Pindar (; Pindaros ; ; ) was an Greek lyric from Thebes. Of the Western canon nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar is by far the greatest, in virtue of his inspired magnificence, the beauty of his thoughts and figures, the rich exuberance of his language and matter, and his rolling flood of eloquence, characteristics which, as Horace rightly held, make him inimitable."Quintilian 10.1.61; cf. Pseudo-Longinus 33.5 . His poems can also, however, seem difficult and even peculiar. The Athenian comic playwright Eupolis once remarked that they "are already reduced to silence by the disinclination of the multitude for elegant learning". Eupolis F366 Kock, 398 K/A, from Athenaeus 3a, ( Deipnosophistae, epitome of book I) Some scholars in the modern age also found his poetry perplexing, at least until the 1896 discovery of some poems by his rival Bacchylides; comparisons of their work showed that many of Pindar's idiosyncrasies are typical of archaic genres rather than of only the poet himself. His poetry, while admired by critics, still challenges the casual reader and his work is largely unread among the general public.
Pindar was the first Greek poet to reflect on the nature of poetry and on the poet's role.Gerber, p. 261 His poetry illustrates the beliefs and values of Archaic Greece at the dawn of the Classical Greece.Pindar (1972) Introduction p. xv Like other poets of the Archaic Age, he has a profound sense of the vicissitudes of life, but he also articulates a passionate faith in what men can achieve by the grace of the gods, most famously expressed in the conclusion to one of his Epinikion:de Romilly, p. 37
Creatures of a day! What is anyone? What is anyone not? A dream of a shadow Is our mortal being. But when there comes to men A gleam of splendour given of heaven, Then rests on them a light of glory And blessed are their days. ( Pythian 8)Bowra, Pythia VIII, lines 95–7Pindar (1972) p. 144
πολλὰ γὰρ πολλᾷ λέλεκται: νεαρὰ δ᾽ ἐξευ- ρόντα δόμεν βασάνῳ ἐς ἔλεγχον, ἅπας κίνδυνος.Nemean 8, lines 20–21 | Story is vast in range: new ways to find and test upon the touchstone, Here danger lies.Pindar (1972) p. 212. The three lines here, and in Bowra's Greek, are actually two lines or stichoi in Greek prosody. Stichoi however are often too long to be preserved as single lines in published form, and they are then broken into metrical units, or cola, the break indicated by indentation. This practice is observed both in Greek and in translations, but it is a modern convenience or preference and it has no historical authority: "...nullam habet apud codices auctoritatem neque veri simile est Pindarum ita carmina manu propria conscripsisse." |
The early to middle years of Pindar's career coincided with the Greco-Persian Wars during the reigns of Darius and Xerxes. This period included the first Persian invasion of Greece, which ended at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, and the second Persian invasion of Greece (480–479 BC). During the second invasion, when Pindar was almost forty years old, Thebes was occupied by Xerxes' general, Mardonius, who with many Theban aristocrats subsequently perished at the Battle of Plataea. It is possible that Pindar spent much of this time at Aegina. His choice of residence during the earlier invasion in 490 BC is not known, but he was able to attend the Pythian Games of that year, where he first met the Sicilian prince, Thrasybulus, nephew of Theron of Acragas. Thrasybulus had driven the winning chariot; and he and Pindar were to form a lasting friendship, paving the way for his subsequent visit to Sicily.
Pindar might not actually claim to be an Aegeid since his 'I' statements do not necessarily refer to himself. The Aegeid clan did however have a branch in Thebes, and his reference to 'my ancestors' in Pythian 5 could have been spoken on behalf of both Arcesilas and himselfhe may have used this ambivalence to establish a personal link with his patrons.Gerber, p. 270
He was possibly the Theban proxenos or consul for Aegina and/or Molossia, as indicated in another of his odes, Nemean 7, in which he glorifies Neoptolemus, a national hero of Aegina and Molossia. According to tradition, Neoptolemus died disgracefully in a fight with priests at the temple in Delphi over their share of some sacrificial meat. Pindar diplomatically glosses over this and concludes mysteriously with an earnest protestation of innocence"But shall my heart never admit that I with words none can redeem dishonoured Neoptolemus". Possibly he was responding to anger among Aeginetans and/or Molossians over his portrayal of Neoptolemus in an earlier poem, Paean 6, which had been commissioned by the priests at Delphi and which depicted the hero's death in traditional terms, as divine retribution for his crimes.
