Pindar - Delphi Complete Works of Pindar (Illustrated)

The Complete Works of

PINDAR

(c. 522443 BC)

Contents

Delphi Classics 2013

Version 1

The Complete Works of

PINDAR

By Delphi Classics, 2013

Livadeia, Boeotia. Pindar was born c. 522 BC in Cynoscephalae, a village in Boeotia, not far from Thebes. It is reported that he was stung on the mouth by a bee in his youth and this was the reason he became a poet of honey-like verses.

Translated by Ernest Myers

Pindar (c. 522443 BC) was regarded as one of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, whose work is the best preserved. The Roman 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. His poetry illustrates the beliefs and values of Archaic Greece at the dawn of the classical period. Nevertheless, Pindars odes are very challenging to the new reader, due to the poets inventive use of language and quick, complex and sudden changes of thought patterns. Therefore due to the challenge that Pindar presents to the casual reader, he continues to be a much admired, though largely unread poet of the ancients. And yet, he was considered to be the greatest of all the lyric poets.

The Scholars at the Library of Alexandria collected Pindars compositions into seventeen books, organised according to genre:

• 1 book of humnoi hymns
• 1 book of paianes paeans
• 2 books of dithuramboi dithyrambs
• 2 books of prosodia processionals
• 3 books of parthenia songs for maidens
• 2 books of huporchemata songs for light dances
• 1 book of enkomia songs of praise
• 1 book of threnoi laments
• 4 books of epinikia victory odes

Of this varied body of works, sadly only the epinikia, the odes written to commemorate athletic victories, survive in complete form, with the rest surviving merely through quotations by other ancient authors or from occasionally papyrus scraps unearthed in Egypt. Even in fragmentary form however these precious fragments reveal the same complexity of thought and language that are found in Pindars victory odes. The great scholastic master himself, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, singled out Pindars work as an outstanding example of austere style ( ).

Almost all the victory odes are celebrations of triumphs gained by competitors in Panhellenic festivals such as the Olympian Games. The establishment of these athletic and musical festivals was among the greatest achievements of the Greek aristocracies. Even in the 5th century, when there was an increased tendency towards professionalism, the games were predominantly aristocratic assemblies, reflecting the expense and leisure needed to attend such events, whether as a competitor or spectator. Pindars odes seek to portray the prestige and aristocratic grandeur of the moment of victory achieved by each victor.

The victory odes are grouped into four books named after the Olympian, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemean Games the four major festivals held respectively at Olympia, Delphi, Corinth and Nemea. This order reflects the fact that most of the odes were composed in honour of boys, youths and men that had recently enjoyed victories in athletic, as well as musical, contests in those festivals. 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 added to the end of the book of Nemean odes.

The style of Pindars poetry is particularly distinctive, even when the peculiarities of the genre are set aside. The odes typically feature a grand and engaging opening, often with a famous mythological setting. These openings frequently employ an architectural metaphor or a resounding invocation to a place or goddess. Pindar is celebrated for his use of decorative and ornate language, with florid compound adjectives. Sentences are often compressed to the point of obscurity, unusual words and periphrases give the language an esoteric quality, whilst transitions in meaning often seem erratic. The images used by the poet seem to burst out of the stanzas and the style can be misleading due to the number of layers in the storytelling, as Pindar often digresses from the main narrative.

The odes typically begin with an invocation to a god or the Muses, followed by praise of the victor and his family, ancestors and home town. Next follows a narrated myth, usually occupying the central and longest section of the poem, exemplifying a moral, connecting the victor with the world of gods and heroes. The ode usually culminates with more eulogies, for example of trainers (if the victor is a boy), and of relatives that have won past events, as well as with prayers or expressions of hope for future success. Surprisingly, the event where the victory was gained is never described in detail, but there is often some mention of the hard work required to bring about the victory.

The festival at Olympia was held once every four years in honour of Zeus. The prize was a wreath of wild olive, though when the victor returned to their home town they would receive their true reward from their fellow townsmen and women the greatest gifts that fame and pride can win for victors that have won great renown for their city. The festival regarded as being second in prestige was the Pythian games, taking place every four years at the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, with the prize being a wreath of bay. The Nemean games were held once every two years in honour of Zeus, rewarding the prize of a wreath of wild parsley. Named after the Isthmus of Corinth where they were held, the Isthmian games were also celebrated every two years, in honour of Poseidon, with a prize of a wreath of wild parsley or pine.

Pindar Roman copy of Greek 5th century BC bust

Hieron I, the tyrant of Syracuse in Sicily from 478 to 467 BC, was one of Pindars grandest patrons and the subject of some of his most famous victory odes, including the first Olympian Ode, which celebrates Hierons greatest athletic achievement, winning a chariot race at Olympia.