This victory, gained not at the Pythian games, but at the Theban Iolaia or Herakleia, is probably to be assigned to Ol. 75, 4 (477 B.C.), in which year Hieron had, by his interposition, saved the Epizephyrian Lokrians from a bloody war with Anaxilas, tyrant of Rhegion. The poem, with its dissonances, echoes the discord of the times. Hieron was just then at enmity with his brother, Polyzelos, who had taken refuge with his connection, Theron, the friend of Pindar, and a war was impending. The strain makes itself felt amid all the congratulation. It is a strange poem, one in which divination and sympathy can accomplish little. Only we must hold fast to the commonsense view that Pindar did not undertake to lecture Hieron. “Great Syracuse,” the poet says, “rearer of men and horses, I bring this lay from Thebes in honor of Hieron's victory with the four-horse chariot, gained not without the favor of Artemis, goddess of Ortygia, thus wreathed with glory. For Artemis and Hermes, god of games, aid Hieron when he yokes his horses and calls on the God of the Trident. Other lords have other minstrels, other praises. Let Kinyras be praised by Kyprian voices, Kinyras beloved of Apollo, and minion of Aphrodite. Thou, Hieron, beloved of Hermes and minion of Artemis, art praised by the voice of the virgin of Epizephyrian Lokris, to whose eye thy power hath given confidence. Grateful is she. Well hath she learned the lesson of Ixion, whose punishment, as he revolves on the winged wheel, says: Reward thy benefactor with kind requitals.” So far the opening (vv. 1-24). In P. 1 we had one form of ὕβρις, sheer rebellion, typified by Typhon. Here we have another typified by Ixion, base ingratitude. Typhon belonged from the beginning to those ὅσα μὴ πεφίληκε Ζεύς (P. 1.13). Ixion was one of those who εὐμενέσσι πὰρ Κρονίδαις γλυκὺν εἷλον βίοτον (v. 25). Ixion was another, but a worse, Tantalos. Tantalos sinned by making the celestial meat and drink common (O. 1.61). Ixion sinned by trying to pollute the celestial bed (v. 34). Each was punished in the way in which he had sinned. Tantalos was reft of food and drink (note on O. 1.60). Ixion was whirled on his own wheel, became his own iynx (compare v. 40 with P. 4.214). Ixion's sin was of a deeper dye, and so, while the son of Tantalos came to great honor (O. 1.90), the son of Ixion became the parent of a monstrous brood. This is the myth (vv. 25-48). It is, indeed, not a little remarkable that in every Hieronic ode there is a dark background — a Tantalos (O. 1), a Typhon (P. 1), an Ixion (P. 2), a Koronis (P. 3) — and the commentators are not wrong in the Fight-with-the-Dragon attitude in which they have put Hieron. Who is aimed at under the figure of Ixion no one can tell. The guesses and the combinations of the commentators are all idle. Hieron is a manner of Zeus. He was the Olympian of Sicily as Perikles was afterwards the Olympian of Athens, and the doom of Tantalos, the wheel of Ixion, the crushing load of Typhon, the swift destruction of Koronis, the lightning death of Asklepios were in store for his enemies. The Hieronic odes are Rembrandts, and we shall never know more. Passing over to the praise of Hieron, the poet emphasizes with unmistakable reduplication the power of God. “God decides the fate of hopes, God overtakes winged eagle and swift dolphin, humbles the proud, to others gives glory that waxes not old (v. 52). This be my lay instead of the evil tales that Archilochos told of the Ixions of his time. Wealth paired with wisdom, under the blessing of Fortune — this is the highest theme of song” (v. 56). The key of the poem lies in this double θεός. God is all-powerful to punish and to bless, and Hieron is his vicegerent. The praise of Hieron follows, his wealth, his honor. His champion, Pindar, denies that he has ever had his superior in Greece, and boards the herald-ship all dight with flowers to proclaim his achievements — now in war, now in council; now on horse, and now afoot (vv. 57-66). But as we gaze, the herald-ship becomes a merchant-ship (v. 67), and the song is the freight — a new song, which forms the stranger afterpiece of a poem already strange enough. This afterpiece is an exhortation to straightforwardness. The Archilochian vein, against which Pindar protested semi-humorously before (v. 55), stands out. The ape (v. 72), the fox (v. 78), the wolf (v. 84), are contrasts dramatically introduced, dramatically dismissed. “Let there be no pretentiousness, no slyness, no roundabout hate. Straight-tonguedness is best in the rule of the one man, of the many, of the wise. Follow God's leading, bear his yoke. Kick not against the pricks. There lies the only safety. May such men admit me to their friendship” (v. 96). The difficulty of the last part lies in the dramatic shiftings — the same difficulty that we encounter in comedy, and especially in satire. If there are not two persons, there are two voices. The poet pits the Δίκαιος Λόγος and the Ἄδικος Λόγος against each other in the forum of his own conscience. The Δίκαιος Λόγος speaks last and wins. A. Show thyself as thou art (v. 72). B. But the monkey, which is ever playing different parts, is a fair creature, ever a fair creature, in the eyes of children (v. 72). A. Yes, in the eyes of children, but not in the judgment of a Rhadamanthys, whose soul hath no delight in tricks (vv. 73-75). B. If the monkey finds no acceptance, what of foxy slanderers? They are an evil, but an evil that cannot be mastered (vv. 76, 77). A. But what good comes of it to Mistress Vixen? (v. 78). B. “Why,” says Mistress Vixen, “I swim like a cork, I always fall on my feet” (vv. 79, 80). A. But the citizen that hath the craft of a fox can have no weight in the state. He is as light as his cork. He cannot utter a word of power among the noble (vv. 81, 82). B. Ay, but he wheedles and worms his way through. Flattery works on all (v. 82). A. I don't share the confidence of your crafty models (v. 82). B. My own creed is: Love your friends. An enemy circumvent on crooked paths, like a wolf (vv. 83, 84). A. Nay, nay. No monkey, no fox, no wolf. Straight speech is best in monarchy, democracy, or aristocracy. A straight course is best because it is in harmony with God, and there is no contending against God. Success does not come from cunning or overreaching, from envious cabals. Bear God's yoke. Kick not against the pricks. Men who are good, men with views like these, such are they whom I desire to live withal as friend with friend (vv. 86-96). The rhythms are Aiolian (logaoedic). The introduction occupies one triad, the myth one, the praise of Hieron one, the afterplay one.
