Calpurnius’ floruit is in all probability situated during the first and promising years of the Neronian regime (i.e. 54–59 AD)Footnote ¹ and thus is closely related to the general tendency of the literary milieu of this period to revive Augustan political, social, and literary ideals.Footnote ² One of the main literary concerns of the Augustan period, which were under influence of the relevant Hellenistic criticism, was research on literary genres, so-called ɛἰδογραφία.Footnote ³ Calpurnius’ interest in ɛἰδογραφία is closely associated with his intention of displaying a generic movement towards, or to put it another way a generic branching out into, other literary genres.Footnote ⁴ Ancient scholarship was not as reserved (cf. Pl. Resp. 3.394b-c, Arist. Poet. 1148a, Hor. Ars P. 73–98) as modern concerning the definition of genre,Footnote ⁵ but, although there is no consensus on this matter, we tend to accept the view that genre exists as a form which can be identified through a particular generic repertoire, not rigid and unchanged in the passing of time, of external and internal features.Footnote ⁶ Basic features of the form are always operating, building certain expectations for the author and the reader, who may thus construct meaning according to his/her ‘generic literary experience’.Footnote ⁷ Nonetheless, there are some cases where the literary genre, which plays the first role in a text (i.e. ‘host genre’),Footnote ⁸ is designated by another literary genre that plays the second role in the same text (i.e. ‘guest genre’),Footnote ⁹ thereby functioning on a secondary level within the ‘host genre’. Moreover, there are texts which, while largely belonging to one genre (i.e. ‘mode’), avail themselves of features coming from a different genre (i.e. ‘sub-genre’) by incorporating them.Footnote ¹⁰

Every genre has its own unifying features in terms of subjects/motifs, language, and style (i.e. generic markers) and contains several self-referential metageneric/metapoetic and metalinguistic signals that can indicate to the reader to which literary form a text might belong.Footnote ¹¹ This applies even to pastoral, whose generic designation caused serious problems to scholars ranging from the endorsement of pastoral poetry as a genre defined through certain thematic, structural, and metrical features (although sometimes loosely marked out) to its total rejection.Footnote ¹² Thus, we may talk about a new literary norm with a gradual evolution and modification from Theocritus to Nemesianus with specific generic markers (although usually in altered form) which create certain generic expectations for the reader leading to the construction of meaning.Footnote ¹³ In view of that, the term pastoral is related to literary creations which are first written by Theocritus (who is usually considered as the inventor or the chief exemplar (auctor) of pastoral)Footnote ¹⁴ and are set in the countryside dealing with the herdsmen and their rustic existence. There are also several thematic and formal features which unify these poems within a generic framework such as the typical idyllic landscape (i.e. locus amoenus), nature's response to human actions and events (i.e. pathetic fallacy), music and song as the central activities of the herdsmen, typical pastoral deities, certain language, and a metre (i.e. dactylic hexametric form). Nonetheless, there are some cases where interaction between genres takes place or, as mentioned above, where the ‘host genre’ (here pastoral) is designated by the ‘guest genre’ (e.g. elegy), namely another genre which functions on a secondary level within the ‘host genre’. Furthermore, there are literary texts which belong to one genre (here pastoral), but encompass notable generic indicators coming from a ‘sub-genre’. A notable example of this generic interaction is Vergil's Eclogue 10, which properly belongs to the pastoral genre but also incorporates literary features coming from elegy, thereby confirming the Vergilian intention of extending the limits of the pastoral genre. However, it should be mentioned that the intention of any Roman pastoral poet, who is in close dialogue with another genre, is certainly not to branch pastoral out towards other literary genres. On the contrary, a poet might use this method to innovate the pastoral he inherited by incorporating subjects, language, and style coming from other genres, thus creating his own pastoral world. This is also the case with the Vergilian Eclogue 10 where, apart from the generic interaction, Vergil is able to show his deviation from the earlier pastoral tradition and to stress his originality. As a result, this study characterises as non-pastoral anything that deviates from these unifying features in terms of subjects/motifs, language and style (i.e. generic markers), or any literary feature that is absent from the earlier pastoral tradition and first introduced by Calpurnius.

