Abstract

This article unravels the careful encodings contained in the final sentence, the sphragis, of Longus’ novel Daphnis and Chloe. Building on previous studies on the ending, I delve more deeply into each of the key terms included in the final sentence and argue for the presence of New Comedy as the key complement to Bucolic in the novel’s generic hybridity. I focus on Chloe’s role as focalizer of the final sentence, and through key intratextual and intertextual resonances of the sphragis argue that the novel’s generic games are bound up above all in her experience and educational development.