CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"/> <title>Pindar: A Guide to Selected Sources - Living Poets</title> <script>document.documentElement.className="client-js";RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":false,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy","wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"28cf3c58f188a48eb6cd197d","wgCSPNonce":false,"wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Pindar:_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources","wgTitle":"Pindar: A Guide to Selected Sources","wgCurRevisionId":4835,"wgRevisionId":4835,"wgArticleId":419,"wgIsArticle":true,"wgIsRedirect":false,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Guides by Nicholas Boterf","Guides by Erika Taretto"],"wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Pindar:_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources","wgRelevantArticleId":419,"wgIsProbablyEditable":false,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":false, "wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgPageFormsTargetName":null,"wgPageFormsAutocompleteValues":[],"wgPageFormsAutocompleteOnAllChars":false,"wgPageFormsFieldProperties":[],"wgPageFormsCargoFields":[],"wgPageFormsDependentFields":[],"wgPageFormsCalendarValues":[],"wgPageFormsCalendarParams":[],"wgPageFormsCalendarHTML":null,"wgPageFormsGridValues":[],"wgPageFormsGridParams":[],"wgPageFormsContLangYes":null,"wgPageFormsContLangNo":null,"wgPageFormsContLangMonths":[],"wgPageFormsHeightForMinimizingInstances":800,"wgPageFormsShowOnSelect":[],"wgPageFormsScriptPath":"/w/extensions/PageForms","edgValues":null,"wgPageFormsEDSettings":null,"wgAmericanDates":false};RLSTATE={"site.styles":"ready","user.styles":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.slideshow.css":"ready","skins.erudite":"ready","ext.smw.style":"ready","ext.smw.tooltip.styles":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.LemmaNotes.css","ext.LineNumbers.css","ext.ToggleNotes","ext.slideshow.main","ext.smw.style", "ext.smw.tooltips","smw.entityexaminer","site","mediawiki.page.ready","mediawiki.toc"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.implement("user.options@12s5i",function($,jQuery,require,module){mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"});});});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.slideshow.css%7Cext.smw.style%7Cext.smw.tooltip.styles%7Cskins.erudite&only=styles&skin=erudite"/> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=erudite"></script> <style>#mw-indicator-mw-helplink {display:none;}</style> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=erudite"/> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.39.6"/> <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no"/> <meta name="viewport" content="width=1000"/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rdf+xml" title="Pindar: A Guide to Selected Sources" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:ExportRDF/Pindar:_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources&xmlmime=rdf"/> <link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico"/> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/opensearch_desc.php" title="Living Poets (en)"/> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="https://livingpoets.dur.ac.uk/w/api.php?action=rsd"/> <link rel="license" href="/w/index.php/Copyright"/>  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /> </head> <body class="mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Pindar_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources rootpage-Pindar_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources skin-erudite action-view"> <div class="mw-jump"> <a href="#bodyContent">Skip to content</a>, <a href="#search">Skip to search</a> </div> <div id="top-wrap" role="banner"> <h1><a href="/w/index.php/Welcome_to_Living_Poets" title="Living Poets" rel="home">Living Poets</a></h1> <div id="tagline">A new approach to ancient poetry</div> <a id="menubutton" href="#menu">Menu</a> <div id="nav" role="navigation"> <ul id='menu'> <li id="menu-item-n-mainpage-description"><a href="/w/index.php/Welcome_to_Living_Poets">Home</a></li> <li id="menu-item-n-About"><a href="/w/index.php/About_the_Project">About</a></li> <li id="menu-item-n-Guides"><a href="/w/index.php/Guides">Guides</a></li> <li id="menu-item-n-Collections"><a href="/w/index.php/Collections">Collections</a></li> <li id="menu-item-n-IT"><a href="/w/index.php/Optical_Character_Recognition">IT</a></li> <li id="menu-item-n-Public-Engagement"><a href="/w/index.php/Public_Engagement">Public Engagement</a></li> <li id="menu-item-n-Conferences"><a href="/w/index.php/Tombs_of_the_Poets_Programme">Conferences</a></li> <li