Chariton of Aphrodisias was the author of an ancient Greek novel probably titled Callirhoe, but also known as Chaereas and Callirhoe. The story is set against a historical background of ca 400 B.C.E. In Syracuse, Chaereas falls madly in love with the supernaturally beautiful Callirhoe. She is the daughter of Hermocrates, a hero of the Peloponnesian War and the most important political figure of Syracuse. The discovery of five separate fragments of Chariton's novel at Oxyrhynchus and Karanis in Egypt attest to the popularity of Callirhoe.