Diagoras of Rhodes, most famous of Greek boxers, won the victory here celebrated Ol. 79, 1 (464 B.C.). The poem was composed soon afterwards, as we may gather from v. 13: σὺν Διαγόρᾳ κατέβαν, and was sung at Rhodes. Diagoras was a Herakleid. In the third generation after Temenos a Doric colony went from Argos to Rhodes by way of Epidauros. The leaders were descendants of Tlepolemos, son of Herakles, and Pindar makes Tlepolemos himself the founder of the colony. The Herakleidai occupied three cities of Rhodes, and established a triple kingdom. Those who inhabited Ialysos were called Eratidai, and this was the stock of Diagoras, who also counted among his ancestors a son-in-law of the famous Messenian leader, Aristomenes. The royal power of the Eratidai ceased after Ol. 30, and in the time of Pindar prytaneis ruled instead; and it is supposed that the father of Diagoras, Damagētos, was such a prytanis. Of an illustrious family, Diagoras won for himself unparalleled distinction as a boxer. Besides being victorious at many local games, he was successful at all the national games, and so became a περιοδονίκης. His sons emulated the head of the house. His youngest, Dorieus, had a career only less brilliant than that of his father. Damagētos won the pankration at Olympia, Akusilaos a boxing-match. The two sons of his daughters were also victors at Olympia, and one of his daughters enjoyed the exceptional privilege of being present at the Olympian games. The statue of Diagoras, surrounded by his three sons and two grandsons, the work of Kallikles of Megara, was erected at Olympia; and familiar is the story of the Spartan who, when he saw Diagoras borne on the shoulders of his two laurelled sons, exclaimed, “Die, Diagoras, for thou canst not mount to heaven” (Cic. Tusc. 1, 46, 111). It is not known whether Diagoras followed the advice or lived to see the downfall of his family. Rhodes belonged to the Delian league. Two years before the victory here celebrated the battles of Eurymedon were fought (466), and Athens was at the height of her power. Enemies of aristocratic government, the Athenians favored the commons as against the Doric aristocracy of Rhodes. Diagoras's son, Dorieus, fled to Thurioi, but returned and fought against the Athenians in his own ships, was captured, but liberated. Again exiled, he went to the Peloponnesos, where he was arrested by the Spartans and executed. But these events befell many years after the date of the victory celebrated in this ode. The good fortune of Diagoras was proverbial. The Morere, Diagora of Cicero's version of his story, cited above, is in the school-books. But if we had no evidence outside of this ode, we should know by Pindar's recital that his career was brilliant, as his home was brilliant — Rhodes, child of Aphrodite, bride of the sun (v. 14). No wonder that the golden beaker and the foaming wine are used to symbolize the song in honor of such a victor and such a home (v. 1, foll.). But there must be shade as well as light. Nemesis does not allow too much happiness, and in the history of the line of Diagoras, Pindar finds enough trouble for contrast, each trouble ending in higher joy. So, should the happiness of Diagoras ever be interrupted, there is good hope of more than recompense. Tlepolemos, founder of the house, slew the brother of Alkmena — passion had overmastered him (v. 27) — but Apollo sent him to Rhodes, where he received “sweet ransom for grievous disaster” (v. 77). The sons of Helios, lord of Rhodes, were bidden to raise an altar to Athena and sacrifice to the Great Sire and the Warrior-maid. Wise as they were, they forgot fire, and offered flameless sacrifices. Yet the gods forgave; Zeus sent them gold, Athena cunning craft (vv. 39-53). Helios himself, pure god, was absent at the partition of the earth; yet he received a boon that he himself preferred to all besides (vv. 54-76). In each of these three cases we have a good beginning followed