Strophe 1
μεγαλοπόλιες ὦ Συράκοσαι: A similar position, O. 8.1: μᾶτερ ὦ χρυσοστεφάνων ἀέθλων Ὀλυμπία, P. 8.2: Δίκας ὦ μεγιστόπολι θύγατερ. Athens is called αἱ μεγαλοπόλιες Ἀθᾶναι (P. 7.1). The epithet is especially appropriate in the case of Syracuse, which, even in Hieron's time, had a vast extent. βαθυπολέμου: “That haunteth the thick of war.” The martial character of Syracuse is emphasized on account of the military movements then on foot.ἀνδρῶν ἵππων τε: See O. 1.62. σιδαροχαρμᾶν: “Fighting in iron-mail.” Here we seem to have χάρμη in the Homeric sense. So I. 5 (6), 27: χαλκοχάρμαν ἐς πόλεμον, where the notion of rejoicing would not be so tolerable as in P. 5.82: χαλκοχάρμαι ξένοι. ἱπποχάρμας (O. 1.23） is doubtful. See O. 9.92.
λιπαρᾶν: Orig. “gleaming,” then vaguely “bright,” “brilliant,” “famous.” P. uses it of Thebes (fr. XI. 58), Athens (N. 4.18; I. 2, 20; fr. IV. 4), Orchomenos (O. 14.4), Egypt (fr. IV. 9), Marathon (O. 13.110). The wideness of its application takes away its force. φέρων: Figuratively, as elsewhere μόλον, P. 3.68; ἔβαν, N. 4.74; 6, 65. Compare v. 68.
ἐλελίχθονος: Used P. 6.50 of Poseidon; in Sophokles of Bakchos (Antig. 153).
ἐν ᾇ κρατέων: Compare P. 11.46: ἐν ἅρμασι καλλίνικοι.
τηλαυγέσιν: The wreaths send their light afar, like the πρόσωπον τηλαυγές of O. 6.4. Only the light is figurative, as the gold is figurative, O. 8.1. Compare O. 1.23 and 94. Ὀρτυγίαν: See O. 6.92.
ποταμίας ... Ἀρτέμιδος: Artemis, among her numerous functions, is a river-goddess, and in the Peloponnesos her worship is connected especially with the Kladeos and the Alpheios (Ἄρτεμις Ἀλφειῴα). She has charge of rivers not only as a huntress, but as the representative of the Oriental Artemis. Pursued by Alpheios, she fled under the waters of the Ionian sea, and found rest by the fountain of Arethusa in Ortygia, where a temple was raised in her honor. Of course, Arethusa and Artemis are one (compare Telesilla, fr. 1: ἅδ᾽ Ἄρτεμις, ὦ κόραι, ι φεύγοισα τὸν Ἀλφεόν), but when Alpheios and Arethusa were united, Artemis, the virgin, and Arethusa were separated. Similar is the case of Kallisto. Compare with this whole passage N. 1.1: ἄμπνευμα σεμνὸν Ἀλφεοῦ, ι κλεινᾶν Συρακοσσᾶν θάλος Ὀρτυγία, ι δέμνιον Ἀρτέμιδος, ι Δάλου κασιγνήτα. Note also that the brother of Artemis appears in the corresponding sweep of the antistrophe. ἇς οὐκ ἄτερ: O. 3.26: Λατοῦς ἱπποσόα θυγάτηρ, fr. V. 2, 2: ἵππων ἐλάτειραν. Hieron has a trinity of helpers, Ἄρτεμις ποταμία, Ἑρμῆς ἐναγώνιος, and κλυτόπωλος Ποσειδάων (fr. XI. 33, 2), whose enmity was so fatal to Hippolytos, favorite though he was of Artemis.
κείνας: The preference for mares comes out distinctly in the famous description, So. El. 702. 734. ἐν χερσί: Plastic. N. 1.52: ἐν χερὶ ... τινάσσων, instead of χερὶ τινάσσων (instrum.). ποικιλανίους: “With broidered reins.”
Antistrophe 1
ἐπί: With τίθησι. For sing. compare O. 9.16. ι^οχέαιρα: In Homer ι_οχέαιρα. The word occurs only here in Pindar. χερὶ διδύμᾳ: Variously interpreted. As we say, “with both hands,” to show readiness. According to others the reference is to Artemis and Hermes, χ. δ. being an anticipation, like the plural in the schema Alcmanicum.ἐναγώνιος Ἑρμῆς: Familiar function of Hermes.
