THE NINTH PYTHIAN ODE.
TO TELESICRATES, THE CYRENÆAN, ON HIS VICTORY IN THE ARMED COURSE, GAINED IN THE TWENTY-EIGHTH PYTHIAD. [1]
ARGUMENT.
The poet begins with celebrating the praises of his hero, which leads him to a digression concerning the early history of Cyrene, the forcible abduction of the nymph from whom that city was named, and the birth of Aristæus, the fruit of her connection with the god Apollo.—Returns to his subject, with which he unites the story of Iolaus, a friend of Hercules, who, having had his life renewed for one single day, made use of his recovered existence to overcome and slay Eurystheus.—Excuses the episodical style of his narrative by the wish that all poets entertain to celebrate the praises of Hercules.—Returns to the victor, and enumerates his triumphs.—Recalls the memory of an old contest, in which Antæus, the Libyan, proposed as a reward to the victor the hand of his daughter, which was gained by Alexidamas, a fellow-townsman, or ancestor, of Telesicrates.
The hero of the brazen shield,
Victorious in the Pythian field,
Great Telesicrates my lays
Would with the deep-zoned Graces praise:
Bless'd man! Cyrene's joy and crown, 5
Equestrian seat of high renown.
Her in his golden car of yore
Ravish'd from Pelion's sylvan dell,
Where storms with ceaseless fury swell,
- ↑ The armed course was one in which the contending heroes ran with brazen shields, as the first line indicates. This ode is remarkable for the flowing beauty of its diction and general simplicity of construction.
