Callirhoe is considered to be the earliest surviving written romance in Western history and it is said to have popularized a lot of the common tropes of the genre that now haunt us mercilessly.

However, since neither of us know much about ancient Greek fiction, Dr. Jeremy Swist is here today as our Charon to guide us down this Stygian river of ancient romance!

Dr. Swist is also known as the Metal Classicist. He studies classical reception in heavy metal music and teaches Latin and Greek along with Roman and Greek myths and history. He has taught most recently at Xavier University and the University of Texas at San Antonio and is soon to start a new position at Brandeis University in MA. If you’re interested in knowing more about Jeremy’s research and interviews, you can find him on Twitter as @MetalClassicist or over at his Heavy Metal Classicist Blog