The difficulty of managing the emotions of love and lust, especially as an adolescent experiencing these feelings for the first time, is the central theme of Longus’s novel. By early in Book 1, Daphnis and Chloe already love each other but it is a platonic, familial love. The two young people have been raised together, “passing their time in childish games […] when Love hatched a plan that turned their sport to earnest” (9). Here, Longus establishes that Daphnis and Chloe’s relationship was initially one of innocent childhood friendship. The shift in their feelings is attributed to the intervention of Love (Eros). The reference to sport is a double entendre, with the first meaning describing their childish play, and the second meaning denoting how these lively games will develop into another activity—that of romantic pursuit.

Critics have historically viewed Daphnis and Chloe as an erotic novel due to the sensual and intimate nature of some of the scenes. For example, there is an erotic element when Chloe convinces Daphnis to bathe: “Then she persuaded him to bathe again and watched him bathing, and passed from watching to touching” (11). Here, Longus leaves it intentionally unclear who—or what—Chloe is touching.