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Olympian 2

Olympian 2, 'For Theron of Acragas', is an ode by the 5th century BC Greek poet Pindar.^[1]

Background

Under Theron and his brother Xenocrates, Acragas, a Greek colony of Gela, was brought to the height of its glory.^[1] The brothers were descended from the Emmenidae, who were descended from Cadmus.^[1] They were allied to the rulers of Syracuse, Damareta, daughter of Theron, having successively married Gelon and his younger brother, Polyzelus, while Theron had already married a daughter of Polyzelus, and Hieron had married a daughter of Xenocrates.^[1]

Theron became tyrant of Acragas about 488, and conquered Himera in 482.^[1] The tyrant of Himera appealed to his son-in-law Anaxilas, tyrant of Rhegium, who called in the aid of the Carthaginians, whom Theron and his son-in-law, Gelon of Syracuse, defeated at Himera in 480.^[1] In 476 Theron won the chariot-race at Olympia, which is celebrated in this ode.^[1] The date is recorded in the Oxyrhynchus papyrus.^[2]^[1]

Summary

The God, the hero, and the man, we celebrate, shall be Zeus, the lord of Pisa, Heracles, the founder of the Olympic games, and the victor Theron (1–6).^[3] Theron's famous ancestors had settled and prospered in Sicily, and Zeus is prayed to continue their prosperity (6-15).^[4] But prosperity leads to forgetfulness of troubles, as is proved by the family of Cadmus, from which Theron himself is descended (15–47).^[4] He and his brother have an hereditary claim to victory in the Greek games (48–51). Victory gives release from trouble (51 f.).^[4]

Glory may be won by wealth combined with virtue; while the unjust are punished, the just live in the Islands of the Blest, with Cadmus and Achilles (53–83).^[4]

The poet is like an eagle, while his detractors are like crows, but their cavil cannot prevail against the poet's praise (83–88).^[4] Theron is the greatest benefactor that Acragas has had for a hundred years; though his fame is attacked by envy, his bounties are as countless as the sand of the sea (89–100).^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Sandys, ed. 1915, p. 16.
^ Grenfell, ed. 1899, ii, p. 88.
^ Sandys, ed. 1915, pp. 16–17.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Sandys, ed. 1915, p. 17.

Sources

Grenfell, Bernard P., ed. (1899). The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Vol. 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 88.

Attribution:

Sandys, John, ed. (1915). The Odes of Pindar, including the Principal Fragments. Loeb Classical Library. New York: The Macmillan Co. pp. 16–29. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.