Some doubt this biographical interpretation of Nemean 7 since it is largely based on marginal comments by and Pindaric scholiasts are often unreliable. The fact that Pindar gave different versions of the myth may simply reflect the needs of different genres, and does not necessarily indicate a personal dilemma.Ian Rutherford, Pindar's Paeans, Oxford University Press (2001), pp. 321–22 Nemean 7 in fact is the most controversial and obscure of Pindar's victory odes, and scholars ancient and modern have been ingenious and imaginative in their attempts to explain it, so far with no agreed success.
In his first Pythian ode, composed in 470 BC in honour of the Sicilian tyrant Hieron, Pindar celebrated a series of victories by Greeks against foreign invaders: Athenian and Spartan-led victories against Persia at Salamis and Plataea, and victories by the western Greeks led by Theron of Acragas and Hieron against the Carthaginians and Etruscans at the battles of Himera and Cumae. Such celebrations were not appreciated by his fellow Thebans: they had sided with the Persians and had incurred many losses and privations as a result of their defeat. His praise of Athens with such epithets as bulwark of Ancient Greece ( fragment 76) and city of noble name and sunlit splendour (Nemean 5) induced the authorities in Thebes to fine him 5,000 drachmae, to which the Athenians are said to have responded with a gift of 10,000 drachmae. According to another account,Isocrates 15.166 the Athenians even made him their proxenus or consul in Thebes. His association with the fabulously rich Hieron was another source of annoyance at home. It was probably in response to Theban sensitivities over this issue that he denounced the rule of tyrants (i.e. rulers like Hieron) in an ode composed shortly after a visit to Hieron's sumptuous court in 476–75 BC ( Pythian 11).Pindar (1972) p. 158
Pindar's actual phrasing in Pythian 11 was "I deplore the lot of tyrants" and though this was traditionally interpreted as an apology for his dealings with Sicilian tyrants like Hieron, an alternative date for the ode has led some scholars to conclude that it was in fact a covert reference to the tyrannical behaviour of the Athenians, although this interpretation is ruled out if we accept the earlier note about covert references. According to yet another interpretation Pindar is simply delivering a formulaic warning to the successful athlete to avoid hubris. It is highly unlikely that Pindar ever acted for Athenians as their proxenus or consul in Thebes.
Lyric verse was conventionally accompanied by music and dance, and Pindar himself wrote the music and choreographed the dances for his victory odes. Sometimes he trained the performers at his home in Thebes, and sometimes he trained them at the venue where they performed. Commissions took him to all parts of the Greek worldto the Panhellenic festivals in mainland Greece (Olympia, Delphi, Corinth and Nemea), westwards to Sicily, eastwards to the seaboard of Asia Minor, north to and Abdera ( Paean 2) and south to Cyrene on the African coast. Other poets at the same venues vied with him for the favours of patrons. His poetry sometimes reflects this rivalry. For example, Olympian 2 and Pythian 2, composed in honour of the Sicilian tyrants Theron and Hieron following his visit to their courts in 476–75 BC, refer respectively to ravens and an ape, apparently signifying rivals who were engaged in a campaign of smears against himpossibly the poets Simonides and his nephew Bacchylides.Pindar (1972) pp. 10, 88–9 Pindar's original treatment of narrative myth, often relating events in reverse chronological order, is said to have been a favourite target for criticism.Pindar (1972) Introduction p. XIII Simonides was known to charge high fees for his work and Pindar is said to have alluded to this in Isthmian 2, where he refers to the Muse as "a hireling journeyman". He appeared in many poetry competitions and was defeated five times by his compatriot, the poet Corinna, in revenge of which he called her Boeotian sow in one of his odes ( Olympian 6. 89f.).
