Editing Pindar (section)

== Biography ==
===Sources===
Five ancient sources contain all the recorded details of Pindar's life. One of them is a short biography discovered in 1961 on an Egyptian papyrus dating from at least 200 AD ([[P.Oxy]].2438).<ref>Race, p. 4</ref> The other four are collections that were not finalized until some 1600 years after his death:
* A brief biography of Pindar and his tomb in Boeotia, from Pausanias's “descriptions of Greece” [9.23.2]-[9.23.5].
* ''Commentaries on Pindar'' by [[Eustathius of Thessalonica]];
* ''Vita Vratislavensis'', found in a manuscript at [[Wrocław]], author unknown;
* a text by [[Thomas Magister]];
* some meagre writings attributed to the lexicographer Suidas.
Although these sources are based on a much older literary tradition, going as far back as [[Chamaeleon (philosopher)|Chamaeleon of Heraclea]] in the 4th century BC, they are generally viewed with scepticism today: much of the material is clearly fanciful.<ref name="Greek Lyric Poets' 1997 page 253"/><ref>Morice, pp. 211–15</ref> Scholars both ancient and modern have turned to Pindar's own work{{spaced ndash}}his [[Epinikion|victory odes]] in particular{{spaced ndash}}as a source of biographical information: some of the poems touch on historic events and can be accurately dated. The 1962 publication of Elroy Bundy's ground-breaking work ''Studia Pindarica''<ref>[http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2g79p68q Escholarship.org]</ref> led to a change in scholarly opinion: the Odes were no longer seen as expressions of Pindar's personal thoughts and feelings, but rather as public statements "dedicated to the single purpose of eulogizing men and communities."<ref>E.Bundy, ''Studia Pindarica'', Berkeley (1962), p. 35</ref> It has been claimed that biographical interpretations of the poems are due to a "fatal conjunction" of historicism and Romanticism.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Lloyd-Jones, Hugh|url=http://www.proc.britac.ac.uk/cgi-bin/somsid.cgi?page=68p139&session=479879E&type=header|title=Pindar|journal=Proceedings of the British Academy|volume=68|year=1982|pages=139–163 (145)}}{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In other words, we know almost nothing about Pindar's life based on either traditional sources or his own poems. However, the pendulum of intellectual fashion has begun to change direction again, and cautious use of the poems for some biographical purposes is considered acceptable once more.{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=38}}{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=59}}{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=67}}<ref>Currie, pp. 11–13</ref>

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{{lang|grc|πολλὰ γὰρ πολλᾷ λέλεκται: νεαρὰ δ᾽ ἐξευ-<br />
ρόντα δόμεν βασάνῳ<br />
ἐς ἔλεγχον, ἅπας κίνδυνος.}}<ref>Nemean 8, lines 20–21</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1947}}
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Story is vast in range: new ways to find<br />
and test upon the touchstone,<br />
Here danger lies.<ref group="nb">Pindar (1972) p. 212. The three lines here, and in Bowra's Greek, are actually two lines or stichoi in Greek prosody. Stichoi however are often too long to be preserved as single lines in published form, and they are then broken into metrical units, or cola, the break indicated by indentation. This practice is observed both in Greek and in translations, but it is a modern convenience or preference and it has no historical authority: "...nullam habet apud codices auctoritatem neque veri simile est Pindarum ita carmina manu propria conscripsisse."</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1947|p=9}}
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===Life===
====Infancy to adulthood====
Pindar was born circa 518 BC (the 65th [[Olympiad]]) in [[Cynoscephalae (Boeotia)|Cynoscephalae]], a village in [[Boeotia]], not far from [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]]. His father's name is variously given as Daiphantus, Pagondas or Scopelinus, and his mother's name was Cleodice.<ref name="Greek Lyric Poets' 1997 page 253">Gerber, p. 253</ref> It is told that in his youth, or possibly infancy, bees built a honeycomb in his mouth and this was the reason he became a poet of honey-like verses. (An identical fate has been ascribed to other poets of the archaic period.)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://livingpoets.dur.ac.uk/w/index.php/Pindar:_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources | title=Pindar: A Guide to Selected Sources – Living Poets }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| title=The Honey Bee and Apian Imagery in Classical Literature | url=https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/33129/Carlson_washington_0250E_14276.pdf?sequence=1 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111192302/https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/33129/Carlson_washington_0250E_14276.pdf?sequence=1 | archive-date=2020-11-11}}</ref> Pindar was about twenty years old in 498 BC when he was commissioned by the ruling family in [[Thessaly]] to compose his first victory ode (''Pythian 10''). He studied the art of lyric poetry in Athens, where his tutor was [[Lasos of Hermione]], and he is also said to have received some helpful criticism from [[Corinna]].

