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75-406: Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from his writings. We must, however, handle these with some caution, since some of the poems ( Idylls ; Εἰδύλλια ) commonly attributed to him have little claim to authenticity. It is clear that at a very early date two collections were made: one consisting of poems whose authorship was doubtful yet formed a corpus of bucolic poetry, the other

150-546: A center of production of unrefined silk, oars and amphorae . Kos economic development during the period can further be exemplified by the 3rd- and 2nd-century BC construction of a theatre, a new market with multiple stoas , a temple to Apollo at Alisarna, construction and expansion of the Asclepeion, fortification works at Alisarna and multiple richly decorated houses. In 240 BC, Ziaelas of Bithynia , Seleucus II Callinicus and Ptolemy III Euergetes provided guarantees for

225-525: A democracy was instituted and the capital was transferred from Astypalaea (at the west end of the island near the modern village of Kefalos ) to the newly built town of Cos , laid out in a Hippodamian grid. After helping to weaken Athenian power, in the Social War (357–355 BC) , it fell for a few years to king Mausolus of Caria . Proximity to the east gave the island first access to imported silk thread. Aristotle mentions silk weaving conducted by

300-411: A dispute between Klazomenai and Teos , provided a temporary law code for the synoecism of Teos and Lebedus , and accepted requests to send judges to resolve internal disputes at Ilium , Samos , and Telos . In the following two centuries, they accepted further requests to send judges to Naxos , Thasos , Erythrae , Mytilene , and four cities whose names are not preserved. The Koan settlement of

375-580: A friendly attitude toward the Romans; in 53 AD it was made a free city . The island of Kos also featured a provincial library during the Roman period. The island first became a center for learning during the Ptolemaic dynasty, and Hippocrates , Apelles , Philitas and possibly Theocritus came from the area. An inscription lists people who made contributions to build the library in the 1st century AD. One of

450-573: A great part of the old city and damaged many new buildings. Architect Rodolfo Petracco drew up the new city plan, transforming the old quarters into an archaeological park, and dividing the new city into a residential, an administrative, and a commercial area. In World War II , the island, as Italian possession, was part of the Axis . It was controlled by Italian troops until the Italian surrender in 1943. British and German forces then clashed for control of

525-417: A kind of French courtly entertainment ( divertissement ) of the baroque era where a pastoral poem was set to music, accompanied by ballet and singing. Examples of the latter are Lully 's Idylle sur la Paix set to a text by Racine , Charpentier ’s idylle sur le retour de la santé du Roi H.489 and Desmarets ' Idylle sur la naissance du duc de Bourgogne set to a text by Antoinette Deshoulières . In

600-497: A number of nightclubs forming the town's "bar street". The seaside village of Kardamena is a popular resort for young holidaymakers (primarily from the United Kingdom and Scandinavia ) and has a large number of bars and nightclubs. The last decade has seen a significant growth in the number of luxury hotels. While one-star and two-star hotels have decreased, four-star and five-star luxury hotels have sprung up throughout

675-480: A passion the goddess has inflicted on him. In the poem, a series of divine figures from classical mythology, including Hermes , Priapus , and Aphrodite herself, interrogate the shepherd about his lovesickness. As Daphnis lies dying, Priapus asks: "Wretched Daphnis, why pinest thou?"; Hermes inquires: "Daphnis, who wastes thee away?" Alongside these mythological figures appear shepherds and goatherds, who likewise wonder "what harm had befallen" Daphnis. Finally, Aphrodite,

750-711: A strict collection of those works considered to have been composed by Theocritus himself. Theocritus was from Sicily , as he refers to Polyphemus , the Cyclops in the Odyssey , as his "countryman." He also probably lived in Alexandria for a while, where he wrote about everyday life, notably Pharmakeutria . It is also speculated that Theocritus was born in Syracuse , lived on the island of Kos , and lived in Egypt during

825-636: A well-fortified port. Its position gave it a high importance in Aegean trade; while the island itself was rich in wines of considerable fame. Under Alexander the Great and the Ptolemies the town developed into one of the great centers in the Aegean; Josephus quotes Strabo to the effect that Mithridates I of the Bosporus was sent to Kos to fetch the gold deposited there by queen Cleopatra of Egypt. Herod