See O. 6.78: ἐδώρησαν θεῶν κάρυκα λιταῖς θυσίαις ι πολλὰ δὴ πολλαῖσιν Ἑρμᾶν εὐσεβέως, ὃς ἀγῶνας ἔχει μοῖράν τ᾽ ἀέθλων. αἰγλάεντα ... κόσμον: κ. “reins and trappings.” Compare ἡνία σιγαλόεντα.“ qui feros cultus hominum recentum
voce formasti catus et decorae
more palaestrae.
”
ἐν: So for ἐς in the Aeolic poems. Cf. v. 86; P. 5.38; N. 7.31. ἐν, like Lat. in, originally took the acc., as well as the locative-dative. *ἐνς (εἰς) was formed after the analogy of ἐξ, with which it was constantly associated in contrasts. By that time the -ς of ἐξ had lost its abl. force. Compare uls like cis, κάτω like ἄνω, ὄπισθεν like πρόσθεν, ἐμποδών like ἐκποδών (Brugmann). On the preposition with the second member, see O. 9.94. πεισιχάλινα: “Obedient to the bit.” Only here, as if the chariot were the horses. In the few other compounds πεισι- is active. καταξευγνυῃ: Hieron.
σθένος ἵππειον: Cf. O. 6.22: σθένος ἡμιόνων. ὀρσοτρίαιναν: Poseidon is so called, O. 8.48; N. 4.86. εὐρυβίαν: O. 6.58. καλέων θεόν: Compare the story of Pelops, O. 1.72: ἄπυεν βαρύκτυπον Εὐτρίαιναν.
ἄλλοις δέ τις, κτἑ.: Pindar now passes to the praise of Hieron's services to the Lokrians. As is his manner, Kinyras is introduced to balance. “I have praised Hieron, favorite of Artemis and of Hermes, for his victory with the chariot. The Kyprians praise Kinyras, the favorite of Apollo and Aphrodite, for his royal and priestly work. The Lokrian virgin praises Hieron for his successful championship.” ἐτέλεσσεν: Gnomic aorist. “Pays,” as a tribute.
εὐαχέα ... ὕμνον: “The meed of a melodious song.” ἄποιν᾽ ἀρετᾶς: Contrast this clear accus. with the fading χάριν, the faded δίκην, which needs the article to vivify it (P. 1.50). See O. 7.16.
κελαδέοντι: O. 1.9. ἀμφὶ Κινύραν: Kinyras was a fabulous king of Kypros, priest and favorite of Aphrodite. He was a great inventor, a kind of Jubal and Tubal Cain in one — a Semitic figure, it would seem — the man of the harp, with whom we may compare Anchises, another favorite of Aphrodite, of whom it is said, Hymn. in Ven. 80: πωλεῖτ᾽ ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα διαπρύσιον κιθαρίζων. The introduction of Kinyras, lord of the eastern island of Kypros, as a balance to Hieron, lord of the western island of Sicily, leads the poet to mention Apollo in this non-Pythian ode (see Introd.) as a balance to Artemis. A genealogical connection is the merest fancy.
χρυσοχαῖτα: Vocative used as nominative. Elsewhere χρυσοκόμας, O. 6.41; 7, 32. ἐφίλησε: If φίλος is “own,” “made his own,” “marked him for his own.” See P. 1.13. Ἀπόλλων: Aphrodite and Apollo are often associated. So esp. in P. 9.10, where Aphrodite receives the spouse of Apollo.
Epode 1
κτίλον: Lit. “Tame pet.” “Minion,” “favorite,” “cherished.” ἄγει: Without an object. “Is in the van,” “leads,” or neg. “cannot be kept back.” So N. 7.23: σοφία δὲ κλέπτει παράγοισα μύθοις. Compare also O. 1.108. ποίνιμος: ἀμειπτική (Schol.). Echo of ἄποιν᾽ ἀρετᾶς. For ποινή, in a good sense, see P. 1.59. ὀπιζομένα: “In reverential regard.” Cf. O. 2.6: ὄπιν.Δεινομένειε παῖ: Cf. O. 2.13: ὦ Κρόνιε παῖ, P. 8.19: Ξενάρκειον υἱόν. Hieron was the son of Deinomenes, and his son, after the Greek fashion, was also called Deinomenes. See P. 1.58. Ζεφυρία ... παρθένος: The Lokrian women held an exceptional position in Greece. Lokrian nobility followed the distaff side (compare O. 9.60) and Lokrian poetesses were famous. But here we have simply an expression of popular joy, such as virgins especially would feel, and Lokrian virgins would freely express πρὸ δόμων: Why πρὸ δόμων? Why “haven under the hill?” Why anything that gives a picture? P. 3.78: Ματρί, τὰν κοῦραι παρ᾽ ἐμὸν πρόθυρον σὺν Πανὶ μέλπονται θαμά.
δρακεῖσ᾽ ἀσφαλές: We might expect the pres., but the aor. of attainment is here the aor. of recovery, “having gained the right to fearless glance.” For fear as expressed by the eye, compare So. Ai. 139: πεφόβημαι ι πτηνῆς ὡς ὄμμα πελείας, O. R. 1221: ἀνέπνευσά τ᾽ ἐκ σέθεν καὶ κατεκοίμησα τοὐμὸν ὄμμα. The inner obj., with verbs of seeing, is familiar. So δριμὺ βλέπειν, δεινὸν δέρκεσθαι. Pindar has ὁρῶντ᾽ ἀλκάν (O. 9.119).
