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{{Short description|5th century BC Greek lyric poet}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox writer
| name             = Pindar
| image            = Bust of Pindar.jpg
| caption          = Pindar, Roman copy of Greek 5th century BC bust (''[[Naples National Archaeological Museum|Museo Archeologico Nazionale]]'', Naples)
| native_name      = Πίνδαρος
| native_name_lang = grc
| birth_date       = {{circa|518 BC}}<ref>''The Greek and Roman critics'': "The odes of Pindar (522-443B.C.), written for the most part to celebrate victories in athletic contests, are interspersed with moral and philosophical reflections"</ref>
| birth_place      = [[Cynoscephalae (Boeotia)|Cynoscephalae]], [[Boiotia]]
| death_date       = {{circa|438 BC|lk=no}} (aged approximately 80)
| death_place      = [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]]
| occupation       = [[Lyric poet]]
| genre            = Poetry
}}
'''Pindar''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|ɪ|n|d|ər}}; {{langx|grc|Πίνδαρος}} {{Lang|grc-Latn|Pindaros}} {{IPA|el|píndaros|}}; {{langx|la|Pindarus}}; {{circa|518 BC|438 BC}}) was an [[Greek lyric|Ancient Greek lyric poet]] from [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]]. Of the [[Western canon|canonical]] [[nine lyric poets]] of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. [[Quintilian]] wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar is by far the greatest, in virtue of his inspired magnificence, the beauty of his thoughts and figures, the rich exuberance of his language and matter, and his rolling flood of eloquence, characteristics which, as [[Horace]] rightly held, make him inimitable."<ref>[[Quintilian]] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Quintilian/Institutio_Oratoria/10A*.html#1.61 10.1.61]; cf. [[Longinus (literature)|Pseudo-Longinus]] [http://classicpersuasion.org/pw/longinus/desub011.htm#xxxiii 33.5] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806092832/http://classicpersuasion.org/pw/longinus/desub011.htm#xxxiii |date=6 August 2011 }}.</ref> His poems can also, however, seem difficult and even peculiar. The Athenian comic playwright [[Eupolis]] once remarked that they "are already reduced to silence by the disinclination of the multitude for elegant learning".<ref>''Eupolis'' F366 Kock, 398 K/A, from Athenaeus 3a, (''[[Deipnosophistae]]'', epitome of book I)</ref> Some scholars in the modern age also found his poetry perplexing, at least until the 1896 discovery of some poems by his rival [[Bacchylides]]; comparisons of their work showed that many of Pindar's idiosyncrasies are typical of archaic genres rather than of only the poet himself. His poetry, while admired by critics, still challenges the casual reader and his work is largely unread among the general public.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Some Aspects of Pindar's Style|author=Lawrence Henry Baker|journal=The Sewanee Review|volume=31|issue=1|year=1923|jstor=27533621|pages=100–110}}</ref>

Pindar was the first Greek poet to reflect on the nature of poetry and on the poet's role.<ref>Gerber, p. 261</ref> His poetry illustrates the beliefs and values of [[Archaic Greece]] at the dawn of the [[Classical Greece|Classical period]].<ref>Pindar (1972) Introduction p. xv</ref> Like other poets of the Archaic Age, he has a profound sense of the vicissitudes of life, but he also articulates a passionate faith in what men can achieve by the grace of the gods, most famously expressed in the conclusion to one of his [[Epinikion|Victory Odes]]:<ref>de Romilly, p. 37</ref>

<blockquote><poem>
Creatures of a day! What is anyone?
What is anyone not? A dream of a shadow
Is our mortal being. But when there comes to men
A gleam of splendour given of heaven,
Then rests on them a light of glory
And blessed are their days. (''Pythian 8'')<ref>Bowra, Pythia VIII, lines 95–7</ref><ref>Pindar (1972) p. 144</ref>
</poem></blockquote>

== Biography ==
===Sources===
Five ancient sources contain all the recorded details of Pindar's life. One of them is a short biography discovered in 1961 on an Egyptian papyrus dating from at least 200 AD ([[P.Oxy]].2438).<ref>Race, p. 4</ref> The other four are collections that were not finalized until some 1600 years after his death:
* A brief biography of Pindar and his tomb in Boeotia, from Pausanias's “descriptions of Greece” [9.23.2]-[9.23.5].
* ''Commentaries on Pindar'' by [[Eustathius of Thessalonica]];
* ''Vita Vratislavensis'', found in a manuscript at [[Wrocław]], author unknown;
* a text by [[Thomas Magister]];
* some meagre writings attributed to the lexicographer Suidas.
Although these sources are based on a much older literary tradition, going as far back as [[Chamaeleon (philosopher)|Chamaeleon of Heraclea]] in the 4th century BC, they are generally viewed with scepticism today: much of the material is clearly fanciful.<ref name="Greek Lyric Poets' 1997 page 253"/><ref>Morice, pp. 211–15</ref> Scholars both ancient and modern have turned to Pindar's own work{{spaced ndash}}his [[Epinikion|victory odes]] in particular{{spaced ndash}}as a source of biographical information: some of the poems touch on historic events and can be accurately dated. The 1962 publication of Elroy Bundy's ground-breaking work ''Studia Pindarica''<ref>[http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2g79p68q Escholarship.org]</ref> led to a change in scholarly opinion: the Odes were no longer seen as expressions of Pindar's personal thoughts and feelings, but rather as public statements "dedicated to the single purpose of eulogizing men and communities."<ref>E.Bundy, ''Studia Pindarica'', Berkeley (1962), p. 35</ref> It has been claimed that biographical interpretations of the poems are due to a "fatal conjunction" of historicism and Romanticism.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Lloyd-Jones, Hugh|url=http://www.proc.britac.ac.uk/cgi-bin/somsid.cgi?page=68p139&session=479879E&type=header|title=Pindar|journal=Proceedings of the British Academy|volume=68|year=1982|pages=139–163 (145)}}{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In other words, we know almost nothing about Pindar's life based on either traditional sources or his own poems. However, the pendulum of intellectual fashion has begun to change direction again, and cautious use of the poems for some biographical purposes is considered acceptable once more.{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=38}}{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=59}}{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=67}}<ref>Currie, pp. 11–13</ref>

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{{lang|grc|πολλὰ γὰρ πολλᾷ λέλεκται: νεαρὰ δ᾽ ἐξευ-<br />
ρόντα δόμεν βασάνῳ<br />
ἐς ἔλεγχον, ἅπας κίνδυνος.}}<ref>Nemean 8, lines 20–21</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1947}}
|
Story is vast in range: new ways to find<br />
and test upon the touchstone,<br />
Here danger lies.<ref group="nb">Pindar (1972) p. 212. The three lines here, and in Bowra's Greek, are actually two lines or stichoi in Greek prosody. Stichoi however are often too long to be preserved as single lines in published form, and they are then broken into metrical units, or cola, the break indicated by indentation. This practice is observed both in Greek and in translations, but it is a modern convenience or preference and it has no historical authority: "...nullam habet apud codices auctoritatem neque veri simile est Pindarum ita carmina manu propria conscripsisse."</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1947|p=9}}
|}

===Life===
====Infancy to adulthood====
Pindar was born circa 518 BC (the 65th [[Olympiad]]) in [[Cynoscephalae (Boeotia)|Cynoscephalae]], a village in [[Boeotia]], not far from [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]]. His father's name is variously given as Daiphantus, Pagondas or Scopelinus, and his mother's name was Cleodice.<ref name="Greek Lyric Poets' 1997 page 253">Gerber, p. 253</ref> It is told that in his youth, or possibly infancy, bees built a honeycomb in his mouth and this was the reason he became a poet of honey-like verses. (An identical fate has been ascribed to other poets of the archaic period.)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://livingpoets.dur.ac.uk/w/index.php/Pindar:_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources | title=Pindar: A Guide to Selected Sources – Living Poets }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| title=The Honey Bee and Apian Imagery in Classical Literature | url=https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/33129/Carlson_washington_0250E_14276.pdf?sequence=1 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111192302/https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/33129/Carlson_washington_0250E_14276.pdf?sequence=1 | archive-date=2020-11-11}}</ref> Pindar was about twenty years old in 498 BC when he was commissioned by the ruling family in [[Thessaly]] to compose his first victory ode (''Pythian 10''). He studied the art of lyric poetry in Athens, where his tutor was [[Lasos of Hermione]], and he is also said to have received some helpful criticism from [[Corinna]].

The early to middle years of Pindar's career coincided with the [[Greco-Persian Wars]] during the reigns of [[Darius the Great|Darius]] and [[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes]]. This period included the [[first Persian invasion of Greece]], which ended at the [[Battle of Marathon]] in 490 BC, and the [[second Persian invasion of Greece]] (480–479 BC).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ancient Greece – War – The British Museum|url=http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/war/home_set.html|access-date=18 July 2020|website=www.ancientgreece.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Battle of Marathon|url=https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/battle-of-marathon|access-date=18 July 2020|website=HISTORY|date=29 October 2009 |language=en}}</ref> During the second invasion, when Pindar was almost forty years old, [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] was occupied by Xerxes' general, [[Mardonius (nephew of Darius I)|Mardonius]], who with many Theban aristocrats subsequently perished at the [[Battle of Plataea]]. It is possible that Pindar spent much of this time at [[Aegina]]. His choice of residence during the earlier invasion in 490 BC is not known, but he was able to attend the [[Pythian Games]] of that year, where he first met the Sicilian prince, Thrasybulus, nephew of [[Theron of Acragas]]. Thrasybulus had driven the winning chariot; and he and Pindar were to form a lasting friendship, paving the way for his subsequent visit to Sicily.