From this perspective, this article aims to examine the ways in which the Calpurnian text converses with the earlier pastoral tradition by focusing on the women identified in the collection. Leaving aside the mythical female figures who are also mentioned in the collection (e.g. Pales and Venus),Footnote ¹⁵ my investigation focuses on all the female characters mentioned by male figures, trying to show that women in the Eclogues, among other elements (such as subjects, motifs, intertexts, language and style), constitute a significant means by which Calpurnius shows originality and generic evolution.

Leuce is the first female character who appears in the Calpurnian collection. She is mentioned by the male figure Corydon, who is happy to follow Ornytus into Faunus’ cave, feeling secure about entering the sacred grove because he did not have sex with her the night before:

In other words, Leuce constitutes a typical country girl who is loved by the herdsman Corydon. What is more, she is the scornful erotic object who rejected the lovesick herdsman. Hence, she is related to the earlier (Theoc. Id. 6 and 11: Polyphemus has been rejected by Galateia; Verg. Ecl. 2: Corydon has been rejected by Alexis; Verg. Ecl. 8: a goatherd has been rejected by Nysa) and the current (Calp. Ecl. 3: Lycidas is being rejected by Phyllis) pastoral tradition. But Corydon's erotic misery is no longer the central subject of the Eclogue.Footnote ¹⁷ Leuce avoids having sex with Corydon and thus ensures the herdsman's sexual purity,Footnote ¹⁸ which will enable him to enter Faunus’ sacred sanctuary in order to receive the god's prophecy. The traditional pastoral anxieties and concerns (i.e. love and song)Footnote ¹⁹ no longer have an eminent roleFootnote ²⁰ in the Calpurnian collection, where the herdsmen are also interested in other subjects. These have political overtones. For example, Faunus’ prophecy focuses on the return of the Golden Age and is related to the accession of a young and divine emperor to the imperial throne. Therefore, Leuce is not only a typical countrywoman but is also the reason that the herdsman is not having sex in the countryside when he experiences a lack of sexual response from her. However, while this is the typical behaviour of the scornful erotic object in the pastoral world where it results in the production of pastoral song performed by the rejected herdsman and lover (cf. Theoc. Id. 3, 6, 11; Verg. Ecl. 2, 8, 10.), Leuce's rejection of Corydon results in Faunus’ prophecy about the coming of the Golden Age. In other words, Leuce's pastoral behaviour results in a non-pastoral song (i.e. a divine prophecy), which lays special emphasis on the combination of pastoral and non-pastoral characteristics that will run through the entire collection and is programmatically used by Calpurnius in Eclogue 1 in order to indicate his close adherence to a defining feature of the pastoral tradition he inherited. Most importantly, it also shows Calpurnius’ intention of expanding the limits of the pastoral genre through the female characters and the role they play in the collection.

This is evidenced by Amaryllis, who is not only the erotic object of the herdsmen but also the recipient of their song; her name plays a central role in the earlier pastoral tradition, since it occurs twice in Theocritus (Id. 3.6 and 4.38) and nine times in Vergil (Ecl. 1.5, 30, 36, 2.14, 52, 3.81, 8.77–8, 101 and 9.22). Nevertheless, the context in which this female character is identified in the Calpurnian Eclogue 4 can confirm that Calpurnius here refers to the Vergilian Amaryllis:Footnote ²¹

Calpurnius’ relationship with these Vergilian verses is based on the similar context and content. Tityrus enjoys the country leisure provided by an extra-pastoral benefactor (iuuenis deus, Verg. Ecl. 1.42) who has allowed him to save his farm and avoid the land confiscations. Similarly, Corydon argues that under the new god's influence things have already changed (Haec ego, confiteor, dixi, Meliboee, sed olim: / non eadem nobis sunt tempora, non deus idem. / spes magis arridet, Calp. Ecl. 4.29–31), because he is currently enjoying a pastoral otium provided by the new patron, Meliboeus, who allowed him to become another Tityrus.Footnote ²³ This suggestion is also confirmed by certain verbal echoes such as recubamus in umbra which recalls recubans sub tegmine fagi (i.e. ‘under a shady tree’) and lentus in umbra, and most significantly siluis Amaryllidos, which finds its exact equivalent in Amaryllida siluas. Therefore, Corydon is another Tityrus and the Calpurnian Amaryllis is the Vergilian Amaryllis who corresponds to the anonymous siluestris Musa and is the recipient of Tityrus’ love song. In other words, the Calpurnian Amaryllis metapoetically reflects the earlier pastoral tradition, which is now being reproduced and transmitted through Amaryllis in the Calpurnian collection.Footnote ²⁴ Nonetheless, this earlier pastoral tradition is reproduced in a striking non-pastoral context, as is evidenced by Meliboeus’ request for material assistance (Calp. Ecl. 4.157–63)Footnote ²⁵ thereby reaffirming that the Calpurnian Amaryllis, in contrast to her Vergilian antecedent, combines pastoral and non-pastoral characteristics.

