Theocritus Idyll 8

The Theocritean authorship of Idyll 8 has been much disputed amongst nineteenth and early twentieth century scholars. In contrast to the vivid, realistic characterisations exhibited in the genuine Idylls, Idyll 8 offers a stylized characterisation based on legend and mythical influence. Not only is the bucolic contest a primary theme of pastoral, but the specific match detailed in Idyll 8 is a prototypic one. Here, we witness the mythical Daphnis (whose name itself alludes to the theatrical nature of bucolic song) defeat the mythical Menalcas to establish his preeminence in bucolic verse. As the ‘pastoral hero par excellence’, as Kathryn Gutzwiller puts it, it is unsurprising that Daphnis remains the poet’s focus, whereas Menaclas appears to merely act as a foil to this central figure.

The myth surrounding Daphnis is, arguably, the principal and formative legend of pastoral poetry. Essentially, the story is as follows: Daphnis, a cowherd, was the son of Hermes and skilled at playing the pipes. He feel in love with a nymph, who, infatuated with him, elicited from him a promise of fidelity. Some time later he was seduced (some say tricked) by a princess and was blinded by his former love as punishment. Idyll 8 appears to be consistent with this myth: Daphnis is a cowherd, a singer of pastoral songs and is destined to marry a nymph. Moreover, whilst Daphnis’ beauty is mentioned in almost all accounts, Aelian’s report that the nymph fell in love with a Daphnis who was ‘handsome, young first growing a beard, that time when the youth of handsome lads is at its most charming’, is most memorable and truly fitting with Idyll 8’s depiction of the youthful Daphnis.

The poem opens with Daphnis and Menaclas meeting one another on the mountains whilst tending to their respective cattle and flock. We witness Menaclas challenge Daphnis to a bucolic contest: ‘“Daphnis, guardian of the lowing kine, wilt thou sing with me? If the songs be of the length I choose, I say that I shall vanquish thee”’ (5-7). Both characters appear to mirror one another in their ‘ruddy’ locks, youth and skill in piping and singing. After some discussion as to the stake (which is eventually settled as a pipe), a neighbouring goatherd is summoned to act as judge for the contest. One is unsure as to whether to take the two as friends (as lines 33-40 suggest when the pair wish ‘pasture in abundance’ upon one another) or as arch rivals, judging by their responses to the outcome - Daphnis ‘in his victory ... leapt for pleasure and clapped his hands’, whilst Menalcas was ‘seared with sorrow and heart-stricken with grief’ (88-91).

The elegiac portion of the contest consists of four sets of responding quatrains (one of which is missing), followed by two hexameter songs of eight lines from each herdsman. Whilst, in the first set of elegiac quatrains (33-40), Menaclas somewhat religiously prays for the bounty of nature in exchange for a pleasing gift of song, Daphnis reiterates this notion in more typically pastoral terms; the pastures foster growth simply from the sweetness of their natural vitality. Moreover, this abundance results from the similarity between Daphnis’ own music and that of the nightingale (38), nature’s most exquisite songstress. By aligning his musical talents with that of the nightingale, Daphnis alludes to an intimate, pastoral bond with nature, which appears lacking in Menaclas’ characterisation.

The second set of quatrains (41-48) detail the boys’ loves. Menaclas’ affection lies with the male Milon, whilst Daphnis’ female lover is often identified as the nymph whom he marries at the poem’s close, Nais (93). Each singer claims a correlation between their love’s presence or absence and nature’s fullness or deprivation, a motif that produces one of the earliest examples of pathetic fallacy - the illusion that nature responds with sympathy to human emotion.

In the final elegiac quatrains (53-60), Daphnis expresses the pain that comes from ‘longing for a tender maiden’ (59). Here, the ‘tender maiden’ can be construed not as the nymph, or indeed any specific person, but as a generic type. Thus, the poet foreshadows the many women who will, according to traditional myth, later entice Daphnis.

At the conclusion of the contest, the goatherd awards the victory to Daphnis, who is henceforth accounted chief of herdsmen and subsequently married to the nymph of his song. Arguably, Daphnis’ triumph is based upon his embodiment of the pastoral notion. As the goatherd depicts, Daphnis’ voice is ‘sweet’, like that of a calf, and hearing his song is better than licking honey (76-82). As Gutzwiller observes, ‘underneath the rustic simplicity of expression is an indication that Daphnis’ music shares in nature’s reserve of sweetness and beauty’. As such, his marriage to the nymph, Nais, appears to complete his oneness with nature.

*RIA*