id="menu-item-n-Who-We-Are"><a href="/w/index.php/Who_We_Are">Who We Are</a></li> <li id="menu-item-n-Contact-Us"><a href="/w/index.php/Contact_Us">Contact Us</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="mw-js-message"></div> <div id="main" role="main"> <div id="nav-meta"> <span id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php/Pindar:_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c">Page</a></span><span class="meta-sep">|</span><span id="ca-talk" class="new mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Talk:Pindar:_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources&action=edit&redlink=1" rel="discussion" title="Discussion about the content page (page does not exist) [t]" accesskey="t">Discussion</a></span><span class="meta-sep">|</span><span id="ca-viewsource" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Pindar:_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources&action=edit" title="This page is protected.
You can view its source [e]" accesskey="e">View source</a></span><span class="meta-sep">|</span><span id="ca-history" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Pindar:_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h">View history</a></span><span class="meta-sep">|</span> </div> <div id="bodyContent"> <h1><span class="mw-page-title-main">Pindar: A Guide to Selected Sources</span></h1> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="mw-parser-output"><div class="highlightbox"> <p>Correlate the sources mentioned in the guide to those listed in the margin using the mouse. </p><p><button type="button" id="togglehighlights">Highlight sources in the text</button> </p> </div> <p><i><b>Nicholas Boterf and Erika Taretto</b></i> </p> <p class="howtoquote"><a href="https://livingpoets.dur.ac.uk/w/index.php?title=Special:QuotePage&page=Pindar%3A_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources">How to quote this guide</a></p> <div id="guide"> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#The_‘I’_in_Pindar’s_Poetry"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">The ‘I’ in Pindar’s Poetry</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="#Origin"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Origin</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="#Genealogy_and_Poetic_Inspiration"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Genealogy and Poetic Inspiration</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="#Pindar_and_the_Gods"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Pindar and the Gods</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5"><a href="#House"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">House</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6"><a href="#Corinna_and_Pindar"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">Corinna and Pindar</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7"><a href="#Death_and_Honours"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">Death and Honours</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8"><a href="#Bibliography"><span class="tocnumber">8</span> <span class="toctext">Bibliography</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h2><span id="The_.E2.80.98I.E2.80.99_in_Pindar.E2.80.99s_Poetry"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="The_‘I’_in_Pindar’s_Poetry">The ‘I’ in Pindar’s Poetry</span></h2> <p>Like other lyric poets, Pindar (518-438 BC) frequently speaks in the first-person, but the persona he constructs does not necessarily reflect Pindar the historical individual (see e.g. Lefkowitz 1991, 2012; D'Alessio 1991). Ancient commentators, however, often did not separate the historical poet from his constructed persona, and assumed that a historical biography could be extracted from his poems. Often their interpretations sought to explain the circumstances of performance, sometimes even tracing intertextual links between poems. For instance, Pindar’s claim in <i>Nemean</i> 7.102-4 that ‘my heart will not ever say that it has savaged [the hero] Neoptolemus with inflexible words’ was interpreted as <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#anapologytotheAeginetans_0c48c"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#anapologytotheAeginetans_0c48c_body">an ‘apology’ to the Aeginetans</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#anapologytotheAeginetans_0c48c_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Scholium_to_Pindar,_Nemean_Ode_7.102" title="Scholium to Pindar, Nemean Ode 7.102">Schol. Pind. <i>Nem.