The Arkadians is constructed in the form of a quest, with the goal being to change Fronto back into a human.

Ancient Greek epics are long discursive tales, often in the form of a quest.

Homer's Odyssey, the most famous of all Greek epics, provides many of the myths that Alexander uses in The Arkadians. Odysseus wanders over most of the Mediterranean region in his effort to reach home, and Lucian and his companions wander north and south, east and west, through several adventures and rarely in a straight line in their quest to help Fronto become a human again. In Homer's Iliad as well as his Odyssey the epic quest is one of the spirit as well as one of physical prowess, and The Arkadians captures this element well with Lucian seeking to learn what he should do with his life; nearly all the other...