'The Importance of Being boukolos',

Analysis of Pseudo-Theocr. 20. The poem is interpreted as a piece of evidence of a poetics of love which is not uncommon in post-Theocritean bucolic poetry. Instead of the Theocritean emphasis on anxious or desperate lovers, who feel a sense of inferiority to their beloveds (especially clear is the case of the Cyclops of Theocr. 6 and 11), ps.-Theocr. 20 describes the rejection of love and the ex-beloved (a girl of the city) by a young shepherd who not only does not display any sense of inferiority for his less refined way of life and manners, but also expresses full pride for his job and life, and finds in this pride the way to avoid erotic despair.