Theocritus: A Selection

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.

• First full-scale commentary on these poems for almost 50 years • First commentary to concentrate on the literary significance of the texts • Richard Hunter has published many books with the Press, including Theocritus and the Archaeology of Greek Poetry (1996), and Apollonius of Rhodes: Argonautica III (CGLC 1989)

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