by misfortune, and yet a good ending crowns all. Diagoras was fortunate. Both ἀρετά and χάρματα were his (cf. v. 44), but he might one day forget; he trod a noble path, ὕβριος ἐχθρὰν ὁδόν (v. 90), but passion might overtake him; he was a prince among men as Helios was a prince among gods, but he might, in his absence, be forgotten; but should Nemesis have aught against Diagoras, he may yet hope to find, like Tlepolemos, like the sons of Helios, like Helios himself, λύτρον συμφορᾶς οἰκτρᾶς γλυκύ (v. 77). The winds shift (v. 95), but the divine helmsman steers the ship to its haven. A remarkable feature of the myth is the reversal of the usual chronological order. We begin with Tlepolemos and end with the emergence of Rhodes. The climax is in the rank of those who have sinned, who have forgotten, who have been absent. Note that the fault is less the higher we mount. No wonder that an explanation has been sought of the triple shadow that falls across the poem. The Scholiast on v. 94 assumes that Diagoras had got into discredit by killing one of his opponents. But this must have been in some previous contest, for in such an event there would have been no victory, as is shown by the case of Kleomedes (Paus. 6, 9, 6). The shadow may come from the future, as has been assumed above, but there is danger of being a Προμηθεὺς μετὰ τὰ πράγματα, and to Diagoras the words τοῦτο δ᾽ ἀμάχανον εὑρεῖν, | ὅ τι νῦν ἐν καὶ τελευτᾷ φέρτατον ἀνδρὶ τυχεῖν (v. 25) need not have been ominous. The changing breezes of the close may bring good as well as evil. The rhythms are dactylo-epitrite. Of the five triads, the first is occupied with the introduction; the second, third, and fourth unfold the fortunes of the house — Tlepolemos, the Heliadai, Helios himself. The last triad turns to Diagoras. The divisions are all clear-cut, the triads do not overlap — a rare thing in Pindar. On the statement that this ode was preserved in the temple of Athena at Lindos in letters of gold, see Ch. Graux, Rev. de Phil. V. 117, who thinks that the offering was “a little roll (βιβλίον, volumen) of parchment or fine leather, bearing on its inner surface the ode written in gold ink.”
Strophe 1
φιάλαν: The father of the bride pledged the bridegroom in a beaker of wine and then presented him with the beaker, evidently a formula of espousal. See Athen. 13, 35, p. 575 D. The φιάλη was not a drinking-vessel in Homeric times. ἀφνειᾶς ἀπὸ χειρός: Combined with δωρήσεται. ἀπό has the connotation of “freely.” Compare ἀπὸ γλώσσας, O. 6.13. ἑλών. For “pleonastic” (Dissen) read “plastic.”καχλάζοισαν: “Bubbling,” “foaming.”
δωρήσεται: P. has ὡς εἰ only here, ὡς ὅτε once with the ind. (N. 8.40). Homer has ὡς εἰ with subj. once (Il. 9, 481), with ind. once (Il. 13. 492). δωρήσεται is the generic subj., and the shift from subj. to indic., θῆκε, may be compared to the shift with ὡς δ᾽ ὅτε in Homer (e. g., Il. 11. 414), in which “the most important point of the comparison is usually expressed by the subjunctive, while details and subordinate incidents are given in the ind.” (Monro after Delbrück). Still θῆκε produces the effect of an apodosis (compare N. 7.11: εἰ δὲ τύχῃ τις ἔρδων, μελίφρον᾽ αἰτίαν ῥοαῖσι Μοισᾶν ἐνέβαλε). It is not a mere picturesque addition, but forms an organic part of the comparison. However, as this use of δέ is not absolutely certain in P., in spite of νῦν δέ (O. 3.43), it may be well not to urge it here. The effect can be got at all the same. P. is nothing, if not implicit.
προπίνων: προπίνειν ἐστὶ κυρίως τὸ ἅμα τῷ κράματι τὸ ἀγγεῖον χαρίζεσθαι (Schol.). οἴκοθεν οἴκαδε: From home to home and so binding home to home. See O. 6.99. κορυφάν: O. 1.13.
συμποσίου τε χάριν: ἀντὶ τοῦ τῶν ἐν τῷ συμποσίῳ (Schol.). “For the sake of them that sat at drink with him.” ς. = οἱ συμπίνοντες, as θέατρον = οἱ θεώμενοι. Others, “to grace the banquet.” τιμάσαις: Coincident with δωρήσεται as an aorist subj. Compare P. 4.189. ἒν δέ: “Therein” = “thereby.”