====Middle age====
[[File:VIII.1.a, Pompeii. June 2017. Painted panel from west end of south wall of enthroned Pindar with lyre, with Muse and poetess.jpg|thumb|300px|Enthroned Pindar with [[lyre]], [[Muses|Muse]] and poetess. Antique fresco in [[Pompeii]]]]
Pindar seems to have used his odes to advance his, and his friends', personal interests.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=311420|author=Hubbard, T. K.|title=Remaking Myth and Rewriting History: Cult Tradition in Pindar's Ninth Nemean'|journal= Harvard Studies in Classical Philology|volume=94|year=1992|pages=77–111 [78]|doi=10.2307/311420}}</ref> In 462 BC he composed two odes in honour of Arcesilas, king of [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]], (''Pythians 4 and 5''), pleading for the return from exile of a friend, Demophilus. In the latter ode Pindar proudly mentions his own ancestry, which he shared with the king, as an Aegeid or descendant of [[Aegeus]], the legendary king of Athens. The clan was influential in many parts of the Greek world, having intermarried with ruling families in Thebes, in [[Laconia (ancient region)|Lacedaemonia]], and in cities that claimed Lacedaemonian descent, such as Cyrene and [[Santorini|Thera]]. The historian [[Herodotus]] considered the clan important enough to deserve mention (''Histories'' IV.147). Membership of this clan possibly contributed to Pindar's success as a poet, and it informed his political views, which are marked by a conservative preference for oligarchic governments of the [[Dorians|Doric]] kind.

<blockquote>Pindar might not actually claim to be an Aegeid since his 'I' statements do not necessarily refer to himself. The Aegeid clan did however have a branch in Thebes, and his reference to 'my ancestors' in Pythian 5 could have been spoken on behalf of both Arcesilas and himself{{spaced ndash}}he may have used this ambivalence to establish a personal link with his patrons.<ref>Gerber, p. 270</ref></blockquote>

He was possibly the Theban [[proxenos]] or consul for Aegina and/or [[Molossia]], as indicated in another of his odes, Nemean 7,{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=177}}{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=178}}{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=179}}{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=180}} in which he glorifies [[Neoptolemus]], a national hero of Aegina and Molossia. According to tradition, Neoptolemus died disgracefully in a fight with priests at the temple in [[Delphi]] over their share of some sacrificial meat. Pindar diplomatically glosses over this and concludes mysteriously with an earnest protestation of innocence{{spaced ndash}}"But shall my heart never admit that I with words none can redeem dishonoured Neoptolemus".{{clarify|date=June 2020 |reason= this is barely English}} Possibly he was responding to anger among Aeginetans and/or Molossians over his portrayal of Neoptolemus in an earlier poem, ''[[Paean]] 6'', which had been commissioned by the priests at Delphi and which depicted the hero's death in traditional terms, as divine retribution for his crimes.

<blockquote>Some doubt this biographical interpretation of ''Nemean 7'' since it is largely based on marginal comments by [[scholiast]]s and Pindaric scholiasts are often unreliable. The fact that Pindar gave different versions of the myth may simply reflect the needs of different genres, and does not necessarily indicate a personal dilemma.<ref>Ian Rutherford, ''Pindar's Paeans'', Oxford University Press (2001), pp. 321–22</ref> ''Nemean 7'' in fact is the most controversial and obscure of Pindar's victory odes, and scholars ancient and modern have been ingenious and imaginative in their attempts to explain it, so far with no agreed success.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=1087989|author=Woodbury, Leonard|title=Neoptolemus at Delphi: Pindar, Nem.7.30ff|journal=Phoenix|volume=33|issue=2|year=1979| pages=95–133|doi=10.2307/1087989}}</ref></blockquote>

In his first Pythian ode, composed in 470 BC in honour of the Sicilian tyrant [[Hieron of Syracuse|Hieron]], Pindar celebrated a series of victories by Greeks against foreign invaders: Athenian and Spartan-led victories against Persia at [[Battle of Salamis|Salamis]] and [[Battle of Plataea|Plataea]], and victories by the western Greeks led by [[Theron of Acragas]] and Hieron against the Carthaginians and Etruscans at the battles of [[Battle of Himera (480 BC)|Himera]] and [[Battle of Cumae|Cumae]]. Such celebrations were not appreciated by his fellow Thebans: they had sided with the Persians and had incurred many losses and privations as a result of their defeat. His praise of Athens with such epithets as ''bulwark of [[Ancient Greece|Hellas]]'' (''fragment 76'') and ''city of noble name and sunlit splendour'' (Nemean 5) induced the authorities in Thebes to fine him 5,000 drachmae, to which the Athenians are said to have responded with a gift of 10,000 drachmae. According to another account,<ref>[[Isocrates]] 15.166</ref> the Athenians even made him their proxenus or consul in Thebes. His association with the fabulously rich Hieron was another source of annoyance at home. It was probably in response to Theban sensitivities over this issue that he denounced the rule of tyrants (i.e. rulers like Hieron) in an ode composed shortly after a visit to Hieron's sumptuous court in 476–75 BC (''Pythian 11'').<ref>Pindar (1972) p. 158</ref>

<blockquote>Pindar's actual phrasing in ''Pythian 11'' was "I deplore the lot of tyrants" and though this was traditionally interpreted as an apology for his dealings with Sicilian tyrants like Hieron, an alternative date for the ode has led some scholars to conclude that it was in fact a covert reference to the tyrannical behaviour of the Athenians, although this interpretation is ruled out if we accept the earlier note about covert references. According to yet another interpretation Pindar is simply delivering a formulaic warning to the successful athlete to avoid [[hubris]].{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=59}} It is highly unlikely that Pindar ever acted for Athenians as their proxenus or consul in Thebes.{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=57}}</blockquote>

Lyric verse was conventionally accompanied by music and dance, and Pindar himself wrote the music and choreographed the dances for his victory odes. Sometimes he trained the performers at his home in Thebes, and sometimes he trained them at the venue where they performed. Commissions took him to all parts of the Greek world{{spaced ndash}}to the Panhellenic festivals in mainland Greece (Olympia, Delphi, Corinth and Nemea), westwards to Sicily, eastwards to the seaboard of Asia Minor, north to [[Macedon]]ia and [[Abdera, Thrace|Abdera]] (''Paean 2'') and south to Cyrene on the African coast. Other poets at the same venues vied with him for the favours of patrons. His poetry sometimes reflects this rivalry. For example, ''Olympian 2'' and ''Pythian 2'', composed in honour of the Sicilian tyrants Theron and Hieron following his visit to their courts in 476–75 BC, refer respectively to ''ravens'' and an ''ape'', apparently signifying rivals who were engaged in a campaign of smears against him{{spaced ndash}}possibly the poets [[Simonides]] and his nephew [[Bacchylides]].<ref>Pindar (1972) pp. 10, 88–9</ref> Pindar's original treatment of narrative myth, often relating events in reverse chronological order, is said to have been a favourite target for criticism.<ref>Pindar (1972) Introduction p. XIII</ref> Simonides was known to charge high fees for his work and Pindar is said to have alluded to this in ''Isthmian 2'', where he refers to the Muse as "a hireling journeyman". He appeared in many poetry competitions and was defeated five times by his compatriot, the poet [[Corinna]], in revenge of which he called her ''Boeotian sow'' in one of his odes (''Olympian'' 6. 89f.).

<blockquote>It was assumed by ancient sources that Pindar's odes were performed by a chorus, but this has been challenged by some modern scholars, who argue that the odes were in fact performed solo.{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=16}} It is not known how commissions were arranged, nor if the poet travelled widely: even when poems include statements like "I have come" it is not certain that this was meant literally.<ref>Race, pp. 10–11</ref> Uncomplimentary references to Bacchylides and Simonides were found by [[scholiasts]] but there is no reason to accept their interpretation of the odes.<ref>David Campbell, ''Greek Lyric IV'', Loeb Classical Library (1992), page 6</ref> In fact, some scholars have interpreted the allusions to fees in ''Isthmian 2'' as a request by Pindar for payment of fees owed to himself.<ref>Pindar (1972) p. 239</ref> His defeats by Corinna were probably invented by ancient commentators to account for the ''Boeotian sow'' remark, a phrase moreover that was completely misunderstood by scholiasts, since Pindar was scoffing at a reputation that all Boeotians had for stupidity.<ref>D. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric IV'', p. 2</ref></blockquote>

