Idyll XXI, also called Ἁλιεῖς ('The Fisherman'), is a poem traditionally attributed to the 3rd century BC Greek poet Theocritus. [1] After some verses addressed to Diophantus, a friend about whom nothing is known, the poet describes the toilsome life of two old fishermen. [2] One of them has dreamed of catching a golden fish, and has sworn, in his dream, never again to tempt the sea. [2] The other reminds him that his oath is as empty as his vision, and that he must angle for common fish, if he would not starve among his golden dreams. [2]
The poet begins with a dedication in the manner of Idyll XI, and passes quickly to his story. [1] Two fishermen lie awake at night in their cabin on the shore, and one of them tells a dream he has just had of the catching of a golden fish. [1] He asks his friend what the dream may mean, for he fears he may have to break his dream-oath that he would be a fisherman no longer. [1] To this the friend replies that it was no oath he took, and that the moral of the dream is that his only wealth is the sea. [1]
Many considerations go to show that the traditional ascription of the poem to Theocritus is mistaken. [1] [3] [4] Andrew Lang thinks the idyll is "corrupt beyond hope of certain correction". [2]
Attribution: This article incorporates text from these sources, which are in the public domain.