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900-532: Is a Greek island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea . Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos ; it has a population of 37,089 (2021 census), making it the second most populous of the Dodecanese after Rhodes. The island measures 42.1 by 11.5 kilometres (26 by 7 miles). Administratively, Kos constitutes a municipality within

975-470: Is a Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC), i.e. a refugee camp, with a stated capacity of 2,140. It is one of a number on Greek islands. The island is part of a chain of mountains from which it became separated after earthquakes and subsidence that occurred in ancient times. The remnants of these mountains include the islands of Kalymnos and Kappari which are separated by an underwater chasm approximately 70 metres (230 ft; 38 fathoms) deep, as well as

1050-469: Is a short poem , descriptive of rustic life, written in the style of Theocritus 's short pastoral poems, the Idylls (Εἰδύλλια). Unlike Homer , Theocritus did not engage in heroes and warfare. His idylls are limited to a small intimate world, and describe scenes from everyday life. Later imitators include the Roman poets Virgil and Catullus , Italian poets Torquato Tasso , Sannazaro and Leopardi ,

1125-600: Is another man, but I, Theocritus, who wrote these poems, am one of the great populace of Syracuse, the son of Praxagoras and renowned Philinna; and the Muse I have adopted is no alien." The last line may mean that he wrote nothing but bucolic poems, or that he only wrote in Doric . The assertion that he was from Syracuse appears to be upheld by allusions in the Idylls (7.7, 28.16–18). The information concerning his parentage bears

1200-404: Is assigned to Theocritus by recent editors. The following poems are now generally considered to be spurious: 19. Love stealing Honey . The poem is anonymous in the manuscripts and the conception of Love is not Theocritean. 20. Herdsman , 21. Fishermen , 23. Passionate Lover . These three poems are remarkable for the corrupt state of their text, which makes it likely that they have come from

1275-622: Is cured of his passion and naively relates how he repulses the overtures now made to him by Galatea. The monster of Homer's Odyssey has been "written up to date" after the Alexandrian manner and has become a gentle simpleton. "Idyll 7," the Harvest Feast , is the most important of the bucolic poems. The scene is laid in the isle of Kos . The poet speaks in the first person and is called Simichidas by his friends. Other poets are introduced under feigned names. Ancient critics identified

1350-402: Is held to have taken place in 277 BC, and a recently discovered inscription shows that Arsinoë died in 270, in the fifteenth year of her brother's reign. This poem, therefore, together with xv, which Theocritus wrote to please Arsinoë must fall within this period. The encomium upon Hiero II would seem prior to that upon Ptolemy, since in it Theocritus is a hungry poet seeking for a patron, while in

1425-546: Is known as İstanköy , all from the reinterpretation of the Greek expression εις την Κω 'to Kos'; cf. the similar Istanbul and Stimpoli, Crete . Under the rule of the Knights Hospitaller of Rhodes , it was known as Lango or Langò , presumably because of its length. In The Travels of Sir John Mandeville , the author misunderstands this and treats Lango and Kos as distinct islands. In Italian ,

1500-522: Is named after the island, from where it is said to have originated. In Homer 's Iliad , a contingent of Koans fought for the Greeks in the Trojan War . In classical mythology the founder-king of Kos was Merops , hence "Meropian Kos" is included in the archaic Delian amphictyony listed in the 7th-century Homeric hymn to Delian Apollo ; the island was visited by Heracles . Kos was said to be

1575-576: Is now used by the Municipality of Kos for various events, mainly cultural. The island has a 14th-century fortress at the entrance to its harbour, erected in 1315 by the Knights Hospitaller , and another from the Byzantine period in Antimachia . The ancient market place of Kos was considered one of the biggest in the ancient world. It was the commercial and commanding centre at the heart of

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1650-460: Is occupied by Idyll 7, the "Harvest Feast." Chisholm praises the mimes, saying "These three mimes are wonderfully natural and lifelike. There is nothing in ancient literature so vivid and real as the chatter of Gorgo and Praxinoë, and the voces populi in 15". In addition to the Bucolics and Mimes, there are three poems which cannot be brought into any other class: The genuineness of the last

