Once upon a Time on Cos: A Banquet with Pan on the Side in Theocritus "Idyll 7"

Author(s): James J. Clauss

Source: Harvard Studies in Classical Philology , 2003, Vol. 101 (2003), pp. 289-302
Published by: Department of the Classics, Harvard University

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3658532

REFERENCES
Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3658532?seq=1&cid=pdf-
reference#references_tab_contents
You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Harvard Studies in
Classical Philology

This content downloaded from

186.206.109.142 on Sat, 29 May 2021 22:36:37 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 ONCE UPON A TIME ON COS:

A BANQUET WITH PAN ON THE SIDE

IN THEOCRITUS IDYLL 7

JAMES J. CLAUSS

IDYLL 7 begins in a manner typical of fairytales: g Xp6vog dviXc'

... (Once upon a time ... ).1 A. S. F. Gow noted in his commentary
that the phrase "implies only that the epoch referred to is closed, or the
state of affairs no longer existing, not that it belongs to the distant
past."2 Yet, two of the examples Gow cited show that the phrase, like its
English counterpart, could in the appropriate context refer to a remote
time, as the commentator also admits: iv Xpdvog ijt' jv &taKz o;
&v0poirov Pio; / iai Orqpturig; (Critias, fr. 1 Nauck) and Av ydp note

Xpdvo;g 3rE Ooi iev joaav, 0vrly& &86, y vrl o i0 jv (Plato, Prot. 320c).
With regard to Idyll 7, the poem's narrator Simichidas does not set the
magical encounter he had with the goatherd Lycidas within a specific
time relative to the telling of his story. This, in addition to the fact that
Simichidas is a fictional character speaking in a fictional dialect in a fic-
tional genre, even if he should prove to be a surrogate for Theocritus,
makes this story less historical or biographical and more fictional and,
given the folktale motif of the poet's inauguration that provides the
structure for the encounter (see below), more mythic.3 Reference to the
1 Cf. U. Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Hellenistische Dichtung in der Zeit des Kallima-
chos (Berlin 1924) 2.142, who noted the similarity of the phrase to the opening of a
Mirchen.

2 A. S. F. Gow, Theocritus, 2 vols. (Cambridge 1950) ad Id. 7.1; cf. T. Choitz and
J. Latacz, "Zum gegenwiirtigen Stand der 'Thalysien'-Deutung," WJb 7 (1981) 86-88.
3 On the fictionality of Simichidas, see, for instance, G. Lawall, Theocritus' Coan
Pastorals. A Poetry Book (Cambridge MA 1967) 80; compare the comments of C. Segal,
Poetry and Myth in Ancient Pastoral (Princeton 1981) 170-171, G. Walsh, "Seeing and
Feeling: Representation in Two Poems of Theocritus," CP 80 (1985) 19, and S. Goldhill,
"Framing and Polyphony: Readings in Hellenistic Poetry," PCPS 32 (1986) 36-37 as
regards the phrase oiSveicv oi / rnav int' & a0da n Entaagvov AtK ; ~t 'pvo; (Id.
7.43--44).

This content downloaded from

186.206.109.142 on Sat, 29 May 2021 22:36:37 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
290 James J. Clauss

creation of a fountain by a figure o

aura that surrounds the goatherd,
accompanied by an explosion of sig
the impression that the events desc
lier time, but in a different era--on
As scholars have long noted, the
elements that recall Hesiod's poe
Theogony: fountain, created by
(Hippocrene, Burina),5 noontime
by the inaugurating, and slightly

haeiOi&, ne~to~4ovov reminisc

dichotomy,6 and the gift of a staf
of these similarities to Hesiod's poe
the basic scene type in general h
the identity of the sweetly laughi
been identified as an eccentric p
goatherd,7 an older or contemporar
Philetas,9 a symbol for the ideal bu
4 As Gow (above, n. 2) notes, Chalcon m
codon, son of Eurypylus, by whom Heracl
2.7.1). R. L. Hunter, Theocritus. A Selectio
name Lycopeus is only found in mythologic
heroisation of the founder and his family w