The early to middle years of Pindar's career coincided with the [[Greco-Persian Wars]] during the reigns of [[Darius the Great|Darius]] and [[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes]]. This period included the [[first Persian invasion of Greece]], which ended at the [[Battle of Marathon]] in 490 BC, and the [[second Persian invasion of Greece]] (480–479 BC).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ancient Greece – War – The British Museum|url=http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/war/home_set.html|access-date=18 July 2020|website=www.ancientgreece.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Battle of Marathon|url=https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/battle-of-marathon|access-date=18 July 2020|website=HISTORY|language=en}}</ref> During the second invasion, when Pindar was almost forty years old, [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] was occupied by Xerxes' general, [[Mardonius (nephew of Darius I)|Mardonius]], who with many Theban aristocrats subsequently perished at the [[Battle of Plataea]]. It is possible that Pindar spent much of this time at [[Aegina]]. His choice of residence during the earlier invasion in 490 BC is not known, but he was able to attend the [[Pythian Games]] of that year, where he first met the Sicilian prince, Thrasybulus, nephew of [[Theron of Acragas]]. Thrasybulus had driven the winning chariot; and he and Pindar were to form a lasting friendship, paving the way for his subsequent visit to Sicily.

====Middle age====
[[File:VIII.1.a, Pompeii. June 2017. Painted panel from west end of south wall of enthroned Pindar with lyre, with Muse and poetess.jpg|thumb|300px|Enthroned Pindar with [[lyre]], [[Muses|Muse]] and poetess. Antique fresco in [[Pompeii]]]]
Pindar seems to have used his odes to advance his, and his friends', personal interests.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=311420|author=Hubbard, T. K.|title=Remaking Myth and Rewriting History: Cult Tradition in Pindar's Ninth Nemean'|journal= Harvard Studies in Classical Philology|volume=94|year=1992|pages=77–111 [78]|doi=10.2307/311420}}</ref> In 462 BC he composed two odes in honour of Arcesilas, king of [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]], (''Pythians 4 and 5''), pleading for the return from exile of a friend, Demophilus. In the latter ode Pindar proudly mentions his own ancestry, which he shared with the king, as an Aegeid or descendant of [[Aegeus]], the legendary king of Athens. The clan was influential in many parts of the Greek world, having intermarried with ruling families in Thebes, in [[Laconia (ancient region)|Lacedaemonia]], and in cities that claimed Lacedaemonian descent, such as Cyrene and [[Santorini|Thera]]. The historian [[Herodotus]] considered the clan important enough to deserve mention (''Histories'' IV.147). Membership of this clan possibly contributed to Pindar's success as a poet, and it informed his political views, which are marked by a conservative preference for oligarchic governments of the [[Dorians|Doric]] kind.

