This thesis seeks to analyze the Homeric allusions in the Aethiopica with an inclusive definition to explore Heliodorus’ authorial motives. To approach this project, I use textual analysis to avoid arguments rooted in assumptions of the historical context of the novel, about which we know almost nothing. I explore how links to Homer’s Odyssey are visible within the structural organization of the text and the content of the text. I also explore how the content of the novel reproduces actions and compatible settings of Odyssean characters, which therefore qualifies Heliodorus’ characters in a metaliterary commentary with Homer’s archaic epic poem. The division of Odyssean actions and traits depicted in Heliodorus’ characters introduce a new addition to the heroic legacy established by Homer and distances the hero from Greek identity. I conclude that Heliodorus’ adherences to epic conventions and departures thereof inform the subtextual commentaries conveyed in the Aethiopica.

Atos de Paulo e Tecla narra as provações e extraordinários livramentos experimentados por Tecla, uma jovem e bela virgem de Icônio, após tornar-se cristã através da pregação de Paulo. Provavelmente a obra foi composta em meados do século II, o que coincide com o auge da produção dos romances gregos e do florescimento da Segunda Sofística. Embora apresente importantes pontos de contato com o romance antigo e com a literatura cristã canônica, Atos de Paulo e Tecla também se diferencia consideravelmente destes, o que o coloca claramente em um grupo à parte. O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar uma tradução do texto grego para o português juntamente com um estudo de suas relações com o romance antigo e uma análise de seu contexto. / The Acts of Paul and Thecla narrates the trials and extraordinary deliverance experienced by Thecla, a beautiful young virgin from Iconium, after she became a Christian by Paul\'s preaching. The work was composed in the middle of the second century, simultaneously with the peak of ancient Greek novel production and the flourishing of the Second Sophistic. Despite extensive similarities between the ancient novel, the canonical Christian literature, and The Acts of Paul and Thecla, the latter differs considerably from the other two. This dissertation includes the translation of this narrative from Greek to Portuguese, a study about its correlation with the ancient novel, as well as an analysis of its historical and literary context.