x 
1809.] 
titude, as in the cases of Alcibiades, 
Leopheon, and Empedocles.* Others, 
who had less ability, or perhaps less 
vanity, were contented to feast only 
their own friends. At these entertain- 
ments, whether public or private, were 
frequently sung by a chorus, accom- 
panied by instrumental music, ‘such 
odes as were composed upon that oc- 
casion, in honour of the conqueror. But 
it was not the good fortune of every con- 
gueror to have a poet for his friend; or 
to beable to pay the price of an ode, 
which the poets were accustomed to rate 
at an extravagant height. Those who 
could not attain to the honour of an 
ode, upon their particular exploit, were 
compelled to take up one composed by 
Archilochus im praise of Hercules; 
which, as we learn from Pindar,t and his 
Scholiast, it was customary to sing three 
times to the conqueror, in the Stadium, 
at the time of his being proclaimed the 
successful candidate; in the Gymnasium; 
and in his own country, at the solemnity 
of his triumphal entry there. Of this 
ode, nothing has come down to us but 
the two first verses, preserved- by the 
Scholiast of Pindar; the three first words 
of which, 2 Kaanivixe, Xaige, seem to 
have been applicable only to the Olym- 
pic conquerors. Finally, the Hellano- 
dics or presidents of the games, 
granted to the victorious candidate the 
privilege of having their statues placed 
in the Altis, or sacred vrove of Jupiter 
at Olympia. They were generally re- 
presented in the attitudes, habits, &c. in 
which they had gained the prize.t This 
honour, however, was not granted to 
those, who were of mean occupations, or 
bad exercised any handicraft trade. 
Similar honours awaited the return of 
the heroes to their own country. 
Such were the splendid games, which 
exercised the muse of Pindar; and happy. 
were those that could secure her praise. 
That she was sometimes hired, to. per- 
petuate the fame of the victors, may be 
collected from the following anecdote, 
The friends of Pytheas, a conqueror in 
, 
* How sumptuous these entertainments, 
{called by the Greeks vxnlipia, that is, 
Feasts of Victory, ) were, may be collected, 
from an Anecdote in Plutarch’s Life of Pho- 
¢ion. 
+ Olymp. Ode 9. 
f A Greek Epigram, (Anthol. lib. 4.) 
_ represents the statue of Ladas, an eminent 
racer, as having been formed by Myron, the 
Sculptor, in the very act of Tunings ~ See 
also Paus. lib 6. 
Lyceum of Ancient Literature—No. XXIII. 
19 
the Nemmwan games, came to Pindar, 
and desired him to compose an ode 
upon the occasion; but the poet de- 
manding a large sum (three thousand 
drachms) for his performance, they re- 
plied, that it would be better to have a 
statue of brass erected for the money,. 
than a copy of verses. At length, how- 
ever, having renewed their request, and 
complied with his proposal, they obtained 
the object of their wishes.* To this 
poetical bargain, he himself alludes in 
the beginning of the ode itself; the Sit 
Nemean, which opens thus: 
Ovux dvderay lumoalog t¢——e 
fe a TEAWUCOY T _eeyaber 
—8at aya hnar em avlac Babsuide 
ECaoT aA emiracag 
OAnados, EV T aXara yAvnss add 
gery if. 
He naturally gave the preference to-his 
own art; so did the friends of Pytheas: 
and his works are now, after a lapse of 
more than two thousand years, still re- 
maining to prove, that neither of them 
were mistaken. 
The remains of Pindar consist of 
fourteen Olympic odes, twelve Pythian, 
eleven Nemzan, and eight Isthmian. 
‘¢ They are of so difficult a character,” 
observes Dr. Kennet, ‘“‘ that the greatest 
judges are commonly satisfied with con- 
firming his general title, of Prince and 
Father of Lyrics, without engaging in 
the search of his particular excellencies.” 
For the prodigious elevation of his spirit, 
the beauty of his sentences, his bound- 
less scope of thought, and the daring 
freedom of his figures and metre, are as 
likely to deter a “critics as an imitator. 
All that we propose, therefore, are such 
observations as inay enable the reader to 
form a general and comprehensive opi- 
nion, upon the merits of Pindar. The 
first which occurs, is, that his odes have 
been transmitted to posterity in a state 
of comparative integrity. It is remark- 
able, indeed, considering the antiquity 
of this poet, that they should have de- 
scended to us so little impaired by time, 
or vitiated by the false taste of the 
“grammarians, through whose hands they 
have passed. The errors which are ob- 
servable in the most corrupt and defective 
copies, may be referred, some to the 
dialect, others to the metre. But no 
where is the sense so obscure and unin- 
telligible, as im some passages even of 
_ * West’s Dissertation on she: lyse, 
Games. p. 184. 5 
+ In Vit. Pind. p. 73, : 
Virgil 
