Aristides of Miletus the Novelist (Ἀριστείδης ὁ Μιλήσιος)

Life Aristides of Miletus, a Hellenistic author of the 2nd or 1st century BCE, is known solely as the writer of the Milesiaka. His epithet indicates origin from Miletus in Ionia. No further biographical details survive.

Works His only known work is the Milesiaka (Μιλησιακά, Milesian Tales), a collection of short, erotic prose narratives. The original Greek text is lost, preserved only through fragments, summaries, and later references [1][2].

Significance Aristides is significant as the originator of the "Milesian tale," a genre of salacious and often comic erotic fiction in prose. Translated into Latin in the early 1st century BCE, it profoundly influenced later Roman narrative literature, including the works of Petronius and Apuleius, who explicitly framed his Metamorphoses as a tale in this tradition [1][2]. The Milesiaka represents a foundational, if fragmentary, stage in the development of the ancient novel.

Sources 1. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics (Oxford University Press): https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4133 2. Encyclopædia Britannica (Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.): https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aristides-of-Miletus