Pindar Odes Famous Ancient Greece Olympic Athletes Pythian Nemean Athens Delphi

Description: The Odes of Pindar, Translated with an Introduction by C.M. Bowra. DESCRIPTION: Softcover: 256 pages. Publisher: Penguin Books (1982). Dimensions: 7¾ x 5 inches; ½ pound. Of the Greek lyric poets, Pindar (518-438 B.C.) was "by far the greatest for the magnificence of his inspiration" in Quintilian's view; Horace judged him "sure to win Apollo's laurels". The esteem of the ancients may help explain why a good portion of his work was carefully preserved. Most of the Greek lyric poets come down to us only in bits and pieces, but nearly a quarter of Pindar's poems survive complete. Like Simonides and Bacchylides, Pindar wrote elaborate odes in honor of prize-winning athletes for public performance by singers, dancers, and musicians. His forty-five victory odes celebrate triumphs in athletic contests at the four great Panhellenic festivals: the Olympic, Pythian (at Delphi), Nemean, and Isthmian games. In these complex poems, Pindar commemorates the achievement of athletes and powerful rulers against the backdrop of divine favor, human failure, heroic legend, and the moral ideals of aristocratic Greek society. Readers have long savored them for their rich poetic language and imagery, moral maxims, and vivid portrayals of sacred myths. Race provides brief introductions to each ode and full explanatory footnotes, offering the reader invaluable guidance to these often difficult poems. His new Loeb Pindar also contains a helpfully annotated edition and translation of significant fragments, including hymns, paeans, dithyrambs, maiden songs, and dirges. CONDITION: Unread (and in that sense "new") but slightly blemished. Penguin Classics (1982) 256 pages. Absolutely new and unread, BUT there is a sticker removal "scar" at the spine heel...not very large...and we touched it up with a color-matching oil-based sharpie...but if you look very closely, you can see a slightly roughened spot...a "scar"...where a price sticker tore of a small patch of "skin" (again, to which we made cosmetic repairs). Inside the pages are pristine; clean, crisp, unmarked, unmutilated, tightly bound, unambiguously unread. Condition is entirely consistent with new stock from a traditional brick-and-mortar shelved bookstore environment (such as Barnes & Noble, Borders/Waldenbooks, or B. Dalton for example) wherein new books might show faint signs of shelfwear (or have a sticker affixed). Satisfaction unconditionally guaranteed. In stock, ready to ship. No disappointments, no excuses. PROMPT SHIPPING! HEAVILY PADDED, DAMAGE-FREE PACKAGING! Meticulous and accurate descriptions! Selling rare and out-of-print ancient history books on-line since 1997. We accept returns for any reason within 30 days! #1727a. PLEASE SEE IMAGES BELOW FOR SAMPLE PAGES FROM INSIDE OF BOOK. PLEASE SEE PUBLISHER, PROFESSIONAL, AND READER REVIEWS BELOW. PUBLISHER REVIEW: REVIEW: Pindar was born in 518 B.C. near Thebes in Boiotia of an aristocratic family which sent him in boyhood to study music and poetry at Athens. When he was only twenty he was commissioned by the royal house of Thessaly to wrote "Pythian X", and he soon found patrons in many parts of Greece and in Sicily, which he visited in 476 B.C. Pindar and the aristocratic families with whom he was at home in most parts of Greece, particularly in Aigina, were little interested in the new ideas which Athens was enforcing on Greek cities. When Pindar praised his own special world in 474 B.C. he was reprimanded and fined at Thebes. He realized how dangerous Athens was to his kind of society when, after 460 B.C., first Aigina and then Boiotia were conquered. Pindar reached the height of his fame and found the fullest scope of his powers in the seventies and sixties of the fifth century B.C. He died at Argos about 438 B.C. In antiquity his poems were collected in seventeen books, from which survive, more or less intact, four books of Epinician Odes, choral songs written in honor of victories in the great games. PROFESSIONAL REVIEW: REVIEW: Arguably the greatest Greek lyric poet, Pindar (518-438 B.C.) was a controversial figure in fifth-century Greece; a conservative Boiotian aristocrat who studied in Athens and a writer on physical prowess whose interest in the Games was largely philosophical. Pindar's Epinician Odes; choral songs extolling victories in the Games at Olympia, Delphi, Nemea and Korinth, cover the whole spectrum of the Greek moral order, from earthly competition to fate and mythology. But in C.M. Bowra's clear translation his one central image stands out; the successful athlete transformed and transfigured by the power of the gods. What Pindar conveys is the joy beyond the ordinary emotions as it transcends and transforms them. READER REVIEWS: REVIEW: Pindar was one of the most famous poets of ancient Greece, and besides fragments (which are all that survive of most of his rivals) we have four reasonably intact books out of a much larger collection. As it happens, the four books contain celebrations of victors at major Games (Olympic and three others, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemean), and are otherwise unlike what moderns think of as typical poetry. They are also densely allusive, and in a Greek which is generally acknowledged to be as difficult to follow as it is beautiful. My own command of Greek is too small to judge, but Bowra is one of several modern translators who have managed to persuade me to read him for pleasure, rather just than for his allusions to myths and heroic legend. Bowra, who also wrote a major work on Pindar, provides useful annotations to a very attractive translation. He also decided to arrange the poems according to their likely dates, or at least the dates assigned to them by ancient scholars who had list of victors in the various games. There are inherent problems with this, since some of the Odes actually relate to victories in other Games, and some were certainly performed at delayed celebrations. On the whole, however, it does give some sense of Pindar as a developing poet, and of the Victory Ode as a form continuing to grow during his career. REVIEW: Pindar is notoriously difficult to read in the original Greek and it is to be remembered that much is lost in translation. Pindar's odes in particular, defy the translator. Indeed, many language scientists over the years have stated flatly that Pindar cannot be translated. Still, translation is the only option for many and there exist some which are accepted academically, and this present version is included. However remember that the translation is a pale and imperfect reflection of the original, Nothing can take the place of reading in the original Greek. SHIPPING & RETURNS/REFUNDS: We always ship books domestically (within the USA) via USPS INSURED media mail (“book rate”). Most international orders cost an additional $19.99 to $53.99 for an insured shipment in a heavily padded mailer. There is also a discount program which can cut postage costs by 50% to 75% if you’re buying about half-a-dozen books or more (5 kilos+). Our postage charges are as reasonable as USPS rates allow. 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Price: 15.99 USD

Location: Lummi Island, Washington

End Time: 2025-02-13T19:41:39.000Z

Shipping Cost: 3.99 USD

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Restocking Fee: No

Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer

All returns accepted: Returns Accepted

Item must be returned within: 30 Days

Refund will be given as: Money Back

Book Title: The Odes

Book Series: Historical

Ex Libris: No

Narrative Type: Nonfiction

Dimensions: 7¾ x 5 inches; ½ pound

Publisher: Pengiun Classics

Intended Audience: Young Adults, Adults

Inscribed: No

Vintage: Yes

Personalize: No

Publication Year: 1982

Type: Poetry

Format: Trade Paperback

Language: English

Era: Ancient

Author: Pindar

Personalized: No

Topic: Anthropology, Archaeology, Classic Literature, Cultural History, Culture, Poetry, Regional History, Social History, World History, Ancient History, Ancient Greece, Ancient Olympics, Ancient Poetry, Sociology, Cultural Anthropology, Ancient Literature, History

Number of Pages: 256