THE SIXTH NEMEAN ODE.
TO ALCIMIDAS OF ÆGINA, VICTOR IN THE PALÆSTRA, IN THE CLASS OF BOYS.
ARGUMENT.
This ode begins with a moral reflection on the emanation of divinity by which the mind of man is enlightened, being of the same origin with the divine race.—This is illustrated by the example of Alcimidas, who, though a mere youth, treads in the footsteps of his grandfather Praxidamas.—His victories in the different games are enumerated, by which he has restored the glory of his house, that had been tarnished by the inactivity of his father Theo.—The victories of the tribe of Bassidæ are celebrated.—Pindar then proceeds to expatiate on the glories of the Æginetan heroes.—Returns to the victor, whose five-and-twentieth triumph is celebrated in this ode.—His kinsman Timidas, and his alipta, or charioteer, Melesias, whose rapid skill in guiding the car is compared to that of a dolphin cleaving the waves.
Of mortal or immortal race,
From the same mother earth we trace
Our lives—but not the same degree
Of power and vital energy
To man of transient space is given, 5
As in the brazen soil of heav'n.
Yet some resemblance can we find
Of nature or the mighty mind
That links us to the powers divine,
Howe'er 'tis not in us to know 10
When shall stern fate's recorded blow,
By day or night, our course define. 13
Now by Alcimidas is found
The kindred excellence display'd,
As fields with rich luxuriance crown'd, 15
To mortal life subservient made.
