#olympian odes

[v-malinnguaq]

I think humanity is so sweet when I read the odes of the ancient greek athletes. Pindar had said that his songs are heard all over Greece, that they do not stand motionless on pedestals like statues. Someone else had said that kleos, glory, was truly to be remembered for your achievements. Reading about the odes of the ancient greek athletes... I sure hope they're out there, knowing that I remember them. I may not know their melodies, or even understand their original words, but I imagine them, celebrating their wins with their families. Smiling at their loved ones. Just, living. Like us. I want to remember them.

[newfavething]

Today I am reading

Pindar's Olympian 1, and hopefully also his Pythian 1.

[accidentallypondering]

DRAGONS!

Friend: What's your fav place or story?

Me: One of my favourite stories is the Iliad and Troy.

Friend: It needs more dragons.

ME: *clears throat and recites part of Pindar's Eighth Olympian Ode* 'And three gray-green serpents, when the wall was newly built, tried to leap into it; two of them fell down, stunned, and gave up their lives, and the third leapt up with a cry'

...Friend slowly retreats...

[acertainidontknowwhat]

ἄριστον μὲν ὕδωρ, ὁ δὲ χρυσὸς αἰθόμενον πῦρ ἅτε διαπρέπει νυκτὶ μεγάνορος ἔξοχα πλούτου: εἰ δ᾽ ἄεθλα γαρύεν ἔλδεαι, φίλον ἦτορ, μηκέθ᾽ ἁλίου σκόπει ἄλλο θαλπνότερον ἐν ἁμέρᾳ φαεννὸν ἄστρον ἐρήμας δι᾽ αἰθέρος, μηδ᾽ Ὀλυμπίας ἀγῶνα φέρτερον αὐδάσομεν: ὅθεν ὁ πολύφατος ὕμνος ἀμφιβάλλεται σοφῶν μητίεσσι, κελαδεῖν Κρόνου παῖδ᾽ ἐς ἀφνεὰν ἱκομένους μάκαιραν Ἱέρωνος ἑστίαν.

"Best is water, while gold, like fire blazing in the night, strikes the eye supreme amid lordly wealth. But if you wish to sing, my heart, of contests, look no further than the sun for another star shining more warmly by day through the desolate sky, nor let us proclaim any contest better than Olympia: Whence comes the famous hymn that encompasses the wisdom of skilled men, who have come roaring in celebration of the son of Kronos to the rich and blessed hearth of Hieron."

— Pindar’s Olympian 1, Lines 1-10