Pindar

“ This beam its deathless splendour shall maintain.
⁠Propitious be the muses' care!
⁠As we the torch of song illume,
⁠And to Telesia's offspring bear,
⁠Melissus brave, the chaplet fair, ⁠75
Worthy upon the victor's brow to bloom.
⁠His mind, by labour unsubdued,
⁠Rivals the roaring lion's might,
⁠Or like the fox in crafty mood,
⁠That stays the whirling eagle's flight. ⁠80
⁠'Tis just the foe's imperious will
By force to conquer or to foil by skill. ”

“ Whose mules untired glide o'er Olympia's plain,
⁠And victory's fairest chaplet gain,
⁠With mind propitious take. ⁠7 ⁠5
⁠Eager to grace with high renown,
⁠Oh Camarina! thy well-peopled town;
⁠To the bright rulers of the skies
⁠He bade the six twin altars rise,
⁠And spread to each celestial guest ⁠10
⁠Of oxen slain the liberal feast;
⁠Five times the sun's diurnal blaze
⁠Each well-contested strife surveys,
⁠The strong-yoked chariot's conquering speed,
⁠Drawn by fleet mule or generous steed ”

“ Oft as the crowd the victor's praises sang.⁠105
Now shall the muse prepare her loftiest verse,
Obedient to the rites of ancient days,
The lurid bolts and shafts of light rehearse,
And sing the mighty Thunderer's deathless praise.
Symphonious with the song shall wake the reed,
By Dirce's sacred fount—a tardy note indeed! ⁠111
⁠Grateful as comes th' expected heir
⁠To bless his age—enfeebled sire,
⁠The source of sweetly anxious care,
⁠And object of his fond desire.⁠115
Since wealth, if foreign hands must seize the hoard,
Is view'd with hatred by its dying lord. ”

“ Which to my charmed ear Apollo sent. ⁠87
Far-darting god, whose glorious dome
Within the Pythian hollow stands,
Receiving from all distant lands
Whatever suppliants thither roam, ⁠90
'Twas there thou deignedst to bestow
The greatest joy of man below,
And gav'st him at thy feast, oh king,
Snatch'd with an eager hand, to bring
The high pentathlic guerdon home. ⁠95
With willing mind accept my prayer,
And view the numbers which declare
In honey'd pomp, but words of truth,
The deeds of this victorious youth.
Your fate, Xenarcidæ, to bless ⁠100
I ask the gods' perpetual love. ”

“ Where men Area's traject name,⁠100
In his first youth with glory's flame
Agesidamus' offspring shone.
His labours wrought in other days,
Whether upon the dusty plain,
Or islands of the neighb'ring main,⁠105
With due encomium will I praise.
Such as in fervid youth are wrought,
⁠If justice sanctify the deed,
Through life with sweet enjoyment fraught,
⁠To age's latest hour proceed.⁠110
From heaven's immortal rulers know
Such wondrous happiness must flow. ”

“ Be mine the task, Blepsiadæ, to raise
A record worthy of your deathless praise.
Ye whom the verdant wreath six times decreed,
Again encircles with the victor's meed.
⁠And even the dead will joy to share ⁠110
⁠This tribute of the poet's care:
⁠Since the bright actions of the just
Survive unburied in the kindred dust. ”

“ Adorning spacious Athens with renown,
⁠Triumphant in the Isthmian fray, ⁠10
⁠Timonous' son shall bear away
Her brightest wreath, and oft the Pythian crown. ⁠16
As where the mountain Pleiads burn, [2]
Not far they see Orion turn.
How potent, Salamis, thy might ⁠15
To nourish heroes for the fight! ”

“ And gratified the victor's mind.
What, time, as Epharmostus leads, ⁠5
By Saturn's hill the pomp proceeds.
But haste the sounding shafts to throw [2]
From the far-darting muses' bow;
The first to heaven's eternal king,
Who guides the lightning's lurid wing; ⁠10
The next to Elis' sacred tower,
Uprear'd the rocky heights above,
Which Lydian Pelops gain'd, fair dower
Of chaste Hippodameia's love. ⁠16
⁠Towards Pytho next thine efforts bend, ⁠15
⁠A sweet and winged shaft to send.
⁠Nor shalt thou raise a feeble strain,
⁠Earth sprung, that falls to earth again. ”

“ It is to the bold and animated language of the Theban bard that we are in a great measure indebted for the feeling and interest that accompany the contemplation of those magnificent festivals which, being interwoven with the structure of the popular religion, hailed by the hopes of the religious and the aspirations of the devout, have no parallel in the history of modern solemnities.
His hymns and pæans in honour of Apollo were frequently chanted in the temples of Greece by the poet, seated in his iron chair, which was afterward placed as a venerable relic in the temple at Delphi ”

