# Daphnis — The Eclogues character guide

> Daphnis in The Eclogues by Virgil.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Menalcas, Fierce tigers Daphnis, cruel Daphnis, Fate the godlike Daphnis

**First appearance:** 0000-pastoral-i-tityrus-and-meliboeus

## Snapshot

The shepherd whose death empties the pastures and whose songs taught tigers the yoke, mourned, then deified, by the very swains he left behind.

## Who they are

Daphnis is the pastoral world's lost center: a singer so beloved that woods, rivers, and even Libyan lions answer his death with grief, and his mother tears her hair at the news. A sorceress in a later song tries to drag him back with wax, knots, and herbs, calling him cruel for burning while she burns. His absence is the wound the Eclogues keep circling, the measure against which every other shepherd's song, love, and loss is taken.

## Relationships

### [Mopsus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/characters/mopsus)

_friendship_

Daphnis and Mopsus are fellow shepherds who share songs and mourn together, bound by mutual respect and pastoral camaraderie.

### [Lycidas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/characters/lycidas)

_friendship_

Daphnis and Lycidas are fellow shepherds who exchange songs and laments, united by their shared pastoral life and love of music.

### [Damon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/characters/damon)

_friendship_

Damon and Daphnis are fellow shepherds who engage in singing contests and share a bond of pastoral rivalry and mutual respect.

### [Moeris](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/characters/moeris)

_friendship_

Daphnis and Moeris are fellow shepherds who share songs and memories, with Moeris often acting as an elder figure to Daphnis.

### [Phoebus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/characters/phoebus)

_professional_

Daphnis, as a shepherd-poet, invokes Phoebus Apollo for divine inspiration and favor in his songs and contests.

### [Pan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/characters/pan)

_professional_

Daphnis, as a shepherd, honors and invokes the god Pan for protection and inspiration in his pastoral life.

## In the story

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

Referenced as a past object of Corydon's affection, though black compared to Alexis's fairness.

### [Pastoral III: Palaemon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/chapters/pastoral-iii-palaemon)

Challenges Damoetas to a singing contest; offers two carved bowls as wager; sings of his love for Amyntas and his disdain for Bavius and Maevius.

### [Pastoral V: Daphnis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/chapters/pastoral-v-daphnis)

The subject of the elegy and apotheosis; his death is mourned by nature and shepherds, and he is later deified.

### [Pastoral V: Daphnis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/chapters/pastoral-v-daphnis)

One of the two shepherds in the singing contest; he proclaims Daphnis's divinity and offers a hymn of praise.

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

Umpire of the singing contest, seated in the middle.

### [Pastoral VIII: Pharmaceutria](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/chapters/pastoral-viii-pharmaceutria)

The beloved pursued by the enchantress in Alphesiboeus's song.

### [Pastoral IX: Lycidas and Moeris](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/chapters/pastoral-ix-lycidas-and-moeris)

A poet-shepherd who reportedly saved his estate with a song, but is now threatened; his songs are recalled by Moeris and Lycidas.

### [Pastoral IX: Lycidas and Moeris](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/chapters/pastoral-ix-lycidas-and-moeris)

Addressed in a song about observing the stars and grafting under Caesar's star.

### [Pastoral X: Gallus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eclogues_se/chapters/pastoral-x-gallus)

Mentioned as one of the swains who came to Gallus, wet with winter mast.

## Links

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