1725-486: Is said to have provided an annual stipend for the benefit of prize-winners in the athletic games, and a statue was erected there to his son Herod the Tetrarch ("C. I. G." 2502 ). Paul briefly visited Kos according to Acts 21:1 . Except for occasional incursions by corsairs and some severe earthquakes, the island's peace was rarely disturbed. Following the lead of its larger neighbour, Rhodes, Kos generally displayed

1800-452: The Aeolic dialect . The first is a very graceful poem presented together with a distaff to Theugenis, wife of Nicias, a doctor of Miletus, on the occasion of a voyage thither undertaken by the poet. The theme of 29 is similar to that of 12. A very corrupt poem, only found in one very late manuscript, was discovered by Ziegler in 1864. As the subject and style very closely resemble that of 29, it

1875-493: The Dirges . The other classes are all represented in the larger collection which has come down to us. The distinction between these is that the scenes of the former are laid in the country and those of the latter in a town. The most famous of the Bucolics are 1 , 6 , 7 and 11 . In "Idyll 1" Thyrsis sings to a goatherd about how Daphnis , the mythical herdsman, having defied the power of Aphrodite , dies rather than yielding to

1950-675: The Kos regional unit , which is part of the South Aegean region . The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is the town of Kos. The name Kos ( Ancient Greek : Κῶς ) is first attested in the Iliad , and has been in continuous use since. Other ancient names include Meropis, Cea, and Nymphaea. In many Romance languages , Kos was formerly known as Stancho , Stanchio , or Stinco , and in Ottoman and modern Turkish it

2025-559: The Muse , who cackle against the Chian bard and find their labour lost." Other persons mentioned are Nicias, a physician of Miletus, whose name occurs in other poems, and Aratus , whom the scholiasts identify with the author of the Phenomena . Several of the other bucolic poems consist of singing-matches, conducted according to the rules of amoebaean poetry , in which the second singer takes

2100-588: The University of Athens . In the late 1920s about 3,700 Turks lived in Kos city, slightly less than 50% of the population, who were mainly in the west part of the city. Today, the population of the Turkish community in Kos has been estimated at 2,000 people. A village with significant Turkish population is Platani (Kermentes) near the town of Kos. The people of Kos are predominantly Orthodox Christians – one of

2175-589: The day and the sun respectively. During the Greco-Persian Wars , before it twice expelled the Persians , Kos was ruled by Persian-appointed tyrants, but as a rule it seems to have been under oligarchic government. In the 5th century, it joined the Delian League , and, after the revolt of Rhodes , it served as the chief Athenian station in the south-eastern Aegean (411–407 BC). In 366 BC,

2250-407: The 2nd century BC, the building was extended toward the interior yard. The building was destroyed in an earthquake in 469 AD. In the southern end of the market, there was a round building with a Roman dome and a workshop which produced pigments including Egyptian Blue . Coins, treasures, and copper statues from Roman times were later uncovered by archaeologists. In the western side excavations led to

2325-558: The English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson ( Idylls of the King ), and Nietzsche's Idylls from Messina . Goethe called his poem Hermann and Dorothea —which Schiller considered the very climax in Goethe's production—an idyll. The term is used in music to refer generally to a work evocative of pastoral or rural life such as Edward MacDowell 's Forest Idylls , and more specifically to

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2400-532: The Municipality of Kos and the Central Board of Jewish Communities, commissioned architect Elias V. Messinas to restore the interior of the synagogue, and make possible a dual use of the building for religious services, and cultural activities. The ancient physician Hippocrates is thought to have been born on Kos, and in the center of the town is the Plane Tree of Hippocrates , a dream temple where

2475-701: The Ottoman General Census of 1881/82–1893, the kaza of İstanköy (استانكوی) had a total population of 12,965, consisting of 10,459 Greeks , 2,439 Muslims and 67 Jews . The island was occupied by the Kingdom of Italy on 20 May 1912. Kos was transferred to the Kingdom of Italy in 1912 after the Italo-Turkish War . The Italians developed the infrastructures of the island, after the ruinous earthquake of 23 April 1933, which destroyed

