Idyll IV
Idyll IV, also titled Νομεῖς ('The Herdsmen'), is a bucolic poem by the 3rd-century BC Greek poet Theocritus.[1] The poem is a conversation between a goatherd named Battus and his fellow goatherd Corydon, who is acting oxherd in place of a certain Aegon who has been persuaded by one Milon son of Lampriadas to go and compete in a boxing-match at Olympia.[a][1] Corydon's temporary rise in rank gives occasion for some friendly banter, varied with bitter references to Milon's having supplanted Battus in the favours of Amaryllis.[1]
Summary
Battus and Corydon, two rustics, meeting in a glade, gossip about their neighbour, Aegon, who has gone to try his fortune at the Olympic games.[2] After some banter, the talk turns on the death of Amaryllis, and the grief of Battus is disturbed by the roaming of his cattle.[2] Corydon removes a thorn that has run into his friend's foot, and the conversation comes back to matters of rural scandal.[2] The poem, like many of the Idylls, contains a song.[1] The scene is near Crotona in Southern Italy.[1]
Analysis
The reference to Glaucè of Chios, a contemporary of Theocritus, fixes the imaginary date of the poem.[1][3]
See also
Notes
- ^ This is not the great Milon, but a fictitious strong man of the same town called by his name.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Edmonds, ed. 1919, p. 49.
- ^ a b c Lang, ed. 1880, p. 19.
- ^ Cholmeley, ed. 1919, p. 225.
Sources
- Cholmeley, R. J., ed. (1919). The Idylls of Theocritus (2nd ed.). London: G. Bell & Sons, Ltd. pp. 220–8.
Attribution: 
This article incorporates text from these sources, which are in the public domain.
- Edmonds, J. M., ed. (1919). The Greek Bucolic Poets (3rd ed.). William Heinemann. pp. 49–59.
- Lang, Andrew, ed. (1880). Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus. London: Macmillan and Co. pp. 19–23.
Further reading
- Giangrande, G. (1971). "Theocritus' Twelfth and Fourth Idylls: A Study in Hellenistic Irony". Quaderni Urbinati Di Cultura Classica (12): 95–113.
- Gow, A. S. F., ed. (1950). Theocritus. Vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 35–40.
- Gow, A. S. F., ed. (1950). Theocritus. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 76–91.
- Kampakoglou, A. (2014). "Cowherd or Athlete: Aegon's Ambiguous Status and the Erotics of Genre in Theocritus Idyll 4". Phoenix. 68 (1/2).
External links
Greek Wikisource has original text related to this article: Νομεῖς- "Theocritus, Idylls, νομεῖς Βάττος καὶ Κορύδων". Perseus Digital Library.