Calpurnius’ intention of generic evolution is evidenced by Petale, who is yet another erotic object. She is referred to by the herdsmen Astylus and Lycidas, who quarrel over Astylus’ (the referee of the contest) verdict on a recent song contest between Alcon and Nyctilus (Calp. Ecl. 6.1–5). Lycidas is sceptical concerning Alcon's victory and Astylus tries to justify the earlier verdict by referring to his love for Petale, thereby replying to the earlier animal adynaton used by Lycidas in order to express Nyctilus’ musical superiority:

Thus, Petale is Astylus’ erotic object and in that sense constitutes a conventional countrywoman. Nonetheless, the erotic exclusivity that Astylus claims (cf. una) is a non-pastoral (elegiac) feature,Footnote ²⁶ which indicates the combination of pastoral and non-pastoral characteristics through Astylus’ and Petale's erotic relationship (note also the elegiac language used by the herdsman through the terms potiar ‘win my beloved’ and maceror that belong to the sermo amatorius).Footnote ²⁷ This is also confirmed in the following verses where the prizes of the song contest are being set. Here, Astylus bets a stag that is Petale's favourite animal (quamuis hunc Petale mea diligat, accipe uictor, Calp. Ecl. 6.34) and thereby strengthens the prize's significance (at least for him), recalling the Vergilian Corydon, who refers to the love object Amaryllis in order to lay special emphasis on the item (i.e. ‘chestnuts’) which is contributed by the herdsman to the floral garland for the beloved Alexis (castaneasque nuces, mea quas Amaryllis amabat, Verg. Ecl. 2.52). Nevertheless, whilst the Vergilian castaneae constitute a traditional country product, the Calpurnian ceruus is closely associated with the hunting of game (cf. Verg. Ecl. 2.29 and 7.30) and the subject of adynata (cf. Theoc. Id. 1.135, Verg. Ecl. 1.59 and 5.60), thereby recalling two texts from the epic genre (Verg. Aen. 7.483–502 and especially Ov. Met. 10.109–43).Footnote ²⁸ In other words, Petale is yet another female character who is the erotic object of the herdsmen, but her erotic relationship with the lovesick herdsman and her response to his feelings constitute certain non-pastoral elements which have been integrated into the pastoral realm.

Furthermore, Petale is referred to by the arbiter Mnasyllus, who urges the herdsmen to begin the contest and suggests the singing subject, which is Astylus’ and Lycidas’ loves (Nam uicibus teneros malim cantetis amores: / Astyle, tu Petalen, Lycida, tu Phyllida lauda, Calp. Ecl. 6.74–5), thereby recalling the Vergilian Menalcas, who requests Mopsus to begin the song contest suggesting three different subjects, while Tityrus is left to watch over the grazing animals:

Phyllis’ ignis, Alcon's laudes, and Codrus’ iurgia respectively correspond to love, encomium and quarrel, which constitute typical subjects in the Greek and Roman pastoral tradition.Footnote ²⁹ Similarly, Petale, who is here juxtaposed with Phyllis, constitutes the herdsman's erotic object and the recipient of his erotic song and hence she is a conventional countrywoman. Nonetheless, these female figures are described as teneri amores and in that sense they correspond first to the love which is a traditional subject of the Greek and Roman pastoral poetry and then to the Callimachean-Neoteric character of these pastoral songs which Mnasyllus longs for, as the catchword tener, which has clear-cut metapoetic overtones, emphatically indicates.Footnote ³⁰ As a result, Petale and Phyllis are not only typical countrywomen in the collection, but most significantly are substantial metapoetic elements which define the subject (love) and the style (Callimachean-Neoteric) of the pastoral song.

