Idyll XXI, also called Ἁλιεῖς ('The Fisherman'), is a poem traditionally attributed to the 3rd century BC Greek poet Theocritus.[1] After some verses addressed to Diophantus, a friend about whom nothing is known, the poet describes the toilsome life of two old fishermen.[2] One of them has dreamed of catching a golden fish, and has sworn, in his dream, never again to tempt the sea.[2] The other reminds him that his oath is as empty as his vision, and that he must angle for common fish, if he would not starve among his golden dreams.[2]  

Summary

Engraving after an antique vase from the collection of Sir William Hamilton, 1804. Subject unknown
Fish plate from southern Italy: c. 340–330 BC

The poet begins with a dedication in the manner of Idyll XI, and passes quickly to his story.[1] Two fishermen lie awake at night in their cabin on the shore, and one of them tells a dream he has just had of the catching of a golden fish.[1] He asks his friend what the dream may mean, for he fears he may have to break his dream-oath that he would be a fisherman no longer.[1] To this the friend replies that it was no oath he took, and that the moral of the dream is that his only wealth is the sea.[1]

Analysis

Many considerations go to show that the traditional ascription of the poem to Theocritus is mistaken.[1][3][4] Andrew Lang thinks the idyll is "corrupt beyond hope of certain correction".[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Edmonds, ed. 1919, p. 245.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Lang, ed. 1880, p. 99.
  3. ↑ Cholmeley, ed. 1919, pp. 54–5.
  4. ↑ Gow, ed. 1950, ii, p. 369.

Sources

  • Cholmeley, R. J., ed. (1919). The Idylls of Theocritus (2nd ed.). London: G. Bell & Sons, Ltd. pp. 54–5, 329–34.
  • Gow, A. S. F., ed. (1950). Theocritus. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 369–81.

Attribution: Public Domain This article incorporates text from these sources, which are in the public domain.

Further reading

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