochis (IV.12.8), and this name also appears in Papyrus Thmouis 1, which describes the same bucoli rebellion. Furthermore, A.T. seems to concur with the papyrus in locating Nicochis in the Mendesian nome, near Thmouis, because of his description of the journey by boat from Pelusium to Alexandria. There are only two possible routes: via Memphis or via the Butic canal. A.T. doesn't mention Memphis, the second-largest city in Egypt, and when the bandits waylay them he says the river there is 'very narrow' (III.9.3) and their captain had to back water, rather than turn around or pole out into deeper water. It is clear they are on the Butic canal, which passes through the Mendesian nome, rather than on the much larger Pelusic branch of the Nile. These strong allusions suggest that Achilles Tatius based this part of his novel on recent historical events.

The problem with this otherwise conclusive theory is the much earlier date of the papyri of A.T. So the destruction of Nicochis (IV.18.1) cannot be based on a historical event. How many times can you raze a city to the ground? The destruction of Nicochis in A.T. is therefore fictitious, a just punishment meted out by the novelist to the evil bandits who nearly killed Leucippe, just as he does to all the other villains in the story: Thersander, who is banished from Ephesus (VIII.15.2), Charmides and Gorgias who are killed in the battle (IV.14.4, IV.15.3), Chaereas who gets his 'just punishment' being beheaded by pirates (VIII.16.4), and Sosthenes who is thrown into jail (VIII.15.2).

Analysis
The first appraisal of this work comes from Photius' Bibliotheca, where we find: "the diction and composition are excellent, the style distinct, and the figures of speech, whenever they are employed, are well adapted to the purpose. The periods as a rule are aphoristic, clear and agreeable, and soothing to the ear". To this Photius added a moralistic bias that would long persecute the author: "the obscenity and impurity of sentiment impair his judgment, are prejudicial to seriousness, and make the story disgusting to read or something to be avoided altogether." Past scholars have passed scathing comments on the work, as in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica which brands the novel's style artificial and labored, full of incidents "highly improbable", and whose characters "fail to enlist sympathy". Today's judgements tend to be more favorable, valuing the elements of originality that the author introduces in the genre of the romance.

The most striking of these elements may be the abandonment of the omniscient narrator, dominant in the ancient romance, for a first person narration. To this is added the use of ekphrasis: the novel opens with an admirable description of a painting of the rape of Europa, and also includes descriptions of other paintings such as Andromeda being saved by Perseus and Prometheus being liberated by Heracles. The story, we are told, is inspired by this image, but is not based on it, in contrast to Daphnis and Chloe, a romance which also opens with an ekphrasis, but instead of being inspired by the painting is in fact an interpretation of the painting, making the whole novel a form of ekphrasis.

Achilles Tatius takes pleasure in asides and digressions on mythology and the interpretation of omens, descriptions of exotic beasts (crocodiles, hippopotami) and sights (the Nile delta, Alexandria), and discussions of amorous matters (such as kisses, or whether women or boys make better lovers). His descriptions of confused and contradictory emotional states (fear, hope, shame, jealousy, and desire) are exemplary ("baroque" conceits such as these would be frequently imitated in the Renaissance). There are also several portrayals of almost sadistic cruelty (Leucippe's fake sacrifice and, later, decapitation; Clitophon chained in prison or beaten by Melite's husband) that share much with Hellenistic sculpture (such as the "Dying Gaul" or the "Laocoön and his Sons").

The romance's modern editions
The large number of existing manuscripts attests the novel's popularity. A part of it was first printed in a Latin translation by Annibale Della Croce (Crucejus), in Lyon, 1544; his complete translation appeared in Basel in 1554. The first edition of the Greek original appeared in Heidelberg, 1601, printed together with similar works of Longus and Parthenius; another edition was published by Claudius Salmasius in Leiden, 1640, with commentary. The first important critical edition came out with Friedrich Jacobs in Leipzig, 1821.

There are translations in many languages. The first English translation was William Burton's The Most Delectable and Pleasaunt History of Clitiphon and Leucippe, first published in 1597 and reprinted in 1923, when only 394 copies were printed. it was followed by those of Anthony Hodges (1638), R. Smith (1855), Stephen Gaselee (1917), J. J. Winkler (1989), and Tim Whitmarsh (2001).

A first partial French translation (most likely based on the Latin edition) appeared in 1545 by Philibert de Vienne. The first complete French translation was published in 1568 by François de Belleforest.

In 2005 a Portuguese translation, Os Amores de Leucipe e Clitofonte, was published as part of the Labirintos de Eros book series of translations of ancient Greek novels which was issued by Edições Cosmos of Lisbon. That translation was made by Abel Nascimento Pena, a professor of classics at the University of Lisbon, and included a preface by Marília Pulquério Futre Pinheiro.

Influence
Literary parallels have been found between Leucippe and Clitophon and the Christian Acts of Andrew, which are roughly contemporary compositions.

A copy of Leucippe and Clitophon was held in the extensive library of the Byzantine provincial magnate Eustathios Boilas in the eleventh century.

Leucippe and Clitophon is the key source for The Story of Hysmine and Hysminias, by the 12th century AD Greek author Eustathius Macrembolites (or Eumathius). This book was frequently translated in the Renaissance.

Leucippe and Clitophon is also imitated in Historia de los amores de Clareo y Florisea by the Spanish writer Alonso Nuñez de Reinoso (Venice, 1552). This novel was translated into French as Les Amours de Florisee et Clareo et de la peu fortunee Ysea by Jacques Vincent (Paris, 1554).

A French adaptation of Achilles Tatius' novel (with significant changes) was published as Les adventureuses et fortunees amours de Pandion et d'Yonice (1599) by Jean Herembert, sieur de la Rivière.

title: Leucippe and Clitophon