“ He placed the augur's seat near Jove's exalted shrine. ⁠119
⁠New glories hence through Hellas grace
⁠Th' Iamidæ's illustrious race—
⁠And wealth attends to crown their state— ⁠135
⁠For those who seek with high emprise
⁠The steep where virtue's guerdon lies,
⁠The brightest walks of life await.
⁠In his own path each seeks renown,
⁠But carping Envy most his course attends, ⁠140
⁠Who first to win Olympia's crown
⁠Twelve times around the goal his chariot bends—
On him sweet Grace distils a lustre all her own. ”

“ For should a hero's might success
With no laborious effort prove,
His prosperous life the witless tribe
To his own prudent aims ascribe. ⁠105
The vigour of a mortal hand
Such happiness can ne'er command. ”

“ In thee their genuine marks display, ⁠25
⁠Whose eye declares a kindred mind.
Now happy in thy recent fame,
Won in th' equestrian Pytho's game;
This pomp displaying hymn is thine,
Which leads Apollo's sport divine. [1] ⁠29 ⁠30
Nor thou, great king, forget the lays
That celebrate Cyrene's praise;
Cyrene, round whose fertile soil
The charms of lovely Venus smile.
Ascribe the whole to God above, ⁠35
And more than all Carrhotus' love! [2]
Who not to Battus' royal court,
Where Justice and her train resort,
Convey'd Excuse, with glozing tongue, [3]
From laggard Epimetheus sprung. ”

“ This let the patriot warrior know
Who drives the cloud of slaughter that impends
O'er his loved native soil, upon the foe.
His fame among the citizens shall bloom,
Growing through life, and living in the tomb. ”

“ Against the potent will of Heaven
'Tis mad ambition to contend,
By whom to these now might is given,
Now others call the god their friend. ⁠165
But calm content the envious mind
In their delight can never find. ”

“ Arcesilaus' youthful grace.⁠120
Apollo in the Pythian field
And just Amphictyons' high decree
To his triumphant coursers yield
The glorious palm of victory.
Him will I to the muses' train⁠125
Give with the ram's bright fleece of gold,
For which when sail'd the Minyæ bold,
Honours from heaven 'twas theirs to gain. ⁠123
To urge their bark's career what cause was found? ”

“ Yet Battus' ancient fortunes wait ⁠75
His prosperous and his adverse state.
He forms the city's guardian pride,
A shining light to all beside.
Struck with deep awe and panic dread,
From him the roaring lions fled; [5] ⁠80
When he to speak, divinely taught,
A language o'er the ocean brought.
Apollo struck the beasts with fear,
⁠Who led the colonizing train,
Lest great Cyrene's lord should hear, ⁠85
⁠And find the high prediction vain. ⁠84
He who to man with healing art
Could blunt disease's heavy dart ”

“ As mid the other stars shines Phosphor's nobler light. ⁠41
⁠She who in Athens' verdant field
⁠Proclaim'd the triumphs of his car,
⁠And bade the bards of Sicyon wield ⁠45
⁠Their vocal lyres, to tell afar
What wreaths the Adrastean contests yield.
⁠They when the whole assembly strove,
⁠Like them their crooked chariot drove;
⁠Contending with the Grecian train ⁠50
⁠Whose costly steeds the palm should gain. ”

“ Fair-robed Coronis' scornful mind
Such fate was justly doom'd to find;
For in the stranger's couch she lay,
Who from Arcadia bent his way.
But Loxias, who on Pytho's shrine [1] ⁠45
With kingly eye in act divine
Sees many a victim bleed,
He who by wisdom all his own
Makes to himself each action known,
Survey'd the impious deed. ⁠50
No falsehood mocks his piercing sight,
Nor gods nor men elude the skill
Which judges in prophetic light
The open act, the secret will. ”

“ The daughter of fair Opus' lord,
And on the dark Mænalian heights ⁠85
Mingled with her in love's delights;
To Locrus then his bride restored,
Lest age, death's harbinger, should doom
The childless monarch to the tomb. ”

“ In this ode Pindar, who, together with other bards, was probably at this time a guest at the royal table, sets forth in a beautiful strain of poetry the glory and superiority of the Olympic contest, in which Hiero has been victorious, to all other games; he then digresses to the history of Pelops, son of Tantalus, who formerly possessed Pisa and Olympia, and is now honoured as a hero within the sacred grove Altis. Returning to his principal subject, he concludes the ode with good wishes for the continued prosperity of the victor. ”

“ Adventurous on thy middle way;
⁠Yet, mind, resist the snare; ⁠60
Then far superior shall we rise
To all our slandering enemies,
⁠And walk in splendour fair;
While they of envious eye and soul
On earth their empty purpose roll. ”

“ The gifts that mark Heaven's favouring care,
With brighter grace the prudent bear.
Round thee wealth flows in copious tide;
Whose feet the paths of justice tread; ⁠20
Whose potent empire, far and wide,
Is over numerous cities spread. ”

“ Of the assemblies of the bless'd.
What time for lovely Thetis Jove
And the illustrious Neptune strove;
Each wishing the fair nymph to gain,⁠60
Bound in the hymeneal chain;
For mighty love their souls possess'd. ”