ἐφετμαῖς: “Behests,” usu. of exalted personages. Ἰξίονα: The story of Ixion and his wheel has often been told. So in a famous (corrupt) passage of So. Phil. 676: λόγῳ μὲν ἐξήκουσ᾽ ὄπωπα δ᾽ οὐ μάλα ι τὸν πελάταν λέκτρων ποτὲ τῶν Διὸς ι Ἰξίονα (?) κατ᾽ ἄμπυκα (ἄντυγα?) δὴ δρομάδα δέσμιον ὡς ἔλαβεν (others ἔβαλεν) ὁ παγκρατὴς Κρόνου παῖς. The only important points that Pindar's narrative suppresses are the purification of Ixion from bloodguiltiness by Ζεὺς καθάρσιος himself, and the intimacy of Zeus with the wife of Ixion. The former would not have been altogether consistent with v. 31, and the latter would have given a sinister meaning to ἀγαναῖς ἀμοιβαῖς (v. 24). ταῦτα: Namely, τὸν εὐεργέταν ... τίνεσθαι.
λέγειν: “Teaches.”
παντᾷ: Here “round and round.” κυλινδόμενον: Instead of the more prosaic inf. See O. 3.6.
ἀμοιβαῖς ἐποιχομένους τίνεσθαι: Notice the fulness of the injunction. ἐποιχομένους, “visiting,” “frequenting.” “To requite the benefactor with ever-recurring tokens of warm gratitude.”
Strophe 2
παρὰ Κρονίδαις: Zeus and Hera.μακρόν: “Great,” as P. 11.52: μακροτέρῳ (?) .. ὄλγβῳ.
ἐράσσατο: P., like Homer, has no ἠράσθη. τὰν ... λάχον: Compare O. 1.53. εὐναί: The pl. of the joys of love. Cf. P. 9.13: ἐπὶ γλυκεραῖς εὐναῖς, fr. IX. 1, 7: ἐρατειναῖς ἐν εὐναῖς, P. 11.25: ἔννυχοι πάραγον κοῖται.
α̈́ϝα̈́ταν = ἄταν. See P. 3.24.
ἀνήρ: He had presumed as if he were a god.
ἐξαίρετον: Elsewhere in a good sense. There is a bitterness in the position, and in ἕλε also, as it recalls v. 26: γλυκὺν ἑλὼν βίοτον.
τελέθοντι: Not historical pres. He is still in hell. τὸ μὲν ... ὅτι .., ὅτι τε: A double shift. On μέν ... τε, see O. 4.13.
ἐμφύλιον αἷμα: He slew his father-inlaw, Deïoneus. πρώτιστος: Aisch. Eum. 718: πρωτοκτόνοισι προστροπαῖς Ἰξίονος. οὐκ ἄτερ τέχνας: He filled a trench with live coals, covered it slightly, and enticed Deïoneus into it when he came after the ἕδνα. ἐπέμιξε θνατοῖς: ἐ. = intulit (ignem fraude mala gentibus intulit), but livelier, “Brought the stain of kindred blood upon mortals,” “imbrued them with kindred blood.”
Antistrophe 2
μεγαλοκευθέεσσιν ... θαλάμοις: Stately plural. So O. 7.29; P. 4.160.ἐπειρᾶτο: Active more usual in this sense (N. 5.30). κατ᾽ αὐτόν, κτἑ.: Not καθ᾽ αὑτόν. P. does not use the compound reflexive. See O. 13.53; P. 4.250. “To measure everything by one's self,” i. e. “to take one's own measure in every plan of life.” This is only another form of the homely advice of Pittakos to one about to wed above his rank: τὰν κατὰ σαυτὸν ἔλα. P., like many other poets, has a genius for glorifying the commonplace. Compare Aisch. Prom. 892 on unequal matches.
εὐναὶ δὲ παράτροποι ... ποτε καὶ τὸν ἑλόντα: The MSS. have ποτε καὶ τὸν ἵκοντ᾽. The quantity of ἵ_κοντ᾽ will not fit, an aorist ἱ^κόντ᾽ rests on Il. 9. 414, the sense of ἱκέτην is marred by καί. Böckh's ποτὶ κοῖτον ἰόντ᾽ is ingenious, but coarse; ἑκόντ᾽ is feeble. Schneidewin's ἑλόντ᾽ is not bad, in view of P.'s harping on the word (vv. 26 and 30). The aor. is gnomic, and ἐπεί gives the special application. “Unlawful couchings have many a time plunged into whelming trouble even him that had won them.” Compare the case of Koronis and Ischys (P. 3.25).
πρέπεν: “Was like unto.” Only here in P. with this sense.
ἅντε: The reinforcing relative, “her, whom.” P.'s use of ὅστε does not give ground for any supersubtle distinctions.
Ζηνὸς παλάμαι: More delicate than the other story that Hera played the trick on him. Schol. Eur. Phoen. 1185. καλὸν πῆμα: P. perhaps had in mind Hes. Theog. 585: καλὸν κακόν (of Pandora). τετράκναμον ... δεσμόν: “The four-spoked bond” is the “four-spoked wheel.” The magic iynx (“wry-neck”), used in love-incantations, was bound to just such a wheel. Cf. P. 4.214: ποικίλαν ἴυγγα τετράκναμον Οὐλυμπόθεν ι ἐν ἀλύτῳ ζεύξαισα κύκλῳ ι μαινάδ᾽ ὄρνιν Κυπρογένεια φέρεν ι πρῶτον ἀνθρώποισι. It was poetic justice to bind Ixion to his own iynx wheel. Endless are the references to this symbol of mad love. See Theokritos' Pharmakeutriai. ἔπραξε: “Effected,” “brought about,” and not ἐπράξατο, I. 4 (5), 8. See note on δρέπων, O. 1.13.