It was assumed by ancient sources that Pindar's odes were performed by a chorus, but this has been challenged by some modern scholars, who argue that the odes were in fact performed solo. It is not known how commissions were arranged, nor if the poet travelled widely: even when poems include statements like "I have come" it is not certain that this was meant literally.Race, pp. 10–11 Uncomplimentary references to Bacchylides and Simonides were found by scholiasts but there is no reason to accept their interpretation of the odes.David Campbell, Greek Lyric IV, Loeb Classical Library (1992), page 6 In fact, some scholars have interpreted the allusions to fees in Isthmian 2 as a request by Pindar for payment of fees owed to himself.Pindar (1972) p. 239 His defeats by Corinna were probably invented by ancient commentators to account for the Boeotian sow remark, a phrase moreover that was completely misunderstood by scholiasts, since Pindar was scoffing at a reputation that all Boeotians had for stupidity.D. Campbell, Greek Lyric IV, p. 2
Covert criticism of Athens (traditionally located in odes such as Pythian 8, Nemean 8 and Isthmian 7) is now dismissed as highly unlikely, even by scholars who allow some biographical and historical interpretations of the poems.Charles Segal, 'Choral Lyric in the Fifth Century', in Easterling, pp. 231–232
One of his last odes ( Pythian 8) indicates that he lived near a shrine to the oracle Alcmaeon and that he stored some of his wealth there. In the same ode he says that he had recently received a prophecy from Alcmaeon during a journey to Delphi ("...he met me and proved the skills of prophecy that all his race inherit")Pindar (1972) p. 142 but he does not reveal what the long-dead prophet said to him nor in what form he appeared.There are several other accounts of supernatural visitations relating to Pindar (see for example C.M. Bowra, Pindar, pages 49–51). According to a scholium, he and a pupil, Olympichus, once saw a mysterious flame on a mountain, attended by strange noises. Pindar then beheld Rhea, the Mother of the Gods, advancing in the form of a wooden image. Pausanias (9.25.3) reported that he set up a monument near his home, dedicated conjointly to Pan and the Mother of the Gods (Δινδυμήνη). According to Eustathius ( Proem. 27, p. 298. 9 Dr) and Vit. Ambr. (p. 2. 2 Dr.), Pan was once heard between Cithaeron and Mount Helicon singing a paean composed to him by Pindar (fr. 85). The ode was written to commemorate a victory by an athlete from Aegina.
Pindar doesn't necessarily mean himself when he uses the first person singular. Many of his 'I' statements are generic, indicating somebody engaged in the role of a singer i.e. a 'bardic' I. Other 'I' statements articulate values typical of the audience, and some are spoken on behalf of the subjects celebrated in the poems.Currie, p. 20 The 'I' that received the prophecy in Pythian 8 therefore might have been the athlete from Aegina, not Pindar. In that case the prophecy must have been about his performance at the Pythian Games, and the property stored at the shrine was just a votive offering.Gerber, pp. 268–269
Nothing is recorded about Pindar's wife and son except their names, Megacleia and Daiphantus.
About ten days before he died, the goddess Persephone appeared to him and complained that she was the only divinity to whom he had never composed a hymn. She said he would come to her soon and compose one then.
Pindar lived to about eighty years of age. He died around 438 BC while attending a festival at Argos. His ashes were taken back home to Thebes by his musically gifted daughters, Eumetis and Protomache.
Pindar's house in Thebes became one of the city's landmarks. When Alexander the Great demolished Thebes in 335 BC, as punishment for its resistance to Macedonian expansionism, he ordered the house be left intact out of gratitude for verses praising his ancestor, Alexander I of Macedon.Plutarch, Life of Alexander 11.6; Arrian, Anabasis Alexandri 1.9.10
His view of the gods is traditional but more self-consistent than Homer's and more reverent. He never depicts gods in a demeaning role. He seems indifferent to the intellectual reforms that were shaping the theology of the times. Thus an eclipse is not a mere physical effect, as contemplated by early thinkers such as Thales, Anaximander and Heraclitus, nor was it even a subject for bold wonder, as it was for an earlier poet, Archilochus;Archilochus fr. 122 West instead Pindar treated an eclipse as a portent of evil. Paean 9.13–20). The eclipse is mentioned in a fragment quoted by Stobaeus, addressed to the Thebans:
Is it some sign of war you bring? / Or blight on crops, or snow-fall's strength / Beyond all telling, or murderous strife at home, / Or emptying of the sea on land, / Or frost binding the earth, or south-wind in summer / With a flood of furious rain, / Or will you drown the land and raise / A new breed of men from the beginning?
