Theocritus: A Selection
Idylls 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11 and 13

Text of eight poems by the third-century BC Greek poet Theocritus with introduction and substantial commentary.

Theocritus (Author), Richard L. Hunter (Edited by)

9780521574204, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 4 February 1999

324 pages, 1 map
20.3 x 12.7 x 1.8 cm, 0.335 kg

'… splendid volume … this is a stimulating and learned volume, which will do much to encourage all areas of Theocritean studies.' Classical Review

This is the first full-scale commentary on poems by Theocritus since Gow's edition of 1950, and the first to exploit the recent revolution in the study of Hellenistic and Roman poetry; the poems included in this volume (Idylls 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11 and 13) are principally the bucolic poems which, through their influence on Virgil, established the Western pastoral tradition. The focus of the commentary is literary - both on how Theocritus exploited the classical heritage for a new type of poetry, and on what that poetry meant in the third century BC. The commentary, together with the introductory essays to each poem, makes a major contribution to the understanding of this extraordinary poetic form. The Introduction explores the meaning of 'bucolic', the presentation of a stylised countryside, the importance of eros in the bucolic world, and Theocritus' verbal and metrical style.

Introduction
1. Theocritus
2. Bucolic poetry
3. Loci amoeni
4. Metre
5. Language
6. Transmission
Theocritus, a selection
Commentary.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]