Love
Ancient Greek literature tends to have two main themes, love and war. Of course, these are thematic of life in general, especially in ancient times when there was less "background noise" to divert one's attention from either. Love is definitely the main theme of this novel, and it all revolves around Callirhoe, whose beauty is so captivating that it is impossible not to fall in love with her. Chaereas is madly in love with her; however, this love causes most of the novel's subsequent problems and conflict, since the suitors who did not win her love and her hand in marriage are so angry and jealous over this that they trick Chaereas into believing that she has been having an affair and he physically assaults her. The theme of love clearly shows that love does not actually conquer all. Sometimes it creates more problems than it solves.
After Chaereas, Dionysius falls in love with Callirhoe. This seems to create in Chaereas a new ability for valiant adventure andhe becomes a war hero in the process of going to win back his wife. The novel shows that love is an enormously powerful emotion, something with a kind of supernatural power that almost seems to exist on its own. The theme is also reinforced by Callirhoe's invocation of the goddess of love, Aphrodite, at the end of the book.
War
The theme of war appears a great deal in ancient literature, largely because the ancient nations were given to constant warmongering in an attempt to strengthen and expand their kingdoms. The theme is introduced both by the narrative of the novel and also through its characters; for example, Callirhoe's father is said to be a famed war hero of the Peloponnesian War, which has consequently made him the most important political figure in Syracuse.
After Chaereas has been captured, war breaks out again, and he fights on the side of the Egyptian rebels first storming the Persian stronghold of Tyre and then winning a great naval battle against the Persians. The novel also informs, particularly with regard to the political situation of the time, by detailing these exploits in war. It can be seen that there is rarely a "peace time" and that battle breaks out regularly amongst all of the kingdoms in the region.