Gods are the embodiment of power, uncompromisingly proud of their nature and violent in defense of their privileges. There is some rationalization of religious belief, but it is within a tradition at least as old as Hesiod, where abstractions are personified, such as "Truth the daughter of Zeus". Olympic Ode 10.3–4 Sometimes the wording suggests a belief in 'God' rather than 'a god' (e.g. "What is God? Everything"),fr. 129: τί θεός; τὸ πάν but the implications are not given full expression and the poems are not examples of monotheism. Nor do they vocalize a belief in Fate as the background to the gods, unlike the plays of Aeschylus for example. Pindar subjects both fortune and fate to divine will (e.g. "child of Zeus ... Fortune"). Olympic Ode 12.1–2)
He selects and revises traditional myths so as not to diminish the dignity and majesty of the gods. Such revisionism was not unique. Xenophanes had castigated Homer and Hesiod for the misdeeds they ascribed to gods, such as theft, adultery and deception, and Pythagoras had envisioned those two poets being punished in Hades for blasphemy. A subtle example of Pindar's approach can be found in his treatment of the myth of Apollo's rape of the nymph Cyrene. Pythian Ode 9 As the god of the Delphic oracle, Apollo is all-knowing, yet in keeping with his anthropomorphic nature he seeks information about the nymph from a third party, in this case the centaur Chiron. Chiron however affirms the god's omniscience with an elegant compliment, as if Apollo had only pretended to be ignorant: "You, Sire, who know the appointed end of all, and all paths..."Chiron's compliment to Apollo:
"You, Sire, who know / The appointed end of all, and all paths: / How many leaves in April the earth puts forth, / How many grains of sand / In the sea and rivers / Are troubled by the waves and the swirling winds, / And what shall be, and whence it shall come / You see with clear eyes." Apollo's abduction of the nymph is not presented as a shameful act. Pindar's gods are above such ethical issues and it is not for men to judge them by ordinary human standards. Indeed, the finest breeds of men resulted from divine passions: "For Pindar a mortal woman who is loved by a god is an outstanding lesson in divine favours handsomely bestowed".
Being descendants of divine unions with privileged mortals, mythical heroes are an intermediate group between gods and men, and they are sympathetic to human ambitions. Thus, for example, Pindar not only invokes Zeus for help on behalf of the island of Aegina but also its national heroes Aeacus, Peleus and Telamon. Pythian Ode 8.99–100 Unlike the gods, however, heroes can be judged according to ordinary human standards and they are sometimes shown in the poems to demean themselves. Even in that case, they receive special consideration. Thus Pindar refers obliquely to the murder of Phocus by his brothers Peleus and Telamon ("I am shy of speaking of a huge risk, hazarded not in right"), telling the audience that he will not talk of it ("silence is a man's wisest counsel"). Nemean Odes 5.14–18:
I am shy of speaking of a huge risk / Hazarded not in right, / How they left the famous island, / And what fate drove strong men from the Vineland. / I shall halt. Truth does not always / Gain more if unflinching / She reveals her face; / And silence is often a man's wisest counsel. The Theban hero Heracles was a favourite subject but in one poem he is depicted as small in order to be compared with a small Theban patron who had won the pankration at the Isthmian Games: Isthmian Odes 4.57 a unique example of Pindar's readiness to shape traditional myths to fit the occasion, even if not always flattering to the mythical hero. A hero's status is not diminished by an occasional blemish but rests on a summary view of his heroic exploits.
Some of his patrons claimed divine descent, such as Diagoras of Rhodes, but Pindar makes all men akin to gods if they realize their full potential: their innate gifts are divinely bestowed, and even then success still depends on the gods' active favour. In honouring such men, therefore, Pindar was honouring the gods too. His statements about life after death were not self-consistent but that was typical for the times. Traditional ambivalence, as expressed by Homer, had been complicated by a growth of religious sects, such as the Eleusinian mysteries and Pythagoreanism, representing various schemes of rewards and punishments in the next life. However, for the poet, glory and lasting fame were men's greatest assurance of a life well-lived. He presents no theory of history apart from the view that Fortune is variable even for the best men, an outlook suited to moderation in success, courage in adversity. Notions of 'good' and 'bad' in human nature were not analysed by him in any depth nor did he arrive at anything like the compassionate ethics of his near contemporary, Simonides of Ceos. His poems are indifferent to the ordinary mass of people. They are dismissed with phrases such as "the brute multitude" ( Pythian Ode 2.87). Nor are the poems concerned with the fate of rich and powerful men once they lose their wealth and social status (compared for example with the bitter and disillusioned poems of Theognis of Megara). They are more interested in what successful men do with their good fortune: success brings obligations, and religious and artistic activities need patrons.
