Idyll XVII, also titled Εγκώμιον εις Πτολεμαίον ('The Panegyric of Ptolemy'), is a poem by the 3rd-century BC Greek poet Theocritus.[1]
Analysis
The poem is a panegyric or encomium of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who reigned from 285 to 247 BC.[1] Hauler, in his Life of Theocritus, dates the poem about 259 BC, but it may have been many years earlier.[2] The references to historical personages and events, coupled with a comparison with Idyll XVI, point to 273 as the date of the poem.[1] The Ptolemies, like Alexander, traced their descent from Heracles.[1]Ptolemy I, son of Lagus, was deified about 283, and his queen Berenice between 279 and 275.[1] According to Andrew Lang, "The poet praises Ptolemy Philadelphus in a strain of almost religious adoration."[2]
Hopkinson, Neil, ed. (2015). Theocritus. Moschus. Bion. LCL 28. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 243–57.
Hunter, Richard, ed. (2003). Theocritus: Encomium of Ptolemy Philadelphus. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN9780520929371.
Meincke, W. (1965). Untersuchungen zu den Enkomiastischen Gedichten Theokrits. Ein Beitrag zum Verständnis hellenistischer Dichtung und des antiken Herrscherenkomions. Kiel.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)