Who’s that goatherd?: Identifying Lycidas in Idyll 7 of Theocritus
Lycidas is a mysterious figure whose perfect goatherd appearance (7.14-9), laughter (7.20,
42, 128), poetic skill (7.27-9) , and gift of a staff (7.43-4) mark him as a possibly divine source of
inspiration(Clauss 2003). Scholars have argued for interpreting Lycidas as a stand-in for a variety
of different gods and men, including Apollo, Pan, Philetas, Theocritus, and others (Williams 1971,
Clauss 2003, Payne 2007). I agree with those who argue that Lycidas is most likely a divinity or an
embodiment of the bucolic genre, though I do not believe that he can be narrowed down to a single
divinity, as he seems to have characteristics of Pan, Apollo, and even Aphrodite. I will show that
Lycidas is best understood as a mix of these three divinities, each of whom represents a key
element of the bucolic genre: nature, music, and love.
Arguments have already been made by others for characteristics that Lycidas shares with
Pan and Apollo (Williams 1971, Clauss 2003), but I am, as far as I have been able to ascertain, the
first to suggest a connection to Aphrodite. I will show that, like Aphrodite, Lycidas smiles and
laughs, is interested in love, and displays a mix of indulgence and superiority in his interactions
with herdsmen.
By giving Lycidas traits of all three divinities, Theocritus was able to create, as Payne calls
him, an embodiment of the bucolic genre (Payne 2007). Lycidas’ divinity is hinted at through his
similarities to other deities but never confirmed. His attitudes and interests reveal that he is a
perfect symbol for Theocritean poetry. By reading Lycidas as a combination of the three deities
most closely associated with Theocritean themes, we can better understand his connection to the
rest of the Theocritean corpus.
Works Cited:
Clauss, J.J. 2003. “Once Upon a Time on Cos: A Banquet with Pan on the Side in Theocritus
Idyll 7.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 101:289–302.
Payne, M. 2007. Theocritus and the Invention of Fiction. Cambridge.
Williams, F. 1971. “A Theophany in Theocritus.” Classical Quarterly 21.1:137–145.