Theocritus biography of martin

3rd-century BC Greek poet

Theocritus (; Ancient Greek: Θεόκριτος, Theokritos; born c.

Theocritus biography of martin

BC, died after BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily, Magna Graecia, and the creator of Ancient Greekpastoral poetry.^[1]

Life

Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from his writings.

We must, however, handle these with some caution, since some of the poems (Idylls; Εἰδύλλια) commonly attributed to him have little claim to authenticity. It is clear that at a very early date two collections were made: one consisting of poems whose authorship was doubtful yet formed a corpus of bucolic poetry, the other a strict collection of those works considered to have been composed by Theocritus himself.

Theocritus was from Sicily, as he refers to Polyphemus, the Cyclops in the Odyssey, as his "countryman." He also probably lived in Alexandria for a while, where he wrote about everyday life, notably Pharmakeutria.

It is also speculated that Theocritus was bor