<blockquote>Pindar might not actually claim to be an Aegeid since his 'I' statements do not necessarily refer to himself. The Aegeid clan did however have a branch in Thebes, and his reference to 'my ancestors' in Pythian 5 could have been spoken on behalf of both Arcesilas and himself{{spaced ndash}}he may have used this ambivalence to establish a personal link with his patrons.<ref>Gerber, p. 270</ref></blockquote>

He was possibly the Theban [[proxenos]] or consul for Aegina and/or [[Molossia]], as indicated in another of his odes, Nemean 7,{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=177}}{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=178}}{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=179}}{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=180}} in which he glorifies [[Neoptolemus]], a national hero of Aegina and Molossia. According to tradition, Neoptolemus died disgracefully in a fight with priests at the temple in [[Delphi]] over their share of some sacrificial meat. Pindar diplomatically glosses over this and concludes mysteriously with an earnest protestation of innocence{{spaced ndash}}"But shall my heart never admit that I with words none can redeem dishonoured Neoptolemus".{{clarify|date=June 2020 |reason= this is barely English}} Possibly he was responding to anger among Aeginetans and/or Molossians over his portrayal of Neoptolemus in an earlier poem, ''[[Paean]] 6'', which had been commissioned by the priests at Delphi and which depicted the hero's death in traditional terms, as divine retribution for his crimes.

<blockquote>Some doubt this biographical interpretation of ''Nemean 7'' since it is largely based on marginal comments by [[scholiast]]s and Pindaric scholiasts are often unreliable. The fact that Pindar gave different versions of the myth may simply reflect the needs of different genres, and does not necessarily indicate a personal dilemma.<ref>Ian Rutherford, ''Pindar's Paeans'', Oxford University Press (2001), pp. 321–22</ref> ''Nemean 7'' in fact is the most controversial and obscure of Pindar's victory odes, and scholars ancient and modern have been ingenious and imaginative in their attempts to explain it, so far with no agreed success.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=1087989|author=Woodbury, Leonard|title=Neoptolemus at Delphi: Pindar, Nem.7.30ff|journal=Phoenix|volume=33|issue=2|year=1979| pages=95–133|doi=10.2307/1087989}}</ref></blockquote>

In his first Pythian ode, composed in 470 BC in honour of the Sicilian tyrant [[Hieron of Syracuse|Hieron]], Pindar celebrated a series of victories by Greeks against foreign invaders: Athenian and Spartan-led victories against Persia at [[Battle of Salamis|Salamis]] and [[Battle of Plataea|Plataea]], and victories by the western Greeks led by [[Theron of Acragas]] and Hieron against the Carthaginians and Etruscans at the battles of [[Battle of Himera (480 BC)|Himera]] and [[Battle of Cumae|Cumae]]. Such celebrations were not appreciated by his fellow Thebans: they had sided with the Persians and had incurred many losses and privations as a result of their defeat. His praise of Athens with such epithets as ''bulwark of [[Ancient Greece|Hellas]]'' (''fragment 76'') and ''city of noble name and sunlit splendour'' (Nemean 5) induced the authorities in Thebes to fine him 5,000 drachmae, to which the Athenians are said to have responded with a gift of 10,000 drachmae. According to another account,<ref>[[Isocrates]] 15.166</ref> the Athenians even made him their proxenus or consul in Thebes. His association with the fabulously rich Hieron was another source of annoyance at home. It was probably in response to Theban sensitivities over this issue that he denounced the rule of tyrants (i.e. rulers like Hieron) in an ode composed shortly after a visit to Hieron's sumptuous court in 476–75 BC (''Pythian 11'').<ref>Pindar (1972) p. 158</ref>

<blockquote>Pindar's actual phrasing in ''Pythian 11'' was "I deplore the lot of tyrants" and though this was traditionally interpreted as an apology for his dealings with Sicilian tyrants like Hieron, an alternative date for the ode has led some scholars to conclude that it was in fact a covert reference to the tyrannical behaviour of the Athenians, although this interpretation is ruled out if we accept the earlier note about covert references. According to yet another interpretation Pindar is simply delivering a formulaic warning to the successful athlete to avoid [[hubris]].{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=59}} It is highly unlikely that Pindar ever acted for Athenians as their proxenus or consul in Thebes.{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=57}}</blockquote>

