1 - The Cup
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 July 2026
Summary
Material Ecocriticism: An Exercise in Listening
καὶ βαθὺ κισσύβιον κϵκƛυσμένον ἁδέι κηρῷ,
ἀμϕῶϵς, νϵοτϵυχές, ἔτι γƛυϕάνοιο ποτόσδον.
τῶ ποτὶ μὲν χϵίƛη μαρύϵται ὑψόθι κισσός,
κισσὸς ἑƛιχρύσῳ κϵκονιμένος· ἁ δὲ κατ᾽ αὐτόν
καρπῷ ἕƛιζ ϵἱƛϵῖται ἀγαƛƛομένα κροκόϵντι.
…
παντᾷ δ᾽ ἀμϕὶ δέπας πϵριπέπταται ὑγρὸς ἄκανθος,
αἰποƛικὸν θάημα· τέρας κέ τυ θυμὸν ἀτύζαι.
A deep ivy-wood cup, sealed with sweet wax, two-handled, newly made, still fragrant from the chisel. High up on the rim winds ivy, ivy sprinkled with gold flowers; and along it twines the tendril rejoicing in its yellow fruit.
… All around the cup is spread pliant acanthus. A marvel for a goatherd to behold; a wonder to amaze the heart.
(Theocritus Idyll 1.27–31, 55–6)The first Idyll in the Theocritean collection begins with Thyrsis and the goatherd waxing lyrical about each other's music. The goatherd's piping is sweet like the sound of the pine; Thyrsis’ song is sweeter than the water cascading down the rocks. One should be rewarded with a goat, the other with a sheep. From the outset of the poem, music and man and animal and nature find equations and equivalences. The cup is the prize promised for Thyrsis’ song, and is equated with it. It is a created object that emerges from nature, yet remains part of it.
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- Theocritus and ThingsMaterial Agency in the Idylls, pp. 11 - 43Publisher: Edinburgh University PressFirst published in: 2026
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