1810.) 
founded the poet with Theocritus of 
Chios, who was executed by order of 
king Antigonus. He had been guilty of 
some act of treason against that mo- 
narch, but was promised a pardon, pro- 
vided he would wait upon the king to 
solicit it. Antigonus is known in his- 
tory to have had but one eye. hen, 
therefore, the friends of the rhetorician 
were earnest in persuading him to has- 
ten to court for that purpose, assuring 
him that he would be saved the moment 
he appeared before the king’s eyes, he 
exclaimed, “ Nay then, I am a dead 
man, if that be the only condition of my 
enh This unseasonable raillery 
aving reached the king’s ears, was con- 
‘sidered by him as an aggravation of the 
former. offence, and the unlucky rhe- 
torician was put to death.* It doés not 
‘Appear that this incident can at all ap- 
ply to Theocritus the poet. He himself 
seems to have been apprehensive of be- 
ing confounded with his name-sake of 
Chios; and the epigram we have men- 
tioned above, was probably written on 
purpose to manifest the distinction, Of 
the subsequent events of his life, or the 
time or place in which he died, we 
know nothing. 
The remains of Theocritus consist of 
thirty idylliums, and about twenty epi- 
grams. Besides these, he is suppesed to 
have written’ many other detached 
poems, such as hymns, heroicks, 
dirges, elegies, and iambicks. His 
fame now entirely rests upon his pas- 
torals; though it may be doubted if the 
hame Can, with propriety, begiven to adl 
his idylliums. The grammarians have 
applied the word Idylhum (from Eid, a 
Species of poetry,) to all those smaller 
compositions, which from the variety of 
their subjects, could not be clearly de- 
fined.t Thus the Sylwe of Statius, had 
they been written in Greek, would have 
been called Eid; and E:dvarsa3 even the 
Roman poets made use of the term; Au- 
sonius styling one of his books of poems 
on various subjects, Edyllia. This an- 
cient title was meant to express the va- 
riety of their nature, and were such as 
would now be called, Poems on several 
Occasions.{ Fawkes, on the other 
hand, after stating from Heinsius, that 
originally there were different titles or 
* See Kennet ubi supra, who refers to 
Plut. Sympos. 1.2. and Macreb, Saturn. 
bile C.3. 
+ Heins. in Theoc. ; 
t Kennet in Vit. Theoc. 
3. 
Lyceum of Anctent Literature—No, XXX. 551 
inscriptions prefixed to the poems of ~ 
Theocritus, such as En Bouzodiwa to his 
bucolicks, of which the grammarians 
made Erdvarie Bovxodiza, thinks that 
E:dvaAie@ is a corruption from Esuaria, 
which signifies poems or verses.* Emvarte, 
indeed, seems very naturally to flow from 
the word Eva the plural of Ems, Car-. 
men.t This, however, can only be mat- 
ter of conjecture. It is to be observed, 
that Theocritus gererally wrote in the 
modern Doric, sometimes in the Ionic. 
The Doric dialect was of two sorts, the 
old and the new. The one was harsh 
and rough, the other ‘infinitely more 
smooth and harmonious. It has been 
sometimes supposed, that it was prin- 
cipally to the uncommon sweetness ot 
the Doric, which Theocritus generally 
used, that he is indebted for the repus 
tation he enjoys; but it will be found 
that, exclusive of this advantage, he has 
ample claims that will secure to him his 
rural crown, beyond the reach of any 
other competitor. He is. the original ia 
this species of poetry. Virgil, his great 
rival, has féw. passages in his eclogues, 
but what are borrowed from the Sicilian 
bard. He not: merely imitates, but fre- 
quently translates several lines together, 
and as frequently with diminished effect. 
Itis perhaps not with the strictest jus= 
tice that Theocritus has been considered 
merely as a pastoral poet. Many of 
his smaller compositions have merit of 
various kinds, aud discover great facility 
of genius. In some he displays great 
solidity of reasoning; in others, a strain 
of courtly politeness, which admirably 
fitted him fur the splendid palace of 
Ptolemy. The observation of Quintilian, 
Wiusum illam (Theocriti') rustica eé 
pastoralem, non forum modo verum. etiam 
urbem reformidare,t was evidently le- 
velled at a few pastorals, which undoubt- 
edly cannot be defended from the charge 
of inelegance and rusticity bordering on 
vulyarity. . In the little peem of Cupid 
Slung,§ which is copied from the 40th 
ode of Anacreon, he bas all the vigour 
and delicacy of the Teian bard. In the 
Hylas,| and the Combut of Pollux and 
* Life of Theoc. prefixed to Fawkes’ 
edit. p. 30. 
+ The word occurs three times in Aristo- 
phanes ; see his Ranz, v.975. Acharnenses, 
V. O9F 5 andan his: Paxyowe 535 he tias 
emvAdwy Evemide, versiculorum Euripidis. 
f Inst, Orat. Lib. 9. c. 2. 
iQddytl. 29. 
jl idyll. 13 and 22, 
Anrycus, 
