Pindar and Anacreon/Pindar/Pythian Odes/6
THE SIXTH PYTHIAN ODE.[1]
TO XENOCRATES OF ACRAGAS, ON HIS VICTORY IN THE CHARIOT RACE, GAINED IN THE TWENTY-FOURTH PYTHIAD.
ARGUMENT.
The poet panegyrizes Xenocrates on account of his country and his victory in the Pythian games, promising him the immortality of verse: he then addresses Thrasybulus, the son of the victor, whom he celebrates on account of his piety and filial affection, comparing him in these respects to Antilochus the son of Nestor.—Concludes by praising Xenocrates for his moderation and proper use of wealth his evenness of temper and suavity of manners.
Give ear—for either through the plain
Of Venus with the laughing eyes,
Or through the Graces' fair domain,
The bard's poetic journey lies.
To thundering earth's prophetic dome, 5
In the just centre placed, we come;
Where, guarded by the holy shade,
Apollo's golden grove contains
The treasure of the Pythian strains
Which there, Xenocrates, is laid 10
The bless'd Emmenidæ to crown,
And watery Acragas' renown. 9
This nor the wintry storm's array, [2]
The roaring cloud's terrific host,
Nor winds and whirling sands convey, 15
Beneath the depths of ocean lost.
And thou, with countenance serenely bright,
To thy great sire shalt tell the pleasing tale.
Oh Thrasybulus! when in Crissa's vale,
Thy race ennobling, sped his chariot's flight. 18 20
Firmly thou hold'st the precept fair
Which erst they say with guardian care
Upon his mountain station wild
The son of Philyra impress'd
On Peleus' vigorous orphan child, 25
To reverence Jove, the chief of all the bless'd.
Lord of the thundering bolt and lightning's flame,
And through the term allow'd by heaven,
Such honour be to parents given
As may not rob them of their rightful claim. 27
This noble mind in days of yore [3]
Antilochus the valiant bore,
Who Æthiop Memnon's deadly strife
Sustaining, saved his father's life;
For struck by Paris' dart, the steed 35
Slack'd the Nestorean chariot's speed;
While he the powerful spear urged on,
And the Messenian sage, his breast
By agitating fear oppress'd,
With no vain effort call'd his son. 36 40
Thus the firm hero's yielded breath
Redeem'd his much-loved sire from death.
Of all who in a former age
E'er trod the world's eventful stage,
Him first this wondrous act will prove 45
In virtue and parental love.
But his renown has pass'd away.
Among the heroes of the day
Shines Thrasybulus, whose fair deeds proclaim
His steps have reach'd the height of sire and uncle's fame. 46 50
His youth, exempt from fraud and pride,
Collects deep wisdom's ample store,
Wont in the muses' haunts to hide,
And cull their scientific lore;
While thy sweet arts his willing mind, 55
Equestrian lord, earth-shaking Neptune, bind;
And his sweet soul, in social converse free,
Transcends the honey'd labour of the bee. 54
- ↑ This short poem, which the scholiast asserts to be monostrophic, and which, both in its construction and metrical arrangement, has much embarrassed the commentators, opens with a declaration on the part of the poet to proceed to the temple of the Delphian god, placed in the centre of the earth, in order to celebrate the praises of Xenocrates, father of his friend Thrasybulus, which had before been sung by Simonides, and are again recited in the second Isthmian ode. The periphrasis for Delphi in the third verse, ομφαλος επιβρομου χθονος, may be illustrated by Euripides: (Orest. 323 :)—
τριποδος απο, φασιν, ἁν ὁ Φοιβος
ελακε, δεξαμενος, ανα το δαπεδον,
Again v. 584, 585:— Απολλων ὁς μεσομφαλους ἑδρας
ἱνα μεσομφαλοι λεγονται μυχοι.ναιων βροτοισι στομα νεμει σαφεστατον.
The allusions to the central situation of Pytho or Delphi are of very frequent occurrence among the ancient poets. See Pyth. viii. 82, where the expression γαςομφαλον παρ᾽ αοιδιμον
is doubtless of parallel import to ομφαλος επιβρομου χθονος in this ode. - ↑ Thus paraphrased by Casimir, (Lyric, iii. 31, 6:)—
"Quam neque turbidus
Auster, neque emotus refuso
Subruat Oceanus profundo." - ↑ See Homer, Il., viii., 100; Od., iv., 255; Pope's version. In the former of these passages the incident mentioned by Pindar is related, and in the latter the death of Antilochus, son of Nestor, is alluded to by his brother Pisistratus.