Lyric verse was conventionally accompanied by music and dance, and Pindar himself wrote the music and choreographed the dances for his victory odes. Sometimes he trained the performers at his home in Thebes, and sometimes he trained them at the venue where they performed. Commissions took him to all parts of the Greek world{{spaced ndash}}to the Panhellenic festivals in mainland Greece (Olympia, Delphi, Corinth and Nemea), westwards to Sicily, eastwards to the seaboard of Asia Minor, north to [[Macedon]]ia and [[Abdera, Thrace|Abdera]] (''Paean 2'') and south to Cyrene on the African coast. Other poets at the same venues vied with him for the favours of patrons. His poetry sometimes reflects this rivalry. For example, ''Olympian 2'' and ''Pythian 2'', composed in honour of the Sicilian tyrants Theron and Hieron following his visit to their courts in 476–75 BC, refer respectively to ''ravens'' and an ''ape'', apparently signifying rivals who were engaged in a campaign of smears against him{{spaced ndash}}possibly the poets [[Simonides]] and his nephew [[Bacchylides]].<ref>Pindar (1972) pp. 10, 88–9</ref> Pindar's original treatment of narrative myth, often relating events in reverse chronological order, is said to have been a favourite target for criticism.<ref>Pindar (1972) Introduction p. XIII</ref> Simonides was known to charge high fees for his work and Pindar is said to have alluded to this in ''Isthmian 2'', where he refers to the Muse as "a hireling journeyman". He appeared in many poetry competitions and was defeated five times by his compatriot, the poet [[Corinna]], in revenge of which he called her ''Boeotian sow'' in one of his odes (''Olympian'' 6. 89f.).

<blockquote>It was assumed by ancient sources that Pindar's odes were performed by a chorus, but this has been challenged by some modern scholars, who argue that the odes were in fact performed solo.{{sfn|Hornblower|2004|p=16}} It is not known how commissions were arranged, nor if the poet travelled widely: even when poems include statements like "I have come" it is not certain that this was meant literally.<ref>Race, pp. 10–11</ref> Uncomplimentary references to Bacchylides and Simonides were found by [[scholiasts]] but there is no reason to accept their interpretation of the odes.<ref>David Campbell, ''Greek Lyric IV'', Loeb Classical Library (1992), page 6</ref> In fact, some scholars have interpreted the allusions to fees in ''Isthmian 2'' as a request by Pindar for payment of fees owed to himself.<ref>Pindar (1972) p. 239</ref> His defeats by Corinna were probably invented by ancient commentators to account for the ''Boeotian sow'' remark, a phrase moreover that was completely misunderstood by scholiasts, since Pindar was scoffing at a reputation that all Boeotians had for stupidity.<ref>D. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric IV'', p. 2</ref></blockquote>

====Old age and death====
His fame as a poet drew Pindar into Greek politics. Athens, the most important city in Greece throughout his poetic career, was a rival of his home city, [[Thebes (Greece)|Thebes]], and also of the island state [[Aegina]], whose leading citizens commissioned about a quarter of his Victory Odes. There is no open condemnation of the Athenians in any of his poems but criticism is implied. For example, the victory ode mentioned above (''Pythian 8'') describes the downfall of the giants [[Porphyrion]] and [[Typhon]] and this might be Pindar's way of covertly celebrating a recent defeat of Athens by Thebes at the [[Battle of Coronea (447 BC)|Battle of Coronea]] (447 BC).<ref>Pindar (1972), p. 138</ref> The poem ends with a prayer for Aegina's freedom, long threatened by Athenian ambitions.
<blockquote>Covert criticism of Athens (traditionally located in odes such as ''Pythian'' 8, ''Nemean'' 8 and ''Isthmian'' 7) is now dismissed as highly unlikely, even by scholars who allow some biographical and historical interpretations of the poems.<ref>Charles Segal, 'Choral Lyric in the Fifth Century', in Easterling, pp. 231–232</ref></blockquote>