5 See N. Krevans, "Geography and Litera

(1983) 210-212 and Hunter (above, n. 4) ad
6 As noted by Goldhill (above, n. 3) 36-3
Analogies (Madison, WI 1991) 106.
7 P. Legrand, ""Hg 8' aindr6og (Theocrite
8 E.g., B. A. van Groningen, "Quelques p
Mnemosyne 12 (1959) 24-53 [Leonidas
begegnung in Theokrits Thalysien," MH 1
nition in Theocritus' Seventh Idyll," Herm
person]; E. R. Schwinge, "Theokrits Dicht
[Hesiod]; G. Williams, "A Look at Theocritu
ena 143 (1987) 107-120 [Callimachus]; most
Intertextual and Literary Filiation in the P
(Ann Arbor 1998) 24-26 [caricature of Phi
ars, see Gow (above, n. 2) 2.130 and Q. Cat
Paoli (Florence 1955) 159-161.
9 E. L. Bowie, "Theocritus' Seventh Idyll,
who points to Longus 2.32-37; cf. I. M.

This content downloaded from

186.206.109.142 on Sat, 29 May 2021 22:36:37 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Once Upon a Time on Cos 291

himself,"1 a god,12 to a certain extent a combination o

"the mythical father whose magical presence and powe
recreated and represented so that it can be rejected."
paper, I argued that lines 35-36 (0&X' 6y~ 86cI, uvb y
Kl i cxd , / po-oootwoctu Eo0Fae), alluding to Hes
Women fr. 1.6-7 M.-W. (uvai y7xp T6ore 8oce; 9,'cv, g
/ &iav&rot; TE EOE ot l0. taz OvrlXoi T' Tv6p0'xnotg),
portrayed in the idyll to the wider context of the m
time when gods and humans mingled freely with eac
allusion, in addition to the underlying folktale motif
tive subtexts in the poem,16 encourages the conclusio
is a god who engages in a significant exchange with th
das.17 Because Theocritus does not specifically tell us w

Corydon: Virgil, Eclogue 2 and the Idylls of Theocritus," Creativ

Literature, D. West and T. Woodman (edd.) (Cambridge 1981) 59-6
10 E.g., K. J. Dover, Theocritus. Select Poems (Glasgow 1971)
Valk, "Le theme de la septieme idylle de Th6ocrite," REG 948 (198
11 E.g., J.-H. Kiihn, "Die Thalysien Theocrits," Hermes 86 (1958
Apollonios Rhodios und Theokrit (G6ttingen 1965) 14; G. Lohse,
im VII. Idyll Theokrits und das Programm des Kallimachos
413-425; Gutzwiller (above, n. 6) 160.
12 E.g., G. Luck "Zur Deutung von Theokrits Thalysien," M
F. Williams, "A Theophany in Theocritus," CQ n.s. 21 (1971) 137-
Lycidas of Theocritus' Idyll 7," HSCP 85 (1981) 59-100. Lawa
argues that the character of Lycidas was modelled after a satyr.
13 Segal (above n. 3) 114.
14 H. Berger, "The Origins of Bucolic Representation: Disenchantm
Theocritus' Seventh Idyll," CIAnt 3 (1984) 38.
15 j. J. Clauss, "Hellenistic Imitations of Hesiod's Catalogue o
M.-W.," QUUC n.s. 36 (1990) 129-134.

16 E.g., Id. 7.13-14 ('q 8' xaini6o;, o8&6E i ri- viv / 1lyvorl~E
Rox ' Kicet)
Oed(ov), where alludes to Od.
Calypso does not 5.77-78 (o& pitv
fail to recognize 6vWavrlv
that her visitor,/ Hermes,
ilYvoiroev i8oioa
is a god; cf. Kah-y6, 8ca
Hunter (above n. 4) ad 7.13. F. Williams, "Scenes of Encounter in Homer and Theocri-
tus," MPhL 3 (1978) 219-225, aptly noted the relevance of Od. 13.96-112, 221 ff., where
Athena confronts Odysseus in the guise of a shepherd. The pertinence of Homeric scenes
such as the encounters between Eumaeus and Melantheus and Priam's journey to
Achilles' tent has also been noted.
17 As Brown (above n.12) 99-100 noted, the wish, expressed in Lycidas' song (Id.
7.86-89), that Comatas were alive in his lifetime could be viewed as an obstacle to the
character's divine status; cf. A. Kbhnken, "Theokrit 1950-1994 (1996)," Lustrum 37
(1995) 283. In that we are dealing with a god in disguise, truthfulness or consistency is
not necessarily to be expected. One need only think of the lying and deceit that gods

