Idylls (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Theocritus
- First Published: 1566
- Type of Work: Poetry
- Genres: Poetry, Pastoral, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Mythology or myths, Love or romance, Rural or country life, Poetry or poets, Farms, farmers, or farming, Death or dying, Sheep, Life and death, Greek or Roman times, Greece or Greek people, Shepherds
Critical Evaluation:
Theocritus is perhaps the originator of the literary genre of pastoral poetry. The Idylls has, therefore, exerted tremendous influence on European literature. The Idylls is a collection of thirty short poems that were ascribed to Theocritus in antiquity, perhaps incorrectly. Taking its basic inspiration from the yearnings and concerns of Greek shepherds and simple country folk, pastoral poetry is potentially a confining genre. Readers of Theocritus will acknowledge, however, that his poems explore an astonishingly wide variety of...
[The entire page is 1931 words long]
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