2550-518: The Ottomans due to the terms of the agreement. When Captain Behram Bey arrived in front of Kos and Bodrum, the castle guards handed over the castle to him and left, and this news reached the camp on 17 Safer 929 (5 January 1523). As soon as the island was taken, a qadi , a castellan and guards were sent to the largest and fortified castle, Nerantzia, which was repaired. The Greek Orthodox people of

2625-536: The Ptolemaic Kingdom, the island kept its political autonomy (shown in a 3rd-century BC decree found at Kos). The island was ruled autonomously through to its citizens assembly and magistrates (the monarch, the prostates , the exegetes, etc.). The fact that the city could legislate and apply its own laws shows political independence from the Ptolemaic Kingdom. The city-state remained in control of its political institutions and civil rights. Kos also became

2700-525: The Roman tria nomina ; possibly relating to this financial support or another endowment. The bishopric of Kos was a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Rhodes . Its bishop Meliphron attended the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Eddesius was one of the minority Eastern bishops who withdrew from the Council of Sardica in about 344 and set up a rival council at Philippopolis. Iulianus went to

2775-466: The ancient city. It was organised around a rectangular yard 50 metres (160 ft) wide and 300 metres (980 ft) long. It began in the Northern area and ended south on the central road (Decumanus) which went through the city. The northern side connected to the city wall towards the entrance to the harbour. Here there was a monumental entrance. On the eastern side there were shops. In the first half of

2850-483: The birthplace of the goddess Leto ; the mother of Apollo . Supposedly Leto's father Coeus was the first inhabitant of the island. The island was supposedly colonised by the Carians , but Dorians invaded it in the 11th century BC, establishing a Dorian colony with a large contingent of settlers from Epidaurus , whose Asclepius cult made their new home famous for its sanatoria . Its early history – as part of

2925-473: The character Sicelidas of Samos with Asclepiades of Samos , and the character Lycidas, "the goatherd of Cydonia," with the poet Astacides, whom Callimachus calls "the Cretan, the goatherd." Theocritus speaks of himself as having already gained fame, and says that his songs have been brought by report even unto the throne of Zeus . He praises Philitas , the veteran poet of Kos, and criticizes "the fledgelings of

3000-533: The dispute at Telos is recorded in an inscription ( IG XII.4.1 132); one of the most detailed surviving records of foreign judges activities in the Hellenistic period. This judgement, drawing on Koan religious and financial regulations, allowed a group convicted of political crimes to pay off their fines and be reconciled with the wider community by paying for sacrifices and repairs to temples. Diodorus Siculus (xv. 76) and Strabo (xiv. 657) describe it as

3075-442: The findings of rooms with mosaic floors which showed beastfights, a theme popular in Kos. The synagogue Kahal Shalom of Kos, on 4, Alexandrou Diakou street in the historic city center, was built in 1935. It was designed by architects Armando Bernabiti and Rodolfo Petracco , and was built by the construction company 'De Martis-Sardelli'. The synagogue complex includes the synagogue and the adjacent rabbi's residence, today housing

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3150-742: The fisher, it is likely that the author of this poem was an imitator of Leonidas. It can hardly be by Leonidas himself, who was a contemporary of Theocritus, as it bears marks of lateness. 25. Heracles the Lion-slayer , which is anonymous in the manuscript and appears to be by a later writer. 24. Epigrams are also attributed to Theocritus, many of them considered to be of doubtful authenticity. Idyll An idyll ( / ˈ aɪ d ɪ l / , UK also / ˈ ɪ d ɪ l / ; from Greek εἰδύλλιον (eidullion)  'short poem'; occasionally spelled idyl in American English )

3225-568: The following: Daughters of Proetus, Hopes, Hymns, Heroines, Dirges, Lyrics, Elegies, Iambics, Epigrams." The first of these may have been known to Virgil , who refers to the Proetides at Eclogue 6.48. The spurious poem 21 may have been one of the Hopes , and poem 26 may have been one of the Heroines ; elegiacs are found in 8.33—60, and the spurious epitaph on Bion may have been one of

