Dion and the Sibyls: A Romance of the First Century

Miles Gerald Keon1866

No rating yet

Tags

Literature Foreign Literature Epic Historical NovelClassic MasterpieceLegendsAncient RomeChristianityEmpireIrish WriterVictorian EraRoman Empire

Summary

Dion and the Sibyls: A Romance of the First Century is a historical novel by the Irish writer Miles Gerald Keon, a former colonial secretary of Bermuda. It was first published in 1866 by the London publisher Richard Bentley in a two-volume edition. Set in the Roman Empire of the first century, at the turning point just after the Augustan age when Christianity was first emerging, the work sets the sunset of classical pagan civilization and the dawn of Christianity side by side under the same sky, unfolding a long narrative that blends historical research with imagination. According to contemporary periodicals such as The Catholic World, the novel follows the experiences of its protagonist Dion, interspersing the sights and figures of the Roman world; the Sibyls are the prophetesses of ancient legend who conveyed divine oracles. The author also incorporates historical figures and includes a brief, reverent portrayal of Jesus. After publication the book won considerable praise in Catholic and conservative literary circles and was compared to Wiseman's Fabiola and Newman's Callista; it was reprinted in the United States around 1870 with a dedication by the author to Lord Bulwer-Lytton. Though the work never entered the mainstream canon of Victorian literature, it is an important specimen for understanding nineteenth-century English religious historical fiction. No commonly available Chinese translation exists.

Editor's review

这是一部被中文读者长期忽略的维多利亚时代历史小说。作者基恩是爱尔兰天主教徒、殖民官员，写小说只是副业，却写出了一部被《天主教世界》称为“戏剧性与哲学性兼具的杰作”的作品。全书把场景放在公元一世纪罗马帝国的十字路口：一边是古典文明最成熟的时刻，一边是刚刚露头的信仰新声，作者试图用小说的方式去呈现两种文明的交替，这种写法在19世纪英语小说里并不多见。它与威斯曼《法比奥拉》、纽曼《卡利斯塔》同属一路的宗教历史传奇，对今天的读者而言，既可以当作古罗马题材的历史故事来读，也可以当作理解19世纪天主教文学复兴的一手材料。需要提醒的是，本书为公版老书，市面上多是图书馆扫描重印本，排版与校勘水平参差，阅读时宜选择较为可靠的版本。

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. 先了解奥古斯都至提比略时期的罗马背景，再进入正文，阅读体验会顺畅很多
  2. 可对照《天主教世界》1870年对本书的书评一起读，理解它在当时的定位
  3. 注意分辨作者的史实叙述与文学虚构，不要把书中人物对话当作史料
  4. 尽量选择排版清晰的重印本或电子文本，老版扫描件可能存在缺页与模糊问题

FAQ

这本书有中文译本吗？ 目前没有检索到通行或权威的中文译本。中文世界能查到的多是英文原版或图书馆扫描重印本，若要阅读请以英文原文为准。
“Dion”是书名还是人名？ Dion 既是本书标题中的关键词，也是小说主人公的名字。完整书名为《Dion and the Sibyls: A Romance of the First Century》，即《狄翁与西比尔：一世纪传奇》，不要把它误认作另一部同名作品。
这本书和《法比奥拉》有什么关系？ 两者同属19世纪天主教历史小说传统。当时书评把基恩的这部作品与威斯曼《法比奥拉》、纽曼《卡利斯塔》并列，认为水准相当，但基恩的知名度远不如后两位。
市面上哪种版本比较可靠？ 原版为1866年伦敦 Richard Bentley 出版的两卷本。现代可见的多为大英图书馆历史典藏等机构的扫描重印本，购买前建议查看实物评价，留意是否缺页、排版是否清晰。

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Miles Gerald Keon Author

Miles Gerald Keon is an author about whom very little is publicly known: neither his nationality nor his dates of birth and death can be confirmed, and only one of his works is held in the collection. His representative work is Dion and the Sibyls: A Romance of the First Century. Judging from the title and subtitle, it is a romance set in the first century, blending historical imagination with romantic narrative; the invocation of the Sibyls, a classical motif, also suggests an atmosphere of ancient religion and myth. Works of this kind generally appeal to readers interested in the classical world and early Christianity. Because public information is limited, the author's education, literary career, and full body of work cannot be described in detail, and his standing in literature remains to be further examined; what can be grasped at present is chiefly the thematic orientation and narrative interest shown in this work.