This content downloaded from

186.206.109.142 on Sat, 29 May 2021 22:36:37 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 292 James J. Clauss

is, I originally felt it best to leave the q

I would now like to emend this position
would appear to lie at a significant poin
In a lengthy article published in 1981
offered an exhaustive discussion rega
Arguing primarily against F. Williams'
was Apollo in disguise,18 Brown counter
Pan on the basis of the numerous refe
the Arcadian daemon in the poem. I wo
more subtle arguments he offered and
supports the hypothesis that behind th
goat-like god.
After their initial exchange of pleasan
das to accompany him on the road and
of his invitation, he establishes his o
poets.19 Lycidas, playing the role of ina
Simichidas his staff, articulating his
(7.42-51):

0o Pagat v 1Rc;-n'. 6 5' aiinR6o

-Mv tot, pa, IcopIavav opi5-t'olaqst, oi

n&v VnC' &XtaOeiti , nen aovov t i C At; Epvo;.

(1i) gtot MIFCTO x yv ' rty (XnEXOFt "o'tU EpE1vv
toov 6peug Icopuq0& rteXsoat 56jov'Opogeovrtog,
ical Moto&v ipvtzeq 5oot noir X ov doti86v
A&vria ~oICoC ov-reg r~aota oKXOiovrt.

engage in throughout ancient literature to dismiss this reservation. So, we do not need to
resort to Brown's solution, elegant though it is, of attributing the lines to Tityrus, the
singer within Lycidas' song (pp. 99-100); cf. Goldhill (above, n. 3) 38 and The Poet's
Voice (Cambridge 1991) 235-236. Another approach taken to undermining Lycidas'
divinity is to reduce the scene to a parody of an inauguration; cf. G. Giangrande,
"Thdocrite, Simichidas, et les Thalysies," AC 37 (1968) 515-533 and, more recently,
W. G. Arnott, "The Preoccupations of Theocritus: Structure, Illusive Realism, Allusive
Learning," in Hellenistica Groningana: Theocritus, M. A. Harder, R. F. Regtuit, and
G. C. Wakker (edd.), (Groningen 1996) 64-66. But, as Segal (above n.3) 123 notes, the
two are not mutually exclusive.
18 Williams (above n. 12), a view that has attracted a number of scholars, e.g., K. J.
McKay, "Pomp and Pastorialia in Theocritus' Idyll 7," AUMLA 44 (1975) 183 and, more
recently, Hunter (above n.4) 146-149.
19 On Simichidas' all too obvious attempt to manipulate Lycidas into singing, see Segal
(above n. 3) 167-175.

This content downloaded from

186.206.109.142 on Sat, 29 May 2021 22:36:37 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Once Upon a Time on Cos 293

Eti-tti(&" Kly&) Clrv--Opla , (MgXO, 0'"ot pai&P o

toi6' &rt lnp&v 6v p&t t6 gr,26ptov Airtv(oa.

Brown (pp. 95-96) noted a pun on the name Pan in line 44. The reader
at first hears that Lycidas is about to give Simichidas his staff "because

you are Pan, really and truly" (oivEicev iooa nav viE' n&a0eia), and
only in the second half of the verse reinterprets the correct sense of the
whole sentence. As Brown states: "the import here being that Simichi-
das is a Pan incarnate and so deserves the emblem of the musical dai-
mon who stays close to the perennial springs of inspiration."
After each of the singers completes his song, Lycidas makes good on
his promise and gives his staff to Simichidas (128-134):

T6oo' cdPav -8 8& Fgot r Xaypo6"ov, 6&8 y.Xdaooaq

(; xndpo;, EK Motoav ~?etvitov CcTGaEV ?vgEv.
f) ELtv canoKivgi A' ' C&ptopTrspa t&v ~iri HPita
e{pp' 686v0 atirrp ydwv tre iaC E{icptrtog ;g pactSc'gLo)
otpapOivte; Xyb ioaxk 'Ag.tivrttog ;'v tre paOeiat;
&8Eia; o Xotvoto Xag L)viotv ~iXwvOCLge;
i'v Tre veoTdqtrot yetYO6te;S oivapiotot.