====Old age and death====
His fame as a poet drew Pindar into Greek politics. Athens, the most important city in Greece throughout his poetic career, was a rival of his home city, [[Thebes (Greece)|Thebes]], and also of the island state [[Aegina]], whose leading citizens commissioned about a quarter of his Victory Odes. There is no open condemnation of the Athenians in any of his poems but criticism is implied. For example, the victory ode mentioned above (''Pythian 8'') describes the downfall of the giants [[Porphyrion]] and [[Typhon]] and this might be Pindar's way of covertly celebrating a recent defeat of Athens by Thebes at the [[Battle of Coronea (447 BC)|Battle of Coronea]] (447 BC).<ref>Pindar (1972), p. 138</ref> The poem ends with a prayer for Aegina's freedom, long threatened by Athenian ambitions.
<blockquote>Covert criticism of Athens (traditionally located in odes such as ''Pythian'' 8, ''Nemean'' 8 and ''Isthmian'' 7) is now dismissed as highly unlikely, even by scholars who allow some biographical and historical interpretations of the poems.<ref>Charles Segal, 'Choral Lyric in the Fifth Century', in Easterling, pp. 231–232</ref></blockquote>

One of his last odes (''Pythian 8'') indicates that he lived near a shrine to the oracle [[Alcmaeon (mythology)|Alcmaeon]] and that he stored some of his wealth there. In the same ode he says that he had recently received a prophecy from Alcmaeon during a journey to Delphi ("...he met me and proved the skills of prophecy that all his race inherit")<ref>Pindar (1972) p. 142</ref> but he does not reveal what the long-dead prophet said to him nor in what form he appeared.<ref group="nb">There are several other accounts of supernatural visitations relating to Pindar (see for example C.M. Bowra, ''Pindar'', pages 49–51). According to a [[scholium]], he and a pupil, Olympichus, once saw a mysterious flame on a mountain, attended by strange noises. Pindar then beheld [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]], the Mother of the Gods, advancing in the form of a wooden image. [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] (9.25.3) reported that he set up a monument near his home, dedicated conjointly to Pan and the Mother of the Gods ({{lang|grc|Δινδυμήνη}}). According to [[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathius]] (''Proem.'' 27, p. 298. 9 Dr) and ''Vit. Ambr.'' (p. 2. 2 Dr.), Pan was once heard between [[Cithaeron]] and [[Mount Helicon|Helicon]] singing a [[paean]] composed to him by Pindar (fr. 85).</ref>  The ode was written to commemorate a victory by an athlete from [[Aegina]].

<blockquote>Pindar doesn't necessarily mean himself when he uses the first person singular. Many of his 'I' statements are generic, indicating somebody engaged in the role of a singer i.e. a 'bardic' I. Other 'I' statements articulate values typical of the audience, and some are spoken on behalf of the subjects celebrated in the poems.<ref>Currie, p. 20</ref> The 'I' that received the prophecy in ''Pythian 8'' therefore might have been the athlete from Aegina, not Pindar. In that case the prophecy must have been about his performance at the Pythian Games, and the property stored at the shrine was just a votive offering.<ref>Gerber, pp. 268–269</ref></blockquote>

Nothing is recorded about Pindar's wife and son except their names, Megacleia and Daiphantus.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brill Academic Publishers |url=https://brill.com/previewpdf/book/edcoll/9789004217614/BP000022.xml |access-date=21 November 2022}}</ref>

About ten days before he died, the goddess [[Persephone]] appeared to him and complained that she was the only divinity to whom he had never composed a hymn. She said he would come to her soon and compose one then.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pausanias |author-link=Pausanias (geographer) |title=Description of Greece 9.23.3 |title-link=Description of Greece |pages=}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=September 2025}}

Pindar lived to about eighty years of age. He died around 438 BC while attending a festival at [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]]. His ashes were taken back home to Thebes by his musically gifted daughters, Eumetis and Protomache.

====Post mortem====
One of Pindar's female relatives claimed that he dictated some verses to her in honour of Persephone after he had been dead for several days. Some of Pindar's verses were inscribed in letters of gold on a temple wall in [[Lindos]], Rhodes. At Delphi, where he had been elected a priest of Apollo, the priests exhibited an iron chair on which he used to sit during the festival of the [[Theoxenia (festival)|Theoxenia]]. Every night, while closing the temple doors, they intoned: "Let Pindar the poet go unto the supper of the gods!"

Pindar's house in [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] became one of the city's landmarks. When [[Alexander the Great]] [[Battle of Thebes|demolished Thebes]] in 335&nbsp;BC, as punishment for its resistance to Macedonian expansionism, he ordered the house be left intact out of gratitude for verses praising his ancestor, [[Alexander I of Macedon]].<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''Life of Alexander'' 11.6; [[Arrian]], ''[[Anabasis Alexandri]]'' 1.9.10</ref>

===Values and beliefs===
Pindar's values and beliefs have been inferred from his poetry. No other ancient Greek poet has left so many comments about the nature of his art. He justified and exalted [[choral poetry]] at a time when society was turning away from it. It "... had for two centuries reflected and shaped the sentiments, the outlook, and the convictions of the Greek aristocracies ... and Pindar spoke up for it with passionate assurance".{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=2}} His poetry is a meeting ground for gods, heroes and men{{spaced ndash}}even the dead are spoken of as participants: "Deep in the earth their heart listens".{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=38}}

His view of the gods is traditional but more self-consistent than [[Homer]]'s and more reverent. He never depicts gods in a demeaning role. He seems indifferent to the intellectual reforms that were shaping the theology of the times. Thus an eclipse is not a mere physical effect, as contemplated by early thinkers such as [[Thales]], [[Anaximander]] and [[Heraclitus]], nor was it even a subject for bold wonder, as it was for an earlier poet, [[Archilochus]];<ref>Archilochus fr. 122 West</ref> instead Pindar treated an eclipse as a portent of evil.<ref group="nb">''Paean'' 9.13–20). The eclipse is mentioned in a fragment quoted by [[Stobaeus]], addressed to the Thebans:<br />Is it some sign of war you bring? / Or blight on crops, or snow-fall's strength / Beyond all telling, or murderous strife at home, / Or emptying of the sea on land, / Or frost binding the earth, or south-wind in summer / With a flood of furious rain, / Or will you drown the land and raise / A new breed of men from the beginning?</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=83}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=84}}

Gods are the embodiment of power, uncompromisingly proud of their nature and violent in defense of their privileges.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=42}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=43}} There is some rationalization of religious belief, but it is within a tradition at least as old as [[Hesiod]], where abstractions are personified, such as "Truth the daughter of Zeus".<ref>''Olympic Ode'' 10.3–4</ref> Sometimes the wording suggests a belief in 'God' rather than 'a god' (e.g. "What is God? Everything"),<ref group="nb">fr. 129: {{lang|grc|τί θεός; τὸ πάν}}</ref> but the implications are not given full expression and the poems are not examples of [[monotheism]].{{citation needed|date=September 2012}} Nor do they vocalize a belief in Fate as the background to the gods, unlike the plays of [[Aeschylus]] for example. Pindar subjects both fortune and fate to divine will (e.g. "child of Zeus ... Fortune").<ref>''Olympic Ode'' 12.1–2)</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=84}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=85}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=86}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=87}}
[[File:Heracles.jpg|thumb|right|A short Heracles: Pindar once ignored the traditional image of Heracles, the supreme example of the heroic physique, and described him as short in order to compare him with a short patron.]]
He selects and revises traditional myths so as not to diminish the dignity and majesty of the gods. Such revisionism was not unique. [[Xenophanes]] had castigated [[Homer]] and [[Hesiod]] for the misdeeds they ascribed to gods, such as theft, adultery and deception, and [[Pythagoras]] had envisioned those two poets being punished in Hades for blasphemy. A subtle example of Pindar's approach can be found in his treatment of the myth of Apollo's rape of the nymph [[Cyrene (mythology)|Cyrene]].<ref>''Pythian Ode'' 9</ref> As the god of the [[Delphic oracle]], Apollo is all-knowing, yet in keeping with his anthropomorphic nature he seeks information about the nymph from a third party, in this case the centaur [[Chiron]]. Chiron however affirms the god's omniscience with an elegant compliment, as if Apollo had only pretended to be ignorant: "You, Sire, who know the appointed end of all, and all paths..."<ref group="nb">Chiron's compliment to Apollo:<br />"You, Sire, who know / The appointed end of all, and all paths: / How many leaves in April the earth puts forth, / How many grains of sand / In the sea and rivers / Are troubled by the waves and the swirling winds, / And what shall be, and whence it shall come / You see with clear eyes."</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=61}} Apollo's abduction of the nymph is not presented as a shameful act. Pindar's gods are above such ethical issues and it is not for men to judge them by ordinary human standards. Indeed, the finest breeds of men resulted from divine passions: "For Pindar a mortal woman who is loved by a god is an outstanding lesson in divine favours handsomely bestowed".{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=64}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=65}}

Being descendants of divine unions with privileged mortals, mythical heroes are an intermediate group between gods and men, and they are sympathetic to human ambitions. Thus, for example, Pindar not only invokes Zeus for help on behalf of the island of Aegina but also its national heroes [[Aeacus]], [[Peleus]] and [[Telamon]].<ref>''Pythian Ode'' 8.99–100</ref> Unlike the gods, however, heroes can be judged according to ordinary human standards and they are sometimes shown in the poems to demean themselves. Even in that case, they receive special consideration. Thus Pindar refers obliquely to the murder of [[Phocus]] by his brothers Peleus and Telamon ("I am shy of speaking of a huge risk, hazarded not in right"), telling the audience that he will not talk of it ("silence is a man's wisest counsel").<ref group="nb">''Nemean Odes'' 5.14–18:<br />I am shy of speaking of a huge risk / Hazarded not in right, / How they left the famous island, / And what fate drove strong men from the Vineland. / I shall halt. Truth does not always / Gain more if unflinching / She reveals her face; / And silence is often a man's wisest counsel.</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=67}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=68}} The Theban hero [[Heracles]] was a favourite subject but in one poem he is depicted as small in order to be compared with a small Theban patron who had won the [[pankration]] at the Isthmian Games:<ref>''Isthmian Odes'' 4.57</ref> a unique example of Pindar's readiness to shape traditional myths to fit the occasion, even if not always flattering to the mythical hero. A hero's status is not diminished by an occasional blemish but rests on a summary view of his heroic exploits.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=47}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=48}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=71}}

