Odes of Pindar

Pindar in English Verse by Pindar, translated by Arthur S Way, 160 pages

     Far beyond envy are the praises stored

          For victors at Olympia crowned.

     Songs are my sheep; I, as some shepherd-lord,

          Find them some fair pasture-ground.

Perhaps the greatest poet of classical Greece, excepting only Homer, Pindar primarily wrote odes sung in honor of the victors of the various Hellenic games.  As is to be expected, he celebrates the excellence of the athletes.

     And the hero whose hands have so gallantly striven,

     Unto him be all worshipful honor given

          Alike of the stranger and citizen.

     For he treadeth the path that from insolence turneth,

     Great lessons bequeathed by his fathers he learneth

          By his true heart taught.

But even more, he praises the virtues of the city-state that produced the champion.

     And the glory of that good town do thou sing

     And the glory of her champion triumph-crowned.

The odes were indeed originally sung.  In fact, they were chanted as hymns.

     So send I the Song-queens' gift, the nectar outpoured

     From my spirit, its vintage of sweetness, a chant to record

     The triumph of guerdon-winners, their victory

     At Olympia and Pytho gained in the athlete-strife,

     Whom praiseful report companioneth, happy is he!

For in extolling the country of the victor, the poet traces its origins back into the realm of myth - for Pindar, the greatness of the present is an expression of the continuing power of the past deeds of gods and heroes.

     Then rang the close with songs, as music rings through banquet-hall.

          So voices still the victor sing, and feet the revel tread.