''Before Pastoral: Theocritus and the Ancient Tradition of Bucolic Poetry'' is a 1983 book about

Theocritus Theocritus (; grc-gre, Θεόκριτος, ''Theokritos''; born c. 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry. Life Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from hi ...

by the classicist

David M. Halperin David M. Halperin (born April 2, 1952) is an American theorist in the fields of gender studies, queer theory, critical theory, material culture and visual culture. He is the cofounder of '' GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies'', and autho ...

Reception

''Before Pastoral'' was praised by the literary scholars

Camille Paglia Camille Anna Paglia (; born April 2, 1947) is an American feminist academic and social critic. Paglia has been a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 1984. She is critical of many aspects of modern cultur ...

, and Timothy Saunders, who writes that it "still offers the most finely argued case for upholding the distinction between the two categories of 'bucolic' and 'pastoral'." Saunders 2006. p. 3.

References

Bibliography

;Books * * 1983 non-fiction books American non-fiction books Books about literature Books by David M. Halperin English-language books Yale University Press books {{lit-book-stub