Selected odes of Pindar : with notes and an introduction

by Pindar

Selected odes of Pindar : with notes and an introduction. 318 Pages.

314 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1968

About the author

also know as Pindare.

People remember Greek lyric poet Pindar (522 BC-443 BC) especially for his odes, celebrating victorious athletes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pindar

Reviews

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pindar's odes in this volume were named for the location of the Panhellenic games, which occurred at Olympia, Delphi, Nemea, and Corinth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panhelle... . The form of these victory odes repeated a series of stanzas, called strophe, antistrophe, and epode or of only strophes. This basic form might be elaborated with themes, myths, reprises, movements, and performance instructions. Ruck and Matheson precede each ode with an interpretive commentary as well as identifying its formal parts. PERSEUS has all the Pindaric odes in paragraph rather than epincian form, and arranges them by where the games were held http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/t... . The performed, poetic nature of the odes was however best maintained by Ruck's book, "Selected Odes". One of my favorite odes was "Isthmia VI: For Phylacidas of Aegina, Pancratiast". Isthmia names the games at Corinth; while Pancratiast refers to boxing and wrestling. These are some virtues with which Pindar praises Corinth's son:

...
His tongue does not outstrip his mind:
Call him a Naxian whetsone, the hone
For bronze; so fine he edges
Others to Athletics. I drink their health then,
This sacred Dirce water, that pour by Cadmos'
Fortress gates god-gowned Memory's
Daughters, their robes sashed high.

The allusions to Greek myth sometimes requires some research, but the poem's meaning comes through this veil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pindar (overall description of Pindar)