# Chloris — Jurgen character guide

> Chloris in Jurgen by James Branch Cabell.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** The Hamadryad, Hamadryad Chloris, dear Chloris

**First appearance:** 0007-iii-the-garden-between-dawn-and-sunrise

## Snapshot

A tree nymph of Leukê who marries Jurgen by the law of the Wood and cheerfully refuses to believe he could possibly have other wives.

## Who they are

Chloris is a hamadryad in the island of Leukê, where Jugatinus marries everyone and nobody ever leaves, so the question of Jurgen's prior wives simply cannot arise. She is tender, literal-minded, and utterly untroubled by the complications that follow Jurgen everywhere else, and their wedding is one of the book's gentlest, funniest scenes. She represents the sweet, impossible simplicity of a love that has no history and no consequences — exactly what Jurgen keeps half-wanting and cannot keep.

## In the story

### [XXII: As to a Veil They Broke](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/chapters/xxii-as-to-a-veil-they-broke)

Not directly present; no mention in excerpts.

### [XXVII: Vexatious Estate of Queen Helen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/chapters/xxvii-vexatious-estate-of-queen-helen)

A hamadryad who first informs Jurgen about Helen and Achilles, then spends a romantic night with Jurgen.

### [XXVIII: Of Compromises in Leukê](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/chapters/xxviii-of-compromises-in-leuk)

Jurgen's hamadryad wife, who insists on marriage by Jugatinus and adheres to local traditions, though Jurgen finds her unperceptive.

### [XXIX: Concerning Horvendile's Nonsense](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/chapters/xxix-concerning-horvendile-s-nonsense)

Jurgen's current companion; sends him to the seashore and later contentedly shares supper with him.

### [Economics of King Jurgen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/chapters/xxx-economics-of-king-jurgen)

Jurgen thinks of her and returns to her after leaving Queen Helen.

### [The Fall of Pseudopolis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/chapters/xxxi-the-fall-of-pseudopolis)

Pleads with Jurgen to take shelter in the Woods, offers to care for him if turned into a pig, but ultimately stays because her life is tied to her tree.

### [Sundry Devices of the Philistines](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/chapters/xxxii-sundry-devices-of-the-philistines)

Among the People of the Field judged and declared obsolete illusions by the Philistines.

### [XXXIII: Farewell to Chloris](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/chapters/xxxiii-farewell-to-chloris)

The hamadryad whose tree is felled, leading to her death and departure to a somber afterlife; she professes her love for Jurgen despite her fate.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/characters/the_hamadryad
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/characters