Epode 2
ἑὸν ὄλεθρον ὅγ᾽: A renewal of the close of the last line of the antistrophe with effective position. The breath is naturally held at δεσμόν. On the position of ὅγ᾽, see P. 11.22. ἀνδέξατ᾽: He received the message and delivered it, not in words, but by whirling on the wheel (v. 23). Mitscherlich's ἀνδείξατ᾽ has found much favor.ἄνευ . . . Χαρίτων=ἄχαριν, “Unblessed by the Graces.” Cf. ἄνευ θεοῦ, O. 9.111.
μόνα καὶ μόνον : καί unusual in such juxtapositions, and hence impressive. No mother like her; so, too, no offspring like this. ἀνδράσι=ἀνθρώποις. γερασφόρον=τίμιον. Without part or lot among men or gods. νόμοις=τοῖς νομιζομένοις.
τράφοισα: Dor. for τρέφοισα. So P. 4.115; I. 1, 48; 7 (8), 41. Κένταυρον: This name, of obscure origin, was applied to his descendants, properly Ἱπποκένταυροι.
Μαγνητίδεσσιν: P. 3.45: Μάγνητι . . . Κενταύρῳ.
σφυροῖς: With a like figure we say “spurs.” See P. 1.30. στρατός: Is in apposition to the subject of ἐγένοντο. “Out they came — a host marvellous to behold.”
τὰ ματρόθεν μὲν κάτω, τὰ δ᾽ ὕπερθε πατρός: “The dam's side down, the upper side the sire's.” Chiasm is as natural to the Greek as mother's milk; not so to us. ματρόθεν is often used parallel with μητρός.
Strophe 3
θεὸς . . . ἀνύεται: “God accomplishes for himself every aim according to his desires.” ϝελπίς, “pleasure,” “wish,” shows here its kinship to volup. ἐπί as in ἐπ᾽ εὐχᾷ, P. 9.96. The wish is crowned by fulfilment. The middle ἀνύεται is rare.θεός: The emphatic repetition gives the key to the poem. See introd. ὅ = ὅς. κίχε . . . παραμείβεται . . . ἔκαμψε . . . παρέδωκε: The gnomic aorist often varies with the present. Many examples in Solon, fr. XIII. (Bergk). See also Tyrtaios, fr. XII. (Bergk). In the absence of an aoristic present, the Greek often uses an aor. for concentrated action in the present with a conscious contrast to the durative. See Plat. Phaidr. 247 B. So here κίχε, ἔκαμψε, παρέδωκ（ε) are finalities, παραμείβεται is process. πτερόεντα = τανύπτερον. Cf. P. 5.111: τανύπτερος αἰετός. αἰετόν: N. 3.80: αἰετὸς ὠκὺς ἐν ποτανοῖς.
δελφῖνα: Also proverbial. N. 6.72: δελφῖνί κεν | τάχος δι᾽ ἅλμας | εἰκάζοιμι Μελησίαν. τινα: “Many a one,” tel. So P. 4.86.
ἐμὲ δὲ χρεών: For the connection, see introduction.
δάκος=δῆγμα (Etym. Mag.). ἀδινόν: “Excessive,” “I must avoid the reputation of a biting calumniator.”
ἑκὰς ἐών: P. was two hundred years later than Archilochos.
ψογερὸν Ἀρχίλοχον: A. is a synonym for a virulent and ill-starred satirist. From such casual mention we should not imagine that the ancients placed A. only lower than Homer.
πιαινόμενον: Not to be taken ironically. There is nothing unhealthier than unhealthy fat, and there is no necessity of an oxymoron. Compare Shakesp. M. of V. i. 3, 48: I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. Archilochos is a fat and venomous toad that lives upon the vapor of a dungeon. A reference to Bakchylides is suspected, but the name does not fit the metre here. τὸ πλουτεῖν . . . ἄριστον: The Schol. interprets τὸ δὲ ἐπιτυγχάνειν πλούτου μετὰ σοφίας ἄριστον, and so Aristarchos: εὐποτμότατός ἐστιν ὁ πλουτῶν καὶ σοφίας ἅμα τυγχάνων, so that we combine τύχᾳ with σοφίας and πότμου with ἄριστον. “Wealth, with the attainment of wisdom, is Fortune's best.” The position is bold, but not incredible. Others, with a disagreeable cumulation, σὺν τύχᾳ πότμου σοφίας, “with the attainment of the lot of wisdom.” But the two genitives cited from P. 9.43: σοφᾶς Πειθοῦς ἱερᾶν φιλοτάτων, are not at all parallel, the relation there being that of a simple possessive. If Archilochos were alone involved, σοφίας ἅριστον might well mean is “the best part of the poetic art,” as “discretion is the better part of valor,” but σοφίας here must be applicable to Hieron as well.
Antistrophe 3
νιν ἔχεις: Sc. τὸ πλουτεῖν μετὰ σοφίας, νιν may be neut. sing. Aisch. Choeph. 542, or pl. P. V. 55; So. El. 436. 624. πεπαρεῖν=ἐνδεῖξαι, σημῆναι (Hesych.), “for showing them with free soul,” “so that thou canst freely show them.” Others read πεπορεῖν = δοῦναι, which would make νιν refer to τὸ πλουτεῖν alone.πρύτανι: “Prince.” Used of Zeus P. 6.24: κεραυνῶν . . . πρύτανιν. εὐστεφάνων: “Battlemented.” This is an early use of στέφανος. Compare O. 8.32. στρατοῦ: Sc. πολλοῦ στρατοῦ.