Some of his patrons claimed divine descent, such as [[Diagoras of Rhodes]], but Pindar makes all men akin to gods if they realize their full potential: their innate gifts are divinely bestowed, and even then success still depends on the gods' active favour. In honouring such men, therefore, Pindar was honouring the gods too.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=66}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=67}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=96}} His statements about life after death were not self-consistent but that was typical for the times. Traditional ambivalence, as expressed by Homer, had been complicated by a growth of religious sects, such as the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]] and [[Pythagoreanism]], representing various schemes of rewards and punishments in the next life. However, for the poet, glory and lasting fame were men's greatest assurance of a life well-lived.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=89-96}} He presents no theory of history apart from the view that Fortune is variable even for the best men, an outlook suited to moderation in success, courage in adversity. Notions of 'good' and 'bad' in human nature were not analysed by him in any depth nor did he arrive at anything like the [[Simonides of Ceos#Ethics|compassionate ethics]] of his near contemporary, Simonides of Ceos.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=76}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=77}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=120}} His poems are indifferent to the ordinary mass of people. They are dismissed with phrases such as "the brute multitude" (''Pythian Ode'' 2.87). Nor are the poems concerned with the fate of rich and powerful men once they lose their wealth and social status (compared for example with the bitter and disillusioned poems of [[Theognis of Megara]]). They are more interested in what successful men do with their good fortune: success brings obligations, and religious and artistic activities need patrons.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=100}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=101}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=102}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=103}}

Whereas the [[Muses]] inspired Homer with relevant information and with the language to express it, Pindar seems to receive only their inspiration: his role is to shape that inspiration with his own wisdom and skill. Like his patrons, whom he immortalizes in verse, he owes his success to hard work as well as to innate gifts; though he hires himself out, he has a vocation. The Muses are to him as an oracle is to a prophet, and lesser poets are to him as ravens are to an eagle; the art of such men is as hackneyed as garland-making; his is magical:{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=4}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=5}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=6}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=7}}
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{{lang|grc|εἴρειν στεφάνους ἐλαφρόν: ἀναβάλεο: Μοῖσά τοι <br />
κολλᾷ χρυσὸν ἔν τε λευκὸν ἐλέφανθ᾽ ἁμᾷ <br />
καὶ λείριον ἄνθεμον ποντίας ὑφελοῖσ᾽ ἐέρσας.}}
|
To plait garlands is easy. Strike up! The Muse<br />
Welds together gold and white ivory<br />
And the lily-flower snatched from the sea's dew.<ref>''Nemean Ode'' 7.77–79</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=16}}
|}

==Works==
Pindar's strongly individual genius is apparent in all his extant compositions but, unlike [[Simonides]] and [[Stesichorus]] for example, he created no new lyrical genres.<ref name=j41>Jebb, Richard (1905) [https://openlibrary.org/books/OL20591590M/Bacchylides_The_Poems_and_Fragments ''Bacchylides: the poems and fragments''], Cambridge University Press, p. 41</ref> He was however innovative in his use of the genres he inherited{{spaced ndash}}for example, in one of his victory odes (''Olympian'' 3), he announces his invention of a new type of musical accompaniment, combining lyre, flute and human voice (though our knowledge of Greek music is too sketchy to allow us to understand the full nature of this innovation).<ref name=Conway72-17>Pindar (1972) p. 17</ref>

Although he probably spoke [[Boeotian Greek]], he composed in a literary language that tended to rely more on the [[Doric Greek|Doric]] dialect than his rival [[Bacchylides]], but less insistently than [[Alcman]]. There is an admixture of other dialects, especially Aeolic and epic forms, and an occasional use of some Boeotian words.<ref name="Douglas E. Gerber 1997 page 255">Gerber, p. 255</ref>

He composed "choral" songs yet it is by no means certain that they were all sung by choirs{{spaced ndash}}the use of choirs is testified only by the generally unreliable scholiasts.<ref>Gregory Nagy, ''Greek Literature in the Hellenistic Period'', Routledge (2001), p. 66</ref>

Scholars at the [[Library of Alexandria]] collected his compositions in seventeen books organized according to genre:<ref>M.M. Willcock: ''Pindar: Victory Odes'' (1995). Cambridge University Press, p. 3.</ref>
* 1 book of ''hymnoi''{{spaced ndash}}"''[[hymn]]s''"
* 1 book of ''paianes''{{spaced ndash}}"''[[paean]]s''"
* 2 books of ''dithyramboi''{{spaced ndash}}"''[[dithyramb]]s''"
* 2 books of ''prosodia''{{spaced ndash}}''"[[Prosodion|processionals]]"''
* 3 books of ''parthenia''{{spaced ndash}}"''songs for maidens''"
* 2 books of ''hyporchemata''{{spaced ndash}}"''[[Hyporchema|songs for light dances]]''"
* 1 book of ''enkomia''{{spaced ndash}}"''[[Encomium|songs of praise]]''"
* 1 book of ''threnoi''{{spaced ndash}}"''laments''"
* 4 books of ''epinikia''{{spaced ndash}}"''[[epinikion|victory odes]]''"

Of this vast and varied corpus, only the ''epinikia''{{spaced ndash}}odes written to commemorate athletic victories{{spaced ndash}}survive in complete form; the rest survive only by quotations in other ancient authors or from [[papyrus]] scraps unearthed in [[Egypt]]. Even in fragmentary form however, they reveal the same complexity of thought and language that are found in the victory odes.<ref>Bowie, p. 110</ref>

[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] singled out Pindar's work as an outstanding example of austere style ({{lang|grc|αὐστηρὰ ἁρμονία}}) but he noted its absence in the maiden songs or ''parthenia''. One surviving fragment of a maiden song does seem to be different in tone, due however to the fact that it is spoken in the character of a girl:<ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''de Comp.'' 22, ''de Dem.'' 39</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=193}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=363}}
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{{lang|grc|ἐμὲ δὲ πρέπει παρθενήια μὲν φρονεῖν<br />
γλώσσᾳ τε λέγεσθαι.}} 
|
{{grc-transl|ἐμὲ δὲ πρέπει παρθενήια μὲν φρονεῖν<br />
γλώσσᾳ τε λέγεσθαι.}}
|
I must think maidenly thoughts<br />
And utter them with my tongue.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=363}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=84}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=25}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=26}}
|}

Enough of his dithyrambic poetry survives for comparison with that of Bacchylides, who used it for narrative. Pindar's dithyrambs are an exuberant display of religious feeling, capturing the wild spirit of [[Dionysus]] and pointing forward to the ecstatic songs of [[Euripides]]' ''[[The Bacchae|Bacchae]]''. In one of these, dedicated to the Athenians and written to be sung in Spring, he depicts the divine energy of the revitalized world.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=62}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=63}}
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{{lang|grc|φοινικοεάνων ὁπότ' οἰχθέντος Ὡρᾶν θαλάμου<br />
εὔοδμον ἐπάγοισιν ἔαρ φυτὰ νεκτάρεα.<br />
τότε βάλλεται, τότ' ἐπ' ἀμβρόταν χθόν' ἐραταί<br />
ἴων φόβαι, ῥόδα τε κόμαισι μείγνυται,<br />
ἀχεῖ τ' ὀμφαὶ μελέων σὺν αὐλοῖς<br />
οἰχνεῖ τε Σεμέλαν ἑλικάμπυκα χοροί.}} 
|
{{grc-transl|φοινικοεάνων ὁπότ' οἰχθέντος Ὡρᾶν θαλάμου<br />
εὔοδμον ἐπάγοισιν ἐάρ φυτὰ νεκτάρεα.<br />
τότε βάλλεται, τότ' ἐπ' ἀμβρόταν χθόν' ἐραταί<br />
ἴων φόβαι, ῥόδα τε κόμαισι μείγνυται,<br />
ἀχεῖ τ' ὀμφαὶ μελέων σὺν αὐλοῖς<br />
οἰχνεῖ τε Σεμέλαν ἑλικάμπυκα χοροί.}}
|
When the chamber of the scarlet-clothed Hours is opened<br />
And the nectareous flowers usher in the fragrant spring,<br />
Then are scattered, then, on the immortal ground<br />
The lovely petals of violets; roses are wound in our hair;<br />
Loudly echo the voices of songs to the flutes,<br />
And choirs step in procession to dark-ribboned [[Semele]].{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=63}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|pp=15–20}}
|}

