THE FOURTH NEMEAN ODE.
TO TIMASARCHUS OF ÆGINA, VICTOR IN THE PALÆSTRA.
ARGUMENT.
In this ode the sweetness and soothing effects of encomiastic poetry are beautifully described.—It is dedicated by the poet to the praise of the victor, his native island, and to the memory of his father, Timocritus.—Then follows a digression to the heroes of Ægina—Telamon, Alcyoneus, and especially Hercules.—Here he recalls his wandering muse, from fear of being reprehended by envious tongues, and indulges himself in anticipations of future excellence which shall be matured by time.—Nevertheless he returns to his digression, and describes the extent of dominion possessed by other heroes of Ægina.—Teucer, Ajax, Achilles, Neoptolemus, and Peleus.—Recalls a second time his digressing strain, which he expresses metaphorically by bringing back his vessel from the darkness of Gades to the continent of Europe; since to relate the whole story of the Æacidæ were a fruitless endeavour.—He therefore enters on the praises of the tribe of Theandridæ, to which the victor belonged; of his maternal uncle Callicles; his grandfather Euphanes; and his alipta, or preceptor, Melesias, with whom he concludes the ode.
Hilarity, thou sovereign balm
And remedy of labours o'er,
Whose pain by arts untried before
The muses' vocal daughters calm—
What time they wake the lyric string, 5
Not such delight the tepid wave
Can to the soften'd members bring,
As praise, the meed of efforts have,
Which poets to the harp symphonious sing—
Beyond events of transient worth 10
Long their recorded acts shall live—
Drawn from the mind's deep treasures forth,
Such as the favouring Graces give. 13
