Of the Greek lyric poets, Pindar (ca. 518-438 BCE) was "by far the
greatest for the magnificence of his inspiration" in Quintilian's
view; Horace judged him "sure to win Apollo's laurels." The esteem
of the ancients may help explain why a good portion of his work was
carefully preserved. Most of the Greek lyric poets come down to us
only in bits and pieces, but nearly a quarter of Pindar's poems
survive complete. William H. Race now brings us, in two volumes, a
new edition and translation of the four books of victory odes,
along with surviving fragments of Pindar's other poems.
Like Simonides and Bacchylides, Pindar wrote elaborate odes in
honor of prize-winning athletes for public performance by singers,
dancers, and musicians. His forty-five victory odes celebrate
triumphs in athletic contests at the four great Panhellenic
festivals: the Olympic, Pythian (at Delphi), Nemean, and Isthmian
games. In these complex poems, Pindar commemorates the achievement
of athletes and powerful rulers against the backdrop of divine
favor, human failure, heroic legend, and the moral ideals of
aristocratic Greek society. Readers have long savored them for
their rich poetic language and imagery, moral maxims, and vivid
portrayals of sacred myths.
Race provides brief introductions to each ode and full
explanatory footnotes, offering the reader invaluable guidance to
these often difficult poems. His new Loeb Pindar also contains a
helpfully annotated edition and translation of significant
fragments, including hymns, paeans, dithyrambs, maiden songs, and
dirges.
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