The presentation of a lagobolon (which throwing stick is closely associ-

ated with Pan; see Gow [above n. 2] ad 4.49) and the phrase 6&8
yXXdooaag (Pan is described as 1i63ejXo; at h. Hornm. 19.37, as noted by
Brown) bring us back to the original offer and to the pun on the name
Pan, which lies seven lines from the end of Lycidas' speech, where the
singing begins. Seven lines from the point where the singing ends,
right after Lycidas gives Simichidas his staff, we encounter the acrostic
PAN in lines 135-37:

floXai 8' a yggtv {SiUepOE Kaa icxpa'"r 6o 8oviro

Ai'yetpot ntr=-Fat e. "-b 86' 8yy0~0ev iepov i S 0p
N___ &v ~ xvrtpoto Iacttr~tigevov eXAdpU?e.
Given the expectation of a god in such a context and the many asso-
ciations with the god Pan that Brown has noted, the acrostic and its
position within the poem do not appear to be accidental.20 Simichidas
20 Pan's willingness to engage in direct contact with mortals, and to give attitude-laden
instructions to those he would help, is well known from Herodotus 6.105, where the god
asks the Athenian runner Philippides why the Athenians neglect his cult; on this episode,

This content downloaded from

186.206.109.142 on Sat, 29 May 2021 22:36:37 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 294 James J. Clauss

tells us that after Lycidas went off in

friends, Eucritus and Amyntas, contin
where they attended the harvest festi
lows mention of their reclining at the
able description of nature's luxuria
cicadas, frogs, and birds; the smell of
which Chiron served to Heracles or
order of events and the events themse
Lycidas was soon followed by a myste
god that is signaled by the acros
munificence.22
For the shepherds in Theocritus' b

see P. Borgeaud, The Cult of Pan in Ancient

(Chicago 1988) 133-137. Unfortunately, the hi
the Arcadian god at the time of this epiphany
having almost fully human form can be seen
plates 47 and 49; see J. Boardman, The Great
of these the god carries a lagobolon and in fig. 4
as in the idyll (Id. 7.15-16), and carries a syri
for the use of disguises, Pan appears to have ch
seduce Selene, much as Zeus captured Euro
3.391-393 and R. A. B. Mynors, Virgil Georgic
21 Evocation of the heroic figures at table r
mythic level as the encounter between Simichid
7.148-155. M. Fantuzzi, "Mythological Paradigm
PCPhS 41 (1995) 27-29, points out the unexempl
sonance they evoke in the idyllic scene (both s
connections in the concluding scene, see Se
7.135-47, Hunter (above n. 4) compares the descr
tain in the cave of the Nymphs with the open
remote times and concludes that "both the locus which Phrasidamos created and the cele-
bration which he held there are depicted in ways which mythicise them: the legendary
past is not merely replayed in the near past of Simichidas' memory, but that near past is
already itself mythic."
22 Cf. the first stage of Dionysus' epiphany in the Homeric Hymn, where the ship is
suddenly enveloped in vines, grape clusters, and ivy (7.35-42); for an example of a god's
epiphany at the moment of departure, see Od. 3.371-373, where Athena in the guise of
Mentor only reveals herself as she leaves. T.E.V. Pearce, "The Function of the Locus
Amoenus in Theocritus' Seventh Poem," RhM 131 (1988) 276-304, argues that the locus
amoenus described in the poem is the direct result of the meeting of Lycidas and Simichi-
das, which is analogous to the encounters between gods and mortals that occur in epic;
see also A. Cameron, "The Form of the 'Thalysia'," in Miscellanea di studi alessandrini
in memoria di Augusto Rostagni (Turin 1963) 305.

