The first vernacular edition of Daphnis and Chloe was the French version of Jacques Amyot, published in 1559. Along with the Diana of Jorge de Montemayor (published in the same year), Daphnis and Chloe helped inaugurate a European vogue for pastoral fiction in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Daphnis and Chloe was the model of La Sireine of Honoré d'Urfé, the Aminta of Torquato Tasso, and The Gentle Shepherd of Allan Ramsay. The novel Paul et Virginie by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre echoes the same story.
Jacques Amyot's French translation is perhaps better known than the original. The story has been presented in numerous illustrated editions, including a 1937 limited edition with woodcuts by Aristide Maillol, and a 1977 edition illustrated by Marc Chagall. Another translation that rivals the original is that of Annibale Caro, one of those writers dearest to lovers of the Tuscan elegances.
The 1952 work Shiosai (The Sound of Waves), written by the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima following a visit to Greece, is considered to have been inspired by the Daphnis and Chloe myth. Another work based on it is the 1923 novel Le Blé en herbe by Colette.[5]
The 1987 film The Princess Bride contains similarities to Daphnis and Chloe (for example, in both stories the male romantic lead is captured by pirates). Lawrence Rinder, director of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, attributes the inspiration for the film to Longus.[6]
Opera
- Joseph Bodin de Boismortier wrote a Daphnis et Chloé pastorale in 3 acts in 1747
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau worked on but did not finish a pastorale heroïque under the same title between 1774 and 1776
- Jacques Offenbach in 1860 completed a one-act operetta based on the ancient novel
Ballet
- Maurice Ravel wrote what he called a symphonie chorégraphique bearing the title Daphnis et Chloé in 1912 for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes; its choreographer that year was Michel Fokine; at nearly sixty minutes, it is the composer's longest work, and two orchestral suites from it are regularly played
- Ravel's work was choreographed by Frederick Ashton for a staging by Sadler's Wells Ballet (now The Royal Ballet) at Covent Garden on 5 April 1951, with Margot Fonteyn as Chloe and Michael Somes as Daphnis; decor was by John Craxton[7]
- John Neumeier choreographed the Ravel for his Frankfurt Ballet company[8]
- Jean-Christophe Maillot in 2010 created a contemporary and sensual choreography of 35 minutes of the Ravel for Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo; this featured Jeroen Verbruggen as Daphnis, Anjara Ballesteros-Cilla as Chloe, Bernice Coppieters as Lycenion and Chris Roelandt as Dorcon, directed by Denis Caïozzi and produced by Telmondis and Mezzo; it premiered on April 1, 2010, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco and has since been broadcast internationally[9]
Art
Photographic print by F. Holland Day of Ethel Reed in costume as Chloe (c. 1895–98).- Marc Chagall produced a series of 42 color lithographs based on the tale of Daphnis and Chloe.
- Aristide Maillol (1861-1944) published a portfolio titled Daphnis et Chloe (1937) which features 49 woodcuts illustrating the story.
Cinema
- The work was adapted into a 64-minute silent film by Orestis Laskos in 1931, one of the first Greek cinema classics. The movie was originally considered shocking due to the nudity in some of the scenes.
- The story was the basis for the 1963 film Μικρές Αφροδίτες (Mikres Afrodites), or Young Aphrodites, by the Greek filmmaker Nikos Koundouros, based on a script of Vassilis Vassilikos.
Radio
The work was adapted into a 45-minute radio play in 2006 by Hattie Naylor.