===Victory odes<!--linked from 'Loeb Classical Library'-->===
[[File:Farnese Diadumenos BM 501.jpg|right|thumbnail|The so-called 'Farnese Diadumenos' is a Roman copy of a Greek original attributed to [[Polykleitos]] c. 440 BC, depicting an athlete tying a victory ribbon round his head.]]
Almost all Pindar's victory [[ode]]s are celebrations of triumphs gained by competitors in [[Panhellenic festivals]] such as the Olympian Games. The establishment of these athletic and musical festivals was among the greatest achievements of the Greek aristocracies. Even in the 5th century BC, when there was an increased tendency towards professionalism, they were predominantly aristocratic assemblies, reflecting the expense and leisure needed to attend such events either as a competitor or spectator. Attendance was an opportunity for display and self-promotion, and the prestige of victory, requiring commitment in time and/or wealth, went far beyond anything that accrues to athletic victories today, even in spite of the modern preoccupation with sport.<ref>Antony Andrewes, ''Greek Society'', Pelican Books (1971), pp. 219–22</ref> Pindar's odes capture something of the prestige and the aristocratic grandeur of the moment of victory, as in this stanza from one of his Isthmian Odes, here translated by Geoffrey S. Conway:

{{poemquote|::If ever a man strives
With all his soul's endeavour, sparing himself
Neither expense nor labour to attain
True excellence, then must we give to those
Who have achieved the goal, a proud tribute
::Of lordly praise, and shun
:All thoughts of envious jealousy.
To a poet's mind the gift is slight, to speak
A kind word for unnumbered toils, and build
For all to share a monument of beauty. (''Isthmian'' I, antistrophe 3)<ref>Pindar (1972) p. 235</ref>}}

His victory odes are grouped into four books named after the [[Ancient Olympic Games|Olympian]], [[Pythian Games|Pythian]], [[Isthmian Games|Isthmian]], and [[Nemean Games]]{{spaced ndash}}Panhellenic festivals held respectively at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]], [[Delphi]], [[Corinth]] and [[Nemea]]. This reflects the fact that most of the odes were composed in honour of boys, youths, and men who had recently enjoyed victories in athletic (and sometimes musical) contests at those festivals. In a few odes however much older victories, and even victories in lesser games, are celebrated, often as a pretext for addressing other issues or achievements. For example, ''Pythian 3'', composed in honour of Hieron of Syracuse, briefly mentions a victory he had once enjoyed at the Pythian Games, but it is actually intended to console him for his chronic illness (similarly, ''Pythian'' 2 is like a private letter in its intimacy).<ref name=Conway72-88-96>Pindar (1972), p. 88. 96</ref> ''Nemean 9'' and ''Nemean 10'' celebrate victories in games at [[Sicyon]] and [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], and ''Nemean 11'' celebrates a victory in a municipal election on [[Ancient Tenedos|Tenedos]] (though it also mentions some obscure athletic victories). These three odes are the final odes in the ''Nemean'' book of odes, and there is a reason for their inclusion. In the original manuscripts, the four books of odes were arranged in the order of importance assigned to the festivals, with the Nemean festival, considered least important, coming last. Victory odes that lacked a Panhellenic subject were then bundled together at the end of the book of ''Nemean'' odes.<ref name=Conway72-xx>Pindar (1972) Introduction p. xx</ref>

====Style====
Pindar's poetic style is very distinctive, even when the peculiarities of the genre are set aside. The odes typically feature a grand and arresting opening, often with an architectural metaphor or a resounding invocation to a place or goddess. He makes rich use of decorative language and florid compound adjectives.<ref name="Charles Segal 1985 page 232">Charles Segal, 'Choral Lyric in the Fifth Century', in Easterling, p. 232</ref> Sentences are compressed to the point of obscurity, unusual words and periphrases give the language an esoteric quality, and transitions in meaning often seem erratic, the images seem to burst out{{spaced ndash}}it is a style that sometimes baffles but also makes his poetry vivid and unforgettable.<ref>de Romilly, p. 38</ref>
{{Blockquote|Pindar's power does not lie in the pedigrees of ... athletes ... It lies in a splendour of phrase and imagery that suggests the gold and purple of a sunset sky.{{spaced ndash}}[[F. L. Lucas]]<ref name="greekpoetry">{{cite book | title=Greek Poetry for Everyman | author=Lucas, F. L. | publisher=Macmillan Company, New York | page=262}}</ref>}}
{{Blockquote|He has that force of imagination which can bring clear-cut and dramatic figures of gods and heroes into vivid relief...he has that peculiar and inimitable splendour of style which, though sometimes aided by magnificent novelties of diction, is not dependent on them, but can work magical effects with simple words; he has also, at frequent moments, a marvellous swiftness, alike in the succession of images, and in the transitions from thought to thought; and his tone is that of a prophet who can speak with a voice as of [[Delphi]].{{spaced ndash}}[[Richard Claverhouse Jebb]]<ref name=j41/>}}
His odes were animated by...
{{Blockquote|one burning glow which darted out a shower of brilliant images, leapt in a white-hot spark across gaps unbridgeable by thought, passed through a commonplace leaving it luminous and transparent, melted a group of heterogeneous ideas into a shortlived unity and, as suddenly as a flame, died.{{spaced ndash}}[[Gilbert Highet]]<ref>Gilbert Highet, ''The Classical Tradition'', Oxford University Press (1949), p. 225</ref>}}

Some of these qualities can be found, for example, in this stanza from ''Pythian 2'', composed in honour of Hieron:
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{{lang|grc|θεὸς ἅπαν ἐπὶ ἐλπίδεσσι τέκμαρ ἀνύεται,<br />
θεός, ὃ καὶ πτερόεντ᾽ αἰετὸν κίχε, καὶ θαλασ-<br />
:σαῖον παραμείβεται
δελφῖνα, καὶ ὑψιφρόνων τιν᾽ ἔκαμψε βροτῶν,<br />
ἑτέροισι δὲ κῦδος ἀγήραον παρέδωκ᾽. ἐμὲ δὲ χρεὼν<br />
φεύγειν δάκος ἀδινὸν κακαγοριᾶν.<br />
εἶδον γὰρ ἑκὰς ἐὼν τὰ πόλλ᾽ ἐν ἀμαχανίᾳ<br />
ψογερὸν Ἀρχίλοχον βαρυλόγοις ἔχθεσιν<br />
πιαινόμενον: τὸ πλουτεῖν δὲ σὺν τύχᾳ πό-<br />
:τμου σοφίας ἄριστον.}}<ref>Bowra, Pythia II 49–56</ref>
|
God achieves all his purpose and fulfills his every hope,<br />
God who can overtake the winged eagle, or upon the sea<br />
:outstrip the dolphin;
and he bends the arrogant heart of many a man,<br />
But gives to others eternal glory that will never fade. Now for me<br />
Is it needful that I shun the fierce and biting tooth of slanderous words.<br />
For from old have I seen sharp-tongued Archilochus in want and struggling,<br />
Grown fat on the harsh words of hate.<br />
The best that fate can bring is wealth<br />
:joined with the happy gift of wisdom.<ref>Pindar (1972) pp. 92–3</ref>
|}

The stanza begins with a celebration of divine power, and then abruptly shifts to a darker, more allusive train of thought, featuring condemnation of a renowned poet, [[Archilochus]], ''Grown fat on the harsh words of hate''. Archilochus was an [[Iambus (genre)|iambic]] poet, working within a genre that licensed abusive and scurrilous verse{{spaced ndash}}a regrettable tendency from the viewpoint of Pindar, whose own persona is intensely earnest, preaching to Hieron the need for moderation (wealth with wisdom) and submission to the divine will. The reference to the embittered poet appears to be Pindar's meditative response to some intrigues at Hieron's court, possibly by his rivals, condemned elsewhere as ''a pair of ravens'' (''Olympian 2''). The intensity of the stanza suggests that it is the culmination and climax of the poem. In fact, the stanza occupies the middle of ''Pythian 2'' and the intensity is sustained throughout the poem from beginning to end. It is the sustained intensity of his poetry that Quintilian refers to above as a ''rolling flood of eloquence'' and Horace below refers to as the ''uncontrollable momentum'' of a river that has burst its banks. [[Longinus (literature)|Longinus]] likens him to ''a vast fire''<ref>''De Subl.'' 33.5</ref> and [[Athenaeus]] refers to him as ''the great-voiced Pindar''.<ref>Athenaeus 13.5.64c</ref>

Pindar's treatment of myth is another unique aspect of his style, often involving variations on the traditional stories,<ref>Bowie, pp. 107–8</ref> since his original audience was familiar with the myths and this allowed him to concentrate on unique and surprising effects. Reversing the chronological order was one such effect, as in ''Olympian VII'' dedicated to Diagoras of Rhodes, but this could also resemble a circular pattern, beginning with a culminating event, followed by scenes leading up to it, and ending with its restatement, as in his account of the [[Dioscuri]] in ''Nemean 10''.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=310}} Myths enabled him to develop the themes and lessons that pre-occupy him{{spaced ndash}}in particular mankind's exulted relation with the gods via heroic ancestors and, in contrast, the limitations and uncertainties of human existence{{spaced ndash}}but sometimes the traditional stories were an embarrassment and were carefully edited, as for example:
"Be still my tongue: here profits not / to tell the whole truth with clear face unveiled," (''Nemean 5'', epode 1); "Away, away this story! / Let no such tale fall from my lips! / For to insult the gods is a fool's wisdom," (''Olympian 9'', strophe 2); "Senseless, I hold it, for a man to say / the gods eat mortal flesh. / I spurn the thought," (''Olympian 1'', epode 2).<ref>Pindar (1972) pp. 192, 54, 4, respectively</ref> His mythical accounts are edited for dramatic and graphic effects, usually unfolding through a few grand gestures against a background of large, often symbolic elements such as sea, sky, darkness, fire or mountain.<ref name="Charles Segal 1985 page 232"/>

====Structure====
Pindar's odes typically begin with an invocation to a god or the Muses, followed by praise of the victor and often of his family, ancestors and home-town. Then follows a narrated myth, usually occupying the central and longest section of the poem, which exemplify a moral, while aligning the poet and his audience with the world of gods and heroes.<ref>Bowie, p. 108</ref> The ode usually ends in more eulogies, for example of trainers (if the victor is a boy), and of relatives who have won past events, as well as with prayers or expressions of hope for future success.<ref name="Geoffrey S. Conway 1972">Pindar (1972)</ref> The event where the victory was gained is never described in detail, but there is often some mention of the hard work needed to bring the victory about.