3300-609: The four Orthodox cathedrals in the Dodecanese is located in Kos. In addition, there is a Roman Catholic church on the island and a mosque for the Turkish Muslim community. The synagogue is no longer used for religious ceremonies as the Jewish community of Kos was targeted and destroyed by occupying German forces in World War II . It has, however, been restored and is maintained with all religious symbols intact and

3375-465: The goddess of love, appears to taunt Daphnis for his hubris: "Thou indeed, Daphnis, didst boast that thou wouldst bend Love! Hast not thou, in thine own person, been bent by grievous love?" The failure of these figures to comfort Daphnis in his dying moments thematizes classical beliefs about the folly of mortals who challenge the gods. In "Idyll 11" Polyphemus is depicted as in love with the sea-nymph Galatea and finding solace in song. In "Idyll 6," he

3450-772: The island in the Battle of Kos as part of the Dodecanese Campaign , in which the Germans were victorious. Following the battle, 100 Italian officers who had refused to join the Germans were executed in what became known as the Massacre of Kos . German troops occupied the island until 1945, when it became a protectorate of the United Kingdom, which ceded it to Greece in 1947 following the Paris peace treaty . There

3525-479: The island is known as Coo . A person from Kos is called a "Koan" (or "Coan") in English. The word is also an adjective, as in "Koan goods". Kos is in the Aegean Sea , across from Bodrum , Turkey. Its coastline is 112 kilometres (70 miles) long, extending from west to east. The island has several promontories , some with names known in antiquity: Cape Skandari , anciently Scandarium or Skandarion in

3600-565: The island were left in their places and their residence was provided in the suburbs outside the castle. During the course of the Orlov revolt , a Russian fleet anchored off the Kos castle. On the night of 5 August 1773, the Russians dispatched a landing party intending to capture the castle. They suffered heavy casualties in the ensuing battle. The Russian ships departed Kos two days later, having failed to achieve their objective. According to

3675-450: The island. From 2014 to 2023, five-star hotels have practically doubled, both in units (+95.83%) and in total beds (+103.32%). Significant but smaller, is the increase of four-star hotels, both in units (+34.15%) and in total beds (+8.5%). Farming is the second principal occupation, with the main crops being grapes , almonds , figs , watermelons , olives , and tomatoes , along with wheat and corn . Cos lettuce (romaine lettuce)

3750-603: The joys of summer and winter respectively, which have been provided with a clumsy preface, ll.1-6, while an early editor of a bucolic collection has appended an epilogue in which he takes leave of the Bucolic Muses. On the other hand, it is clear that both poems were in Virgil's Theocritus, and that they passed the scrutiny of the editor who formed the short collection of Theocritean Bucolics. The mimes are three in number: 2, 14, and 15. In 2 Simaetha, deserted by Delphis, tells

3825-592: The middle of the 12th century, it was governed by a scion of the ruling Komnenos dynasty, Nikephoros Komnenos. Today the ecclesiastical metropolis of Kos remains under the direct authority of the Patriarchate of Constantinople , rather than the Church of Greece , and is also listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see . Following the 11th century, Kos passed under Genoese control, although it

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3900-473: The museum of Alexandria , and became a favourite resort for the education of the princes of the Ptolemaic dynasty. During the Hellenistic age, there was a medical school ; however, the theory that this school was founded by Hippocrates (see below) during the Classical age is an unwarranted extrapolation. It was the home of the major Hellenistic poet-scholar Philitas . Despite the incorporation of Kos into

3975-432: The northeast; Cape Lacter or Lakter in the south; and Cape Drecanum or Drekanon in the west. In addition to the main town and port, also called Kos, the main villages of Kos island are Kardamena , Kefalos , Tingaki , Antimachia , Mastihari , Marmari and Pyli. Smaller ones are Zia , Zipari , Platani , Lagoudi and Asfendiou . Kos has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. The present municipality of Kos

4050-511: The offices of the organisation 'Hippocrates'. The Jewish community of Kos dates from antiquity. An older synagogue was destroyed in the earthquake of 13 April 1933. Following the deportation of nearly 100 members of the Jewish community on Sunday 23 July 1944, the synagogue was abandoned and later purchased by the Municipality in the 1980s. The synagogue has been used as a cultural center by the Municipality of Kos, for lectures and exhibitions. In 2022