θῆκε: So often in P., as O. 8.18: θῆκεν Ὀλυμπιονίκαν, 13, 98: θήσω φανέρ᾽ ἀθρόα, P. 9.58: ἔνθα νιν ἀρχέπολιν θήσεις. ζαλωτὸν ὁμόφρονος εὐνᾶς: The present is a prelude and a pledge of an harmonious wedlock — a great boon now as then. εὐνᾶς, so-called genitive of the source of emotion.
Antistrophe 1
καὶ ἐγώ = οὕτω καὶ ἐγώ. Compare O. 10 (11), 94: ὧτε ... καί. νέκταρ χυτόν: Persius, Prol. 14, “Pegaseïum nectar.” χ., acc. to the Schol., denotes τὸ αὐτόματον καὶ ἄκρατον, “liquid.” Μοισᾶν δόσιν: The Muses have given it ἀφνειᾶς ἀπὸ χειρός. But the figure is not carried out, though it might have been. The φιάλα would have represented the maestro di cappella. Compare O. 6.91, where Aineas is called γλυκὺς κρατὴρ ἀγαφθέγκτων ἀοιδᾶν.ἀνδράσιν ... νικώντεσσιν: Class for individual. Diagoras had been successful at both places. γλυκὺν καρπὸν φρενός: Follows as an after-thought, like πάγχρυσον κορυφὰν κτεάνων above.
ἱλάσκομαι = ἱλαροὺς ποιῶ (Schol.), “I cheer them,” but the equipoise of the passage demands a graver sense, such as τιμῶ, corresponding to τιμάσαις (v. 5), “pay homage.” If ἱλαροὺς ποιῶ is not for ἱλάους (ἵλεως） ποιῶ, the Scholiast manufactured the sense “cheer” on account of the superhuman sphere of ἱλάσκομαι.
κατέχοντι: See P. 1.96: ἐχθρὰ Φάλαριν κατέχει παντᾷ φάτις ι οὐδέ νιν φόρμιγγες ὑπωρόφιαι κοινωνίαν | μαλθακὰν παίδων ὀάροισι δέκονται. Song is the earnest of abiding good report, as the cup is the pledge of harmonious wedlock; but Charis, the goddess of the epinikion, casts her eyes now on one and now on another.
ἐποπτεύει: “Looks” (with favor). P. 3.85: λαγέταν γάρ τοι τύραννον δέρκεται. ξωθάλμιος: “That giveth life its bloom” (more fully expressed, O. 1.30: ἅπερ ἅπαντα τεύχει τὰ μείλιχα θνατοῖς). A similar formation is βιοθάλμιος, Hymn. in Ven. 190.
θάμα = ἅμα, whereas θαμά is θαμάκις, “often” (Bergk). The assumption of this θάμα has been vigorously opposed by J. K. Ingram in Hermathena, No. 3, 217-227. μὲν ... τε: O. 4. 13. φόρμιγγι: The regimen is suspended until ἐν comes in with ἔντεσιν. (But see note, O. 9.94). So the first negative of two or more may be omitted, P. 6.48. παμφώνοισι: See P. 12.19: αὐλῶν πάμφωνον μέλος, and 21: σὺν ἔντεσι. For ἐν of instruments, see O. 5.19; N. 11.17; I. 4, 27.
Epode 1
ὑπ᾽ ἀμφοτέρων: O. 4.2: ὑπὸ ποικιλοφόρμιγγος ἀοιδᾶς. κατέβαν: Figuratively. So O. 9.89; Ν. 10, 43. For the verb, see P. 3.73, which there also is used absolutely. τὰν ποντίαν: Depends on ὑμνέων. τὰν ποντίαν is usu. combined with Ῥόδον. As to the distance, see O. 12.5. Still it is better to take the words as they come — the daughter of the sea (τὰν ποντίαν = τὰν πόντου) — child of Aphrodite — bride of the sun. With τὰν ποντίαν παῖδ᾽ Ἀφροδίτας, compare ὦ Κρόνιε παῖ Ῥέας (O. 2.13).παρ᾽ Ἀλφειῷ: So below παρὰ Κασταλίᾳ. In prose this would be felt as personal, “in Alpheios's demesne,” “in Kastalia's home;” here not so much. See O. 1.20.
