Theocritus, Bion and Moschus, Rendered into English Prose

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Theocritus. Theocritus, Bion and Moschus, Rendered into English Prose

LIFE OF THEOCRITUS

LIFE OF THEOCRITUS. ΘΕΟΚΡΙΤΟΥ ΓΕΝΟΣ

THEOCRITUS AND HIS AGE

THEOCRITUS

IDYL I

IDYL II

IDYL III

IDYL IV

IDYL V

IDYL VI

IDYL VII

IDYL VIII

IDYL IX

IDYL X. THE REAPERS

IDYL XI. THE CYCLOPS IN LOVE

IDYL XII. THE PASSIONATE FRIEND

IDYL XIII. HYLAS AND HERACLES

IDYL XIV

IDYL XV

IDYL XVI

IDYL XVII

IDYL XVIII

IDYL XIX

IDYL XX

IDYL XXI

IDYL XXII. THE DIOSCURI

IDYL XXIII. THE VENGEANCE OF LOVE

IDYL XXIV. THE INFANT HERACLES

IDYL XXV. HERACLES THE LION-SLAYER

IDYL XXVI

IDYL XXVII. THE WOOING OF DAPHNIS

IDYL XXVIII

IDYL XXIX

IDYL XXX. THE DEAD ADONIS

EPIGRAMS

BION

I. THE LAMENT FOR ADONIS

II. THE LOVE OF ACHILLES

III. THE SEASONS

IV. THE BOY AND LOVE

V. THE TUTOR OF LOVE

VI. LOVE AND THE MUSES

FRAGMENTS

MOSCHUS

IDYL I. LOVE THE RUNAWAY

IDYL II. EUROPA AND THE BULL

IDYL III. THE LAMENT FOR BION

IDYL IV

IDYL V

IDYL VI

IDYL VII

IDYL VIII

IDYL IX

Отрывок из книги

Theocritus, the Chian. But there is another Theocritus, the son of Praxagoras and Philinna (see Epigram XXIII), or as some say of Simichus. (This is plainly derived from the assumed name Simichidas in Idyl VII.) He was a Syracusan, or, as others say, a Coan settled in Syracuse. He wrote the so-called Bucolics in the Dorian dialect. Some attribute to him the following works: —The Proetidae, The Pleasures of Hope (Ἐλπίδες), Hymns, The Heroines, Dirges, Ditties, Elegies, Iambics, Epigrams. But it known that there are three Bucolic poets: this Theocritus, Moschus of Sicily, and Bion of Smyrna, from a village called Phlossa.

To take delight in that genius, so human, so kindly, so musical in expression, requires, it may be said, no long preparation. The art of Theocritus scarcely needs to be illustrated by any description of the conditions among which it came to perfection. It is always impossible to analyse into its component parts the genius of a poet. But it is not impossible to detect some of the influences that worked on Theocritus. We can study his early ‘environment’; the country scenes he knew, and the songs of the neatherds which he elevated into art. We can ascertain the nature of the demand for poetry in the chief cities and in the literary society of the time. As a result, we can understand the broad twofold division of the poems of Theocritus into rural and epic idyls, and with this we must rest contented.

.....

Lo, silent is the deep, and silent the winds, but never silent the torment in my breast. Nay, I am all on fire for him that made me, miserable me, no wife but a shameful thing, a girl no more a maiden.

My magic wheel, draw home to me the man I love!

.....