Maculate Conception: Sexual Ideology and Creative Authority in Heliodorus' Aethiopica

This article reconsiders the role of sexual and romantic ideology in Heliodorus' Aethiopica, focusing particularly on Persinna's account of her daughter's conception. I contend that the triangulated sexual dynamics of the conception deviate from the binary, symmetrical romantic model embodied by Charicleia and Theagenes, complicating the novel's apparent norms. I suggest that the sexual multiplicity of Charicleia's conception mirrors the narrative complexity of the Aethiopica, as the authorial decision to include the conception story—despite its disruptive potential—privileges the plot-generating creation of Charicleia over and above a monolithic adherence to sexual and romantic ideology.