πυγμᾶς ἄποινα: The full acc. force is felt in ἄποινα, which has to be revived for χάριν, δίκην. The αἶνος is the ἄποινα, as the ὕμνος is the ἄποινα, I. 3 (4), 7: εὐκλέων δ᾽ ἔργων ἄποινα χρὴ μὲν ὑμνῆσαι τὸν ἐσλόν.
παρὰ Κασταλίᾳ: So N. 11.24. Δαμάγητον: A prytanis, as Böckh infers from what follows. ἀδόντα: See O. 3.1. P.'s ψίλωσις of this word is neglected in some editions and lexicons. With the phrase compare I. 3 (4), 33: χαλκέῳ τ᾽ Ἄρει ϝάδον.
τρίπολιν: So Il. 2. 655: οἳ Ῥόδον ἀμφενέμοντο διὰ τρίχα κοσμηθέντες | Λίνδον, Ἰηλυσόν τε καὶ ἀργινόεντα Κάμειρον. νᾶσον: With an easy transition from the nymph to the island.
ἐμβόλῳ: The “ship's beak” headland is Κυνὸς σῆμα in Karia. Ἀργείᾳ: Rhodes was colonized from Argos. αἰχμᾷ = αἰχματαῖς.
Strophe 2
ἐθελήσω ... διορθῶσαι = ἐθέλων διορθώσω. P. uses the more prosaic βούλομαι only once. τοῖσιν ἐξ ἀρχᾶς: Explained by ἀπὸ Τλαπολέμου, and magnified by Ἡρακλέος εὐρυσθενεῖ γέννᾳ.ξυνόν: “That touches the common stock.” Compare P. 9.101: τό γ᾽ ἐν ξυνῷ πεποναμένον, I. 1, 46: ξυνὸν ὀρθῶσαι κακόν, 5 (6), 69: ξυνὸν ἄστει κόσμον ἑῷ προσάγων. ἀγγέλλων: Of public announcements. So P. 9.2: ἐθέλω ... ἀγγέλλων ... γεγωνεῖν. διορθῶσαι = διελθεῖν ὀρθῶς.
ἐκ Διός: The line is:
 |
| Alektruon Likumnios Alkmene Zeus Herakles Tlepolemos Amuntor Astudameia |
ἀμφὶ ... κρέμανται: Cf. I. 2, 43: φθονεραὶ θνατῶν φρένας ἀμφικρέμανται ϝελπίδες. There seems to be an allusion to lures or nets.
Antistrophe 2
νῦν ἐν καὶ τελευτᾷ: For the trajection of καί, which gives especial emphasis to the second member, compare O. 2.31; P. 10.58; N. 7.31. τυχεῖν: Epexegetic infinitive.Λικύμνιον ... Μιδέας: L. was the son of Elektryon and his concubine Midea, and as Elektryon was the father of Alkmene, Tlepolemos killed his father's uncle. See table, and cf. Il. 2. 662: αὐτίκα πατρὸς ἑοῖο φίλον μήτρωα κατέκτα | ἤδη γηράσκοντα Λικύμνιον ὄζον Ἄρηος.
ἐς θεόν: ἐς of motion to a person is rare in Pindar, O. 2.38 and 54. The person is the place.
Epode 2
Χρυσοκόμας: O. 6.41. εὐώδεος: Sweet odors rose every now and then from the opening covered by the tripod. πλόον: Involves πλεῖν. εἶπε πλόον = ἐκέλευσε πλεῖν. Cf. P. 4.6: χρῆσεν Βάττον οἰκιστῆρα = χ. Β. οἰκίσαι.ἀμφιθάλασσον νομόν: Oracles delight in circumlocution for the saving of their credit. So P. 9.59: ὄχθον ἐς ἀμφίπεδον. Λερναίας: Dwellingplace of the hydra, forty stades from Argos, Strabo, 8, p. 368 and 371.
ἁνίχ᾽: Compare P. 4.48. τέχναισιν: For the pl. compare O. 9.56; P. 3.11; 4, 249; 8, 60.
κατ᾽ ἄκραν: We should expect ἐξ, but Athena makes her sire's head the stage of her first appearance. So N. 10.17: Ἡρακλέος οὗ κατ᾽ Ὄλυμπον ἄλοχος Ἥβα ... ἔστι.
