An Analysis Of Therocitus Erotic Desire: Comedy Or Tragedies

Therocitus… Erotic Desire: Comedy or Tragedy?
The bucolic world, first described in Theocritus’ idylls, shepherd-poets sing and play their ‘pan pipes’, share folklores, and woo beautiful nymphs all while tend to their flocks. In two of his short poems, Idyll 1 and Idyll 11, Theocritus tell two very different stories about an unrequited love. In Idyll 1 "Thrsis’ Lament for Daphnis” Thrysis sings ‘the sufferings of Daphnis’, a most earnest story of a bucolic hero, who, as the poem would tell, pined and died over an unrequited love. Idyll 11 “The Cyclops’ Serenade” tells a much more satirical story of Polyphemus, a hopelessly infatuated Cyclops, singing to his beloved, the beautiful sea-nymph Galatea. It is Theocritus’ careful choice of language,
Theocritus’ use of language is one of the ways he is able to portray this story as earnest and tragic. From the beginning of the story it is stated that Daphnis dies and that “at his death jackals howled for him and […] many an ox mourned at his feet” (1.71-73), and that many people came to visit Daphnis, including his father Hermes, who came to ask him “Who is it that torments you? Who do you long for so much?” (1.79). From the very beginning phrases the story starts out with a morbid tone. Theocritus’ use of words such as mourning, howling, and torment automatically suggest pain crying and suffering. Person after person comes to visit Daphnis without him giving a word in response until Cypris, or Aphrodite. Immediately in a fit of rage Daphnis begins to threaten her and tells her to “go confront Diomedes and say: ‘I’ve beaten the cowherd, so come on, now you fight with me’” (1.112). Daphnis is acknowledging his inferiority to the Greek hero Diomedes, who in the Illiad would later defeat Aphrodite. Essentially Daphnis is saying, “now that you’ve defeated me, lets see how well you do when it’s a real hero”. Daphnis does not see himself as anything other than “the one who herded his cows here” (1.120) and therefore stands no chance at defeating love and either trying to win her heart or move on. Daphnis is fundamentally admitting
Through his use of similes, structure, and language, Theocritus is able to present a satirical portrayal of lovesick beast. The first thing he does to make it humorous is with the actual content of the story. An ugly one-eyed giant asking a beautiful sea-nymph to “leave the grey-green sea behind to crash on the shore” (11.43) is so overly absurd that it’s actually comical. On top of the general theme of story the actual poem itself reflects the Cyclops’ clumsy, blundering, and overall juvenile ways. The main humor in the Cyclops’ pining away for Galatea stems from his clear juvenility and absurd courting attempts of an adolescent, love sick teen. Standing by the shore, Polyphemus sings to Galatea that she is “whiter than cream cheese, softer than a lamb, more playful than a calf, sleeker than an unripe grape” (11.20-21). These metaphors that he uses to describe her are not only juvenile in their level of sophistication but also in their essence. The fact that he even thinks calling her whiter than cream cheese is a going to attract her is comical on its own. He then continues to try and impress and entice her by bragging that he “pastures a thousand beasts, and I drink the best milk I get from them. Cheese too I have in abundance” (11.35-36). In Polyphemus’ attempt at poetic and creative imagery he