Nonetheless, Phyllis is a female character with a much more significant role in the collection. She is first found in the introductory narrative (Calp. Ecl. 3.1–44) that begins with Iollas’ and Lycidas’ casual meeting in the country, which, however, is not followed by a song contest or an exchange of songs. On the contrary, it concludes with the amatory narrative of Lycidas whose aim is to restore his erotic relationship with Phyllis:

Phyllis bears a famous pastoral name which has long history in the Vergilian pastoral tradition (Verg. Ecl. 3.76, 78, 107, 5.10, 7.14, 59, 63, 10.37 and 41) and thus is a typical countrywoman. Nevertheless, the erotic scenario described here comes from the Theocritean collection and especially from the non-pastoral Idyll 14 that deals with Thyonichus’ unhappy love for the courtesan Cynisca transferred from its urban settingFootnote ³¹ to the pastoral world (i.e. ‘bucolisation’).Footnote ³² Moreover, Lycidas (the lover), Phyllis (the love object), and Mopsus (the erotic rival) constitute an erotic triangle that is a conventional motif mostly employed in the elegiac and comic genres (cf. Tib. 1.6.5–6, Prop. 1.8a.3–4; 1.15.1–2, Ov. Am. 3.4.1–8Footnote ³³ and note the phrase nouum Mopsum that is the way with which the erotic rival is mentioned in elegiac and comic contexts such as Plaut. Cas. 782; 859 and Prop. 1.15.8, Ov. Her. 5.1, 12.25).Footnote ³⁴ What is more, the lover's extreme erotic painFootnote ³⁵ that is also described as a ‘burning fire’ (cf. uror…uror, a verb with clear-cut erotic overtonesFootnote ³⁶ along with the adverb immodice, which stresses the intensity of the erotic passion)Footnote ³⁷ and the love object's ingratitude (cf. ingrata, a term that is usually found in the elegiac and comic genres),Footnote ³⁸ since she has already received many erotic gifts from the lover,Footnote ³⁹ have elegiac and comic origins. This suggestion is reinforced by Iollas’ reply, which contains typical elegiac and comic motifs such as the beloved's ficklenessFootnote ⁴⁰ (mobilior uentis o femina! where femina is an hapax legomenon that is absent from Vergil's Eclogues) and the false oaths expressed by the lover (ἀφροδίσιοι ὄρκοι).Footnote ⁴¹ Most importantly, Phyllis’ emotional reaction (sadness) because of Lycidas’ absence recalls the similar reaction by the Vergilian Amaryllis at Tityrus’ absence in Eclogue 1.36–9 which contains striking non-pastoral features such as the terms libertas and peculium.Footnote ⁴² Therefore, Phyllis is a typical countrywoman whose behaviour is enriched with certain elegiac and comic features which either are hardly found in or are entirely absent from the earlier pastoral tradition.

Iollas is so interested in Lycidas’ erotic adventure that he requests further information on Lycidas’ and Phyllis’ love fight:

Lycidas begins with the exclusive devotion to Phyllis (sola) with which he is happy (contentus) and which is in emphatic contrast with the sexual freedom of the pastoral world.Footnote ⁴³ This erotic and sexual exclusivity constitutes a conventional elegiac motif, which can also be reinforced by the elegiac and comic language used by the lover, such as the term contentus.Footnote ⁴⁴ This is confirmed by Lycidas, who has already rejected a female figure with the name Callirhoe (Callirhoen spreui) who tried to seduce him by offering her dowry (quamuis cum dote rogaret). Callirhoe seems to be yet another typical countrywoman who plays the role of the erotic rival confirming the heterosexual or homosexual sexual freedom of the pastoral world and Lycidas’ non-pastoral (usually elegiac) exclusive devotion to a single erotic object (Phyllis). What is more, Callirhoe recalls the Theocritean Mermno's servant and the Vergilian Thestylis who plays the same role (i.e. the erotic rival):Footnote ⁴⁵