“ At her pure wave my thirst I slake, and raise ⁠160 The varied hymn that chants the warriors' praise.
⁠Now, Æneas, urge thy tuneful band,
Parthenian Juno first demands the stram. ⁠150
⁠Then let clear truth the old disgrace
⁠That loads Bœotia's sons efface; ⁠165
⁠Thou, like the general's trusty wand, [8]
Art charged the faithful embassy to bear,
From the sweet muses with the lovely hair,
Who bade thy cup the sounding lays retain. ”

“ To honour thee, the wondrous contests hold.⁠6
⁠Through thee in every warlike game
⁠Heroes the frequent meed of fame
⁠Achieve, whose hair the wreath around,
⁠By strength or swiftness won, is bound.⁠10
⁠When two events propitious meet,
⁠They make the span of life most sweet,
⁠If any combatant success
⁠And fair report united bless. ⁠17
⁠Then seek not Jove's immortal state,⁠15
⁠Since thine is all this prosperous fate.
⁠Mortals in mortal thoughts should rest. ”

“ When shall stern fate's recorded blow,
By day or night, our course define. ⁠13
⁠Now by Alcimidas is found
⁠The kindred excellence display'd,
⁠As fields with rich luxuriance crown'd, ⁠15
⁠To mortal life subservient made.
⁠Renew their annual vigour, bless'd
⁠With due vicissitudes of rest.
⁠Warm from the pleasing Nemean game,
⁠'Twas thus the hardy stripling came, ⁠20
⁠This contest, which began from Jove,
⁠Pursuing with unwearied pace,
⁠He for the wrestler's chaplet strove,
⁠Eager as huntsman in the chase;
⁠Tracking his grandsire's bright career, ⁠25
⁠Praxidamas, his steps appear. ”

“ In festal chorus by the youthful tongue.
Success is mortals' chief reward below—
The next when hymns proclaim the glorious prize—
But he whose lot in both triumphant lies ⁠200
Receives the highest crown that Fortune can bestow. ”

“ Melicerta was saved from death by the Nereids, one of whom appeared to Sisyphus, and enjoined him to institute games in order to commemorate this event. They were sacred to Neptune, as the Olympic were to Jupiter, the Pythian to Apollo, and the Nemean to Hercules. Some time after their first celebration they were interrupted by the incursion into Greece of a band of robbers, headed by the fierce and cruel Sciris and Scyron ”

“ The early or heroic history of Thebes is particularly splendid; and neither Athens, Lacedæmon, Argos, nor Mycene, were so much celebrated as the capital of Bœotia for great events, for heroes, and for demigods. The names of Kadmos, Semele, Bacchus, Antiope, Zethes, Amphion, Amphitryon, Alcmena, Hercules, Laius, and his unfortunate race, furnish strong evidence of the early power and original lustre of this country. No part of Greece produced characters of more exalted fame than Hesiod, Pindar, Pelopidas, Epaminondas, Plutarch, and Sextus Chæronensis. ”

“ These games were probably so called from Nemea, a town of Argolis, with a wood in which Hercules when a youth is fabled to have killed a lion which infested that region; and in commemoration of this exploit the games were instituted, about the same time with the Olympic. They were among the most celebrated in Greece, and are said to have been originally held by the Argives, in memory of Opheltes, or Archemorus, son of Lycurgus, and king of Nemea, whose death was occasioned by the bite of a serpent, and to have been renewed by Hercules. ”

“ Of mortal or immortal race,
From the same mother earth we trace
Our lives—but not the same degree
Of power and vital energy
To man of transient space is given, ⁠5
As in the brazen soil of heav'n. ”

“ The victor's chaplet bore away.
Two other joys at Corinth's gate
His brow in after times await; ⁠125
And victory twice in Nemea's grove
The wreath for Epharmostus wove.
In Argos' strife of men renown'd,
While yet a boy at Athens crown'd;
When in the Marathonian field, ⁠130
Departing from the beardless train.
He made the veteran warriors yield, [6]
The cup of silver to obtain. ”

“ TO MELISSUS OF THEBES, VICTOR IN THE QUADRIGÆ.
ARGUMENT.
The poet in this short ode declares that illustrious deeds ought to be celebrated by poetical praises, such as are due to the present Isthmian, and the former Nemean victory achieved by Melissus, by which he emulates the deeds of his ancestors.
⁠Whoe'er of men with bliss is crown'd,
⁠Or in the glorious strife renown'd,
⁠Or can in potent wealth rejoice,
⁠And mental insolence restrain,
⁠This man is worthy to obtain ⁠5
⁠The citizens' applauding voice. ”

“ Far different are the ways which tend
To glory as their common end. ⁠158
Not all mankind are prone to feel ⁠160
In the same care an equal zeal.
But arduous paths must they explore
Who to the heights of wisdom soar. ”

“ In mute astonishment survey
What mind a woman dares display;
Fearless of heart, what perils dread
She brings to her courageous head, ⁠55
A damsel whose unconquer'd soul
No labours tire, no fears control! ”