A lot of modern criticism tries to find hidden structure or some unifying principle within the odes. 19th century criticism favoured 'gnomic unity' i.e. that each ode is bound together by the kind of moralizing or philosophic vision typical of archaic [[Gnomic poetry]]. Later critics sought unity in the way certain words or images are repeated and developed within a particular ode. For others, the odes are just celebrations of men and their communities, in which the elements such as myths, piety, and ethics are stock themes that the poet introduces without much real thought. Some conclude that the requirement for unity is too modern to have informed Pindar's ancient approach to a traditional craft.<ref name="Douglas E. Gerber 1997 page 255"/>

The great majority of the odes are triadic in structure{{spaced ndash}}i.e., stanzas are grouped together in three's as a lyrical unit. Each triad comprises two stanzas identical in length and meter (called 'strophe' and 'antistrophe') and a third stanza (called an 'epode'), differing in length and meter but rounding off the lyrical movement in some way. The shortest odes comprise a single triad, the largest (''Pythian 4'') comprises thirteen triads. Seven of the odes however are monostrophic (i.e., each stanza in the ode is identical in length and meter). The monostrophic odes seem to have been composed for victory marches or processions, whereas the triadic odes appear suited to choral dances.<ref name="Geoffrey S. Conway 1972"/> Pindar's metrical rhythms are nothing like the simple, repetitive rhythms familiar to readers of English verse{{spaced ndash}}typically the rhythm of any given line recurs infrequently (for example, only once every ten, fifteen or twenty lines). This adds to the aura of complexity that surrounds Pindar's work. In terms of meter, the odes fall roughly into two categories{{spaced ndash}}about half are in [[Greek prosody#Dactylo-epitrite|dactylo-epitrite]]s (a meter found for example in the works of [[Stesichorus]], Simonides and Bacchylides) and the other half are in [[Aeolic verse#Choral Aeolics|Aeolic metres]] based on iambs and choriambs.<ref name="Douglas E. Gerber 1997 page 255"/>

====Chronological order====
Modern editors (e.g., Snell and Maehler in their [[Teubner]] edition), have assigned dates, securely or tentatively, to Pindar's victory odes, based on ancient sources and other grounds. The date of an athletic victory is not always the date of composition but often serves merely as a ''terminus post quem''. Many dates are based on comments by ancient sources who had access to published lists of victors, such as the Olympic list compiled by [[Hippias of Elis]], and lists of Pythian victors made by [[Aristotle]] and [[Callisthenes]]. There were however no such lists for the Isthmian and Nemean Games<ref>Currie, p. 25</ref>{{spaced ndash}}[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] (6.13.8) complained that the Corinthians and Argives never kept proper records. The resulting uncertainty is reflected in the chronology below, with question marks clustered around Nemean and Isthmian entries, and yet it still represents a fairly clear general timeline of Pindar's career as an epinician poet. The code '''M''' denotes monostrophic odes (odes in which all stanzas are metrically identical) and the rest are triadic (i.e. featuring strophes, antistrophes, epodes):

{|class="wikitable"
|+Victory odes in estimated chronological order
! Date<br />(BC)
! Ode
! Victor
! Event
! Focusing myth
|-
| 498
| Pythian 10
| Hippocles of [[Thessaly]]
| [[Dolichos (running race)|Boy's long foot-race]]
| [[Perseus]], [[Hyperboreans]]
|-
| 490
| Pythian 6 ('''M''')
| Xenocrates of [[Agrigento|Acragas]]
| Chariot-race
| [[Antilochus]], [[Nestor (mythology)|Nestor]]
|-
| 490
| Pythian 12 ('''M''')
| Midas of [[Agrigento|Acragas]]
| [[Aulos|Flute-Playing]]
| Perseus, [[Medusa]]
|-
| 488 (?)
| Olympian 14 ('''M''')
| Asopichus of [[Orchomenus (Boeotia)|Orchomenus]]
| Boys' foot-race
| None
|-
| 486
| Pythian 7
| [[Megacles]] of [[Athens]]
| Chariot-race
| None
|-
| 485 (?)
| Nemean 2 ('''M''')
| Timodemus of [[Acharnae]]
| [[Pancration]]
| None
|-
| 485 (?)
| Nemean 7
| Sogenes of [[Aegina]]
| Boys' Pentathlon
| [[Neoptolemus]]
|-
| 483 (?)
| Nemean 5
| Pythias of Aegina
| Youth's Pancration
| Peleus, [[Hippolyta]], [[Thetis]]
|-
| 480
| Isthmian 6
| Phylacides of Aegina
| Pancration
| [[Heracles]], [[Telamon]]
|-
| 478 (?)
| Isthmian 5
| Phylacides of Aegina
| Pancration
| [[Aeacus|Aeacids]], [[Achilles]]
|-
| 478
| Isthmian 8 ('''M''')
| Cleandrus of Aegina
| Pancration
| [[Zeus]], [[Poseidon]], Thetis
|-
| 476
| [[Pindar's First Olympian Ode|Olympian 1]]
| [[Hieron of Syracuse]]
| Horse-race
| [[Pelops]]
|-
| 476
| Olympians 2 & 3
| [[Theron of Acragas]]
| Chariot-race
| 2. [[Isles of the Blessed]]<br />3. Heracles, [[Hyperboreans]]
|-
| 476
| Olympian 11
| Agesidamus of [[Epizephyrian Locris]]
| Boys' Boxing Match
| Heracles, founding of Olympian Games
|-
| 476 (?)
| Nemean 1
| Chromius of [[Aetna (city)|Aetna]]
| Chariot-race
| Infant Heracles
|-
| 475 (?)
| Pythian 2
| [[Hieron of Syracuse]]
| Chariot-race
| [[Ixion]]
|-
| 475 (?)
| Nemean 3
| [[Aristocleidas]] of Aegina
| Pancration
| [[Aeacus|Aeacides]], Achilles
|-
| 474 (?)
| Olympian 10
| Agesidamus of [[Epizephyrian Locris]]
| Boys' Boxing Match
| None
|-
| 474 (?)
| Pythian 3
| Hieron of Syracuse
| Horse-race
| [[Asclepius]]
|-
| 474
| Pythian 9
| Telesicrates of [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]]
| Foot-race in armour
| [[Apollo]], [[Cyrene (mythology)|Cyrene]]
|-
| 474
| Pythian 11
| Thrasydaeus of [[Thebes (Greece)|Thebes]]
| Boys' short foot-race
| [[Orestes]], [[Clytemnestra]]
|-
| 474 (?)
| Nemean 9 ('''M''')
| Chromius of Aetna
| Chariot-race
| [[Seven against Thebes]]
|-
| 474/3 (?)
| Isthmian 3 & 4
| Melissus of Thebes
| Chariot race & pancration
| 3.None 4.Heracles, [[Antaeus]]
|-
| 473 (?)
| Nemean 4 ('''M''')
| Timisarchus of Aegina
| Boys' Wrestling Match
| [[Aeacus|Aeacids]], Peleus, Thetis
|-
| 470
| [[Pindar's First Pythian Ode|Pythian 1]]
| [[Hieron I of Syracuse|Hieron of Aetna]]
| Chariot-race
| [[Typhon]]
|-
| 470 (?)
| Isthmian 2
| Xenocrates of Acragas
| Chariot-race
| None
|-
| 468
| Olympian 6
| Agesias of [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]]
| Chariot-race with mules
| [[Iamus]]
|-
| 466
| Olympian 9
| Epharmus of [[Opous]]
| Wrestling-Match
| [[Deucalion]], [[Pyrrha]]
|-
| 466
| Olympian 12
| [[Ergoteles of Himera]]
| [[Dolichos (running race)|Long foot-race]]
| [[Tyche|Fortune]]
|-
| 465 (?)
| Nemean 6
| Alcimidas of Aegina
| Boys' Wrestling Match
| Aeacides, Achilles, [[Memnon (mythology)|Memnon]]
|-
| 464
| Olympian 7
| [[Diagoras of Rhodes]]
| Boxing-Match
| [[Helios]] and [[Rhodos]], [[Tlepolemus]]
|-
| 464
| Olympian 13
| [[Xenophon of Corinth]]
| Short foot-race & pentathlon
| [[Bellerophon]], [[Pegasus]]
|-
| 462/1
| Pythian 4 & 5
| [[Arcesilaus IV of Cyrene|Arcesilas of Cyrene]]
| Chariot-race
| 4.[[Argonauts]] 5.[[Battus I of Cyrene|Battus]]
|-
| 460
| Olympian 8
| Alcimidas of Aegina
| Boys' Wrestling-Match
| Aeacus, [[Troy]]
|-
| 459 (?)
| [[Pindar's Eighth Nemean Ode|Nemean 8]]
| Deinis of Aegina
| Foot-race
| [[Ajax the Lesser|Ajax]]
|-
| 458 (?)
| Isthmian 1
| Herodotus of Thebes
| Chariot-race
| [[Castor and Pollux|Castor]], [[Iolaus]]
|-
| 460 or 456 (?)
| Olympian 4 & 5
| Psaumis of [[Kamarina, Sicily|Camarina]]
| Chariot-race with mules
| 4.[[Erginus (Argonaut)|Erginus]] 5.None
|-
| 454 (?)
| Isthmian 7
| Strepsiades of Thebes
| Pancration
| None
|-
| 446
| Pythian 8
| Aristomenes of Aegina
| Wrestling-Match
| [[Amphiaraus]]
|-
| 446 (?)
| Nemean 11
| Aristagoras of [[Ancient Tenedos|Tenedos]]
| Inauguration as [[Prytanis]]
| None
|-
| 444 (?)
| Nemean 10
| Theaius of [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]]
| Wrestling-Match
| Castor, [[Castor and Pollux|Pollux]]
|}