4125-647: The other he is well satisfied with the world. Now Hiero first came to the front in 275 when he was made General: Theocritus speaks of his achievements as still to come, and the silence of the poet would show that Hiero's marriage to Phulistis, his victory over the Mamertines at the Longanus and his election as "King", events which are ascribed to 270, had not yet taken place. If so, 17 and 15 can only have been written within 275 and 270. Two of these are certainly by Theocritus, 28 and 29, composed in Aeolic verse and in

4200-611: The people responsible for the library's construction was the Koan physician Gaius Stertinius Xenophon , who lived in Rome and was the personal physician of the Emperors Tiberius , Claudius , and Nero . Herod , king of Judaea , ensured the perpetual funding for the gymnasiarch 's annual office on Kos. An inscription from the assembly of the island, dating around 14 BC, honours Gaius Iulius Herodes, affirming Herod's adoption of

4275-535: The poet praises Hiero II of Syracuse , in 17 Ptolemy Philadelphus , and in 22 the Dioscuri . The other poems are 13, the story of Hylas and the Nymphs , and 24 the youthful Heracles . In 13 he makes use of word-painting; in 16 there is some delicate fancy in the description of his poems as Charites , and a passage at the end, where he foretells the joys of peace after the enemy have been driven out of Sicily , has

4350-559: The religious-political amphictyonic league that included Lindos , Kamiros , Ialysos , Knidos and Halicarnassus , the Doric Hexapolis ( hexapolis means 'six cities' in Greek), – is obscure. At the end of the 6th century, Kos fell under Achaemenid domination but rebelled after the Greek victory at the Battle of Mycale in 479. Archaeological finds have shown the existence of a small shrine to Hemera and Helios ; gods of

4425-435: The same source and possibly are by the same author. The Fishermen has been much admired. It is addressed to Diophantus and conveys a moral, that one should work and not dream, illustrated by the story of an old fisherman who dreams that he has caught a fish of gold and narrates his vision to his mate. As Leonidas of Tarentum wrote epigrams on fishermen, and one of them is a dedication of his tackle to Poseidon by Diophantus,

4500-408: The southeast and southwest sections of the castle during the raids of Yıldırım Bayezid between 1391 and 1396. Kos faced its first serious Ottoman attack in 1455. The navy under the command of Hamza Bey attacked the island, besieged and destroyed the Andimacheia Castle. The last Hospitaller governor of the island was Piero de Ponte . During the conquest of Rhodes in 1522, it was surrendered to

4575-412: The stamp of authenticity, and disposes of a rival theory based upon a misinterpretation of Idyll 7—which made him the son of one Simichus. A larger collection, possibly more extensive than that of Artemidorus, and including poems of doubtful authenticity, was known to the author of the Suda , who says: "Theocritus wrote the so-called bucolic poems in the Doric dialect. Some persons also attribute to him

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4650-402: The story of her love to the moon; in 14 Aeschines narrates his quarrel with his sweetheart, and is advised to go to Egypt and enlist in the army of Ptolemy Philadelphus ; in 15 Gorgo and Praxinoë go to the festival of Adonis . In the best manuscript 2 comes immediately before 14, an arrangement which is obviously right, since it places the three mimes together. The second place in the manuscripts

4725-546: The subject chosen by the first and contributes a variation on the same theme. It may be noted that Theocritus' rustic characters differ greatly in refinement. Those in "Idyll 5" are low fellows who indulge in coarse abuse. Idylls 4 and 5 are laid in the neighborhood of Croton, and we may infer that Theocritus was personally acquainted with Magna Graecia . Suspicion has been cast upon idylls 8 and 9 on various grounds. An extreme view holds that within "Idyll 9" there exist two genuine Theocritean fragments, ll.7-13 and 15–20, describing

4800-405: The synod held in Constantinople in 448 in preparation for the Council of Chalcedon of 451, in which he participated as a legate of Pope Leo I , and he was a signatory of the joint letter that the bishops of the Roman province of Insulae sent in 458 to Byzantine Emperor Leo I the Thracian with regard to the killing of Proterius of Alexandria . Dorotheus took part in a synod in 518. Georgius

