Greek Pastoral Poetry

Another Penguin Classic which is woefully out of print (Peter Jay's "Greek Anthology" would be the other big one), Anthony Holden's 1974 publication Greek Pastoral Poetry features my favorite English translations of Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus. In many ways it serves as a companion-piece to Jay's "Anthology" (indeed, several of Holden's translations were included in Jay's collection), and the quality-level of the translations is just as high. But whereas "The Greek Anthology" featured a wealth of translators handling a wealth of poets, Holden handles this entire book by himself. According to the About the Author blurb, Holden was born in 1947, making him 27 when Greek Pastoral Poetry was published. Prior to this he published a translation of Aeschylus' "Agamemnon" in 1969...when he was a mere 22 years old! It's like we're dealing with a 20th Century Alexander Pope. Unfortunately though it seems Holden never followed through with his translations; over the years he went on to publish biographies (Princess Di, Shakespeare, etc) and books about poker(!). I can only wonder what he would've given us had he instead retained his focus on translations of the Classics...who knows, perhaps Holden could've finally given us a good English-language translation of Nonnos' "Dionysiaca." Regardless, at least we have this collection, which, again, is one of the best translations of ancient Greek poetry I've read. Theocritus is rarely read these days. An Alexandria-based poet writing in the 3rd Century BCE, he's mostly remembered as the inspiration for Virgil's "Eclogues." And anyone who has read Virgil will see many similarities with Theocritus' "Idylls;" the same bucolic atmosphere, the same sort of singing competitions between shepards, the same reverence for nature. The argument is that Virgil is the superior of the two, as his work possesses a heart and soul which are not to be found in Theocritus' more form-heavy and artificial constructions. Yet Holden warns against such hasty conclusions in his Introduction; he stresses that it's unfair to even compare the two poets. For myself, I actually prefer Theocritus. His "Idylls" are not restrained to the world of shepards and livestock; they branch out to include characters from the more forgotten realms of the ancient world. For example Idyll 2, "The Sorceress," my favorite in the collection, about a wronged woman attempting a binding spell to get back her cheating lover. Bion's work is very much in the Theocritus mould, however his poems are a bit longer. Most notably he wrote the "Epitaph on Adonis," which Holden translates with his usual alacrity. Moschus is more of a nonentity; his work is also in the bucolic mould, incorporating erotic and mythological themes. I should note that the majority of the work by these two has been lost; Holden includes their work because, by tradition, Bion and Moschus' pastoral poetry always appears alongside Theocritus's. Finally, Holden surpasses an