Theocritus

Theocritus (circa 310-c. 250 bc), Greek poet, who was the creator of pastoral poetry. It is known that he was born in Syracuse, Sicily, spent time on the island of Kos, and lived also at the court of the Egyptian king Ptolemy II in Alexandria, where he was a member of the Pleiad of Alexandrian poets. Thirty idyllic poems and 24 short epigrams have been preserved under his name, although authorities question the authorship of some. Ten of the idylls are pastoral, dealing with shepherd life. Others are about city life or mythological subjects. Theocritus was a skilled literary craftsman, and his style is vivid and graceful. Among the Greek poets, he was imitated by Moschus and Bion; his most successful follower was the Roman poet Virgil, who, in his Eclogues, introduced the pastoral form into Latin poetry. During the 16th century, Theocritus influenced European poets, particularly the English poet Edmund Spenser.