Nonetheless, Mermno's servant and Thestylis are going to receive the gift which the scornful beloved (i.e. Amaryllis and Alexis) will reject. This is in contrast to Callirhoe, who tries to seduce Lycidas with her dowry, a motif which is identified in the elegiacFootnote ⁴⁷ and comic genres.Footnote ⁴⁸ This is also evidenced by the verb sperno with the meaning ‘to scorn someone erotically’Footnote ⁴⁹ and rogo (‘to ask’) in the sense of ‘to solicit favours’ or ‘to make overtures’,Footnote ⁵⁰ thereby linguistically reinforcing the elegiac or the comic colouring of Lycidas’ narrative. Therefore, Lycidas (i.e. the lover), Phyllis (i.e. the love object), and Callirhoe (i.e. the erotic rival) constitute a yet another erotic triangle which consists of characters that combine pastoral and non-pastoral features.

Nonetheless, although Lycidas scorned and rejected Callirhoe, Phyllis was caught by him making a wax-joined pipe (syrinx) and singing along with Mopsus seated under a shady tree. This is the typical place under which the herdsman usually reclines and sings at noon (cf. Theoc. Id. 5.44–5; 60–1; 7.88–9, Verg. Ecl. 1.1–5). Here, however, this is not the motif which these verses employ. Instead, they denote the pastoral apprenticeship since they focus on the relationship between a pastoral teacher (Mopsus) and his pupil (Phyllis). This can be confirmed by the fact that these verses recall Corydon's erotic invitation to Alexis, who is also invited in joint song (mecum una in siluis imitabere Pana canendo, Verg. Ecl. 2.31),Footnote ⁵¹ implying the relationship between a pastoral teacher (Corydon) and his student (Alexis). However, Alexis is a non-pastoral and specifically an urban character,Footnote ⁵² who is invited to the countryside and in that sense we may also assume that Phyllis constitutes a typical countrywoman used here in order to ‘replace’ this non-pastoral Vergilian character. Furthermore, this is not a typical literary relationship between a pastoral teacher and his student, since it constitutes the means used by the erotic rival (Mopsus) to seduce the love object (Phyllis) to leave the lover (Lycidas), thereby manifesting the erotic triangleFootnote ⁵³ which is incongruously stressed by a typical pastoral task (i.e. joining pipe-reeds with wax).Footnote ⁵⁴ Moreover, Phyllis is the first female figure who plays the pipe and sings in the Roman pastoral tradition, recalling the Theocritean collection (Ἁ Πολυβώτα, / ἅ πρᾶν ἀμάντɛσσι παρ᾽ Ἱπποκίωνι ποταύλɛι Id. 10.15–16) where Polybotas’ daughter is also described as piping.Footnote ⁵⁵ This activity, which derives from the non-pastoral and agricultural Idyll 10,Footnote ⁵⁶ is performed by the pastoral character Phyllis, confirming that the non-pastoral elements are here integrated into the pastoral world through this female character.Footnote ⁵⁷

Phyllis’ and Mopsus’ joint song causes jealousyFootnote ⁵⁸ in Lycidas, who attacks the love object, tears her clothes and beats her naked breast, recalling the way the elegiacFootnote ⁵⁹ or comicFootnote ⁶⁰ lover reacts. Enraged by Lycidas’ behaviour, Phyllis says that she is going to leave Lycidas for Mopsus, stressing again the Lycidas–Phyllis–Mopsus erotic triangle which here, however, is expressed by the female character herself, who is the first in the pastoral tradition to speak in direct speech. What is more, Phyllis moves into the house of Alcippe, who seems to be yet another countrywoman whose name recalls the Theocritean Ἀλκίππα (Id. 5.132) and the Vergilian Alcippe (Ecl. 7.14).Footnote ⁶¹ Nonetheless, Lycidas fears that the love object will refuse to let him enter Alcippe's house, recalling the exclusus amator motif that has a significant role in the elegiac and comic genre.Footnote ⁶² Therefore, Alcippe as the owner of the house where Phyllis finds refuge recalls the elegiac/comic lena, who owns the house where the exclusus amator Lycidas comes to sing for his love object.Footnote ⁶³ In other words, the lover's non-pastoral behaviour results in an analogous non-pastoral behaviour of the love object, who seeks refuge and assistance in the pastoral character Alcippe, who also plays a non-pastoral role.