This content downloaded from

186.206.109.142 on Sat, 29 May 2021 22:36:37 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Once Upon a Time on Cos 295

divinity, whose music is unsurpassable (1.3), who is a

as here (1.15-18), to whom the dying Daphnis
(1.123-130), to whom Comatas offers milk and ho
whom the shepherds swear (4.47, 5.14 and 141, 6.2
Simichidas prays on behalf of his lovelorn friend Ar
not surprising that he should play the role of inaugu
seemingly humble god inspires a seemingly humble ar
ating the impression that Lycidas is Pan indirectly thro
of the folktale motif, allusions to divine encounters,
indicators, such as the acrostic, like Athena w
Diomedes' eyes so that he could see both gods and me
field, Theocritus provides the reader with the me
Simichidas apparently cannot and thereby creates the
participate more fully in the magic of the encounter
irony and humor that become clearer once we catch a
god.
Regarding Aratus, whether Theocritus' friend is Aratus of Soli,
author of the Phaenomena,25 or some other Aratus,26 it would be diffi-
cult for a contemporary audience not to think of the famous poet, par-
ticularly given the fact that other well-known poets were also named in
23 That Simichidas should pray for Pan to experience intense hardships makes the pres-
ence of the disguised divinity all the more ironic and comical; cf. Berger (above n. 14)
25-26. A parallel that comes immediately to mind is the story of Callisto in Ovid's
Metamorphoses, when the beautiful nymph tells Jupiter in disguise that she prefers Diana
to Jupiter himself, which thoroughly amuses the god (2.425-430).
24 Pan's roles as teacher of the syrinx, which Lycidas played (Id. 7.27-28), and as
patron of young herdsmen were celebrated, for instance, by Heliodorus (c. 100 B.c.) in his
well-known sculpture portraying the god teaching Daphnis to play the pan pipes (LICM
3.350-351, pl. 8a-8b; see M. Bieber, The Sculpture of the Hellenistic Age, 2nd edition
[New York 1961] 147, pl. 628 and more recently J. J. Pollitt, Art in the Hellenistic Age
[Cambridge 1986] 130, fig. 137); so, too, Vergil at Ec. 2.31-33. In his discussion of the
Vergilian passage, Hubbard (above n. 8) 64 states: "By being encouraged to 'imitate' Pan,
Alexis is imagined as engaging in a tradition that reaches back from student to teacher
through the generations back to the original divine teacher himself." As Hubbard also
notes (206-210), in Nemesianus' Third Eclogue Pan plays the same role as divine
founder. Cf. Hunter (above n.4) 61-62, who views Pan's patronage of pastoral verse as
parallel to Dionysus' patronage of tragedy.
25 As argued, for instance, by Q. Cataudella, "L'epigramma Ant. Pal. XII,129 di
Arato," REG 80 (1967) 264-281 and "Ancora dell'epigramma di Aratos XII,129 e di altri
epigrammi," REG 82 (1969) 365-379, defended recently by Hubbard (above n. 8) 27.
26 Gow (above n. 2) 2.118-119 offers reasons for excluding the former Aratus; see now
Hunter (above n. 4) 243.

This content downloaded from

186.206.109.142 on Sat, 29 May 2021 22:36:37 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 296 James J. Clauss

the poem (Sicelidas and Philetas, 7.

his familiarity with the Phaenomen
comes to mind, then that poet's ac
quality to which his verse aspires,
which appears to have been obser
Leonidas of Tarentum (AP 9.25), and
into play in the idyll. For if, as the a
believe, Aratus had been closely asso
readers with his programmatic acrost
Aratus, whoever the actual referent
association and prompt the reader to
possibility of a similar phenomenon
acrostics represent an essential aspec
For Aratus, the kXnrtt6rrj; he strov
manifest in the precious trope; for T
world and divine pastoral poet is rev
conscious device.

