Lament for Adonis and The Lament for Bion

Bion (fl. c100BC), translated by Kline, A. S. (contact-email)

The Lament for Adonis is attributed to Bion (fl. c100BC), a Greek poet, of ancient Lydia (now Izmir, Turkey). He was noted as a poet of the countryside, writing in the Doric dialect and, with Moschus and Theocritus, is one of a trio of major bucolic poets writing in that period. His work, of which this lament and a few fragments survive, was alluded to by Catullus and Ovid, and influenced later poems of lament, notably Shelley’s ‘Adonais’, his elegy for Keats. The Lament survived in two medieval manuscripts only.

The Lament for Bion, on the other hand, was long attributed to Moschus of Syracuse (fl. c150BC), though Bion was the younger man (fl. c100BC), but is now thought to have been written by a pupil of Bion. Like Bion’s own ‘Lament for Adonis’ it had a great influence on subsequent elegies for dead poets, for example Deschamps’ double-lament for Machaut, and Milton’s ‘Lycidas’.

Author Details

Bion of Smyrna was a notable ancient Greek bucolic poet, most likely active between the late second and early first century BC. He was likley from Phlossa, one of the communities making up Smyrna. The precise details of Bion’s life, including his birth and death dates, remain unrecorded in historical sources. However, an epitaph suggests that he died young and was possibly poisoned.

Bion’s poetic legacy is significant in the realm of ancient Greek literature, where he is recognized alongside Theocritus and Moschus as a canonical bucolic poet. His works prominently featured bucolic themes and erotic elements. The “Lament to Adonis” is his most renowned composition, extending to 98 lines. This poem, along with seventeen shorter fragments, constitutes his surviving oeuvre. His lament draws influence from traditional Greek compositions and explicitly references Theocritus’ “Lament for Daphnis”.

Throughout antiquity and until the sixth century AD, Bion’s works were widely read and influenced numerous ancient poets, including Meleager of Gadara, Ovid, Catullus, and Nonnus. Greek novelists such as Achilles Tatius, Longus, and Heliodorus also referenced his work. The “Epitaph for Bion” by Pseudo-Moschus particularly highlights his “Lament for Adonis”.

The preservation of Bion’s “Lament to Adonis” is credited to two medieval manuscripts, with Joachim Camerarius attributing it to Bion in 1530. Johannes Stobaeus preserved the first sixteen fragments, while the seventeenth fragment was conserved by Orion of Thebes/p>

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Kline, A. S.

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