THEOCRITUS IDYLL IV
Idyll 4 – ‘The Herdsmen’ depicts a scene of conversation between two goatherds, Battus and Corydon. Corydon has been requested to stand in for Aegon – a cowherd, who has been called away by Milon, to the Alpheus for a boxing match.
Battus mocks Corydon on the subject of his new position as stand-in for Aegon, possibly through jealousy as cowherds are seen as superior to goatherds. Daniel W. Berman suggests that in Theocritean bucolic, conversations between fellow goatherds would be friendly and amiable, whilst conversations between shepherds and goatherds, or cowherds and goatherds would often be vulgar and abusive. In this Idyll Corydon’s role has changed, adding strain to the relations between himself and Battus.
Battus questions where Aegon has gone, and is surprised to hear he has been taken away to a boxing match with Milon. His reaction is recollected in the following passage:
‘CORYDON [6] Did you never hear? Milon carried him off with him to the Alpheus.
BATTUS
[7] Lord! When had the likes of him ever so much as set eyes upon a flask of oil?
CORYDON [8] Men say he rivals Heracles in might.
BATTUS [9] And mammy says I’m another Polydeuces’
Battus’s scoffing is likely to come from jealousy, and also his bitterness for Milon which is discovered when Corydon sings. The song in this Idyll is not long, and although following pastoral tradition it would appear the song is in place to introduce Milon to the reader. We learn from Battus’s comments about Milon that he does not like him, for example:
‘BATTUS [26] Heigho, poor Aegon! thy very kine must needs meet their death because thou art gone a-whoring after vainglory, and the herdsman’s pipe thou once didst make thyself is all one mildew.’
It is in Corydon’s song that we realize Battus’s hatred for Milon is rooted in his love for Amaryllis, and the fact that Battus lost out on her affections against Milon:
‘CORYDON …Where boxer Milon one fine morn made fourscore loaves his meal,
And down the hill another day, while lasses holla’d by the way,
To Amaryllis, laughing gay led the bull by the heel.’
Corydon’s reference to Amaryllis brings about an emotional reaction from Battus as he remembers his love and loss of her. He has a moment of sentiment, saying:
‘BATTUS [38] O beautiful Amaryllis, though you be dead, I am true, and I’ll never forget you. My pretty goats are dear to me, but dear no less a maiden that is no more. O well-a-day that my luck turned so ill!’
The poem then returns to the discussion of herding, and the men bicker about a thorn in Battus’s ankle, as Corydon points out that he should be wearing shoes. Berman’s reading of this suggests that it could be seen as an insult in hierarchical terms, because of the poor and dirty nature of goatherds. If so, Corydon appears to be playing up to his temporary role as cowherd, feeling the superiority of his station. It does not seem, however, that these men are unfriendly towards each other, but because of Aegon and Milon, tensions arise.
POSTED BY FAYE
A good start, Faye; though a little brief (this post is 520 words long, but 200 of those are a number of long quotations from the text!), and it doesn't do much more than simply retell the story of the poem -- it's descriptive rather than analytical. You seem to be suggesting that the way to read this text is as an elaboration of the emotional interaction of the two speakers, but this seems a little limiting to me. You need to specify which translation you're using, and link to critics articles or books when you reference them (as when you say 'Daniel W. Berman suggests that...': where does he do so?) Promising rather than fully accomplished.
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