One of his last odes (''Pythian 8'') indicates that he lived near a shrine to the oracle [[Alcmaeon (mythology)|Alcmaeon]] and that he stored some of his wealth there. In the same ode he says that he had recently received a prophecy from Alcmaeon during a journey to Delphi ("...he met me and proved the skills of prophecy that all his race inherit")<ref>Pindar (1972) p. 142</ref> but he does not reveal what the long-dead prophet said to him nor in what form he appeared.<ref group="nb">There are several other accounts of supernatural visitations relating to Pindar (see for example C.M. Bowra, ''Pindar'', pages 49–51). According to a [[scholium]], he and a pupil, Olympichus, once saw a mysterious flame on a mountain, attended by strange noises. Pindar then beheld [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]], the Mother of the Gods, advancing in the form of a wooden image. [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] (9.25.3) reported that he set up a monument near his home, dedicated conjointly to Pan and the Mother of the Gods ({{lang|grc|Δινδυμήνη}}). According to [[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathius]] (''Proem.'' 27, p. 298. 9 Dr) and ''Vit. Ambr.'' (p. 2. 2 Dr.), Pan was once heard between [[Cithaeron]] and [[Mount Helicon|Helicon]] singing a [[paean]] composed to him by Pindar (fr. 85).</ref>  The ode was written to commemorate a victory by an athlete from [[Aegina]].

<blockquote>Pindar doesn't necessarily mean himself when he uses the first person singular. Many of his 'I' statements are generic, indicating somebody engaged in the role of a singer i.e. a 'bardic' I. Other 'I' statements articulate values typical of the audience, and some are spoken on behalf of the subjects celebrated in the poems.<ref>Currie, p. 20</ref> The 'I' that received the prophecy in ''Pythian 8'' therefore might have been the athlete from Aegina, not Pindar. In that case the prophecy must have been about his performance at the Pythian Games, and the property stored at the shrine was just a votive offering.<ref>Gerber, pp. 268–269</ref></blockquote>

Nothing is recorded about Pindar's wife and son except their names, Megacleia and Daiphantus.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brill Academic Publishers |url=https://brill.com/previewpdf/book/edcoll/9789004217614/BP000022.xml |access-date=21 November 2022}}</ref>

About ten days before he died, the goddess [[Persephone]] appeared to him and complained that she was the only divinity to whom he had never composed a hymn. She said he would come to her soon and compose one then.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Pindar lived to about eighty years of age. He died around 438 BC while attending a festival at [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]]. His ashes were taken back home to Thebes by his musically gifted daughters, Eumetis and Protomache.

====Post mortem====
One of Pindar's female relatives claimed that he dictated some verses to her in honour of Persephone after he had been dead for several days. Some of Pindar's verses were inscribed in letters of gold on a temple wall in [[Lindos]], Rhodes. At Delphi, where he had been elected a priest of Apollo, the priests exhibited an iron chair on which he used to sit during the festival of the [[Theoxenia]]. Every night, while closing the temple doors, they intoned: "Let Pindar the poet go unto the supper of the gods!"

Pindar's house in [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] became one of the city's landmarks. When [[Alexander the Great]] [[Battle of Thebes|demolished Thebes]] in 335&nbsp;BC, as punishment for its resistance to Macedonian expansionism, he ordered the house be left intact out of gratitude for verses praising his ancestor, [[Alexander I of Macedon]].<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''Life of Alexander'' 11.6; [[Arrian]], ''[[Anabasis Alexandri]]'' 1.9.10</ref>

===Values and beliefs===
Pindar's values and beliefs have been inferred from his poetry. No other ancient Greek poet has left so many comments about the nature of his art. He justified and exalted [[choral poetry]] at a time when society was turning away from it. It "... had for two centuries reflected and shaped the sentiments, the outlook, and the convictions of the Greek aristocracies ... and Pindar spoke up for it with passionate assurance".{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=2}} His poetry is a meeting ground for gods, heroes and men{{spaced ndash}}even the dead are spoken of as participants: "Deep in the earth their heart listens".{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=38}}

