Idyll XXIII

Idyll XXIII, also called Εραστής ('The Lover'), is a poem doubtfully attributed to the 3rd-century BC Greek poet Theocritus. It tells how a lover hanged himself at the gate of his obdurate darling who, in turn, was slain by a statue of Love.

Summary
The poem purports to be sent by a lover to his neglectful beloved. The author tells how in a like case unrequited friendship led to the suicide of the one, and to the death of the other at the hands of an effigy of Love.

Analysis
According to J. M. Edmonds, the actual death of a boy through the accidental falling of a statue probably gave rise to a folk-tale which is here put into literary shape.

Authorship
This poem, known to the Latin poets, cannot be attributed with much certainty to Theocritus, and is found in only a small proportion of manuscripts, the text of which is corrupt.