===Manuscripts, shreds and quotes===
Pindar's verses have come down to us in a variety of ways. Some are only preserved as fragments via quotes by ancient sources and papyri unearthed by archeologists, as at [[Oxyrhynchus]]{{spaced ndash}}in fact the extant works of most of the other [[Nine lyric poets|canonic lyric poets]] have survived only in this tattered form. Pindar's extant verses are unique in that the bulk of them{{spaced ndash}}the victory odes{{spaced ndash}}have been preserved in a manuscript tradition, i.e., generations of scribes copying from earlier copies, possibly originating in a single archetypal copy and sometimes graphically demonstrated by modern scholars in the form of a [[Stemmatics|stemma codicum]], resembling a 'family tree'. Pindar's victory odes are preserved in just two manuscripts, but incomplete collections are located in many others, and all date from the mediaeval period. Some scholars have traced a stemma through these manuscripts, for example [[Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff]], who inferred from them the existence of a common source or archetype dated no earlier than the 2nd century AD, while others, such as [[C.M. Bowra]], have argued that there are too many discrepancies between manuscripts to identify a specific lineage, even while accepting the existence of an archetype. Otto Schroeder identified two families of manuscripts but, following on the work of Polish-born classicist, Alexander Turyn,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Alexander Turyn|journal=Gnomon|volume=54|year=1982|pages=97–98|jstor=27688007|author=Miroslav Marcovich|issue=1}}</ref> Bowra rejected this also.<ref>Bowra, Praefatio iii–iv, vii</ref> Different scholars interpret the extant manuscripts differently. Bowra for example singled out seven manuscripts as his primary sources (see below), all featuring errors and/or gaps due to loss of folios and careless copying, and one arguably characterized by the dubious interpolations of Byzantine scholars. These he cross-referenced and then supplemented or verified by reference to other, still more doubtful manuscripts, and some papyrus fragments{{spaced ndash}}a combination of sources on which he based his own edition of the odes and fragments. His general method of selection he defined as follows:
{{Blockquote|Where all the codices agree, there perhaps the true reading shines out. Where however they differ, the preferred reading is that which best fits the sense, meter, [[scholia]] and grammatic conventions. Wherever moreover two or more readings of equal weight are found in the codices, I have chosen that which smacks most of Pindar. Yet this difficulty rarely occurs, and in many places the true reading will be found if you examine and compare the language of the codices with that of other Greek poets and especially of Pindar himself.<ref>Bowra, Praefatio iv</ref>}}

{|class="wikitable"
|+Selected manuscripts: a sample of preferred sources (Bowra's choice, 1947)
!Code
! style="width:16em;"|Source
! style="width:10em;"|Format
! Date<br />(century)
! Odes contained
|-
| A
| codex Ambrosianus C 222inf.
| Paper 35×25.5&nbsp;cm
| 13th–14th
| Olympian 1–12, with some unique readings that Bowra considered reliable, and including [[scholia]].
|-
| B
| codex Vaticanus graeca 1312
| Silk 24.3×18.4&nbsp;cm
| 13th
| Olympian 1 to Isthmian 8 (entire corpus), but with some leaves and verses missing, and includes scholia; [[Zacharias Calliergi|Zacharias Callierges]] based his 1515 Roman edition on it, possibly with access to the now missing material.
|-
| C
| codex Parisinus graecus 2774
| Silk 23×15&nbsp;cm
| 14th
| Olympian 1 to Pythian 5, including some unique readings but also with many Byzantine interpolations/conjectures (Turyn rejected this codex accordingly), and written in a careless hand.
|-
| D
| codex Laurentianus 32, 52
| Silk 27×19&nbsp;cm
| 14th
| Olympian 1 to Isthmian 8 (entire corpus), including a fragment (Frag. 1) and scholia, written in a careless hand.
|-
| E
| codex Laurentianus 32, 37
| Silk 24×17&nbsp;cm
| 14th
| Olympian 1 to Pythian 12, largely in agreement with B, including scholia but with last page removed and replaced with paper in a later hand.
|-
| G
| codex Gottingensis philologus 29
| Silk 25×17&nbsp;cm
| 13th
| Olympian 2 to Pythian 12, largely in agreement with B (thus useful for comparisons), including Olympian 1 added in the 16th century.
|-
| V
| codex Parisinus graecus 2403
| Silk 25×17&nbsp;cm
| 14th
| Olympian 1 to Nemean 4, including some verses from Nemean 6; like G, useful for supporting and verifying B.
|}

== Influence and legacy ==
* The influential Alexandrian poet [[Callimachus]] was fascinated by Pindar's originality. His masterpiece ''[[Aetia (Callimachus)|Aetia]]'' included an elegy in honour of Queen [[Berenice II of Egypt|Berenice]], celebrating a chariot victory at the Nemean Games, composed in a style and presented in a manner that recall Pindar.<ref>A.W. Bulloch, 'Hellenistic Poetry', in Easterling, pp. 556–57</ref>
* The Hellenistic epic ''[[Argonautica]]'', by [[Apollonius of Rhodes|Apollonius Rhodius]], was influenced by some aspects of Pindar's style and his use of episodic vignettes in narrative. The epic concerns the adventures of [[Jason]], also touched on by Pindar in ''Pythian'' 4, and both poems link the myth to a Greek audience in Africa.<ref>William H. Race, ''Apollonius Rhodius: Argonautica'', Loeb Classical Library (2008), page xiii</ref>
* There seems to have been a vogue for Pindaric-style lyrics following the 'publication' of Horace's ''Odes'' 1–3. Horace had mastered other styles such as Sapphic and Alcaeic, which had discouraged his contemporaries from attempting anything in the same form, but he had not composed anything in triadic stanzas in the manner of Pindar.<ref>R. Tarrant, 'Ancient receptions of Horace', in ''The Cambridge Companion to Horace'', Stephen Harrison (ed.), Cambridge university Press (2007), page 280</ref>
* Pindar was much read, quoted, and copied during the [[Byzantine Era]]. For example, [[Christophoros Mytilenaios]] of the 11th century parodied a chariot race in his sixth poem, employing explicit allusions to Pindar.<ref>F. Lauritzen, Readers of Pindar and students of Mitylinaios, ''Byzantion '' 2010</ref>
* During the 17th and 18th centuries, literary theorists in Europe distinguished between two types of lyric poetry, loosely associated with Horace and Pindar. Regular verses in four line stanzas were associated with Horace's Odes, which did in fact inspire and influence poets of the period. Irregular verses in longer stanzas were termed [[Pindarics]], though the association with Pindar was largely fanciful. [[Abraham Cowley]] was considered the main exponent of English Pindarics. In fact, the two styles were not always easy to distinguish and many 'Pindaric' odes were quite Horatian in content, as in some poems by [[Thomas Gray]].<ref>David Money, [https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ5Ep2tR8R8C&pg=PA327 'The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries'], in ''The Cambridge Companion to Horace'', Stephen Harrison (ed), Cambridge University Press (2007), pp. 327–28 {{ISBN|0-521-83002-8}}</ref>
* A 'Pindaric Ode' was composed for the revived 1896 Olympic Games in Athens by the Oxford scholar George Stuart Robinson, and similar compositions were commissioned from and composed by classicist [[Armand D'Angour]] for the Athens Olympics in 2004 and the London Olympics in 2012.