Strophe 3
φαυσίμβροτος: Od. 10. 191: Ἠέλιος φαεσίμβροτος. Ὑπεριονίδας: An overdone patronymic, like Ταλαϊονίδας, Ο. 6, 15.χρέος: “Duty.” The service was the worship of Athena with burnt-offerings.
ὡς ἄν = ὅπως ἄν, due to φυλάξασθαι, which involves the “how” of an action. So even in prose. Cf. Dem. 6, 3 (with παρεσκευάσθαι), to say nothing of Xenophon, who has it often with ἐπιμελεῖσθαι (e. g. Cyr. 1, 2, 5). In Homer with a verb of will, Od. 17. 362: ὤτρυν᾽ ὡς ἂν πύρνα κατὰ μνηστῆρας ἀγείροι.
ἐγχειβρόμῳ: Formed like ἐγχεικέραυνος, P. 4.194.
ἔβαλεν: Gnomic. Αἰδώς: As a personification. Reverence is the daughter of Wisdom. If knowledge were wisdom, it would not be necessary to say “Let knowledge grow from more to more | Yet more of reverence in us dwell.” The reverence here is the respect to the χρέος. For the personification see P. 5.27: τὰν Ἐπιμαθέος ... ὀψινόου θυγατέρα Πρόφασιν.
Antistrophe 3
ἐπὶ μὰν βαίνει τι: Surprise is shown by tmesis and μάν, mystery by τι, which goes with νέφος. τι: “A strange.” ἀτέκμαρτα: “Bafflingly” (Myers).παρέλκει: The cloud of forgetfulness “sails over and makes nothing” of the right road, effaces it and so “trails it out of the mental vision.” The changes proposed ruin the highly poetical passage. πραγμάτων ... ὁδόν: So P. 3.103: ἀλαθείας ὁδόν.
σπέρμα ... φλογός: Od. 5. 490: σπέρμα πυρός. ἀνέβαν: To the acropolis of Lindos, where Athena was worshipped ἀπύροις ἱεροῖς. οὔ: The effect of the position is almost as if there were an interrogation point after φλογός, and οὔ were the answer. On the position of the negative in P., see O. 4.17.
ἄλσος = τέμενος. O. 3.17; 10 (11), 49. ὁ μέν = Ζεύς. ξανθάν: The cloud takes its color from the gold that it contains.
χρυσόν: The poem is full of gold, vv. 4, 32, 34, 50, 64. ὗσε: A metaphor turned into a myth. Compare Il. 2. 670: καί σφιν (sc. Ῥοδίοις) θεσπέσιον πλοῦτον κατέχευε Κρονίων, and Chaucer's “It snewed in his hous of mete and drynke.” τέχναν: Depends on ὤπασε, and is felt over again with κρατεῖν. “Every art to excel” (therein). Rhodes was a centre of art from the earliest times.
Epode 3
κρατεῖν: Depends on ὤπασε. κρατεῖν usu. absolute in P.: with the acc. “o'ermaster,” “surpass,” P. 4.245; Ν. 5, 45; 10, 25: with the genitive only here.ζωοῖσιν ἑρπόντεσσί θ᾽ ὁμοῖα: “That looked as if they lived and moved.” The Greeks, like the Japanese, were fond of exaggeration about art and artists. So the Rhodians were fabled to have tied the feet of their statues to keep them from running away. Michael Angelo's “Cammina” is a stock story. φέρον: The statues were set up in the streets. There is no reference to moving along the roads, as Dissen thinks.
ἦν δὲ κλέος βαθύ: It was to this fame that Rhodes owed her prosperity. Pindar skilfully suppresses the loss incurred by the neglect of the Heliadai. Athena transferred her presence to Athens, but did not leave the Rhodians comfortless. δαέντι ... τελέθει: “To the wise man (to him that knows), e'en surpassing art is no magic trick.” The mythical artisans of Rhodes, the Telchines, who came up out of the water with the island, were supposed to be wizards. All folk-lore is full of magicians of this kind, and the devil figures largely as a craftsman in mediaeval legends. All these miracles of art, says P., were wrought by ἀριστοπόνοι χεῖρες, and there is no trick in any of them. The refutation of this charge naturally brings up the story of the birth of Rhodes. There are other renderings. “The subtlety that is without deceit is the greater altogether,” that is, the Heliadai, who received their knowledge from Athena, were greater artists than the Telchines, who were magicians. Yet others refer δαέντι to the artisan and not to the judge. Bergk transl. in prudente homine etiam maior sapientia fraudis est expers.
