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.[lower-alpha 1][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
  1. This is not the great Milon, but a fictitious strong man of the same town called by his name.[1]

References
  1. Edmonds, ed. 1919, p. 49.
  2. Lang, ed. 1880, p. 19.
  3. 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: Public Domain This article incorporates text from these sources, which are in the public domain.

    Further reading
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