""Hardin has a well-established reputation as a scholar of Renaissance literature, but in this book he shows a remarkable range. The dominant impression is of this book's variety rather than of any single thread of argument. Perhaps in that respect it is almost idyllic in itself, free to explore the ramifications of a classical genre which is subtly persistent, and still making itself felt in modern works by writers as different as Bruce Chatwin and Ursula Le Guin.""-- Times Literary Supplement ""Goethe considered the Greek prose romance Daphnis and Chloe , written around 200 CE by an otherwise unknown author named Longus, a masterpiece deserving annual rereading. Indeed, this paradigm of the idyllic romance--in which innocent foundlings, one of each sex, discover life and love in a setting of natural beauty--has exercised considerable literary influence from the 16th century on. Hardin's estimably learned comparative study will reward students of diverse interests. For example, admirers of the popular film The Blue Lagoon (1980) can learn about its novelistic source, Henry De Vere Stacpoole's 1908 novel of the same title. A source of fresh juxtapositions for those eager to learn about and teach some new and unfamiliar books.

Recommended for graduate students and faculty.""-- Choice.