Greek poet of the 3rd century BC, probably a Syracusan who later lived in Kos and Alexandria. He invented the genre of Greek bucolic poetry.
His poems were termed eidyllia (“idylls”), a diminutive of eidos, which may mean “little poems.”
the best known of his idylls are Thyrsis (Idyll 1), a lament for Daphnis, the original shepherd poet, who died of unrequited love; Cyclops, a humorous depiction of ugly Polyphemus vainly wooing the sea nymph Galatea; and Thalysia (Idyll 7), describing a festival on the island of Cos.