exploit upon a higher order of things. Nevertheless, it is not to be supposed that the poet placed himself on an eminence remote from ordinary life, and that he spoke like a priest to the people, unmoved by personal feelings. The Epinikia of Pindar, although they were delivered by a chorus, were, nevertheless, the expression of his individual feelings and opinions[1], and are full of allusions to his personal relations to the victor. Sometimes, indeed, when his relations of this kind were peculiarly interesting to him, he made them the main subject of the ode; several of his odes, and some among the most, difficult, are to be explained in this manner. In one of his odes[2], Pindar justifies the sincerity of his poetry against the charges which had been brought against it; and represents his muse as a just and impartial dispenser of fame, as well among the victors at the games, as among the heroes of antiquity. In another[3], he reminds the victor that he had predicted the victory to him in the public games, and had encouraged him to become a competitor for it[4]; and he extols him for having employed his wealth for so noble an object. In another, he excuses himself for having delayed the composition of an ode which he had promised to a wrestler among the youths, until the victor had attained his manhood; and, as if to incite himself to the fulfilment of his promise, he points out the hallowed antiquity of these triumphal hymns, connecting their origin with the first establishment of the Olympic games[5].
§ 5. Whatever might be the theme of one of Pindar's epinikian odes, it would naturally not be developed with the systematic completeness of a philosophical treatise. Pindar, however, has undoubtedly much of that sententious wisdom which began to show itself among the Greeks at the time of the Seven Wise Men, and which formed an important element of elegiac and choral lyric poetry before the time of Pindar. The apophthegms of Pindar sometimes assume the form of general maxims, sometimes of direct admonitions to the victor. At other times, when he wishes to impress some principle of morals or prudence upon the victor, he gives it in the form of an opinion entertained by himself: "I like not to keep much riches hoarded in an inner room; but I like to live well by my possessions, and to procure myself a good name by making large gifts to my friends[6]."
The other element of Pindar's poetry, his mythical narratives, occupies, however, far more space in most of his odes. That these are not mere digressions for the sake of ornament has been completely proved by modern commentators. At the same time, he would sometimes
- ↑ See above, ch. xiv. § 2.
- ↑ Nem. VII.
- ↑ Nem. I.
- ↑ I refer to this the sentiment in v. 27 (40); "The mind showed itself in the counsels of those persons to whom nature has given the power of foreseeing the future;" and also the account of the prophecy of Tiresias, when the serpents were killed by the young Hercules.
- ↑ Ol. XI.
- ↑ Nem. I. 31 (45).