Acrostics, when observed, are frequently dismissed as accidental.30

Nonetheless, the various factors mentioned above support the possibil-
ity that the name of the god Pan was inserted purposefully into the text.
I would like now to offer another piece of evidence that is even more
tenuous, but perhaps even more compelling for that very fact.
I have suggested elsewhere that Vergil embedded an acrostic at
Eclogue 1.5-8:31

27 See M. Pendergraft, "Aratan Echoes in Theocritus," QUUC n.s. 24.3 (1986) 47-54
and A. Sens, "Hellenistic Reference in the Proem of Theocritus Idyll 22," CQ n.s. 44
(1994) 66-74.
28 See A. Cameron, Callimachus and his Critics (Princeton 1995) 321-328, who also
notes that both Callimachus and Leonidas showed their awareness of Aratus' pun on his
name at Phaen. 2 (322).
29 The reference to two constellations and a weather sign at the beginning of Lycidas'
song (52-60), the pole star in Simichidas' composition (112), and a possible echo of
Phae. 948 at lines 139-140 (see Hunter [above n. 4] ad 139) might also bring the author
of the Phaenomena to mind.
30 See, for instance, I. Hilberg, "Ist die Ilias Latina von einem Italicus verfaBt oder
einem Italicus gewidmet?" WS 21 (1899) 264-305; 22 (1900) 317-318, and R. G. M.
Nisbet CR 40 (1990) 261-262.
31 j. J. Clauss, "An Acrostic in Vergil (Eclogues 1.5-8): The Chance that Mimics
Choice," Aevum Antiquum 10 (1997) 267-287.

This content downloaded from

186.206.109.142 on Sat, 29 May 2021 22:36:37 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Once Upon a Time on Cos 297

Formosam resonare doces Amaryllida silvas

O Meliboee, deus nobis haec otia fecit.
Namque erit ille mihi semper deus, illius aram
Saepe tener nostris ab ovilibus imbuet agnus.

The initial verse (formosam resonare doces Amaryllida

argued, contains words that are programmatic for the boo
and, as such, offers a thematic source (fons) for the Eclog
6-8 refer to a different kind of source, the patron who mak
ing of poetry possible. The presence of acrostics in bo
poems, each of a programmatic nature, prompts further con
the relationship between these two poems.
A comparison of the lines included within the span of bo
reveals some interesting correspondences which encourage
cion that Vergil might have been aware of Theocritus' gam
Callimachus, Leonidas, and Ptolemy were of Aratus'. First
passage focusses on the sound of trees: the poplars and elm
(8oviovro) for Simichidas, while Tityrus' forest reechos (r
name of Amaryllis.32 Second, while Theocritus explicitly
presence of a fountain (iEp6v ijSop / vuo(jp&v Fivrpot
Vergil's fountain is implicit in the acrostic. Finally, Vergi
that a god provided the otia that he currently enjoys might
he both saw the literary epiphany and countered it by sub
unnamed historical person, identified specifically as a
unnamed god, identified specifically as a goatherd.33 If I a
Vergil has effectively set his mysterious Roman patron on
level as Theocritus' mysterious Arcadian divinity. Such
be tenuis indeed.
Other factors in the eclogue indicate that Idyll 7 was not far from
Vergil's mind. Both poems include a figure who appears to represent
the poet (Simichidas = Theocritus, Tityrus = Vergil), each of whom is
remarkably self-centered; both poems feature a singing Tityrus; both
poems feature an encounter between two poets, one who has recently
come from the city, the other who is a goatherd; both poems allude to

32 On the importance of trees in the eclogues, see W. Clausen, Vergil Eclogues (Oxford
1994) xxvi-xxvii.
33 See J. Van Sickle, "Epic and Bucolic (Theocritus, Id. VII; Virgil, Ecl. I)," QUCC 19
(1975) 68, who noted a connection between the two figures as well as other links between
the two poems.

This content downloaded from

186.206.109.142 on Sat, 29 May 2021 22:36:37 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 298 James J. Clauss

Hesiod's inauguration on Mt. Helico

ines the difficult life that is led in t
both poems conclude in a banquet.3
acrostic is a brilliant response to
show that he caught the literary g
but he also inverted his model as he
god disguised as a human, Vergil of
34 In his song, Simichidas threatens to pr
Edonians (North) or Ethiopians (South;
wandering in Africa (South), Scythia (Nort
duction of Britain adds a Roman accent to t
prayer as a magical formula, see M. Fan
Teocrito (VII 103-114)," ZPE 114 (1996) 2
35 In addition to these structural links, th
Idyll 7 in Eclogue 1: E. 1.1-2 echoes Id
R. Coleman, Virgil Eclogues [Cambridge 19
tators have noted that Vergil borrowed
Lucretius (4.586-589):
cum Pan

pinea semiferi capitis velamina quassans

unco saepe labro calamos percurrit hiantis,
fistula silvestrem ne cesset fundere Musam.