περὶ τιμᾷ: π. with the dat. of the stake, as, to some extent, even in prose, “when wealth and honor are at stake.” So with δηρίομαι, O. 13.45; μάρναται, N. 5.47; ἁμιλλᾶται, N. 10.31; μοχθίζει, fr. IX. 2, 6. On the preposition with the second member, see O. 9.94.
χαύνᾳ πραπίδι παλαιμονεῖ κενεά: “(With) flabby soul, his wrestlings are all in vain.”
εὐανͅθέα: The ship of the victor is wreathed with flowers. στόλον: Cogn. acc. to ἀναβάσομαι (Dissen). στ. as “prow” is more poetical. ἀμφ᾽ ἀρετᾷ: O. 9.14: ἀμφὶ παλαίσμασιν φόρμιγγ᾽ ἐλελίζων.
κελαδέων: O. 2.2. νεότατι μὲν, κτἑ.: Contrast chiastic, v. 65: βουλαὶ δὲ πρεσβύτεραι. θράσος . . . πολέμων: “Boldness in.” Cf. N. 7.59: τόλμαν καλῶν.
εὑρεῖν: See O. 7.89, and compare P. 1.49.
Epode 3
ἱπποσόαισιν ἄνδρεσσι: ἱ., O. 3.26, of Artemis, I. 4 (5), 32, of Iolaos. These achievements refer mainly to Himera. βουλαὶ δὲ πρεσβύτεραι: Sc. ἢ κατὰ τὴν νεότητα, or, as the Schol. says, ὑπὲρ τὴν νεότητα βουλεύη. “Elder than thy years.” P. 4.282: κεῖνος γὰρ ἐν παισὶν νέος, ἐν δὲ βουλαῖς πρέσβυς ἐγκύρσαις ἑκατονταετεῖ βιοτᾷ, P. 5.109. 110: κρέσσονα μὲν ἁλικίας | νόον φέρβεται.ἀκίνδυνον ἐμοὶ ϝέπος: “Thy counsels, riper than thy age, furnish me with an utterance that runs no risk of challenge to praise thee in full view of the whole account,” through the whole count. The two exhaustive excellences are θράσος and εὐβουλία. If he is wise as well as brave, he has all the virtues. Compare I. 4 (5), 12: δύο δέ τοι ζωᾶς ἄωτον μοῦνα ποιμαίνοντι τὸν ἄλπνιστον εὐανθεῖ σὺν ὄλβῳ, | εἴ τις εὖ πάσχων λόγον ἐσλὸν ἀκούσῃ . . . πάντ᾽ ἔχεις, | εἴ σε τούτων μοῖρ᾽ ἐφίκοιτο καλῶν.
χαῖρε: So N. 3.76: χαῖρε, φίλος, where we have, as here, praise of the victor, farewell, and commendation of the poet's song. τόδε μέν: This would seem to indicate that the μέλος here sent was different from the Καστόρειον, but P.'s handling of μέν and δέ is so peculiar, not to say tricky, that Böckh has a right to set up the antithesis πέμπεται μὲν τόδε μέλος, ἄθρησον δὲ τὸ Καστόρειον. κατὰ Φοίνισσαν ἐμπολάν: κ., “like.” Phoenician ware was costly, being brought from afar.
τὸ Καστόρειον: Compare I. 1, 16: ἢ Καστορείῳ ἢ Ἰολάοἰ ἐναρμόξαι νιν ὕμνῳ. The Καστόρειον was an old Spartan battle-song, the rhythm anapaestic, like the ἐμβατήρια, the mood Doric, the accompaniment the flute. P. uses it as a ἵππειος νόμος, in honor of victory with horse and chariot (Castor gaudet equis); the mood is Aiolian, and the accompaniment the φόρμιγξ. Some suppose that the K. was another poem to be sent at a later time, hence ἄθρησον, as if the prince were bidden descry it coming in the distance: others that the K. is the last part of the poem, which P. made a present of to Hieron, together with a batch of good advice. The figure of the Phoenician cargo runs into the antithesis. The Doric king might have expected a Doric lay, but this Kastoreion, with its Aiolian mood, is to be viewed kindly (θέλων ἄθρησον) for the sake of the Doric φόρμιγξ — Apollo's own instrument. Compare O. 1.100: ἐμὲ δὲ στεφανῶσαι | κεῖνον ἱππείῳ νόμῳ | Αἰολἡΐδι μολπᾷ, and yet 1, 17: Δωρίαν ἀπὸ φόρμιγγα πασσάλου λάμβαν（ε).
χάριν: Before its genitive only here in P. ἑπτακτύπου: The old Terpandrian heptachord. N. 5.24: φόρμιγγ᾽ Ἀπόλλων ἑπτάγλωσσον χρυσέῳ πλάκτρῳ διώκων.
ἀντόμενος: Absolute. “Coming to meet it, receive it” — the Phoenician ware again. Pindar's power of parenthesis is great. The farewell (v. 67) suggested the commendation, or, if need be, the justification of his poem, and he now returns to the characteristic of his hero. An unprepared break at v. 72 is not likely.