φαντὶ ... ῥήσιες: πρὸ Πινδάρου δὲ τοῦτο οὐχ ἱστόρητο (Schol.).
πελάγει ... ποντίῳ: πόντος is practically the deep sea: even according to Curtius's etymology deep water is the only true πάτος or “path” for the mariner. πέλαγος, whatever its etymology, has often the effect of “expanse.” “In the wide sea,” “in the open main.”
Strophe 4
ἔνδειξεν: ἐνδεικνύναι is the practical δεικνύναι, “then and there.”ἁγνὸν θεόν: Notice the after- thought position, which has the effect of a protest against the ill-treatment of Helios.
μνασθέντι: Sc. Ἀελίῳ. ἄμπαλον=ἀνάπαλον. “A new cast.” μέλλεν: As a verb of purpose, μέλλω may take the aor. inf. as well as the present, which is far more common. As a verb of thinking it has the future inf., which is the norm, though P. does not use it. See O. 8.32.
εἶπε ... ὁρᾶν: Instead of the usual finite construction. Cf. O. 1.75. αὐξομέναν πεδόθεν: Allusion to the name Ῥόδος, the Island of the Rose. Hence also βλάστε (v. 69).
πολύβοσκον , κτἑ.: Clara Rhodos was famous for grain, and pasture also.
Antistrophe 4
χρυσάμπυκα: “With golden frontlet.” Compare P. 3.89; I. 2, 1: χρυσαμπύκων Μοισᾶν. Λάχεσιν: Cf. v. 58. Λ. only here. See O. 1.26.θεῶν ὅρκον μέγαν: Cf. Hesiod, Theog. 400. The formula is given Il. 15. 36; Od. 5. 184; Hymn. in Apoll. 83: ἴστω νῦν τόδε γαῖα καὶ Οὐρανὸς εὐρὺς ὕπερθεν | καὶ τὸ κατειβόμενον Στυγὸς ὕδωρ ὅστε μέγιστος | ὅρκος δεινότατός τε πέλει μακάρεσσι θεοῖσι.
μὴ παρφάμεν: “Not to utter falsely,” “to take in vain.” So P. 9.47: παρφάμεν τοῦτον λόγον.
πεμφθεῖσαν = ὅταν πεμφθῇ. ἑᾷ κεφαλᾷ: Compare O. 6.60.
τελεύταθεν: So for τελεύτασαν, Bergk. λόγων κορυφαί: Compare P. 3.80. The chief points of the compact were fulfilled, came true.
ἐν ἀλαθείᾳ πετοῖσαι: Coincident action with τελεύταθεν, a more vivid expression for ἀλαθεῖς γενόμεναι. Compare O. 12.10: παρὰ γνώμαν ἔπεσεν (“fell out”).
Epode 4
ὀξειᾶν ... ἀκτίνων: O. 3.24: ἔδοξεν γυμνὸς αὐτῷ κᾶπος ὀξείαις ὑπακουέμεν αὐγαῖς ἀελίου.σοφώτατα: Mommsen transposes thus: ἔνθα σοφώτατα μιχθεὶς | τέκεν ἑπτὰ Ῥόδῳ | ποτὲ νοήματ᾽, with an unfortunate juxtaposition of σοφώτατα and μιχθείς. ἑπτὰ ... παιδας: Favorite position. παραδεξαμένους: From sire to son.
ὧν εἷς: Kerkaphos. — Κάμιρον: Schneidewin, with inscriptions, for Κάμειρον.
Ἰάλυσον: ϝ (ϝιαλ.) is suspected, but not proved.
διὰ... δασσάμενοι: Tmesis.
σφιν “In their honor,” “by their names.”