</i> 7.102</a></i></span> because of the poet’s damning treatment of Neoptolemus in <i>Paean</i> 6. </p><p>Ancient commentators were also eager to connect Pindar to his professional rivals, Bacchylides and Simonides. Passages that describe ‘a pair of crows who sing in vain against the divine bird of Zeus’ (<i>Olympian</i> 2.87-8) or an eagle catching its prey ‘while the chattering jackdaws keep below’ (<i>Nemean</i> 3.82) were interpreted as <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#barbsagainstPindarscontemporaries_37217"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#barbsagainstPindarscontemporaries_37217_body">barbs against Pindar’s contemporaries</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#barbsagainstPindarscontemporaries_37217_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Scholium_to_Pindar,_Nemean_Ode_3.82" title="Scholium to Pindar, Nemean Ode 3.82">Pind. <i>Nem.</i> 3.82</a> <a href="/w/index.php/Scholium_to_Pindar,_Olympian_Ode_2.87" title="Scholium to Pindar, Olympian Ode 2.87">Schol. Pind. <i>Ol.</i> 2.87</a></i></span>. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Origin">Origin</span></h2> <p>The sources unanimously say that Pindar was a Boeotian born in Thebes or in the nearby Cynocephalae. Pindar himself said so in his poetry: in this regard, for example, <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#ancientcommentators_c0bd4"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#ancientcommentators_c0bd4_body">ancient commentators</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#ancientcommentators_c0bd4_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Scholium_to_Pindar,_Isthmian_Ode_1.1" title="Scholium to Pindar, Isthmian Ode 1.1">Schol. Pind. <i>Ist.</i> 1.1</a></i></span> mentioned the opening lines of <i>Isthmian</i> 1, where the poet calls Thebes his ‘mother’. </p><p>Ancient readers perceived a strong association between Pindar and his native city and often imagined the city as the setting for Pindar’s life. The poet, in fact, often praises Thebes in his work (e.g. <i>Isthmian</i> 1; fragment 194.4-6, 195, 198ab). However, the tradition also mentions tensions existing between the poet and Thebes: the <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#AmbrosianLife_2eb42"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#AmbrosianLife_2eb42_body"><i>Ambrosian Life</i></span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#AmbrosianLife_2eb42_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Ambrosian_Life" title="Ambrosian Life"><i>Vit. Ambr.</i></a></i></span>, for example, says that the poet received his lyrical instruction in Athens and that he praised the city in his poetry. Because of this praise, the <i>Life</i> continues, the Thebans imposed a fee on the poet, which the Athenians paid. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Genealogy_and_Poetic_Inspiration">Genealogy and Poetic Inspiration</span></h2> <p>Pindar’s father is named differently according to different traditions: the ancient <i>Lives</i> variously list Daiphantus, Pagondas, and Scopelinus. Scopelinus was the most debated character: the <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#AmbrosianLife_2eb42"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#AmbrosianLife_2eb42_body"><i>Ambrosian Life</i></span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#AmbrosianLife_2eb42_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Ambrosian_Life" title="Ambrosian Life"><i>Vit. Ambr.</i></a></i></span> claims that it was uncertain whether he was the father or uncle of the poet, and the <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#Suda_5d75d"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#Suda_5d75d_body"><i>Suda</i></span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#Suda_5d75d_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Suda_s.v._%27Pindar%27" title="Suda s.v. 'Pindar'"><i>Suda</i> s.v. 'Pindar'</a></i></span> states that he was father to a Pindar different from the famous poet. The mother of Pindar was said to be either <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#Cleodice_3c495"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#Cleodice_3c495_body">Cleodice</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#Cleodice_3c495_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Ambrosian_Life" title="Ambrosian Life"><i>Vit. Ambr.</i></a></i></span> (probably a speaking name, suggesting the idea of fame in relation to justice) or <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#Myrtis_78605"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#Myrtis_78605_body">Myrtis</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#Myrtis_78605_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Thoman_Life" title="Thoman Life"><i>Vit. Thom.