# Corydon — The Eclogues character guide

> Corydon in The Eclogues by Virgil.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Young Corydon

**First appearance:** 0001-pastoral-ii-alexis

## Snapshot

A shepherd who sings his love for Alexis to the hills and admits, mid-song, that he is burning while the boy does not care.

## Who they are

Corydon is the pastoral lover at his most exposed: he offers Alexis a hundred baskets, a thousand lambs, and his own shaggy beard, and gets nothing back. He knows he is being foolish, calls himself a rustic, and keeps singing anyway, which is what makes him memorable. His song sets the template for the book's later laments, where desire, self-knowledge, and stubborn music all arrive at once.

## Relationships

### [Alexis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/characters/alexis)

_romantic_

Corydon is hopelessly in love with the beautiful youth Alexis, who remains indifferent and unresponsive to his advances.

### [Meliboeus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/characters/meliboeus)

_friendship_

Corydon and Meliboeus are shepherds who converse about love and loss, with Meliboeus offering sympathy to Corydon's romantic woes.

### [Amyntas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/characters/amyntas)

_friendship_

Amyntas and Corydon are fellow shepherds who compete in friendly singing matches and share a bond of pastoral rivalry.

### [Palaemon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/characters/palaemon)

_friendship_

Corydon and Palaemon are shepherds who engage in friendly poetic exchanges, with Palaemon sometimes acting as a judge.

### [Palaemon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/characters/palaemon)

_friendship_

Corydon and Palaemon are shepherds who engage in friendly poetic exchanges, with Palaemon sometimes acting as a judge.

## In the story

### [Pastoral II: Alexis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/chapters/pastoral-ii-alexis)

The unhappy shepherd who passionately loves Alexis but is rejected.

### [Pastoral VII: Meliboeus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/chapters/pastoral-vii-meliboeus)

One of the two competing swains; declared the winner by Daphnis.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/characters/corydon
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/characters