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Cover

Idylls

Theocritus
Translated by Anthony Verity and Edited by Richard Hunter

11 September 2008

ISBN: 9780199552429

144 pages
Paperback
196x129mm

In Stock

Oxford World's Classics

Price: £8.99

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Description

Theocritus of Syracuse (first half of the third century BC) was the inventor of 'bucolic' poetry, the principal model for Virgil in the Eclogues and the foundational figure of the western pastoral tradition. The great variety of his other poems - hymns, short narrative epics, mimes, encomia, and epigrams - illustrates the rich and flourishing poetic culture of what was a golden age for Greek poetry.

  • This is currently the only edition of the complete Idylls in print.
  • Theocritus is a key figure in the development of Western literature; he invented pastoral poetry and was the principal model for Virgil in his Eclogues, hence he is a component of classical and English literature courses.
  • Accessible introduction by Richard Hunter describes what is known of Theocritus, the poetic tradition and Theocritus' innovations and what is meant by 'bucolic' poetry.
  • Accurate and fluent translation based on the OCT Greek text.
  • The Notes summarize and contextualize each Idyll, as well as glossing individual words and phrases.

About the Author(s)

Theocritus

Translated by Anthony Verity, Formerly Headmaster of Leeds Grammar School and Master of Dulwich College, and Edited by Richard Hunter, Regius Professor of Greek, University of Cambridge

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