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Idylls
Idylls | Theocritus
5 posts | 1 read | 2 to read
A key figure in the development of Western literature, the Greek poet Theocritus of Syracuse, was the inventor of "bucolic" or pastoral poetry in the first half of the third century BC. These vignettes of country life, which center on competitions of song and love are the foundational poems of the western pastoral tradition. They were the principal model for Virgil in the Eclogues and their influence can be seen in the work of Petrarch and Milton. Although it is the pastoral poems for which he is chiefly famous, Theocritus also wrote hymns to the gods, brilliant mime depictions of everyday life, short narrative epics, epigrams, and encomia of the powerful. The great variety of his poems illustrates the rich and flourishing poetic culture of what was a golden age of Greek poetry. Based on the original Greek text, this accurate and fluent translation is the only edition of the complete Idylls currently in print. It includes an accessible introduction by Richard Hunter that describes what is known of Theocritus, the poetic tradition and Theocritus' innovations and what exactly is meant by "bucolic" poetry. About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
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Bookwomble
Idylls | Theocritus
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I really enjoyed this collection of poems by the creator of the bucolic/pastoral school of poetry. While shepherds and goatherds abound, there's actually a great variety of themes and styles. My favourite is Idyll 2, The Sorceress, with slighted love, witchcraft and psychological complexity all woven together. Idyll 15, The Women at the Festival, is a light-hearted glimpse into the lives of two provincial women in the big city, gossipy, waspish ⬇️

Bookwomble ... and charming. Idyll 22, The Dioscuri, takes two incidents from the lives of the divine twins, Castor and Polydeuces, the first being an exciting retelling of Polydeuces' boxing match with the lumbering king of a barbarous Celtic tribe. Heracles makes an appearance in his snake-strangling youth, and an episode from Euripides' The Bacchae is served up as a moral lesson. ⬇️ 2y
Bookwomble Although a slim book, it took a few days to read as I was constantly leaving off on little research diversions to follow up hints and allusions, which added to the richness of the reading experience 5⭐ 2y
batsy Lovely review! And nothing's better than a book that inspires little research divisions 💫 2y
Bookwomble @batsy Thanks 😊 2y
33 likes4 comments
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Bookwomble
Idylls | Theocritus
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"This was the wine, Nymphs,
You mixed for us on that day, by the alter of Demeter,
Queen of the threshing floor. May I once again
Plant the great winnowing-fan in her heap of grain,
While she smiles, her hands laden with poppies and sheaves."
⬇️

Bookwomble I wonder if Keats was inspired by Idyll 7 when writing the second verse of his ode To Autumn, as it shares many of the images Theocritus uses. The notes to the Idyll say that poppies were attributes of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, and I've always liked Keats' lines,
"Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep, drowsed with the fume of poppies."
2y
22 likes1 comment
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Bookwomble
Idylls | Theocritus
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"There is sweet music in that pine tree's whisper, goatherd,
There by the spring."

- Idyll 1: Thyrsis' Lament for Daphnis
#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

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Bookwomble
Idylls | Theocritus
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"Come, Moon,
Shine bright, for it is to you I'll chant my soft spells,
And to Hecate below the earth; at her approach dogs
Shiver as she goes among the tombs and dark blood of the dead.
Hail to you, dread Hecate!" ???

- Idyll 2, The Sorceress

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GoneFishing
Idylls | Theocritus

While there's life, there's hope.

alisonrose Very true 💗 8y
29 likes1 comment