</i></a></i></span> (the Greek word for ‘myrtle’, also used for making wreaths; cf. <i>Isthmian</i> 8.68). The poet was also said to have a brother, <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#Eritimos_e8d4a"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#Eritimos_e8d4a_body">Eritimos</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#Eritimos_e8d4a_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Vit._Metr." title="Vit. Metr."><i>Vit. Metr.</i></a></i></span>, a skilful hunter and boxer. </p><p>Pindar’s genealogy is sometimes related to the poet’s first steps in poetry. According to one tradition, Scopelinus was said to have taught Pindar <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#thebasicsoffluteplaying_33be5"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#thebasicsoffluteplaying_33be5_body">the basics of flute-playing</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#thebasicsoffluteplaying_33be5_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Ambrosian_Life" title="Ambrosian Life"><i>Vit. Ambr.</i></a> <a href="/w/index.php/Thoman_Life" title="Thoman Life"><i>Vit. Thom.</i></a></i></span>; according to the <i>Suda</i>, <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#MyrtiswasPindarsteacher_71683"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#MyrtiswasPindarsteacher_71683_body">Myrtis was Pindar’s teacher</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#MyrtiswasPindarsteacher_71683_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Suda_s.v._%27Pindar%27" title="Suda s.v. 'Pindar'"><i>Suda</i> s.v. 'Pindar'</a></i></span>. </p><p>Alongside the secular explanations of Pindar’s poetic talent, Pindar was also thought to be divinely inspired. According to the <i>Ambrosian Life</i>, which follows here Chamaeleon and Ister, two biographers of the early Hellenistic age, Pindar, as a young boy, once fell asleep in the middle of the day. Bees flew to his lips and built a honeycomb there; according to some, the <i>Life</i> also adds, the episode was a <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#dream_d8996"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#dream_d8996_body">dream</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#dream_d8996_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Ambrosian_Life" title="Ambrosian Life"><i>Vit. Ambr.</i></a></i></span>. Pindar used the imagery of bees in his poetry (e.g. <i>Olympian</i> 6.46-7; <i>Pythian</i> 4.60, 10.54; fragment 158), sometimes as a metaphor for poetic activity. This biographical episode may have originated from the poet’s own verses. </p><p>The ancients gave differing answers as to where this episode, the initiation, occurred. According to Chamaeleon and Ister, the bees settled in Pindar’s mouth while he slept on Mount Helicon, where Hesiod had allegedly met the Muses (see <a href="/w/index.php/Hesiod:_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources" title="Hesiod: A Guide to Selected Sources">Hesiod: A Guide to Selected Sources</a>). <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#Pausanias_fc361"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#Pausanias_fc361_body">Pausanias</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#Pausanias_fc361_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Pausanias_9.23.2" title="Pausanias 9.23.2">Paus. 9.23.2</a></i></span> extends the Hellenistic tradition and imagines the scene in detail, but this time the poet is described as falling asleep by the roadside on his way from Thebes to Thespiae. <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#Philostratus_2cc29"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#Philostratus_2cc29_body">Philostratus</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#Philostratus_2cc29_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Philostratus,_Images_2.12.1" title="Philostratus, Images 2.12.1">Phil. <i>Im.</i> 2.12.1</a></i></span> says that Pindar was still a baby when the bees arrived at his cradle made of myrtle (cf. the name of Pindar’s mother, Myrtis) and laurel. In an unexpected final twist, he states that the divine bees came from the Hymettus, an Athenian mountain, thus suggesting an Athenocentric claim on Pindar’s poetry. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Pindar_and_the_Gods">Pindar and the Gods</span></h2> <p>Ancient sources emphasized that Pindar enjoyed an unusually close relationship with the gods. Specific songs were imagined as motivated by encounters with deities, whether it was <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#DemeterinadreamorasightingofPan_47209"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#DemeterinadreamorasightingofPan_47209_body">Demeter in a dream or a sighting of Pan</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#DemeterinadreamorasightingofPan_47209_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Ambrosian_Life" title="Ambrosian Life"><i>Vit. Ambr.