Iollas is eager to assist the abandoned lover in order to win back the strayed love object and hence suggests to Lycidas that he be the go-between who will try to bring together the two lovers. The means for this reconciliation has clear-cut elegiac originFootnote ⁶⁴ and it constitutes a song/poem because Phyllis used to appreciate Lycidas’ poetic production (cf. et solet illa meas ad sidera ferre Camenas, Calp. Ecl. 3.42),Footnote ⁶⁵ thereby recalling the Propertian Cynthia, who, having left her lover for someone else, continues to praise the quality of his lyrics in the recent past (cf. me modo laudabas et carmina nostra legebas: / ille tuus pennas tam cito uertit amor? 2.24.21–2).Footnote ⁶⁶ In other words, the pastoral character Phyllis constitutes a learned reader (docta puella) of pastoral song who evaluates good music-poetry, as the archaic Roman term Camenae, which stands for the corresponding Greek Musae, emphatically indicates.

Lycidas’ song (Calp. Ecl. 3.45–55) begins with various erotic complaints by the lover. One of these constitutes the lover's aimless wandering without the erotic object (ut Lycidas domina sine Phyllide tabidus erro, Calp. Ecl. 3.50) which can recall the analogous erotic roaming of the Vergilian Pasiphae (a, uirgo infelix, tu nunc in montibus erras, Verg. Ecl. 6.52),Footnote ⁶⁷ stressing that this complaint is a pastoral motif related to the earlier pastoral tradition. However, Pasiphae's roaming through the forest is a typical elegiac motif (Waldeinsamkeit) according to which the wretched lover retires to the countryside to assuage his erotic passion.Footnote ⁶⁸ Moreover, Phyllis is described as domina alluding to the elegiac-comic motif of seruitium amoris Footnote ⁶⁹ that is also confirmed with the term tabidus which is often used for the exhausted lover.Footnote ⁷⁰ In other words, the setting of the erotic wandering, the behaviour of the pastoral lover and of the beloved contain non-pastoral elements which enrich the pastoral context.

This suggestion is further reinforced by Phyllis’ elegiac behaviour, which is evident in the next verses where Lycidas boasts of his musical capacity, his outward appearance, and his pastoral fortune. Phyllis used not only to appreciate Lycidas’ poetic production but also his musical excellence, given that the herdsman himself describes the joy of the love object listening to his song:

The joy of the lover and the beloved who are found together in the countryside practicing music recalls Corydon, who invites Alexis to enjoy love and music in country (Verg. Ecl. 2.31).Footnote ⁷¹ Moreover, the kisses from the beloved for which the lover longs are a typical pastoral motif recalling the anonymous goatherd and Polyphemus, who similarly try to kiss the love object in the Theocritean collection (Id. 3.19 νύμφα, πρόσπτυξαί μɛ τὸν αἰπόλον, ὥς τυ φιλήσω and Id. 11.55 ὡς κατέδυν ποτὶ τὶν καὶ τὰν χέρα τɛῦς ἐφίλησα, αἰ μὴ τὸ στόμα λῇς). Nevertheless, Phyllis interrupts with her kisses Lycidas’ music and singingFootnote ⁷² and thus follows an elegiac behaviour, since kisses breaking off a lover's speech/singing constitute a typical elegiac topos.Footnote ⁷³

The elegiac behaviour of the love object continues in the next two verses where the lover boasts of his beautiful external appearance, which has also its origin in the earlier pastoral tradition:Footnote ⁷⁴

The Theocritean Polyphemus and the Vergilian Corydon boast in a similar way of their beauty, but these pastoral lovers are self-consciously confident about their handsomeness:

On the contrary, the Calpurnian Lycidas is based on the view of Phyllis, who used to swear that Lycidas was more beautiful than Mopsus and thus alludes to the elegiac motif of the ἀφροδίσιοι ὅρκοι.

Lycidas’ last boast deals with his pastoral fortune, recalling again the earlier pastoral tradition and especially the Theocritean Polyphemus and the Vergilian Corydon who in a similar way try to seduce the love object:Footnote ⁷⁵

Nevertheless, the fortune and especially the pastoral fortune with which Lycidas is here trying to seduce the love object constitutes a traditional elegiac motif (i.e. komastic feature).Footnote ⁷⁶ Furthermore, Lycidas’ open invitation and challenge to Mopsus for enumeration of the herd in order to determine who is the richest herdsman contains implicitly elegiac overtones; this boasting is an unconventional contest (certauerit) between the herdsmen who strive to win the love object, thereby recalling the erotic triangle that is unfamiliar to the pastoral genre and confirming that the herdsmen are trying to conquer the love object through pastoral and non-pastoral means.

