This volume is part of a series of key monographs on topics central to the study of the classical world. It looks at Theocritus as both a source for Vergil and later writers and as a significant poet in his own right. It gives an insight into this classical author which may prove relevant not only for classicists but also for all studying the pastoral tradition in literature.

Thomas Rosenmeyer is emeritus professor of Classics and Comparative Literature at the University of California. Berkeley. His published works include include The Art of Aeschylus (University of California Press 1982) and Senecan Drama and Stoic Cosmology (University of California Press 1989).