</i></a> <a href="/w/index.php/Thoman_Life" title="Thoman Life"><i>Vit. Thom.</i></a></i></span> between Cithaeron and Helicon. In these stories Pan is also heard singing the songs of Pindar, an exceptional honour for a mortal. In the version found in the <i>Thoman Life</i> he was even <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#singingveryspecificallyOlympian_17a58"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#singingveryspecificallyOlympian_17a58_body">singing very specifically <i>Olympian</i> 1</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#singingveryspecificallyOlympian_17a58_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Thoman_Life" title="Thoman Life"><i>Vit. Thom.</i></a></i></span>, the first poem of both ancient and modern editions (cf. Irigoin 1952: 43-4). Pindar was also imagined as a founder of a cult in his own right. The Hellenistic Alexandrian scholar Aristodemus describes how Pindar saw <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#avisionofastatueofCybele_f9200"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#avisionofastatueofCybele_f9200_body">a vision of a statue of Cybele</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#avisionofastatueofCybele_f9200_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Scholium_to_Pindar,_Pythian_Ode_3.77-8" title="Scholium to Pindar, Pythian Ode 3.77-8">Schol. Pind. <i>Pyth.</i> 3.77-8</a></i></span> while instructing another musician in the mountains. As a result, he established a shrine to the Great Mother near his house. The Thebans consulted the oracle about this mysterious turn of events, and they too were instructed to establish a shrine. When specifying ‘near his house’, Aristodemus was probably elaborating on the Pindaric passage where the poet describes girls singing praises to Cybele and Pan ‘outside his doorway’ (<i>Pythian</i> 3.77-8). </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="House">House</span></h2> <p>Aristodemus was not the only ancient reader to refer to Pindar’s house. We are told that, when destroying Thebes, <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#theSpartangeneralPausaniassavedthehouseofthepoet_05ba5"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#theSpartangeneralPausaniassavedthehouseofthepoet_05ba5_body">the Spartan general Pausanias saved the house of the poet</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#theSpartangeneralPausaniassavedthehouseofthepoet_05ba5_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Ambrosian_Life" title="Ambrosian Life"><i>Vit. Ambr.</i></a></i></span>. A <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#sign_8c29c"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#sign_8c29c_body">sign</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#sign_8c29c_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Ambrosian_Life" title="Ambrosian Life"><i>Vit. Ambr.</i></a> <a href="/w/index.php/Dio_Chrysostom,_Oration_on_Kingship_2.33" title="Dio Chrysostom, Oration on Kingship 2.33">Dio Chrys. <i>De regn.</i> 2.33</a></i></span> was allegedly put up on the house to prevent anybody from burning the poet’s house. In 335 BC, when <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#AlexandertheGreat_204d8"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#AlexandertheGreat_204d8_body">Alexander the Great</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#AlexandertheGreat_204d8_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Pliny,_Natural_History_7.29.109" title="Pliny, Natural History 7.29.109">Plin. <i>NH</i> 7.29.109</a> <a href="/w/index.php/Arrian,_Anabasis_1.9.9-10" title="Arrian, Anabasis 1.9.9-10">Arr. 1.9.9-10</a> <a href="/w/index.php/Aelian,_Historical_Miscellanies_13.7" title="Aelian, Historical Miscellanies 13.7">Ael. <i>VH</i> 13.7</a> <a href="/w/index.php/Dio_Chrysostom,_Oration_on_Kingship_2.33" title="Dio Chrysostom, Oration on Kingship 2.33">Dio Chrys. <i>De regn.</i> 2.33</a></i></span> razed Thebes after its revolt, the house was supposedly saved again, along with the descendants of the poet and the local priests. This account may well derive from the first Alexandrian historians used by Arrian and others in their own presentations of Alexander. The house at some point became a site of Pindaric memory, regardless of the historicity of the story (on which cf. Slater 1971, <i>contra</i> Bosworth 1980: 91). </p><p>Part of the impetus to save the house likely came from the fact that the site was more generally associated with religious activities. The sophist Philostratus says that even before Pindar was born ‘cymbals resounded’ in his house and the ‘drums of Rhea were heard.’ Both Philostratus and Aelian add that <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#Pindarwasinspiredasapoetinfrontofhishouse_ad893"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#Pindarwasinspiredasapoetinfrontofhishouse_ad893_body">Pindar was inspired as a poet in front of his house</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#Pindarwasinspiredasapoetinfrontofhishouse_ad893_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Phil._Im._2.12" title="Phil. Im. 2.12">Phil. <i>Im.</i> 2.12</a> <a href="/w/index.php/Aelian,_Historical_Miscellanies_12.45" title="Aelian, Historical Miscellanies 12.45">Ael. <i>VH</i> 12.45</a></i></span>. Pausanias describes his own visit to <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#thesanctuary_b7b1d"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#thesanctuary_b7b1d_body">the sanctuary</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#thesanctuary_b7b1d_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Pausanias_9.25.3" title="Pausanias 9.25.3">Paus. 9.25.3</a></i></span> by the house of the poet. The author of the <i>Ambrosian Life</i> adds that the house had become Thebes’ Prytaneion. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Corinna_and_Pindar">Corinna and Pindar</span></h2> <p>Modern scholars are divided about the dating of Corinna of Tanagra: some place her in the late third-century, while others accept the fifth-century date the ancients themselves report (e.g. Allen and Frel 1972; West 1970, 1990). In any case, ancient commentators believed Corinna to be a contemporary of Pindar and to have defeated him in a poetic contest. Corinna’s victory in this competition became a point of local pride. Pausanias describes a painting he saw in Tanagra of <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#Corinnabindingherhead_f56b9"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#Corinnabindingherhead_f56b9_body">Corinna binding her head</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#Corinnabindingherhead_f56b9_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Pausanias_9.22.3" title="Pausanias 9.22.3">Paus. 9.22.3</a></i></span> after her victory over Pindar. Ancient sources (e.g. <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#Pausanias_7b4b8"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#Pausanias_7b4b8_body">Pausanias 9.22.3</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#Pausanias_7b4b8_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Pausanias_9.22.3" title="Pausanias 9.22.3">Paus. 9.22.3</a></i></span>; <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#AelianHistoricalMiscellanies_f6c08"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#AelianHistoricalMiscellanies_f6c08_body">Aelian, <i>Historical Miscellanies</i> 13.25</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#AelianHistoricalMiscellanies_f6c08_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Aelian,_Historical_Miscellanies_13.25" title="Aelian, Historical Miscellanies 13.25">Ael. <i>VH</i> 13.25</a></i></span>) attribute her victory not to the quality of her poetry, but to her beauty, her parochial dialect (local Boeotian, rather than the panhellenic Doric of Pindar’s poetry), and even the boorishness of the audiences (cf. Larmour 2008). As a woman and a relatively parochial poet, Corinna is depicted as the underdog both socially and poetically against the internationally renowned Pindar. This tale is structurally similar to the <i>Contest</i> between Homer and Hesiod insofar as the underdog achieves a surprising victory against a more celebrated poet. </p><p>Corinna is also reported by Plutarch as <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#reprimandingPindar_bacc1"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#reprimandingPindar_bacc1_body">reprimanding Pindar</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#reprimandingPindar_bacc1_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Plutarch,_On_the_Fame_of_the_Athenians_347f-348a" title="Plutarch, On the Fame of the Athenians 347f-348a">Plut. <i>De glor. Ath.</i> 347f-348a</a></i></span> for his too liberal use of grandiloquent mythological references: ‘One should sow with the hand, not the entire sack.’ Once again we can see a contrast between the rustic, simple Corinna and the bombastic Pindar. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Death_and_Honours">Death and Honours</span></h2> <p>One version of his <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#death_f5485"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#death_f5485_body">death</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#death_f5485_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Ambrosian_Life" title="Ambrosian Life"><i>Vit. Ambr.</i></a></i></span> claims that a set of ambassadors asked the oracle of Ammon on behalf of Pindar ‘What is the best thing amongst men?’ and that he died soon after. Pindar mentions Ammon several times in his poetry, which probably motivated this story (e.g. <i>Pythian</i> 4.16; fragment 36). A more romantic answer to the same question is given by another version of Pindar’s death: after praying that the finest thing be given to him, Pindar died publicly at the feet of his lover <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#Theoxenus_efdd3"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#Theoxenus_efdd3_body">Theoxenus</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#Theoxenus_efdd3_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Suda_s.v._%27Pindar%27" title="Suda s.v. 'Pindar'"><i>Suda</i> s.v. 'Pindar'</a> <a href="/w/index.php/Valerius_Maximus_9.12.(ext.)7" title="Valerius Maximus 9.12.(ext.)7">Val. Max. 9.12.(ext.)7</a></i></span>, for whom he wrote erotic poems (see fragment 123). </p><p>Pindar was the recipient of extensive cultic honours. At Delphi shares of the sacrifice were put aside for him, and the priest invited Pindar to feast with Apollo himself (see e.g. <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#theAmbrosianLife_64307"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#theAmbrosianLife_64307_body">the <i>Ambrosian Life</i></span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#theAmbrosianLife_64307_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Ambrosian_Life" title="Ambrosian Life"><i>Vit. Ambr.</i></a></i></span>). Multiple sources even indicate that he received <span class="lemmawrapper" vocab="http://www.openannotation.org/ns/" typeof="Annotation" resource="#thesehonourswhilehewasstillalive_67bda"><span class="lemma" property="hasBody" resource="#thesehonourswhilehewasstillalive_67bda_body">these honours while he was still alive</span><i class="lemmanote" property="hasTarget" resource="#thesehonourswhilehewasstillalive_67bda_target"> <a href="/w/index.php/Vit._Metr." title="Vit. Metr."><i>Vit. Metr.</i></a> <a href="/w/index.php/Pausanias_9.23.3" title="Pausanias 9.23.3">Paus. 9.23.3</a></i></span>. </p> <hr /> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Bibliography">Bibliography</span></h2> <div id="bibliography"> <ul><li>Allen, A. and Frel, J. 1972. ‘A Date for Corinna.’ <i>CJ</i> 68: 26-30.</li> <li>Bosworth, A. B. 1980. <i>A Historical Commentary on Arrian's History of Alexander</i>. Oxford.</li> <li>Bowra, C. M. 1964. <i>Pindar</i>. Oxford.</li> <li>Bundy, E. 2006. <i>Studia Pindarica</i> (Digital Version: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external free" href="http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2g79p68q">http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2g79p68q</a>). Berkeley.</li> <li>Currie, B. 2005. <i>Pindar and the Cult of Heroes</i>. Oxford.</li> <li>D’Alessio, G. B. 1994. ‘First Person Problems in Pindar.’ <i>BICS</i> 39: 117-39.</li> <li>Irigoin, J. 1952. <i>Histoire du Texte de Pindare</i>. Paris.</li> <li>Larmour, D. 2008. ‘An Agon on the Slopes of Helicon: Corinna's Dialogues with Pindar and Hesiod.’ In J. Blevins (ed.) 2008, <i>Dialogism and Lyrical Self-Fashioning: Bakhtin and the Voices of Genre</i>. Cranbury, NJ: 46-65.</li> <li>Lefkowitz, M. R. 1991. <i>First-person Fictions: Pindar’s Poetic “I”</i>. Oxford. <ul><li>2012. <i>The Lives of the Greek Poets</i> (1st edn 1981). Baltimore.</li></ul></li> <li>Slater, W. J. 1971. ‘Pindar’s House.’ <i>GRBS</i> 12: 141-52.</li> <li>West, M. L. 1970. ‘Corinna.’ <i>CQ</i> 20: 277-87. <ul><li>1990. ‘Dating Corinna.’ <i>CQ</i> 40: 553-7.</li></ul></li> <li>Young, D. 1970. ‘Pindaric Criticism.’ In W. Musgrave Calder III and J. Stern (eds.), <i>Pindaros und Bakchylides</i>. Darmstadt: 1-95.</li></ul> </div> </div> <div id="notes"></div>    </div></div><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://livingpoets.dur.ac.uk/w/index.php?title=Pindar:_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources&oldid=4835">https://livingpoets.dur.ac.uk/w/index.php?title=Pindar:_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources&oldid=4835</a>"</div> </div> <div id="footer"> <p> This page was last edited on 19 November 2015, at 17:07.