Callirhoe Character Analysis

Just in general, I suppose that I do find the first book of the novel quite interesting. I enjoy the footnotes that go along with the story, as they add a great amount of depth and character to the story as a whole. Along with that, the footnotes also provide a good insight to the culture, traditions, mythology and history behind the story line.
As for a particular scene, the most interesting to me was when Theron and his pirates broke into the tomb where Callirhoe was. The entire scene to me was funnier (although I prefer more funny rather than the comparative adjective, funnier) than any of the other content within this book. I enjoyed the line, “’Some pirate you are-afraid even of a woman’ –Theron”, following the discovery of Callirhoe in the tomb and his exchange between his pirates and himself. This was something I truly was not expecting to happen in a romance novel. I would never have guessed that there would be a scene in which pirates are calling each other cowards and idiots because they believed that Callirhoe, who was just calling for help, was believed to be the spirit trapped within the tomb.
The part when Callirhoe lets her hair down and the pirates begin to bow down to her as she appears to be as beautiful as a goddess, such as Aphrodite, intrigued me.
The comparison of Callirhoe to Aphrodite is similar to the other reading response question which asked about Chaireas’ masculinity and virtuous character. Earlier in the chapter, it is mentioned that he is on par or more handsome than the most handsome of the Greeks, such as Achilles and Nireus. I like to think of Callirhoe and Chaireas’ relationship to be that of if say Aphrodite and Achilles were a couple. Aphrodite, being the transcendence of beauty and having quite voluptuous traits. On the other hand, Achilles would then be an exceptionally strong and courageous hero. These two would be comparable to William and Kate Middleton in today’s pop
culture.