γένοι᾽ οἷος ἐσσὶ μαθών: The necessity of connection makes μαθών refer to the praise of the victor. “Show thyself who thou art, for I have taught it thee.” Some take μαθών as part of the wish or command. γένοιο . . . μαθών=μάθοις has no satisfactory analogy in Pindaric grammar, nor does it give any satisfactory transition. P.'s contempt of mere mechanical learning, as shown O. 2.95: μαθόντες δὲ λάβροι . . . ἄκραντα γαρύετον has suggested a combination with πίθων (Bergk), in which the learned ape is contrasted with Rhadamanthys, who is doubtless πολλὰ εἰδὼς φυᾷ (O. 2.94), but the position of τοι in μαθὼν καλός τοι is hardly credible, to say nothing of the quotation by Galen below. πίθων. A young ape. παρὰ παισίν: “In the judgment of children.” The ape was a favorite in the nursery then as he is now. Galen, de Usu Part. 1, 22: καλός τοι πίθηκος παρὰ παισὶν αἰεί, φησί τις τῶν παλαιῶν, ἀναμιμνήσκων ὑμᾶς ὡς ἔστιν ἄθυρμα γελοῖον παιζόντων παίδων τοῦτο τὸ ζῷον. Instead of παρὰ δὲ Ῥαδαμάνθυι, P. changes the form of the antithesis.
Strophe 4
καλός: Child-like and lover-like repetition. The ape is said to have been introduced into Greek fable by Archilochos, and the mention of the ape here may have called up the image of the fox below without any inner nexus. An allusion to the Archilochian fable of “the Ape and the Fox” seems to be out of the question. “Show thyself thyself. Care naught for the judgment of those that be mere children in understanding. Thy judge is Rhadamanthys.” εὖ πέπραγεν: Rhadamanthys owes his good fortune to his judicial temper. Compare O. 2.83: βουλαῖς ἐν ὀρθαῖσι Ῥαδαμάνθυος | ὃν πατὴρ ἔχει [Κρόνος] ἑτοῖμον αὐτῷ πάρεδρον. Of the three judges in Hades, Aiakos — usually the first met by the new-comer — is in P. only the great Aeginetan hero, except in I. 7 (8), 24, where he is represented as a judge over the δαίμονες. Minos does not appear. φρενῶν . . . καρπόν: So N. 10.12. Famous in Aischylos' description of Amphiaraos is the line S. c. Th. 593: “βαθεῖαν ἄλοκα διὰ φρενὸς καρπούμενος” .ἔνδοθεν: The wiles of the deceivers do not penetrate the deep soil.
οἷα: See O. 1.16. Half exclamatory. If with the MSS., βροτῶν, “Such things (ἀπάται) always sort with the acts of whisperers!” So ἕπεται, O. 2.24. If with Heindorf, βροτῷ, “Such things always haunt a man by the devices of whisperers!” βροτῶν: Used like ἀνδρῶν, so that ψίθυροι βροτοί = ψιθυρισταί, but β. is hardly so colorless in P.
ἀμφοτέροις: “To both parties,” the prince and his slandered friends, τῷ διαβαλλομένῳ καὶ τῷ πρὸς ὃν διαβάλλεται (Schol.). ὑποφάτιες: Böckh has ὑποφαύτιες, Bothe ὑποφάτορες. “Secret speakings of calumnies” for “secret calumniators” does not satisfy. We want a masc. subst. Some MSS. have ὑποφάντιες from φαίνω.
ὀργαῖς: See P. 1.89. ἀτενές=παντελῶς. P. has proudly compared himself to the Διὸς ὄρνις θεῖος, O. 2.97, and it may be well to remember that the eagle and the fox were not friends, acc. to the fabulist Archilochos, and that the eagle was the “totem” of the Aiakidai and of Aias, Pindar's favorite, a straightforward hero (N. 8.23 foll.).
The usual interpretation gives the whole passage to one voice. “But what good does this do to the fox (the whisperer). I, Pindar, am a cork not to be sunk by his arts. I know it is impossible for a crafty citizen to utter a word of power among the good, and, though by his fawning he makes his way, I do not share his confidence. My plan is: love thy friend and cheat thine enemy — the enemy alone is fair game. The man of straightforward speech hath the vantage-ground everywhere, under every form of government.” In the introduction I have suggested two voices. κερδοῖ: To me convincing emendation of Huschke for κέρδει. κερδώ is a popular name for fox, Ar. Eq. 1068. First Voice: “But what doth Master Reynard gain by his game?” The pun in κερδοῖ . . . κέρδεσσι is obvious. The proverb ἀλώπηξ δωροδοκεῖται is taken from Kratinos' parody (2, 87 Mein.) of Solon's celebrated characteristic of the Athenians, fr. 11, 5 (Bergk): ὑμέων εἷς μὲν ἕκαστος ἀλώπεκος ἴχνεσι βαίνελ.
ἅτε γὰρ . . . ἅλμας: Second Voice: “His gain is to be an ἄμαχον κακόν (v. 76). He can say: I am a cork that is always atop, though all the rest be under water. I am a cat, and always fall on my feet.” Fennell, who, like the others, understands the poet to speak of himself, allegorizes thus: “The net is the band of contemporary poets; the heavy parts are those of poor and precarious repute, who try to drag down the cork, Pindar.” εἰνάλιον πόνον: Toil of the sea. So Theokr. 21, 39: δειλινὸν ὡς κατέδαρθον ἐν εἰναλίοισι πόνοισι.
σκευᾶς ἑτέρας: The ἀμφότεροι above mentioned — the whole world outside of the slanderer. φελλὸς ὥς: The comparison is not so homely in Greek as in English. “Cork” could hardly be used with us in elevated poetry, but
“Our withers are unwrung” might be as impossible for an un-English poet. ἅλμας: With ἀβάπτιστος.“ παῖδες γὰρ ἀνδρὶ κλῃδόνες σωτήριοι
θανόντι: φελλοὶ δ᾽ ὣς ἄγουσι δίκτυον
τὸν ἐκ βυθοῦ κλωστῆρα σῴζοντες λίνου.
