Pythian
Pindar
Pindar. Arnson Svarlien, Diane, translator. Created for the Perseus Project, 1990.
- and in Argos and in sacred Pylos. But it is my part to sing of the lovely glory that comes from Sparta,
- where the Aegeidae were born, and from there
- they went to Thera, my ancestors, not without the gods; they were led by a certain fate. From there we have received the feast with its many sacrifices, and at your
- banquet, Carneian Apollo, we honor the well-built city of Cyrene, which is held by foreigners who delight in bronze, the Trojan descendants of Antenor. For they came with Helen, after they had seen their native city consumed in the smoke
- of war. And that horse-driving race was faithfully welcomed with sacrifices by men who came to them bringing gifts, men whom Aristoteles [*](The other name of the founder of Cyrene, Battus. ) led, when, with his swift ships, he opened a deep path across the sea. And he founded precincts of the gods that were greater than before,
- and he established, for the processions of Apollo, protector of men, a straight cut, level, paved road for the clatter of horses’ hooves, where at the edge of the marketplace he rests by himself in death.
- He was blessed when he dwelled among men,
- and thereafter a hero worshipped by the people. Apart from him, in front of the houses, are the other sacred kings who took their allotted places in Hades, and somehow below the earth they hear, in their minds, great excellence sprinkled with gentle dew
- by the outpourings of victory-songs—prosperity for themselves, and a justly earned and shared grace for their son Arcesilas. It is fitting for him, in the song of the young men, to celebrate Phoebus with his golden sword,
- now that he has received from Pytho the graceful victory-song as a compensation for his expense. Intelligent men praise him. I will say what has been said by others:
- he nurtures a mind and tongue that are beyond his years; in courage he is a long-winged eagle among birds; his strength in competition is like a bulwark. Among the Muses, he has had wings since he was a child in his dear mother’s lap,
- and he has proved himself a skillful charioteer.
- He has boldly tried every local opportunity for fine deeds, and now a god gladly brings his power to perfection; and in the future, blessed sons of Cronus, grant him the same, both in deeds and in counsels,
- lest some fruit-destroying blast of winter wind quell his life. The great mind of Zeus steers the fortune of men that he loves. I pray to him
- to grant another prize of honor at Olympia to the race of Battus.