The Story of Apollonius King of Tyre

Although the earliest manuscripts are in Latin, The Story of Apollonius King of Tyre follows many of the conventions of the Ancient Greek romance. Deux ex machina, piracy, threats to the chastity of heroines, adventures around the Mediterranean, intervention of the gods, separation and reunion of lovers, and a happy ending structure the narrative of this short text, or "novella."  Thus, this short tale is closer to the Greek romances than the famous story of Apuleius or Petronius's Satyricon. Interestingly, the initial princess Apollonius of Tyre wished to wed is erased from the narrative after our hero solves the riddle of her incestuous/rapist father, so he could wed an "unspoiled" virgin princess from Pentapolis, Cyrene. 

Perhaps this had to be done so the righteous king of Tyre could wed a virgin, although one wishes there had been something done on behalf of Antiochus's daughter. There are also seemingly Christian invocations of God and Biblically-inspired language, although it coexists uneasily with the presence of Neptune, Diana, Priapus, and other pagan gods. It could very well be the Christian-sounding aspects of the tale were inserted with the Latin translations after the completion of the Vulgate. Gerald Sandy's translation also does a great job capturing the spirit of the times in which these characters lived, their values, and rendering the prose more readable. Of course, a translator can only do so much with a text that was plagued with awkwardness in its original language and the conventions and cliches of its in Antiquity. 

Yet, it feels so incomplete. What was Apollonius doing in Egypt for 14 years? If he abandoned his royal status to become a merchant, are we to assume he was engaged in trade in Egypt and the Mediterranean all this time? And does his return to kingship after the inevitable reunion with his wife and daughter represent the triumph of nobility and kingship over inferior groups such as merchants? As a ruler, he does prove himself as a benefactor who donates to the public treasury of Tarsus and urban restoration. If the Greek primary material was longer than this, perhaps we are missing some of the additional episodes in the text, which would have added another layer of adventures or wonder to the tale.