CRITICISM

Bowie, E. L. “Theocritus's Seventh Idyll, Philetas and Longus.” The Classical Quarterly XXXV, No. 1 (1985): 67-91.

Contends that the identity of the perceived narrator changes during the course of the poem and explores possible allusions Theocritus strove for in naming the goatherd Lycidas.

Burton, Joan B. “The Function of the Symposium Theme in Theocritus's Idyll 14.” Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 33, No. 3 (Fall 1992): 227-45.

Provides an overview of Greek symposia and explains how Theocritus used the symposium theme to address contemporary social problems.

Cholmeley, R. J. An introduction to The Idylls of Theocritus, pp. 1-60. London: George Bell & Sons, 1906.

Offers biographical material; analyses of Theocritus's verse, style, and dialect; and a section devoted to the authenticity of certain poems attributed to him.

Davies, Malcolm. “Theocritus's Adoniazusae.” Greece & Rome XLII, No. 2 (October 1995): 152-58.

Examines how “Idyll 15” reveals the solace that religion could offer women of ancient Greece and how the poem contrasts myth and mundane life.

Gow, A. S. F. An Introduction to Theocritus, pp. xv-xxix. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952.

Discusses the problems inherent in trying to gather facts about Theocritus's life and career from studying his works.

Griffin, Jasper. “Theocritus, the Iliad, and the East.” American Journal of Philology 113, No. 2 (Summer 1992): 189-211.

Contends that the Iliad has been neglected as an important source for Theocritean bucolic.

Griffiths, Frederick T. Theocritus at Court. Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1979, 135p.

Analyzes Idylls “14-18,” “24,” and “26.”

Gutzwiller, Kathryn J. Theocritus's Pastoral Analogies: The Formation of a Genre. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1991, 304p.

Studies Theocritean pastoral poetry and through it explores the process by which other genres may have originated.

Haber, Judith. “Bringing It All back Home: Bucolic and Heroic in Theocritus’s Idylls,” pp. 12–35. Pastoral and the Poetics of Self-Contradiction: Theocritus to Marvell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

Contends that the key to understanding the Idylls is recognizing the heroic aspiratons of its characters.

Hunter, Richard. An introduction to Theocritus: A Selection, pp. 1-30. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Discusses Theocritus's use of bucolic terminology, his use of settings of stylized natural beauty, and his fondness for dactylic hexameters.

Mojena, Asunción. “The Behavior of Prepositives in Theocritus's Hexameter.” Glotta LXX, No. 1-2 (1992): 55-60.

Linguistic study argues that many scholars have made faulty conclusions concerning word-ends in the Idylls.

Schmiel, Robert. “Structure and Meaning in Theocritus 11.” Mnemosyne XLVI, No. 2 (May 1993): 229-34.

Explains how study of the structure of “Idyll 11” clearly indicates the Cyclops is not cured of his love.

Sens, Alexander. “Hellenistic Reference in the Proem of Theocritus, Idyll 22.” The Classical Quarterly XLIV, No. 1 (1994): 66-74.

Suggests that the storm scene contains references to works by Aratus and Apollonius Rhodius.

———. An introduction to Theocritus: Dioscuri (Idyll 22): Introduction, Text, and Commentary, pp. 11-58. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1997.

Analyzes Theocritus's work in terms of structure, unity, dialect, language, style, and meter.

White, Heather. Studies in Theocritus and Other Hellenistic Poets. Amsterdam: J. C. Gieben, 1979, 89p.

Uses historical method in clarifying and interpreting Theocritus's poetry.

Zimmerman, Clayton. “An Iliadic Model for Theocritus 1.95-113.” American Journal of Philology 115, No. 3 (Fall 1994): 375-80.

Applies a Homeric subtext to some controversial lines and thereby gains a different reading of them.

———. The Pastoral Narcissus: A Study of the First Idyll of Theocritus. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1994, 110p.

Analysis includes a new interpretation of the Daphnis story.

Additional information on Theocritus’s life and career is contained in the following source published by the Gale Group: Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 176: Ancient Greek Authors.