The erotic rivalry between two herdsmen in the countryside is also caused by Crocale who is a female figure of great significance throughout Eclogue 2, which is concerned with the song contest between the herdsmen Astacus and Idas:

These verses introduce the country contestants who are in love with the same erotic object, Crocale, who in that sense constitutes a typical countrywoman loved by two country characters. This erotic scenario has its roots in the earlier pastoral tradition and especially in Theocritus who refers to two countrymen trying to conquer the same erotic object and especially in Vergil who describes Corydon's futile attempt to seduce Alexis who is based in town with his urban lover Iollas:Footnote ⁷⁷

Nonetheless, Astacus, Idas and Crocale bear names whose origin is emphatically non-pastoral.Footnote ⁷⁸ What is more, Astacus–Crocale–Idas are engaged in an erotic triangle that is a traditional scenario which often occurs in Roman comedy and elegy and not in the pastoral genre.Footnote ⁷⁹ This is also evidenced from the elegiac wording used in Calp. Ecl. 2.1, intactam Crocalen puer Astacus et puer Idas…dilexere diu which recalls Verg. Ecl. 2.1 formosum pastor Corydon ardebat Alexin,Footnote ⁸⁰ where the names of the main characters, preceded by modified adjectives and followed by a noun and their love relationship expressed through an erotic verb, are introduced.Footnote ⁸¹ Note also the name Crocale whose etymological connection with κροκάλη ‘pebble’Footnote ⁸² may imply the hard-heartedness of the country girl who has a heart of stone and is scornful to the love of the herdsmen, thereby recalling the duritia of the elegiac puella towards the elegiac lover.Footnote ⁸³ Furthermore, Calpurnius replaces formosum with intactam, recalling Prop. 2.34.73–4 (felix intactum Corydon qui temptat Alexin / agricolae domini carpere delicias!) which is also based on Verg. Ecl. 2.1 (formosum pastor Corydon ardebat Alexin), substituting intactum for formosum,Footnote ⁸⁴ thereby stressing through a reference to this Propertian variation the elegiac colour of the poem. In other words, the name Crocale, the erotic relationship in which she is engaged (i.e. erotic triangle), the phraseology and the language used to introduce the main characters of the Eclogue are non-pastoral elements which are combined with the pastoral motif of the rivalry between two men for the same love object and placed into the context of a song contest.

This is also evident in the next verses where Crocale constitutes the subject on which Astacus and Idas compete in the song contest:

These lines focus on Astacus and Idas, who openly vie with each other over Crocale in the contest. Thus, this female character continues to cause erotic rivalry between the two countrymen, reaffirming the non-pastoral motif of the erotic triangle identified earlier in the Eclogue. However, the country contestants here request divine assistance in order to secure Crocale's love, which constitutes a traditional non-pastoral (elegiac) behaviour.Footnote ⁸⁵ This non-pastoral stance is further evidenced by another typical elegiac motif expressed through elegiac phraseology first used by Idas (note ite procul sacer est locus ite profani that is the ritual sending away of uninitiated found in an erotic setting and the elegiac phrase ite procul)Footnote ⁸⁶ and then by Astacus (urimur in Crocalen since the verb uror has strong elegiac connotations).Footnote ⁸⁷ These non-pastoral elements are creatively integrated (i.e. ‘bucolised’) into a pastoral context confirmed first by Idas who consecrates to the gods for their elegiac assistance a grove (nemus) which is closely related to the poetic inspiration including pastoral poetry;Footnote ⁸⁸ and then, it is also evidenced by Astacus, whose sacral offering, a beechen (faginus) bowl, recalls the Theocritean κισσύβιον (Ιd. 1.27) and the Vergilian fagina pocula (Verg. Ecl. 3.36–7) and by the pastoral setting in which the bowl is placed (cf. fons, lilia, tremulo riuo and pampineas ulmos).