Whereas the Muses inspired Homer with relevant information and with the language to express it, Pindar seems to receive only their inspiration: his role is to shape that inspiration with his own wisdom and skill. Like his patrons, whom he immortalizes in verse, he owes his success to hard work as well as to innate gifts; though he hires himself out, he has a vocation. The Muses are to him as an oracle is to a prophet, and lesser poets are to him as ravens are to an eagle; the art of such men is as hackneyed as garland-making; his is magical:
εἴρειν στεφάνους ἐλαφρόν: ἀναβάλεο: Μοῖσά τοι κολλᾷ χρυσὸν ἔν τε λευκὸν ἐλέφανθ᾽ ἁμᾷ καὶ λείριον ἄνθεμον ποντίας ὑφελοῖσ᾽ ἐέρσας. | To plait garlands is easy. Strike up! The Muse Welds together gold and white ivory And the lily-flower snatched from the sea's dew. Nemean Ode 7.77–79 |
Although he probably spoke Boeotian Greek, he composed in a literary language that tended to rely more on the Doric Greek dialect than his rival Bacchylides, but less insistently than Alcman. There is an admixture of other dialects, especially Aeolic and epic forms, and an occasional use of some Boeotian words.Gerber, p. 255
He composed "choral" songs yet it is by no means certain that they were all sung by choirsthe use of choirs is testified only by the generally unreliable scholiasts.Gregory Nagy, Greek Literature in the Hellenistic Period, Routledge (2001), p. 66
Scholars at the Library of Alexandria collected his compositions in seventeen books organized according to genre:M.M. Willcock: Pindar: Victory Odes (1995). Cambridge University Press, p. 3.
Of this vast and varied corpus, only the epinikiaodes written to commemorate athletic victoriessurvive in complete form; the rest survive only by quotations in other ancient authors or from papyrus scraps unearthed in Egypt. Even in fragmentary form however, they reveal the same complexity of thought and language that are found in the victory odes.Bowie, p. 110
Dionysius of Halicarnassus singled out Pindar's work as an outstanding example of austere style (αὐστηρὰ ἁρμονία) but he noted its absence in the maiden songs or parthenia. One surviving fragment of a maiden song does seem to be different in tone, due however to the fact that it is spoken in the character of a girl:Dionysius of Halicarnassus, de Comp. 22, de Dem. 39
ἐμὲ δὲ πρέπει παρθενήια μὲν φρονεῖν γλώσσᾳ τε λέγεσθαι. | I must think maidenly thoughts And utter them with my tongue. |
Enough of his dithyrambic poetry survives for comparison with that of Bacchylides, who used it for narrative. Pindar's dithyrambs are an exuberant display of religious feeling, capturing the wild spirit of Dionysus and pointing forward to the ecstatic songs of Euripides' The Bacchae. In one of these, dedicated to the Athenians and written to be sung in Spring, he depicts the divine energy of the revitalized world.
φοινικοεάνων ὁπότ' οἰχθέντος Ὡρᾶν θαλάμου εὔοδμον ἐπάγοισιν ἔαρ φυτὰ νεκτάρεα. τότε βάλλεται, τότ' ἐπ' ἀμβρόταν χθόν' ἐραταί ἴων φόβαι, ῥόδα τε κόμαισι μείγνυται, ἀχεῖ τ' ὀμφαὶ μελέων σὺν αὐλοῖς οἰχνεῖ τε Σεμέλαν ἑλικάμπυκα χοροί. | When the chamber of the scarlet-clothed Hours is opened And the nectareous flowers usher in the fragrant spring, Then are scattered, then, on the immortal ground The lovely petals of violets; roses are wound in our hair; Loudly echo the voices of songs to the flutes, And choirs step in procession to dark-ribboned Semele. |
His victory odes are grouped into four books named after the Olympian, Pythian Games, Isthmian Games, and festivals held respectively at Olympia, Delphi, Corinth and Nemea. This reflects the fact that most of the odes were composed in honour of boys, youths, and men who had recently enjoyed victories in athletic (and sometimes musical) contests at those festivals. In a few odes however much older victories, and even victories in lesser games, are celebrated, often as a pretext for addressing other issues or achievements. For example, Pythian 3, composed in honour of Hieron of Syracuse, briefly mentions a victory he had once enjoyed at the Pythian Games, but it is actually intended to console him for his chronic illness (similarly, Pythian 2 is like a private letter in its intimacy).Pindar (1972), p. 88. 96 Nemean 9 and Nemean 10 celebrate victories in games at Sicyon and Argos, and Nemean 11 celebrates a victory in a municipal election on Ancient Tenedos (though it also mentions some obscure athletic victories). These three odes are the final odes in the Nemean book of odes, and there is a reason for their inclusion. In the original manuscripts, the four books of odes were arranged in the order of importance assigned to the festivals, with the Nemean festival, considered least important, coming last. Victory odes that lacked a Panhellenic subject were then bundled together at the end of the book of Nemean odes.Pindar (1972) Introduction p. xx
His odes were animated by...
