Idyll XVIII
Idyll XVIII, also titled Ἑλένης Ἐπιθάλαμιος ('The Epithalamy of Helen'), is a poem by the 3rd-century BC Greek poet Theocritus.[1] The poem includes a re-creation of the epithalamium sung by a choir of maidens at the marriage of Helen and Menelaus of Sparta.[2] The idea is said to have been borrowed from an old poem by Stesichorus.[3]
Analysis
This is a short Epic piece of the same type as XIII.[1] Both begin, as do XXV and Bion II, with a phrase suggesting that they are consequent upon something previous; but according to Edmonds this conceit, like the ergo or igitur of Propertius and Ovid, is no more than a recognised way of beginning a short poem.[1] The introduction, unlike that of XIII, contains no dedication.[1]
The scholia tells that Theocritus here imitates certain passages of Stesichorus' first Epithalamy of Helen.[1] The text likely contains allusions to certain passages from lost works by Sappho,[2] and Edmonds thinks Theocritus "seems to have had Saphho's book of Wedding-Songs before him" when writing this poem.[1]
Lang thinks this epithalamium may have been written for the wedding of a friend of the poet's.[3] The epithalamium, chanted at night by a chorus of girls, outside the bridal chamber, was a traditional feature of weddings.[2] Compare the conclusion of the hymn of Adonis in XV.[3]
See also
References
Sources
- Hopkinson, Neil, ed. (2015). Theocritus. Moschus. Bion. LCL 28. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 258–67.
Attribution: 
This article incorporates text from these sources, which are in the public domain.
- Edmonds, J. M., ed. (1919). The Greek Bucolic Poets (3rd ed.). William Heinemann. pp. 223–31.
- Lang, Andrew, ed. (1880). Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus. London: Macmillan and Co. pp. 92–4.
Further reading
- Cholmeley, R. J., ed. (1919). The Idylls of Theocritus (2nd ed.). London: G. Bell & Sons, Ltd. pp. 321–6.
- Griffiths, F. T. (14 August 2018). "The New Gods". Theocritus at Court. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. pp. 86–90. doi:10.1163/9789004327726_004. ISBN 9789004059191.
- Lane, Nicholas (2006). "Some Illusive Puns in Theocritus, 'Idyll' 18 Gow". Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica. 83 (2): 23–6. JSTOR 20546899.
- Stern, Jacob (1978). "Theocritus' Epithalamium for Helen". Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire. 56 (1): 29‒37. doi:10.3406/rbph.1978.3183.
- White, Heather (1979). "Textual and Interpretative Problems in Theocritus' 'Idyll' XVIII". Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica. 3: 106–16. doi:10.2307/20538605. JSTOR 20538605.
External links
Greek Wikisource has original text related to this article: Ἑλένης Ἐπιθαλάμιος
Media related to Idyll XVIII at Wikimedia Commons- "Theocritus, Idylls, Ἑλένης Ἐπιθάλαμιος". Perseus Digital Library.