The imitation comes from a description of Pan playing his pipes. If Vergil was indeed
aware of Theocritus' acrostic, as I have suggested, then it is possible that he was drawn to
the Lucretian passage not only by the bucolic setting and nature of the phrase, but also by
the presence of the specific divinity responsible for creating the music.
36 On a tangential point, Richard Thomas directed my attention to Walter Schmid,
Vergil-Probleme, Gippinger akademische Beitrige 120 (1983) 317-318. Schmid argues
that the end of the Georgics also contains an acrostic, this time not at the beginning of the
line, but at the end:

Haec super aruorum cultu pecorumque canebam

et super arboribus, Caesar dum magnus ad altum
fulminat Euphraten bello uictorque uolentis
per populos dat iura uiamque adfectat OlympO.
illo Vergilium me tempore dulcis alebaT
Parthenope studiis florentem ignobilis OTI,
carmina qui lusi pastorum audaxque iuuentA,
Tityre, te patulae cecini sub tegmine fagi. (G. 4.559-566)

If OTIA is an intentional Telestichis, as the inclusion of the same word, oti, within the
span of the operative letters would appear to support (cf. Vergil's MARS acrostic at A.
7.601-604, where the name Martem similarly lies at the end of the third line of the acros-
tic, though there, different from OTIA, the embedded word stands at the beginning of the
line), the unequivocal reference in the last line to the first line of Eclogue 1 is accompa-
nied by another, and very subtle, point of contact: otia at E. 1.6 sits within the lines of the

This content downloaded from

186.206.109.142 on Sat, 29 May 2021 22:36:37 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Once Upon a Time on Cos 299

To return to Theocritus, two questions now emerge: (1)

the apparent delight in artificiality of this sort among anc
why is Pan identified in so indirect a fashion? (2) Does
who gives no evidence of recognizing his divine interlocuto
Theocritus?

For an audience familiar with poetic investitures and disguised

divinities, the lack of explicit information invites speculation and cre-
ates a sense of mystery. We think that Lycidas is a god, but the poet
appears at first to have withheld positive identification. As I mentioned
above, Theocritus' elusive mode allows the reader to participate in the
magic of the encounter. The success of his approach can be measured
in the number of papers, like this one, dedicated to discovering who
Lycidas is. Contrary to the view that Idyll 7 is wholly parodic, the poet
actually shortens the ironic distance between audience and leading
character by refusing to name names--overtly, that is-and in this way
draws us more fully into the moment by putting us, as it were, in
Simichidas' singing shoes (Id. 7.25-26). By foregoing an inauguration
in which the god or Muses appear in propria persona, as in Hesiod or in
his contemporary Callimachus, Theocritus created a more realistic ver-
sion of the motif in a manner typical of the other idylls that are marked
by the tension between the humble characters and sophisticated verse.37
In place of a rustic Hesiod, we have an urban Simichidas; in place of
the Muses, Coan nymphs; in place of an Olympian divinity made mani-
fest, we have the Arcadian Pan in disguise. Paradoxically, however,
although Simichidas' experience lacks the awe that attends the sudden
appearance of a god, his encounter with Lycidas is all the more intrigu-
ing, and impressive for this reason, because we are not quite sure our-
selves who this goatherd is. And yet, if we redirect our gaze, we can
catch a glimpse of the laughing goat-god who inspires verse and whose
power is masked by apparent simplicity.
As for the second question, one of the problems in identifying
Simichidas with Theocritus is that the former comes across as a literary
upstart whose self-proclaimed modesty is soon belied by his high opin-

FONS acrostic. In both passages, a human identified as a god (explicitly in the Eclogues,
implicitly in the Georgics) provides the poet with the otia necessary for his literary
endeavors.

37 A feature of Theocritean pastoral that is well described, for instance, by G. B. Miles,

"Characterization and the Ideal of Innocence in Theocritus' Idylls," Ramus 6 (1977)
139-164.