Some of these qualities can be found, for example, in this stanza from Pythian 2, composed in honour of Hieron:
θεὸς ἅπαν ἐπὶ ἐλπίδεσσι τέκμαρ ἀνύεται, θεός, ὃ καὶ πτερόεντ᾽ αἰετὸν κίχε, καὶ θαλασ-
ἑτέροισι δὲ κῦδος ἀγήραον παρέδωκ᾽. ἐμὲ δὲ χρεὼν φεύγειν δάκος ἀδινὸν κακαγοριᾶν. εἶδον γὰρ ἑκὰς ἐὼν τὰ πόλλ᾽ ἐν ἀμαχανίᾳ ψογερὸν Ἀρχίλοχον βαρυλόγοις ἔχθεσιν πιαινόμενον: τὸ πλουτεῖν δὲ σὺν τύχᾳ πό-
| God achieves all his purpose and fulfills his every hope, God who can overtake the winged eagle, or upon the sea
But gives to others eternal glory that will never fade. Now for me Is it needful that I shun the fierce and biting tooth of slanderous words. For from old have I seen sharp-tongued Archilochus in want and struggling, Grown fat on the harsh words of hate. The best that fate can bring is wealth
|
The stanza begins with a celebration of divine power, and then abruptly shifts to a darker, more allusive train of thought, featuring condemnation of a renowned poet, Archilochus, Grown fat on the harsh words of hate. Archilochus was an iambic poet, working within a genre that licensed abusive and scurrilous versea regrettable tendency from the viewpoint of Pindar, whose own persona is intensely earnest, preaching to Hieron the need for moderation (wealth with wisdom) and submission to the divine will. The reference to the embittered poet appears to be Pindar's meditative response to some intrigues at Hieron's court, possibly by his rivals, condemned elsewhere as a pair of ravens ( Olympian 2). The intensity of the stanza suggests that it is the culmination and climax of the poem. In fact, the stanza occupies the middle of Pythian 2 and the intensity is sustained throughout the poem from beginning to end. It is the sustained intensity of his poetry that Quintilian refers to above as a rolling flood of eloquence and Horace below refers to as the uncontrollable momentum of a river that has burst its banks. Longinus likens him to a vast fire De Subl. 33.5 and Athenaeus refers to him as the great-voiced Pindar.Athenaeus 13.5.64c
Pindar's treatment of myth is another unique aspect of his style, often involving variations on the traditional stories,Bowie, pp. 107–8 since his original audience was familiar with the myths and this allowed him to concentrate on unique and surprising effects. Reversing the chronological order was one such effect, as in Olympian VII dedicated to Diagoras of Rhodes, but this could also resemble a circular pattern, beginning with a culminating event, followed by scenes leading up to it, and ending with its restatement, as in his account of the Dioscuri in Nemean 10. Myths enabled him to develop the themes and lessons that pre-occupy himin particular mankind's exulted relation with the gods via heroic ancestors and, in contrast, the limitations and uncertainties of human existencebut sometimes the traditional stories were an embarrassment and were carefully edited, as for example: "Be still my tongue: here profits not / to tell the whole truth with clear face unveiled," ( Nemean 5, epode 1); "Away, away this story! / Let no such tale fall from my lips! / For to insult the gods is a fool's wisdom," ( Olympian 9, strophe 2); "Senseless, I hold it, for a man to say / the gods eat mortal flesh. / I spurn the thought," ( Olympian 1, epode 2).Pindar (1972) pp. 192, 54, 4, respectively His mythical accounts are edited for dramatic and graphic effects, usually unfolding through a few grand gestures against a background of large, often symbolic elements such as sea, sky, darkness, fire or mountain.
