The chief defects in the composition of his work, are the digressions--for instance, the adventures of Cnemon and the siege of Cyene; together with certain critical and philosophical discussions, which, while they take up considerable space distract the attention of the reader, without adding to his interest. He has also been blamed for making a _third_ person--Calasiris--recount the adventures of the hero and heroine; instead of letting them tell their own story. As regards the two principal characters, it must be allowed that the hero, like many heroes in modern novels, is "insipid." Upon certain occasions, it is true that Theagenes "comes out:" he does battle boldly with the pirate lieutenant; distances his rival, in good style, in the running match; effectually cools the courage of the Ethiopian bully; and gives proof of the skill of reasoning man over the strength of the irrational brute in the scene of the _Taurocathapsia_; but with these exceptions, he is remarkable chiefly for his resistance to temptations, and for the constancy of his affections--no slight merits, however, especially in a heathen, and like other "quiet virtues," of greater intrinsic value than more sparkling and showy qualities. Of Chariclea, on the other hand, it has with justice been observed,[2] that "her character makes ample amends for the defects in that of her lover. The masculine firmness and presence of mind which she evinces in situations of peril and difficulty, combined at all times with feminine delicacy; and the warmth and confiding simplicity of her love for Theagenes, attach to her a degree of interest which belongs to none of the other personages." "The course of true love never did run smooth," says the Poet; and however defective may be the work of Heliodorus, in other respects, none of its readers will deny that the author has exemplified the words of the Bard in the perils, and escapes, separations, and unexpected reunion of the hero and heroine of the "Ethiopics." None there are, we trust but will rejoice, when at the conclusion, they find-- "How Fate to Virtue paid her debt, And for their troubles, bade them prove A lengthened life of peace and love." The forte of Heliodorus lies especially in descriptions; his work abounds in these, and apart from the general story, the most interesting portions are, the account of the haunts of the Buccaneers; the procession at Delphi, with the respective retinues and dresses of Theagenes and Chariclea; the wrestling match, and the bull fight--all these are brought before the reader with picturesque effect, and in forcible and vivid language; nor should we omit what is very curious and valuable in an antiquarian point of view, his minute description of the panoply worn by man and horse composing the flower of the Persian army, which paints to the life, the iron-clad heroes of the Crusades, so many centuries before they appeared upon the scene.