LIFE OF THEOCRITUS ΘΕΟΚΡΙΤΟΥ ΓΕΝΟΣ

LIFE OF THEOCRITUS
ΘΕΟΚΡΙΤΟΥ ΓΕΝΟΣ

(Usually prefixed to the Idyls)

Theocritus the Bucolic poet was a Syracusan by extraction, and the son of Simichidas, as he says himself, Simichidas, pray whither through the noon dost thou dray thy feet? (Idyl VII).  Some say that this was an assumed name, for he seems to have been snub-nosed (σιμός), and that his father was Praxagoras, and his mother Philinna.  He became the pupil of Philetas and Asclepiades, of whom he speaks (Idyl VII), and flourished about the time of Ptolemy Lagus.  He gained much fame for his skill in bucolic poetry.  According to some his original name was Moschus, and Theocritus was a name he later assumed.