A lot of modern criticism tries to find hidden structure or some unifying principle within the odes. 19th century criticism favoured 'gnomic unity' i.e. that each ode is bound together by the kind of moralizing or philosophic vision typical of archaic Gnomic poetry. Later critics sought unity in the way certain words or images are repeated and developed within a particular ode. For others, the odes are just celebrations of men and their communities, in which the elements such as myths, piety, and ethics are stock themes that the poet introduces without much real thought. Some conclude that the requirement for unity is too modern to have informed Pindar's ancient approach to a traditional craft.
The great majority of the odes are triadic in structurei.e., stanzas are grouped together in three's as a lyrical unit. Each triad comprises two stanzas identical in length and meter (called 'strophe' and 'antistrophe') and a third stanza (called an 'epode'), differing in length and meter but rounding off the lyrical movement in some way. The shortest odes comprise a single triad, the largest ( Pythian 4) comprises thirteen triads. Seven of the odes however are monostrophic (i.e., each stanza in the ode is identical in length and meter). The monostrophic odes seem to have been composed for victory marches or processions, whereas the triadic odes appear suited to choral dances. Pindar's metrical rhythms are nothing like the simple, repetitive rhythms familiar to readers of English versetypically the rhythm of any given line recurs infrequently (for example, only once every ten, fifteen or twenty lines). This adds to the aura of complexity that surrounds Pindar's work. In terms of meter, the odes fall roughly into two categoriesabout half are in dactylo-epitrites (a meter found for example in the works of Stesichorus, Simonides and Bacchylides) and the other half are in Aeolic metres based on iambs and choriambs.
+Victory odes in estimated chronological order
! Date (BC) ! Ode ! Victor ! Event ! Focusing myth | ||||
498 | Pythian 10 | Hippocles of Thessaly | Boy's long foot-race | Perseus, Hyperboreans |
490 | Pythian 6 ( M) | Xenocrates of Agrigento | Chariot-race | Antilochus, Nestor |
490 | Pythian 12 ( M) | Midas of Agrigento | Aulos | Perseus, Medusa |
488 (?) | Olympian 14 ( M) | Asopichus of Orchomenus | Boys' foot-race | None |
486 | Pythian 7 | Megacles of Athens | Chariot-race | None |
485 (?) | Nemean 2 ( M) | Timodemus of Acharnae | Pancration | None |
485 (?) | Nemean 7 | Sogenes of Aegina | Boys' Pentathlon | Neoptolemus |
483 (?) | Nemean 5 | Pythias of Aegina | Youth's Pancration | Peleus, Hippolyta, Thetis |
480 | Isthmian 6 | Phylacides of Aegina | Pancration | Heracles, Telamon |
478 (?) | Isthmian 5 | Phylacides of Aegina | Pancration | Aeacus, Achilles |
478 | Isthmian 8 ( M) | Cleandrus of Aegina | Pancration | Zeus, Poseidon, Thetis |
476 | Olympian 1 | Hieron of Syracuse | Horse-race | Pelops |
476 | Olympians 2 & 3 | Theron of Acragas | Chariot-race | 2. Isles of the Blessed 3. Heracles, Hyperboreans |
476 | Olympian 11 | Agesidamus of Epizephyrian Locris | Boys' Boxing Match | Heracles, founding of Olympian Games |
476 (?) | Nemean 1 | Chromius of Aetna | Chariot-race | Infant Heracles |
475 (?) | Pythian 2 | Hieron of Syracuse | Chariot-race | Ixion |
475 (?) | Nemean 3 | Aristocleidas of Aegina | Pancration | Aeacus, Achilles |
474 (?) | Olympian 10 | Agesidamus of Epizephyrian Locris | Boys' Boxing Match | None |
474 (?) | Pythian 3 | Hieron of Syracuse | Horse-race | Asclepius |
474 | Pythian 9 | Telesicrates of Cyrene | Foot-race in armour | Apollo, Cyrene |
474 | Pythian 11 | Thrasydaeus of Thebes | Boys' short foot-race | Orestes, Clytemnestra |
474 (?) | Nemean 9 ( M) | Chromius of Aetna | Chariot-race | Seven against Thebes |
