Idyll XIX, also titled Κηριοκλέπτης ('The Honey-Stealer'), is a poem doubtfully ascribed to the third-century BC Greek poet

Theocritus Theocritus (; , ''Theokritos''; ; born 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily, Magna Graecia, and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry. Life Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from his writings ...

.Edmonds, ed. 1919, p. 233.

Eros Eros (, ; ) is the Greek god of love and sex. The Romans referred to him as Cupid or Amor. In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite. He is usually presented as a handsome young ma ...

complains of the painful stings inflicted by the small bees, and

Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...

laughingly compares them to the bittersweet darts of love shot by Eros himself.

Analysis

According to J. M. Edmonds, this little poem probably belongs to a later date than the Bucolic writers, and was brought into the collection merely owing to its resemblance to the '' Runaway Love'' of Moschus. The motif is that of a well-known Anacreontic Ode.Lang, ed. 1880, p. 95. The idyll has been translated into French by

Ronsard Pierre de Ronsard (; 11 September 1524 – 27 December 1585) was a French poet known in his generation as a " prince of poets". His works include '' Les Amours de Cassandre'' (1552)'','' '' Les Hymnes'' (1555-1556)'', Les Discours'' (1562-1563 ...

Analysis

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