===Horace's tribute===
The Latin poet [[Horace|Quintus Horatius Flaccus]] was an admirer of Pindar's style. He described it in one of his [[Sappho|Sapphic]] poems, addressed to a friend, [[Iullus Antonius]]:
{|style="border: 0px; margin-left:100px; white-space:nowrap;"
! scope="col" width="400px" |
! scope="col" width="400px" |
|- border="0"
|- Valign=top
|
Pindarum quisquis studet aemulari,<br />
Iule, ceratis ope Daedalea<br />
nititur pennis vitreo daturus<br />
nomina ponto.<br />
<br />
monte decurrens velut amnis, imbres<br />
quem super notas aluere ripas,<br />
fervet immensusque ruit profundo<br />
Pindarus ore. ([http://www.horatius.net/index.xps?2.402 C.IV.II])
|
Julus, whoever tries to rival Pindar,<br />
Flutters on wings of wax, a rude contriver<br />
Doomed like the son of Daedalus to christen<br />
Somewhere a shining sea.<br />
<br />
A river bursts its banks and rushes down a<br />
Mountain with uncontrollable momentum,<br />
Rain-saturated, churning, chanting thunder –<br />
There you have Pindar's style.<ref>''The Odes of Horace'' James Michie (translator), Penguin Classics 1976</ref>
|}

===Bowra's tribute===
[[C. M. Bowra]], the leading Pindaric scholar of his generation and the editor of the 1935 [[Oxford University Press|OUP]] edition of his poems, summarized Pindar's qualities in the following words:
{{blockquote|His innate, unquestioning pride in his poetical mission means that he gives to it all his gifts and all his efforts. The result is a poetry that by any standards deserves the name because it is based on a radiant vision of reality and fashioned with so subtle, so adventurous, and so dedicated an art that it is worthy to be an earthly counterpart of the songs which Pindar regards as the archetype of music on those lofty occasions when all discords are resolved and all misgivings obliterated by the power of the life-giving word.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=401}}}}

==See also==
* [[John Wolcot]]

==Notes==
<references group="nb"/>

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=25em}}

==Sources==
* Bowie, Ewen, 'Lyric and Elegiac Poetry' in ''The Oxford History of the Classical World'', J. Boardman, J. Griffin and O. Murray (eds), Oxford University Press (1986) {{ISBN|0-19-872112-9}}
* {{cite book |first=C. M. |last=Bowra |author-link=C. M. Bowra |year=1947 |title=Pindari Carmina Cum Fragmentis, Editio Altera |url=https://archive.org/details/carminacumfragme0000pind_a8w5/page/n5/mode/2up |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}
* {{cite book |last=Bowra |first=Cecil Maurice |author-link=Cecil Maurice Bowra |title=Pindar |url=https://archive.org/details/pindar0000bowr |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |year=1964 |isbn=978-0-19-814338-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/pindar0000bowr/page/446 446]}}
* {{cite book|last=Campbell|first=David A.|title=Greek Lyric IV: Bacchylides, Corinna and Others|publisher=Loeb Classical Library|year=1992|isbn=978-0-674-99508-6}}
* Conway, Geoffrey Seymour (1972), ''The Odes of Pindar'', Dent {{ISBN|978-0-460-01017-7}}
* Currie, Bruno (2005), [https://books.google.com/books?id=LSD6_jyM2-8C ''Pindar and the Cult of Heroes''], Oxford University Press {{ISBN|0-19-161516-1}}
* [[Jacqueline de Romilly|De Romilly, Jacqueline]] (1985), ''A Short History of Greek Literature'', University of Chicago Press
* {{cite book | editor1-last=Easterling | editor1-first=P. E. | editor1-link=P. E. Easterling | editor2-last=Knox | editor2-first=Bernard | editor2-link=Bernard Knox | year=1985 | title=The Cambridge History of Classical Greek Literature | chapter=Greek Literature | publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
* Gerber, Douglas E. (1997) [https://books.google.com/books?id=Zzlnqb_64SYC ''A Companion to the Greek lyric poets''], Brill {{ISBN|90-04-09944-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Hornblower |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Hornblower |year=2004 |title=Thucydides and Pindar: Historical Narrative and the World of Epinikian Poetry |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-929828-0 |pages=454 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QFETDAAAQBAJ}}
* Morice, Francis David (2009), ''Pindar'', Bibliobazaar, LLC {{ISBN|1-148-33210-3}}
* Race, William H. (1997), ''Pindar: Olympian Odes, Pythian Odes'', Loeb Classical Library {{ISBN|0-674-99564-3}}

== Further reading ==
* Nisetich, Frank J., Pindar's Victory Songs. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980: translations and extensive introduction, background and critical apparatus.
* Revard, Stella P., ''Politics, Poetics, and the Pindaric Ode 1450–1700'', Turnhout, Brepols Publishers, 2010, {{ISBN|978-2-503-52896-0}}
* Race, W. H. Pindar. 2 vols. Cambridge: [[Harvard University Press]], 1997.
* {{cite book|last=Bundy|first=Elroy L.|title=Studia Pindarica|orig-year=1962|url=http://repositories.cdlib.org/ucbclassics/bundy/|format=PDF|access-date=12 February 2007|edition=digital version|year=2006|publisher=Department of Classics, [[University of California]], Berkeley|location=Berkeley, California}}
* [[W. S. Barrett|Barrett, W. S.]], ''Greek Lyric, Tragedy, and Textual Criticism: Collected Papers'', edited M. L. West (Oxford & New York, 2007): papers dealing with Pindar, [[Stesichorus]], [[Bacchylides]] and [[Euripides]]
* Kiichiro Itsumi, ''Pindaric Metre: 'The Other Half''' (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2009).
* [[Anne Pippin Burnett |Burnett, Anne Pippin]], ''Pindar'' (London: Bristol Classical Press, 2008) (Ancients in action).
* Wells, James Bradley. ''Pindar's Verbal Art: An Enthnographic Study of Epinician Style'', Hellenic Studies Series 40. Washington, DC, [[Center for Hellenic Studies]], 2010, {{ISBN|978-0-674-03627-7}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|d=Q134929|c=category:Pindar|s=Author:Pindar|b=no|v=no|voy=no|wikt=no|n=no|m=no|mw=no|species=no}}
{{Wikisource|Portal:Odes of Pindar}}<!-- This is in addition to the sisterlink to his Author page -->
{{Library resources box |by=yes |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Pindar
  |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/pindar}}
* [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/searchresults?q=Pindar&redirect=true Works by Pindar at Perseus Digital Library]
* {{Gutenberg author |id=3650}}
* {{Internet Archive author}}
* {{OL author|74058A}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080126161508/http://omni.cc.purdue.edu/~corax/pindar.html Selected odes], marked up to show selected rhetorical and poetic devices
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060721024654/http://www.rhapsodes.fll.vt.edu/PindarOlympia.htm Olympian 1], read aloud in Greek, with text and English translation provided
* [http://community.middlebury.edu/~harris/pindar.pdf Pythian 8], 'Approaching Pindar' by William Harris (text, translation, analysis)
* [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0004%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DP%3Aentry+group%3D11%3Aentry%3Dpindar Pindar] by Gregory Crane, in the [[Perseus Project|Perseus Encyclopedia]]
* [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0101%3Aid%3Di2s1 Pindar's Life] by [[Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve|Basil L. Gildersleeve]], in ''Pindar: The Olympian and Pythian Odes''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060721024654/http://www.rhapsodes.fll.vt.edu/PindarOlympia.htm Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University], Pindar, Olympian Odes, I, 1–64; read by William Mullen
* [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0072&redirect=true Perseus Digital Library Lexicon to Pindar], William J. Slater, De Gruyter 1969: scholarly dictionary for research into Pindar
* [https://sites.google.com/site/hellenisticbibliography/pre-hellenistic/pindar Pindar-A Hellenistic Bibliography] compiled by Martine Cuypers
* William J. Slater, ''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0072 Lexicon to Pindar]'', Berlin, De Gruyter, 1969 on the [[Perseus Project]]

'''Historic editions'''
* [https://archive.org/details/odespindar00conggoog The Odes of Pindar] translated into English with notes, D.W.Turner, A Moore, Bohm Classical Library (1852), digitalized by Google
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle= Pindar |volume= 21 | pages = 617&ndash;620 |short= 1}}
* [https://archive.org/details/pindar00pindgoog Pindar]{{spaced ndash}}translations and notes by Reverend C.A.Wheelwright, printed by A.J.Valpy, M.A., London (1830): digitalized by Google
* ''Pindari carmina'', adnotationem criticam addidit [[:de:Tycho Mommsen|Tycho Mommsen]], [https://archive.org/details/carminaadfidemop01pind vol. 1], [https://archive.org/details/carminaadfidemop02pind vol. 2], Berolini apud Weidmannos, 1864.
* [[Scholia]] of Pindar:
** ''Pindari opera quae supersunt. Scholia integra'', Augustus Boeckhius (ed.), 2 voll., Lipsiae apud Ioann. August. Gottlob Weigen, 1811: [https://archive.org/details/pindaroutasozome01pinduoft vol. 1], [https://archive.org/stream/pt1pindaroutasoz02pind vol. 2].
** ''Scholia vetera in Pindari carmina'', [[:da:Anders Bjørn Drachmann|Anders Bjørn Drachmann]] (ed.), 3 voll., Verlag Adolf M. Hakkert, Amsterdam, 1903–1927: [https://archive.org/details/scholiaveterainp01drac vol. 1], [https://archive.org/details/scholiaveterainp02drac vol. 2], vol. 3.

{{Pindar}}
{{Lyric poets}}
{{Ancient Greece topics}}
{{Authority control}}

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