Strophe 5
λύτρον = ποινή, ἄποινα, “requital.” So I. 7 (8), 1: λύτρον ... καμάτων. συμφορᾶς: Euphemism for the affair of v. 29.ἵσταται: Not historical present. The offering is still kept up (ὥσπερ θεῷ). ἵ. = γίνεται (Schol.), τελεῖται.
μήλων τε κνισάεσσα πομπά: It is forced to make μ. depend on κνισάεσσα, as Mezger does, nor is it necessary to the sense. Compare βοῶν ξανθὰς ἀγέλας, P. 4.149. κρίσις ἀμφ᾽ ἀέθλοις: N. 10.23: ἀέθλων κρίσιν. For ἀμφί thus used, see O. 9.97. ἄνθεσι: The wreath was white poplar acc. to the Schol.
κλεινᾷ: Ἰσθμός is fem., O. 8.49, and elsewhere.
ἄλλαν ἐπ᾽ ἄλλᾳ: The ellipsis of νίκαν is not violent. “One upon another,” in immediate succession. κρανααῖς ἐν Ἀθάναις: So O. 13.38; N. 8.11.
Antistrophe 5
χαλκός: The prize was a shield, for the fabrication of which arm the Argives were famous. ἔγνω: O. 6.89. τά τ᾽ ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ | ἔργα: The prizes in Arkadia were bronze tripods and vessels, ἔργα being “works of art.”Θήβαις: The prize of the Herakleia or Iolaia was a bronze tripod. ἔννομοι: “Wonted.”
Πέλλανα: In Achaia. The prize was a mantle, O. 9.104; N. 10.44: ἐκ δὲ Πελλάνας ἐπιεσσάμενοι νῶτον μαλακαῖσι κρόκαις. Αἰγίνα: There is no warrant for the form Αἰγίνα, yet Αἰγίνᾳ would be unbearably harsh, as we should have to supply a verb of showing out of οὐχ ἕτερον ἔχει λόγον. οὐχ ἕτερον ... ἔχει λόγον: “Has no other tale to tell,” the “tale” being the “count,” “shows the same number.” λιθίνα | ψᾶφος: “The reckoning on stone,” of the στήλη on which the victories were recorded.
Ζεῦ πάτερ: Zeus is more conspicuous here than is usual even in an Olympian ode. See v. 23. Ἀταβυρίου: Atabyron, or Atabyris, a mountain in Rhodes, with a temple of Zeus. Strabo, 10, 454; 14, 655.
τίμα μέν: Followed by δίδοι τε. See O. 4.13. ὕμνου τεθμόν: Cf. O. 13.29. Ὀλυμπιονίκαν: Extension of the freedom involved in ὕμνος Ὀλυμπιονίκας, for which see O. 3.3.
Epode 5
ἀρετάν = ἀρετᾶς κλέος. O. 8.6. εὑρόντα: Where one might expect εὑρόμενον (P. 2.64). ποτ᾽ = πρός.πατέρων ὀρθαὶ φρένες ἐξ ἀγαθῶν: This is poetry for “hereditary good sense.” Compare v. 72: ἑπτὰ σοφώτατα νοήματ᾽ ἐπὶ προτέρων ἀνδρὧν παραδεξαμένους | παῖδας. The ὀρθαὶ φρένες are πατροπαράδοτοι. Diagoras is ἀγαθὸς ἐξ ἀγαθῶν. See P. 8.45.
ἔχρεον = παρῄνουν, ὑπέθεντο (Schol.). The oracle of Diagoras is the wisdom of his ancestors, which is personated in him. μὴ κρύπτε: Let it ever shine. κοινόν: A common glory.
Καλλιάνακτος: Kallianax was a conspicuous ancestor of Diagoras. Ἐρατιδᾶν: D. belonged to the Eratidai. Ἐ. depends on χαρίτεσσιν. Each joy of the Eratidai is a festivity to the city.
μιᾷ: “One and the same.”
διαιθύσσοισιν αὖραι: P. 3.104: ἄλλοτε δ᾽ ἀλλοὶαι πνοαὶ | ὑψιπετᾶν ἀνέμων, I. 3 (4), 23: ἄλλοτε δ᾽ ἀλλοῖος οὖρος. See the Introduction to the ode.
