Idyll XIX

Greek poem attributed to Theocritus

Idyll XIX, also titled Κηριοκλέπτης ('The Honey-Stealer'), is a poem doubtfully ascribed to the third-century BC Greek poet Theocritus.^[1] Eros complains of the painful stings inflicted by the small bees, and Aphrodite laughingly compares them to the bittersweet darts of love shot by Eros himself.

Analysis

According to J. M. Edmonds, this little poem probably belongs to a later date than the Bucolic writers, and was brought into the collection merely owing to its resemblance to the Runaway Love of Moschus.^[1] The motif is that of a well-known Anacreontic Ode.^[2] The idyll has been translated into French by Ronsard.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b Edmonds, ed. 1919, p. 233.
^ ^a ^b Lang, ed. 1880, p. 95.

Sources

Attribution: This article incorporates text from these sources, which are in the public domain.

Edmonds, J. M., ed. (1919). The Greek Bucolic Poets (3rd ed.). William Heinemann. pp. 233–5.
Lang, Andrew, ed. (1880). Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus. London: Macmillan and Co. p. 95.

External links

Greek Wikisource has original text related to this article: Κηριοκλέπτης
Media related to Category: Idyll XIX at Wikimedia Commons
"Theocritus, Idylls, Κηριοκλέπτης". Perseus Digital Library.

Theocritus

Works

Bucolics	Idyll I Idyll III Idyll IV Idyll V Idyll VI Idyll VII Idyll VIII Idyll IX Idyll X Idyll XI Idyll XII Idyll XIII Idyll XVI Idyll XVII Idyll XVIII Idyll XIX Idyll XX Idyll XXI Idyll XXII Idyll XXIII Idyll XXIV Idyll XXV Idyll XXVI Idyll XXVII Idyll XXVIII Idyll XXIX Idyll XXX
Mimes	Idyll II Idyll XIV Idyll XV
Other	Inscriptions Fragments