Crocale is found for the last time in the singing match when the country contestants compete over their pastoral fortune in order to seduce the love object:

Idas argues that he has numerous lambs and ewes that supply him with fleeces and that he makes rich cheese throughout the year, namely pastoral products which are available to the love object. On the other hand, Astacus tries to charm the erotic object with the rich harvest of his garden. This scenario recalls the Theocritean Polyphemus and the Vergilian Corydon (Theoc. Id. 11.34–7 and Verg. Ecl. 2.19–22, quoted above), who in a similar way try to seduce the beloved character (i.e. Galateia and Alexis) by relating the number of animals and the country products which are kept for him or her.Footnote ⁸⁹ Nonetheless, the way in which, through the country (here pastoral) fortune of the contestants, Astacus and Idas try to win over Crocale constitutes a typical komastic feature. This suggestion can further be reinforced by these Theocritean and Vergilian literary models, given that Idyll 11 has been claimed to belong to the category of komos Footnote ⁹⁰ and Eclogue 2 contains komastic elementsFootnote ⁹¹ that suggest that the urban komos has been transferred into the countryside. This non-pastoral overtone is confirmed by the refrain si uenias, Crocale, totus tibi seruiet annus and si uenias, Crocale, totus tibi seruiet hortus that can recall Ovid's omnis tibi seruiet arbor (Ov. Met. 13.820), which combines various literary genres such as pastoral, elegiac, and epic poetry,Footnote ⁹² thereby confirming the analogous generic diversity that runs through the Calpurnian collection. On the other hand, the gifts given by Idas (milk and fleeces) and Astacus (figs and chestnuts) to Crocale in the next verses (Calp. Ecl. 2.76–83) constitute typical country (although not always erotic)Footnote ⁹³ presents that can hardly charm a love object who comes from outside the pastoral world, thereby implying that Astacus’ and Idas’ erotic appeal to Crocale is doomed to fail. Therefore, Crocale is not only a female figure who combines pastoral and non-pastoral features but is also a crucial agonistic element used to develop Astacus’ and Idas’ singing contest (cf. Calp. Ecl. 2.68–71 vs. Ecl. 2.72–5 and Calp. Ecl. 2.76–9 vs. Ecl. 2.80–3 where Crocale explicitly or implicitly constitutes the subject on which the contestants rival in these last four quatrains).

To sum up, all the female figures under consideration bear Greek names and indicate the origin of the genre, although they are not always pastoral (Leuce, Crocale, Phyllis, Callirhoe, Alcippe, Amaryllis, Petale). Every female character is mentioned only once in the collection, except for Phyllis, however, who, although she occurs in Eclogues 3 and 6 with the same role (Lycidas’ love object), is not the same character, but a different figure with the same name found in altered context. More specifically, they are the erotic objects of the herdsmen and the recipients of their songs and in that sense they recall the pastoral tradition (Greek and Roman) that Calpurnius inherited. What is more, they are central metapoetic elements which show Calpurnius’ metaliterary engagement with gender in a collection that stresses the originality of the Neronian pastoral. Most importantly, however, they incorporate features and elements from other literary genres (mostly from Roman comedy and love elegy) and in that sense they constitute a significant means by which Calpurnius maintains the generic tensions employed by his literary antecedents (esp. Vergil) and broadens the limits of the pastoral genre. As a result, the female characters have a much more prominent role in the Calpurnian collection in comparison to the earlier Greek and Roman pastoral tradition, because they speak, play musical instruments, and sing and in that sense they behave in a similar way to the male figures.

In addition, the female figures, who are identified in the Calpurnian collection are character types found in literature and therefore they cannot correspond to real countrywomen (uilicae).Footnote ⁹⁴ Calpurnius’ focus on female characters recalls Latin elegy, a literary genre where traditional Roman gender roles are reversed and women are presented in positions of power, (chiefly but not exclusively erotic) that bear little or no relation to women's lived experience in first century BC (Gallus, Tibullus, Propertius and especially Ovid's Heroides). On the other hand, this new and enlarged role for women could also be measured against the contemporary backdrop of strong women who reputedly influenced early Neronian Rome, thereby explaining why all these female figures are filtered through the voice of male characters.