Theocritus 25 displays a tripartite division in which the transitions between the sections (1-83 ; 84-152 ; 153-281) are abrupt.
Analysis of the narrative brings to light rhythms in the relationship between narrator and reader, and uncovers aspects of a theme of the poem, namely that of identity. In this idyll, in which the identity of Heracles is both revealed and withheld, we find a dramatization of the identification of Heracles as hero, a process ultimately transacted by means of his own narrative.
The end of Heracles ' narrative (280-281) marks the point at which the hero resumes familiar guise.
