Little is known of the third century BC poet Theocritus. He was born on Sicily and may have spent some time in Alexandria where he wrote about the marriage of the Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus to his sister Arsinoë, defending the incestuous nature of it by comparing it to that of Zeus and Hera. Theocritus is regarded as popularising pastoral poetry in the Hellenistic period. Many of his poems are set in the countryside and contain dialogues between those who worked the land. Theocritus’ Idylls were emulated by other Greek writers, such as Bion and Moschus, whose works are also included in this book, but most notably by the Roman poet Virgil in his Eclogues.