This content downloaded from

186.206.109.142 on Sat, 29 May 2021 22:36:37 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
300 James J. Clauss

ion of his own poetry. Moreover, Sim

in tone; the way in which he helps A
involves threats, abuse, magic, and ul
boyfriend. In addition, the only f
bucolic-the address to Pan-is ultimat
das, on the other hand, assumes a mo
his own unrequited love. He wishes
Mitylene and promises, upon his saf
will sing about the travails of cow
Comatas. Although the starting poin
non-bucolic motif like Simichidas' pa
his anguish by immersing himself in
vision, and in this way ascends to th
Comatas. For many readers, Simi
implicit contest. The question arises:
have cast himself in the role of an i
Simichidas views his song at lines 94
One approach to this problem migh
ing of what Simichidas' song is. Lyci
about the songs of Daphnis and Com
derive from Aristis' song of Aratu
songs are subsumed within Simichid
tutes the idyll. Isn't this the song th
Simichidas? Only from this perspect
extent of the poet's investiture ce
Simichidas gained more than a goa
Lycidas' departure, suddenly Amynt
little Amyntas" (132) and a Coan gro
paradise that lures Simichidas to the
just as Lycidas longed for the epo
n. 22, 300) first observed, in the wa
not only does Simichidas see and fee
himself into the heroic world, but he
ence in his account of what occurred
Does Simichidas represent the real T
as the poet to whom Apollo issued h
with the Muses in the Aetia is th
scripted programmatic scenarios int
characters, one identified as Simichi

This content downloaded from

186.206.109.142 on Sat, 29 May 2021 22:36:37 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Once Upon a Time on Cos 301

whose experiences both define and instantiate the kind of p

aim to produce. Given that Theocritus' idylls, different fr
machus' aetiological narratives, derive in part from mime, it
haps not be surprising that the dramatis personae assume f
More importantly, in establishing a genre that veers even f
the beaten track by foregrounding unfamiliar characters
circumstances, Theocritus created a programmatic investitur
limited to himself but applies to each and every Simichida
ever embarked upon a "trip to bountiful." The circumstance
ences which provide the direction for an artist's aesthetic
vary, but all need to find their guide and their path. The h
divinity of herdsmen, cast in the role of a goatherd, is thu
representation of the spirit that enlivens Theocritus' b
which embraces a number of different genres and models
contemporary38-that are then deployed on a pastoral stage
the presence of the god, the fictional poet is not cowed by
menacing epiphany but is allowed to participate more fully
comfortably in the exchange, more like Odysseus when he
Athena in pastoral disguise than like Hesiod before the
casting Pan in disguise and having Simichidas assimilat
vision following the presentation of his throwing stick, Th
narrowed the distance between god and man, making the
more natural and intimate, and the commission less of
imposition and more of a gradual, life-changing awakening.
In his innovative rendition of the inauguration motif, T
removed the barriers between mortal and divine, urban and
and present and envisaged the existence of a world in which
gods share banquets, couches, and journeys with humans. T
truly present in this world, but they only show themselves
are willing and able to see. By drawing us into the quest f
identity and providing the clues along the way, Theocritu
opportunity not only for Simichidas, but also for his read
beyond the appearance of what is ordinary, recognize the
in its presence, and accept the new way of looking at the
such an epiphany discloses. Once upon a time, Pan, in the
goatherd Lycidas, met Simichidas, an aspiring poet from t
lowing the encounter, Simichidas gained a better understa

38 See especially Krevans (above n. 5).

This content downloaded from

186.206.109.142 on Sat, 29 May 2021 22:36:37 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 302 James J. Clauss

splendor of the bucolic world he was

describe it. In his new song, the enli
nity to participate in his divine enc
that transforms a seemingly ordinary
ence.39

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

39 I would like to express my gratitude to Cathy Connors, Stephen Hinds, Richard

Thomas, Charles Segal, who was the editor of HSCP when I submitted this paper, and an
anonymous referee for reading and commenting on the ideas expressed here.

This content downloaded from

186.206.109.142 on Sat, 29 May 2021 22:36:37 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms