In the account given in chapter II. of the Sicilian Daphnis, an epigram by Callimachus on Astacides, who was a goatherd in Crete, was partially quoted, probably remarkable for his beauty and his immature death. The translation of the passage will now be given.
Ἀστακίδην τὸν Κρῆτα, τὸν αἰπόλον, ἥρπασε Νύμφη
Ἐξ ὄρεος· καὶ νῦν ἱερὸς Ἀστακίδης
Οἰκεῖ Δικταίῃσιν ὑπὸ δρυσίν· οὐκέτι Δάφνιν
Ποιμένες, Ἀστακίδην δ’ αἰὲν ἀεισόμεθα.
A nymph has snatch’d Astacides away;
Beneath Dictæan oaks our goatherd lies:
Shepherds! no more your songs to Daphnis pay;
For now with him the sacred Cretan vies.
Yates’s Translation.