</p><p>Content is available under <a href="/w/index.php/Copyright" title="Copyright">Creative Commons Attribution or Public Domain</a> unless otherwise noted.</p><ul><li><a href="/w/index.php/Living_Poets:Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li><li><a href="/w/index.php/Living_Poets:About">About Living Poets</a></li><li><a href="/w/index.php/Living_Poets:General_disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li></ul> </div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/w/index.php/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/w/index.php/Category:Guides_by_Nicholas_Boterf" title="Category:Guides by Nicholas Boterf">Guides by Nicholas Boterf</a></li><li><a href="/w/index.php/Category:Guides_by_Erika_Taretto" title="Category:Guides by Erika Taretto">Guides by Erika Taretto</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> <div id="bottom-wrap"> <div id="footer-wrap-inner"> <div id="primary" class="footer"> <ul> <li id="search" class="widget"> <h3>Search</h3> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform"> <input type='hidden' name="title" value="Special:Search" /> <div> <input type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Living Poets" aria-label="Search Living Poets" autocapitalize="sentences" title="Search Living Poets [f]" accesskey="f" id="s"/> Search<input class="searchButton" type="submit" name="go" title="Go to a page with this exact name if it exists" value="Go" id="searchsubmit"/> </div> </form> </li> <li class="widget"> <div class="mw-parser-output"><h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Stay_Updated">Stay Updated</span></h3> <ul><li><a href="/w/index.php/Mailing_list" title="Mailing list">Mailing list</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://www.facebook.com/LivingPoetsProject">Facebook</a></li></ul></div> </li> </ul> </div> <div id="secondary" class="footer"> <ul> <li id="toolbox" class="widget"> <h3>Tools</h3> <ul> <li id="t-whatlinkshere" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/Pindar:_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources" title="A list of all wiki pages that link here [j]" accesskey="j">What links here</a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Pindar:_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k">Related changes</a></li><li id="t-specialpages" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php/Special:SpecialPages" title="A list of all special pages [q]" accesskey="q">Special pages</a></li><li id="t-print" class="mw-list-item"><a href="javascript:print();" rel="alternate" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p">Printable version</a></li><li id="t-permalink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Pindar:_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources&oldid=4835" title="Permanent link to this revision of this page">Permanent link</a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Pindar:_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources&action=info" title="More information about this page">Page information</a></li><li id="t-smwbrowselink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php/Special:Browse/:Pindar:-5FA-5FGuide-5Fto-5FSelected-5FSources" rel="search">Browse properties</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="widget"> <div class="mw-parser-output"><h3><span class="mw-headline" id="About_This_Website">About This Website</span></h3> <p>This website is built entirely out of free and open source parts. <a href="/w/index.php/About_the_website" title="About the website">More details</a>. </p></div> </li> </ul> </div> <div id="ternary" class="footer"> <ul> <li class="widget"> <img id="logo" src="/w/images/logos.png" alt=""/> </li> <li class="widget"> <div class="mw-parser-output"></div> </li> </ul> </div> <div style="clear: both"></div> </div> </div> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgPageParseReport":{"smw":{"limitreport-intext-parsertime":0.016},"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.058","walltime":"0.327","ppvisitednodes":{"value":223,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":1063,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":33,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":3,"limit":100},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":0,"limit":100},"unstrip-depth":{"value":0,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":11038,"limit":5000000},"timingprofile":["100.00% 125.388 1 -total"," 95.55% 119.814 1 Template:GuideHighlightBox"," 4.34% 5.446 1 Template:Author"]},"cachereport":{"timestamp":"20241127190406","ttl":86400,"transientcontent":false}}});mw.config.set({"wgBackendResponseTime":2771});});</script> </body> </html>