Editing Theocritus (section)

===Bucolics and mimes===

The distinction between these is that the scenes of the former are laid in the country and those of the latter in a town. The most famous of the Bucolics are [[Idyll I|1]], [[Idyll VI (Theocritus)|6]], 7 and [[Idyll XI|11]].{{sfn|Clark|1911|p=761}}

In "Idyll 1" Thyrsis sings to a goatherd about how [[Daphnis]], the mythical herdsman, having defied the power of [[Aphrodite]], dies rather than yielding to a passion the goddess has inflicted on him. In the poem, a series of divine figures from classical mythology, including [[Hermes]], [[Priapus]], and Aphrodite herself, interrogate the shepherd about his lovesickness. As Daphnis lies dying, Priapus asks: "Wretched Daphnis, why pinest thou?"; Hermes inquires: "Daphnis, who wastes thee away?" Alongside these mythological figures appear shepherds and goatherds, who likewise wonder "what harm had befallen" Daphnis. Finally, Aphrodite, the goddess of love, appears to taunt Daphnis for his hubris: "Thou indeed, Daphnis, didst boast that thou wouldst bend Love! Hast not thou, in thine own person, been bent by grievous love?" The failure of these figures to comfort Daphnis in his dying moments thematizes classical beliefs about the folly of mortals who challenge the gods.<ref>Theocritus. "Idyll I." ''The Idylls of Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus, and the War-songs of Tyrtæus''. Trans. J. Banks. London: Bell and Daldy, 1870. 1-9. Print.</ref>

In "Idyll 11" [[Polyphemus]] is depicted as in love with the sea-nymph [[Galatea (mythology)|Galatea]] and finding solace in song. In "Idyll 6," he is cured of his passion and naively relates how he repulses the overtures now made to him by Galatea. The monster of Homer's ''[[Odyssey]]'' has been "written up to date" after the Alexandrian manner and has become a gentle simpleton.{{sfn|Clark|1911|p=761}}

"Idyll 7," the ''Harvest Feast'', is the most important of the bucolic poems. The scene is laid in the isle of [[Kos]]. The poet speaks in the first person and is called Simichidas by his friends. Other poets are introduced under feigned names. Ancient critics identified the character Sicelidas of Samos with [[Asclepiades of Samos]],<ref>[[Scholia]] on Idyll 7.40 - [http://www.attalus.org/poetry/lives.html#theocritus7.40 English translation].</ref> and the character Lycidas, "the goatherd of Cydonia," with the poet Astacides, whom [[Callimachus]] calls "the Cretan, the goatherd."<ref>''AP'' 7.518</ref> Theocritus speaks of himself as having already gained fame, and says that his songs have been brought by report even unto the throne of [[Zeus]]. He praises [[Philitas]], the veteran poet of Kos, and criticizes "the fledgelings of the [[Muse]], who cackle against the Chian bard and find their labour lost." Other persons mentioned are Nicias, a physician of Miletus, whose name occurs in other poems, and [[Aratus]], whom the scholiasts identify with the author of the ''Phenomena''.{{sfn|Clark|1911|p=761}}

Several of the other bucolic poems consist of singing-matches, conducted according to the rules of [[Amoebaean singing|amoebaean poetry]], in which the second singer takes the subject chosen by the first and contributes a variation on the same theme. It may be noted that Theocritus' rustic characters differ greatly in refinement. Those in "Idyll 5" are low fellows who indulge in coarse abuse. Idylls 4 and 5 are laid in the neighborhood of Croton, and we may infer that Theocritus was personally acquainted with [[Magna Graecia]].{{sfn|Clark|1911|p=761}}

Suspicion has been cast upon idylls 8 and 9 on various grounds. An extreme view holds that within "Idyll 9" there exist two genuine Theocritean fragments, ll.7-13 and 15–20, describing the joys of summer and winter respectively, which have been provided with a clumsy preface, ll.1-6, while an early editor of a bucolic collection has appended an epilogue in which he takes leave of the Bucolic Muses. On the other hand, it is clear that both poems were in Virgil's Theocritus, and that they passed the scrutiny of the editor who formed the short collection of Theocritean Bucolics.{{sfn|Clark|1911|p=761}}

The mimes are three in number: 2, 14, and 15. In 2 Simaetha, deserted by Delphis, tells the story of her love to the moon; in 14 Aeschines narrates his quarrel with his sweetheart, and is advised to go to Egypt and enlist in the army of [[Ptolemy Philadelphus]]; in 15 Gorgo and Praxinoë go to the festival of [[Adonis]]. In the best manuscript 2 comes immediately before 14, an arrangement which is obviously right, since it places the three mimes together. The second place in the manuscripts is occupied by Idyll 7, the "Harvest Feast." Chisholm praises the mimes, saying "These three mimes are wonderfully natural and lifelike. There is nothing in ancient literature so vivid and real as the chatter of Gorgo and Praxinoë, and the {{lang|la|voces populi}} in 15".{{sfn|Clark|1911|p=761}}

In addition to the Bucolics and Mimes, there are three poems which cannot be brought into any other class:
* 12, a poem to a beautiful youth
* 18, the marriage-song of Helen;
* 26, the murder of Pentheus.
The genuineness of the last was attacked by [[Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff]] on account of the crudity of the language, which sometimes degenerates into doggerel. However, Chisholm considered it genuine, arguing that Theocritus had intentionally used realistic language for the sake of dramatic effect and that the manuscript evidence supported its genuineness. [[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathius]] quotes from it as the work of Theocritus.{{sfn|Clark|1911|p=761}}