His view of the gods is traditional but more self-consistent than [[Homer]]'s and more reverent. He never depicts gods in a demeaning role. He seems indifferent to the intellectual reforms that were shaping the theology of the times. Thus an eclipse is not a mere physical effect, as contemplated by early thinkers such as [[Thales]], [[Anaximander]] and [[Heraclitus]], nor was it even a subject for bold wonder, as it was for an earlier poet, [[Archilochus]];<ref>Archilochus fr. 122 West</ref> instead Pindar treated an eclipse as a portent of evil.<ref group="nb">''Paean'' 9.13–20). The eclipse is mentioned in a fragment quoted by [[Stobaeus]], addressed to the Thebans:<br />Is it some sign of war you bring? / Or blight on crops, or snow-fall's strength / Beyond all telling, or murderous strife at home, / Or emptying of the sea on land, / Or frost binding the earth, or south-wind in summer / With a flood of furious rain, / Or will you drown the land and raise / A new breed of men from the beginning?</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=83}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=84}}

Gods are the embodiment of power, uncompromisingly proud of their nature and violent in defense of their privileges.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=42}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=43}} There is some rationalization of religious belief, but it is within a tradition at least as old as [[Hesiod]], where abstractions are personified, such as "Truth the daughter of Zeus".<ref>''Olympic Ode'' 10.3–4</ref> Sometimes the wording suggests a belief in 'God' rather than 'a god' (e.g. "What is God? Everything"),<ref group="nb">fr. 129: {{lang|grc|τί θεός; τὸ πάν}}</ref> but the implications are not given full expression and the poems are not examples of [[monotheism]].{{citation needed|date=September 2012}} Nor do they vocalize a belief in Fate as the background to the gods, unlike the plays of [[Aeschylus]] for example. Pindar subjects both fortune and fate to divine will (e.g. "child of Zeus ... Fortune").<ref>''Olympic Ode'' 12.1–2)</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=84}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=85}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=86}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=87}}
[[File:Heracles.jpg|thumb|right|A short Heracles: Pindar once ignored the traditional image of Heracles, the supreme example of the heroic physique, and described him as short in order to compare him with a short patron.]]
He selects and revises traditional myths so as not to diminish the dignity and majesty of the gods. Such revisionism was not unique. [[Xenophanes]] had castigated [[Homer]] and [[Hesiod]] for the misdeeds they ascribed to gods, such as theft, adultery and deception, and [[Pythagoras]] had envisioned those two poets being punished in Hades for blasphemy. A subtle example of Pindar's approach can be found in his treatment of the myth of Apollo's rape of the nymph [[Cyrene (mythology)|Cyrene]].<ref>''Pythian Ode'' 9</ref> As the god of the [[Delphic oracle]], Apollo is all-knowing, yet in keeping with his anthropomorphic nature he seeks information about the nymph from a third party, in this case the centaur [[Chiron]]. Chiron however affirms the god's omniscience with an elegant compliment, as if Apollo had only pretended to be ignorant: "You, Sire, who know the appointed end of all, and all paths..."<ref group="nb">Chiron's compliment to Apollo:<br />"You, Sire, who know / The appointed end of all, and all paths: / How many leaves in April the earth puts forth, / How many grains of sand / In the sea and rivers / Are troubled by the waves and the swirling winds, / And what shall be, and whence it shall come / You see with clear eyes."</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=61}} Apollo's abduction of the nymph is not presented as a shameful act. Pindar's gods are above such ethical issues and it is not for men to judge them by ordinary human standards. Indeed, the finest breeds of men resulted from divine passions: "For Pindar a mortal woman who is loved by a god is an outstanding lesson in divine favours handsomely bestowed".{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=64}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=65}}

