IV.
FOR PHYLAKIDAS OF AIGINA,
WINNER IN THE PANKRATION.
This Phylakidas was a son of Lampon, and a brother of the Pytheas for whom the [[../../Nemean Odes/5|fifth Nemean]] was written. This ode must have been written shortly after the battle of Salamis, probably B.C. 478, and was to be sung at Aigina, perhaps at a festival of the goddess Theia who is invoked at the beginning. She, according to Hesiod, was the mother of the Sun, the Moon, and the Morning, and was also called Εὐρυφάεσσα and χρυσῆ from which latter name perhaps came her association with gold and wealth.
Mother of the Sun, Theia of many names, through thee it is that men prize gold as mighty above all things else: for ships that strive upon the sea and horses that run in chariots, for the honour that is of thee, O queen, are glorified in swiftly circling struggle.
And that man also hath won longed-for glory in the strife of games, for whose strong hand or fleet foot abundant wreaths have bound his hair. Through God is the might of men approved.
Two things alone there are that cherish life's bloom to its utmost sweetness amidst the fair flowers of wealth—to have good success and to win therefore fair fame. Seek not to be as Zeus; if the portion of these honours fall to thee, thou hast already all. The things of mortals best befit mortality.
