An idyll is a relationship, usually fleeting and of great intensity, between two people; it is often taken as a synonym for romance. Similarly, idylls can be those alternative realities in which all events occur in a positive way, that is, according to good and beauty. This is also the name given to a genre of Greek lyrical compositions, shorter than eclogues and mostly pastoral, including eroticism and romance. The word comes from the Greek word "eidyllion", which can be translated as "short poem", and which in turn comes from "eido", whose translation would be "I saw":
Intense and short-lived romances have been a favorite subject for authors since the days of classical antiquity. This is evidenced in the existence of the subgenre dedicated to the representation of shepherds involved in romantic tragedies, where, in combination with small musical spaces and the songs by the choir, the aim was to achieve the typical fieryness of these encounters. This, unlike its Latin counterpart, the eclogue, was of a somewhat short duration; it was written regularly in the Doric dialect and in dactyl hexameter or verses of minor art.
These stories, normally, took place in peaceful environments and with important paradisiacal characteristics, generally set in the so-called Arcadia, one of the many regions in which Greece is divided. The dialogues were held by the shepherds, or the young people in charge of directing the flock to graze. These were interspersed with the monologues, the aforementioned chants, and, in addition, small singing competitions between the characters.