”
Antistrophe 4
First Voice: “But you are, after all, a mere cork. You have no weight. A deceitful man cannot utter a word of power among the good (the conservatives).” ἀδύνατα: So O. 1.52: ἄπορα, P. 1.34: ἐοικότα.ἀστόν: ἀ. is much more frequently used by P. than πολίτης, as he prefers στρατός to δᾶμος. See O. 6.7. — Second Voice: “Well, what of that? The deceitful man fawns and makes his way thus.” μάν: Often used to meet objections. Cf. P. 1.63. σαίνων: Specifically of the dog. See P. 1.52. ἀ_γάν. The MS. ἄγαν has the first syllable short. ἀγή, “bend,” is not the doubling of the fox, but the peculiar fawning way in which the dog makes an arc of himself. J. H. H. Schmidt reads αὐδάν and compare for διαπλέκει P. 12.8: οὔλιον θρῆνον διαπλέκει. διαπλέκει: Commentators compare Aischin. 3, 28: ἀντιδιαπλέκει πρὸς τοῦτο εὐθύς, but there the metaphor is from the twists and turns of wrestlers. Here we are still with the dog.
οὔ ϝοι μετέχω θράσεος: First Voice: “I do not share his confidence.” θράσος in a good sense, v. 63. φίλον εἴη φιλεῖν, κτἑ.: Second Voice: “I do not deny the claims of friendship; it is only mine adversary that I seek to circumvent.” Others think this perfectly consistent with the antique morality of a man like Pindar. Compare I. 3 (4), 66: χρὴ δὲ πᾶν ἔρδοντα μαυρῶσαι τὸν ἐχθρόν, Archiloch. fr. 65 (Bergk): ἓν δ᾽ ἐπίσταμαι μέγα | τὸν κακῶς με δρῶντα δεινοῖς ἀνταμείβεσθαι κακοῖς. P. is supposed to say: “Let my adversary play the monkey, the fox, the dog; I can play the wolf.” Requital in full is antique; crooked ways of requital are not Pindaric.
ὑποθεύσομαι: Incursionem faciam, Dissen. It is more than that; it involves overtaking. The persistency and surprise of the wolf's pursuit are the points of comparison.
ἄλλα: Adverbial.
ἐν=ἐς: See v. 11. The First Voice closing the debate. νόμον: “Constitution,” “form of the state.” εὐθύγλωσσος: In opposition to the ὁδοὶ σκολιαί, σκολιαὶ ἀπάται (fr. XI. 76, 2). προφέρει: “Comes to the front.”
παρὰ τυραννίδι: As if παρὰ τυράννοις. ὁ λάβρος στρατός: Milton's “fierce democratie.”
οἱ σοφοί: The aristocracy. χρὴ δὲ πρὸς θεὸν οὐκ ἐρίζειν: The neg. οὐκ, as if he were about to say ἀλλὰ φέρειν ἐλαφρῶς ἐπαυχένιον ζυγόν. As it stands, it looks like a licentious οὐκ with the inf., of which there are very few. The connection is shown in the introduction. Though the straightforward man has the lead in every form of state, yet his enemies have sometimes the upper hand, and we must not quarrel with God for this. But the envious do not wish him to have anything at all, and so they overreach themselves, and come to harm.
Epode 4
ἀνέχει: As in So. O. C. 680: “κισσὸν ἀνέχουσα” , “upholding,” “holding high.” τὰ κείνων: The fortunes of the whisperers. ἔδωκεν: As there is no metrical reason for not using δίδωσιν, we may accept a contrast between continued and concentrated action. See v. 50.ἰαίνει: O. 2.15; 7, 43; P. 1.11. στάθμας: στάθμη is γραμμή, N. 6.8. The Schol. thinks of a measuring-line. The measuring-line has two sharp pegs. The measurer fastens one in the ground and pulls the cord tight, in order to stretch it over more space than it ought to cover (περισσᾶς). In so doing he runs the peg into his own heart. Hermann finds an allusion to the play διελκυστίνδα, still played everywhere. This would make ἑλκόμενοι reciprocal, “one another,” and στάθμας a whence-case, but for περισσᾶς we should have to read περισσῶς. On the other interpretation, στάθμας is the genitive of the hold, as in P. 9.132: παρθένον κεδνὰν χερὶ χειρὸς ἑλών. Schneidewin has noticed the play on ἑλκόμενοι and ἕλκος.
ἑᾷ . . . καρδίᾳ: As if “one's heart” for “their heart.”
ὅσα . . . τυχεῖν: τυγχάνω often takes a pronominal neut. acc. φροντίδι μητίονται: “Are planning with anxious thought.”
φέρειν . . . ζυγόν: Yet another animal. This whole fabulistic passage seems to point to court pasquinades. A reference to Hieron's secret police of ὠτακουσταί, “eavesdroppers,” and ποταγωγίδες (-δαι), “tale-bearers,” Aristot. Pol. 5, 11, is to me incredible.
ποτὶ κέντρον . . . λακτιζέμεν: A homely proverb familiar to us from Acts [9, 5] 26, 14. Doubtless of immemorial antiquity in Greece, Aisch. P.V. 323; Ag. 1624; Eur. Bacch. 795.
ἀδόντα = ἁδόντα. Cf. O. 3.1; 7, 17.