Being descendants of divine unions with privileged mortals, mythical heroes are an intermediate group between gods and men, and they are sympathetic to human ambitions. Thus, for example, Pindar not only invokes Zeus for help on behalf of the island of Aegina but also its national heroes [[Aeacus]], [[Peleus]] and [[Telamon]].<ref>''Pythian Ode'' 8.99–100</ref> Unlike the gods, however, heroes can be judged according to ordinary human standards and they are sometimes shown in the poems to demean themselves. Even in that case, they receive special consideration. Thus Pindar refers obliquely to the murder of [[Phocus]] by his brothers Peleus and Telamon ("I am shy of speaking of a huge risk, hazarded not in right"), telling the audience that he will not talk of it ("silence is a man's wisest counsel").<ref group="nb">''Nemean Odes'' 5.14–18:<br />I am shy of speaking of a huge risk / Hazarded not in right, / How they left the famous island, / And what fate drove strong men from the Vineland. / I shall halt. Truth does not always / Gain more if unflinching / She reveals her face; / And silence is often a man's wisest counsel.</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=67}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=68}} The Theban hero [[Heracles]] was a favourite subject but in one poem he is depicted as small in order to be compared with a small Theban patron who had won the [[pankration]] at the Isthmian Games:<ref>''Isthmian Odes'' 4.57</ref> a unique example of Pindar's readiness to shape traditional myths to fit the occasion, even if not always flattering to the mythical hero. A hero's status is not diminished by an occasional blemish but rests on a summary view of his heroic exploits.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=47}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=48}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=71}}

Some of his patrons claimed divine descent, such as [[Diagoras of Rhodes]], but Pindar makes all men akin to gods if they realize their full potential: their innate gifts are divinely bestowed, and even then success still depends on the gods' active favour. In honouring such men, therefore, Pindar was honouring the gods too.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=66}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=67}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=96}} His statements about life after death were not self-consistent but that was typical for the times. Traditional ambivalence, as expressed by Homer, had been complicated by a growth of religious sects, such as the [[Eleusinian mysteries]] and [[Pythagoreanism]], representing various schemes of rewards and punishments in the next life. However, for the poet, glory and lasting fame were men's greatest assurance of a life well-lived.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=89-96}} He presents no theory of history apart from the view that Fortune is variable even for the best men, an outlook suited to moderation in success, courage in adversity. Notions of 'good' and 'bad' in human nature were not analysed by him in any depth nor did he arrive at anything like the [[Simonides of Ceos#Ethics|compassionate ethics]] of his near contemporary, Simonides of Ceos.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=76}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=77}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=120}} His poems are indifferent to the ordinary mass of people. They are dismissed with phrases such as "the brute multitude" (''Pythian Ode'' 2.87). Nor are the poems concerned with the fate of rich and powerful men once they lose their wealth and social status (compared for example with the bitter and disillusioned poems of [[Theognis of Megara]]). They are more interested in what successful men do with their good fortune: success brings obligations, and religious and artistic activities need patrons.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=100}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=101}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=102}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=103}}

Whereas the [[Muses]] inspired Homer with relevant information and with the language to express it, Pindar seems to receive only their inspiration: his role is to shape that inspiration with his own wisdom and skill. Like his patrons, whom he immortalizes in verse, he owes his success to hard work as well as to innate gifts; though he hires himself out, he has a vocation. The Muses are to him as an oracle is to a prophet, and lesser poets are to him as ravens are to an eagle; the art of such men is as hackneyed as garland-making; his is magical:{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=4}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=5}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=6}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=7}}
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{{lang|grc|εἴρειν στεφάνους ἐλαφρόν: ἀναβάλεο: Μοῖσά τοι <br />
κολλᾷ χρυσὸν ἔν τε λευκὸν ἐλέφανθ᾽ ἁμᾷ <br />
καὶ λείριον ἄνθεμον ποντίας ὑφελοῖσ᾽ ἐέρσας.}}
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To plait garlands is easy. Strike up! The Muse<br />
Welds together gold and white ivory<br />
And the lily-flower snatched from the sea's dew.<ref>''Nemean Ode'' 7.77–79</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=16}}
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