Isthmean

Pindar

Pindar. Arnson Svarlien, Diane, translator. Created for the Perseus Project, 1990.

  1. For it is no hill to climb, nor is the road steep, if one brings the honors of the Heliconian Muses to the homes of famous men.
  2. Having hurled the discus far, may I fling my javelin as far beyond all others, as Xenocrates obtained a sweet temper surpassing all men. He was honored in his townsmen’s company,
  3. and he upheld the raising of horses according to the customs of all Greeks. He also welcomed all the banquets for the gods,
  4. and the force of the blowing wind never made him furl his sail around his hospitable table; he journeyed as far as Phasis in the summer, and in the winter sailed to the banks of the Nile.
  5. Now, although envious hopes beset the minds of mortals, let him never hush in silence either his father’s excellence
  6. or these songs. For I did not fashion them to stand idle. Give this message, Nicasippus, when you come across my trusty friend.