ARISTIDES

aristides, of miletus, generally regarded as the father of greek prose romance, flourished 150-100 b.c. he wrote six books of erotic _milesian tales_ ([greek: milesiaka]), which enjoyed great popularity, and were subsequently translated into latin by cornelius sisenna (119-67 b.c.). they are lost, with the exception of a few fragments, but the story of the ephesian matron in petronius gives an idea of their nature. they have been compared with the old french _fabliaux_ and the tales of boccaccio. plutarch, _crassus_, 32; ovid, _tristia_, ii. 413, 443; muller, _fragmenta historicorum graecorum_, iv.