4875-408: The term is ultimately unclear. During the course of the Fourth War of the Diadochi Ptolemy I Soter captured Kos from Antigonus I Monophthalmus , incorporating it into his kingdom . In the Hellenistic period , Kos attained the zenith of its prosperity. Kos was valued by the Ptolemies, who used it as a naval outpost to oversee the Aegean. As a seat of learning, it arose as a provincial branch of

4950-426: The time of Ptolemy II . The record of these recensions is preserved by two epigrams, one of which proceeds from Artemidorus of Tarsus , a grammarian, who lived in the time of Sulla and is said to have been the first editor of these poems. He says, "The Muses of country song were once scattered, but now they are all together in one pen, in one flock." The second epigram is anonymous, and runs as follows: "The Chian

5025-412: The transformation of Kos Asclepeion into an asylum . This decision made Kos a more attractive destination for merchants and pilgrims. Kos had a strong reputation for justice from the late fourth century BC and was called on more frequently than any other city in the Hellenistic period to provide judges for the arbitration of disputes between and within other cities. Between 310 and 300 BC, Kos arbitrated

5100-461: The true bucolic ring. The most that can be said of 22 and 24 is that they are very dramatic. Otherwise they differ little from work done by other poets, such as Callimachus and Apollonius Rhodius . From another point of view, however, these two poems 16 and 17 are supremely interesting, since they are the only ones which can be dated. In 17 Theocritus celebrates the incestuous marriage of Ptolemy Philadelphus with his sister Arsinoë . This marriage

5175-445: The visual arts, an idyll is a painting depicting the same sort of subject matter to be found in idyllic poetry, often with rural or peasant life as its central theme. One of the earliest examples is the early 15th century Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry . The genre was particularly popular in English paintings of the Victorian era. Kos Kos or Cos ( / k ɒ s , k ɔː s / ; Greek : Κως [kos] )

5250-403: The volcano of Nisyros and the surrounding islands. There is a wide variety of rocks in Kos which is related to its geographical formation. Prominent among these are the Quaternary layers in which the fossil remains of mammals such as horses, hippopotami and elephants have been found. The fossilised molar of an elephant of gigantic proportions was presented to the Paleontology Museum of

5325-454: The women of the island. Silk production of garments was conducted in large factories by female slaves. Older research believed that the island was known in antiquity for the manufacture of transparent light dresses, the coae vestes . This view goes back to Aristotle, and it has been challenged by modern research. The term Coae vestes seems to refer to a type of silk garment and not the site of production (the island of Kos). The origin of

5400-492: Was a Byzantine territory and kept for a while by the Empire of Nicaea . Genoese ruled as protectorate and lasted over four centuries. In the 1320s, Kos nominally formed a part of the realm of Genoese Vignolo de Vignoli. The Knights Hospitaller were hosted over the island paying a rent to Genoese republic. From the 14th century onwards the island experienced raids of Turkish corsairs . During this period two towers were built in

5475-581: Was a participant of the Third Council of Constantinople in 680–681. Constantinus went to the Photian Council of Constantinople (879) . Under Byzantine rule, apart from the participation of its bishops in councils, the island's history remains obscure. It was governed by a droungarios in the 8th–9th centuries, and seems to have acquired some importance in the 11th and 12th centuries: Nikephoros Melissenos began his uprising here, and in

5550-443: Was attacked by Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff on account of the crudity of the language, which sometimes degenerates into doggerel. However, Chisholm considered it genuine, arguing that Theocritus had intentionally used realistic language for the sake of dramatic effect and that the manuscript evidence supported its genuineness. Eustathius quotes from it as the work of Theocritus. Three of these are Hymns: 16, 17, and 22. In 16,

5625-448: Was created in 2011 with the merger of three municipalities, which became municipal units: The municipality has an area of 290,313 km , and has a municipal unit of 67.200 km . Tourism is the main industry in Kos, the island's beaches being the primary attraction. The main port and population centre on the island, Kos town, is also a tourist and cultural centre, with whitewashed buildings including many hotels, restaurants and

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