474/3 (?) | Isthmian 3 & 4 | Melissus of Thebes | Chariot race & pancration | 3.None 4.Heracles, Antaeus |
473 (?) | Nemean 4 ( M) | Timisarchus of Aegina | Boys' Wrestling Match | Aeacus, Peleus, Thetis |
470 | Pythian 1 | Hieron of Aetna | Chariot-race | Typhon |
470 (?) | Isthmian 2 | Xenocrates of Acragas | Chariot-race | None |
468 | Olympian 6 | Agesias of Syracuse | Chariot-race with mules | Iamus |
466 | Olympian 9 | Epharmus of Opous | Wrestling-Match | Deucalion, Pyrrha |
466 | Olympian 12 | Ergoteles of Himera | Long foot-race | Tyche |
465 (?) | Nemean 6 | Alcimidas of Aegina | Boys' Wrestling Match | Aeacides, Achilles, Memnon |
464 | Olympian 7 | Diagoras of Rhodes | Boxing-Match | Helios and Rhodos, Tlepolemus |
464 | Olympian 13 | Xenophon of Corinth | Short foot-race & pentathlon | Bellerophon, Pegasus |
462/1 | Pythian 4 & 5 | Arcesilas of Cyrene | Chariot-race | 4.Argonauts 5.Battus |
460 | Olympian 8 | Alcimidas of Aegina | Boys' Wrestling-Match | Aeacus, Troy |
459 (?) | Nemean 8 | Deinis of Aegina | Foot-race | Ajax |
458 (?) | Isthmian 1 | Herodotus of Thebes | Chariot-race | Castor, Iolaus |
460 or 456 (?) | Olympian 4 & 5 | Psaumis of Camarina | Chariot-race with mules | 4.Erginus 5.None |
454 (?) | Isthmian 7 | Strepsiades of Thebes | Pancration | None |
446 | Pythian 8 | Aristomenes of Aegina | Wrestling-Match | Amphiaraus |
446 (?) | Nemean 11 | Aristagoras of Ancient Tenedos | Inauguration as Prytanis | None |
444 (?) | Nemean 10 | Theaius of Argos | Wrestling-Match | Castor, Pollux |
+Selected manuscripts: a sample of preferred sources (Bowra's choice, 1947) !Code ! style="width:16em;" | Source ! style="width:10em;" | Format
! Date (century) ! Odes contained | ||
A | codex Ambrosianus C 222inf. | Paper 35×25.5 cm | 13th–14th | Olympian 1–12, with some unique readings that Bowra considered reliable, and including scholia. |
B | codex Vaticanus graeca 1312 | Silk 24.3×18.4 cm | 13th | Olympian 1 to Isthmian 8 (entire corpus), but with some leaves and verses missing, and includes scholia; Zacharias Callierges based his 1515 Roman edition on it, possibly with access to the now missing material. |
C | codex Parisinus graecus 2774 | Silk 23×15 cm | 14th | Olympian 1 to Pythian 5, including some unique readings but also with many Byzantine interpolations/conjectures (Turyn rejected this codex accordingly), and written in a careless hand. |
D | codex Laurentianus 32, 52 | Silk 27×19 cm | 14th | Olympian 1 to Isthmian 8 (entire corpus), including a fragment (Frag. 1) and scholia, written in a careless hand. |
E | codex Laurentianus 32, 37 | Silk 24×17 cm | 14th | Olympian 1 to Pythian 12, largely in agreement with B, including scholia but with last page removed and replaced with paper in a later hand. |
G | codex Gottingensis philologus 29 | Silk 25×17 cm | 13th | Olympian 2 to Pythian 12, largely in agreement with B (thus useful for comparisons), including Olympian 1 added in the 16th century. |
V | codex Parisinus graecus 2403 | Silk 25×17 cm | 14th | Olympian 1 to Nemean 4, including some verses from Nemean 6; like G, useful for supporting and verifying B. |
Pindarum quisquis studet aemulari, Iule, ceratis ope Daedalea nititur pennis vitreo daturus nomina ponto. monte decurrens velut amnis, imbres quem super notas aluere ripas, fervet immensusque ruit profundo Pindarus ore. ( C.IV.II) | Julus, whoever tries to rival Pindar, Flutters on wings of wax, a rude contriver Doomed like the son of Daedalus to christen Somewhere a shining sea. A river bursts its banks and rushes down a Mountain with uncontrollable momentum, Rain-saturated, churning, chanting thunder – There you have Pindar's style. The Odes of Horace James Michie (translator), Penguin Classics 1976 |
Historic editions
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