You've just won the gold medal, what are you going to do? In Ancient Greece, your patron could throw a feast in your honor and have a poet write a hymn of praise to you. The great poet Pindar composed many such odes for victorious athletes. Esteemed classicist Anne Pippin Burnett presents a fresh and exuberant translation of Pindar's victory songs. The typical Pindaric ode reflects three separate moments: the instant of success in contest, the victory night with its disorderly revels, and the actual banquet of family and friends where the commissioned poem is being offered as entertainment. In their essential effect, these songs transform a physical triumph, as experienced by one man, into a sense of elation shared by his peers—men who have gathered to dine and to drink. Athletic odes were presented by small bands of dancing singers, influencing the audience with music and dance as well as by words. These translations respect the form of the originals, keeping the stanzas that shaped repeating melodies and danced figures and using rhythms meant to suggest performers in motion. Pindar's songs were meant to entertain and exalt groups of drinking men. These translations revive the confident excitement of their original performances.

The Greek poet Pindar (c. 518-428 BC) composed victory odes for winners in the ancient Games, including the Olympics. The Odes contain versions of some of the best known Greek myths and are also a valuable source for Greek religion and ethics. Verity's lucid translations are complemented by insights into competition, myth, and meaning. - ;'we can speak of no greater contest than Olympia' The Greek poet Pindar (c. 518-428 BC) composed victory odes for winners in the ancient Games, including the Olympics. He celebrated the victories of athletes competing in foot races, horse races, boxing, wrestling, all-in fighting and the pentathlon, and his Odes are fascinating not only for their poetic qualities, but for what they tell us about the Games. Pindar praises the victor by comparing him to mythical heroes and the gods, but also reminds the athlete of his human limitations. The Odes contain versions of some of the best known Greek myths, such as Jason and the Argonauts, and Perseus and Medusa, and are a valuable source for Greek religion and ethics. Pindar's startling use of language - striking metaphors, bold syntax, enigmatic expressions - makes reading his poetry a uniquely rewarding experience. Anthony Verity's lucid translations are complemented by an introduction and notes that provide insight into competition, myth, and meaning. -

Of all the lyric poets of ancient Greece, Pindar is the one whose work has been best preserved. His odes to victorious Greek athletes were entertainments designed for performance in a hospitable atmosphere of drinking, dining and jokes. The victor has known the favour of the god whose contest he entered, and has brought back pan-Hellenic fame to his family, friends and city. To extend this glory and make it permanent, he has commissioned a song of praise, had dancers trained to sing it, and summoned an audience of kinsmen, neighbours and friends to enjoy it. Pindar's odes contain invocations and prayers, but their most characteristic effects are achieved thhrough the depiction of fragments of myth. Anne Pippin Burnett argues that these passages were meant neither as mere decoration nor as moral instruction, but served rather as a dramatic mechanism by which dancers brought an experience of another world to guests gathered in the banqueting suite of the victor.

One of the most celebrated poets of the classical world, Pindar wrote odes for athletes that provide a unique perspective on the social and political life of ancient Greece. Commissioned in honor of successful contestants at the Olympic games and other Panhellenic contests, these odes were performed in the victors’ hometowns and conferred enduring recognition on their achievements. Andrew M. Miller’s superb new translation captures the beauty of Pindar’s forty-five surviving victory odes, preserving the rhythm, elegance, and imagery for which they have been admired since antiquity while adhering closely to the meaning of the original Greek. This edition provides a comprehensive introduction and interpretive notes to guide readers through the intricacies of the poems and the worldview that they embody.

'we can speak of no greater contest than Olympia' The Greek poet Pindar (c. 518-428 BC) composed victory odes for winners in the ancient Games, including the Olympics. He celebrated the victories of athletes competing in foot races, horse races, boxing, wrestling, all-in fighting and the pentathlon, and his Odes are fascinating not only for their poetic qualities, but for what they tell us about the Games. Pindar praises the victor by comparing him to mythical heroes and the gods, but also reminds the athlete of his human limitations. The Odes contain versions of some of the best known Greek myths, such as Jason and the Argonauts, and Perseus and Medusa, and are a valuable source for Greek religion and ethics. Pindar's startling use of language - striking metaphors, bold syntax, enigmatic expressions - makes reading his poetry a uniquely rewarding experience. Anthony Verity's lucid translations are complemented by an introduction and notes that provide insight into competition, myth, and meaning. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

One of the most celebrated poets of the classical world, Pindar wrote odes for athletes that provide a unique perspective on the social and political life of ancient Greece. Commissioned in honor of successful contestants at the Olympic games and other Panhellenic contests, these odes were performed in the victors’ hometowns and conferred enduring recognition on their achievements. Andrew M. Miller’s superb new translation captures the beauty of Pindar’s forty-five surviving victory odes, preserving the rhythm, elegance, and imagery for which they have been admired since antiquity while adhering closely to the meaning of the original Greek. This edition provides a comprehensive introduction and interpretive notes to guide readers through the intricacies of the poems and the worldview that they embody.

Pindar's Odes, blending beauty of poetic form and profundity of thought, are one of the wonders of Ancient Greece. Composed in the first instance to commemorate athletics victories, they fan out like a peacock's tail to illuminate with brilliant subtlety and imagination the human condition in general, and how our moments of heroic achievement are inevitably tempered by our mortal frailties. This edition aims to make for the first time a selection of these wonderful, but complex, poems accessible and enjoyable not only to scholars and advanced students but especially to sixth-form students and non-Classicists (including anyone interested in Pindar's influence on English poetry). While particular attention is paid to elucidating Pindar's cryptic chains of thoughts and to explaining the significance of the myths in the odes, much greater help than usual in this series is given with translating the Greek. The selection, which contains Pindar's most famous poem (Olympian 1) and two particularly charming mythical stories (in Pythian 9 and Nemean 3), illustrates Pindar's range and variety by including odes commemorating victors at each of the four major games. Greek text with translation, commentary and notes.

In this full study of the statue, Victorious Youth - the first in nearly 20 years - the author takes into account the most recent art historical information and scientific data about the piece. Included is a complete conservation report.

A Companion to Sport and Spectacle in Greek and Roman Antiquity presents a series of essays that apply a socio-historical perspective to myriad aspects of ancient sport and spectacle. Covers the Bronze Age to the Byzantine Empire Includes contributions from a range of international scholars with various Classical antiquity specialties Goes beyond the usual concentrations on Olympia and Rome to examine sport in cities and territories throughout the Mediterranean basin Features a variety of illustrations, maps, end-of-chapter references, internal cross-referencing, and a detailed index to increase accessibility and assist researchers