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Daphnis and Chloe in Art
Lesvos Island is a UNESCO Global Geopark, because of its petrified forest caused by a massive volcanic eruption 20 million years ago. Lesvos, although volcanic, offers smooth landscapes with hills leading down to 370 km of coastline. This unique combination of Lyric landscape and underground energy has inspired great writers and artists: Sappho the poetess who first wrote in 6th c. BC lyric poems, talking about human sentiments like love and as a contrast to the, until then, epic poems, talking about men’s adventures and wars. Longos who wrote in 2nd c. AD “Daphnis & Chloe”, the first novel/romance in the history of literature. Marc Chagall who illustrated Daphnis & Chloe, Maurice Ravel who composed music for ballet based on the same love-story and so many others.
The story concerns the love between the goatherd Daphnis and the shepherdess Chloé.
Come and act on your dreams at Lesvos, feel the energy of the thermal springs and relax under the moonlit sky. Who knows, you might also discover here your hidden artistic talents.
If you read once the novel from our library, you might follow Goethe’s advice to revisit "Daphnis & Chloe" once every year “so as to learn from it again and again, and to sense freshly its great beauty” (Conversations with Eckermann, 20 March 1831).
Daphnis et Chloé by François Gérard (1824) oil on canvas, Detroit Institute of Arts.
Teriade Gallery, Lesvos, Marc Chagall “Daphnis & Chloe”
If you read once the novel from our library, you might follow Goethe’s advice to revisit "Daphnis & Chloe" once every year “so as to learn from it again and again, and to sense freshly its great beauty” (Conversations with Eckermann, 20 March 1831).
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