Editing Bacchylides (section)

===Ode 5===
Bacchylides has often been compared unflatteringly with Pindar, as for example by the French critic, [[Henri Weil]]: "There is no doubt that he fails of the elevation, and also of the depth, of Pindar. The soaring wing was refused him, and he should never have compared himself, as he does somewhere, to an eagle."<ref>Henri Weil, ''Journal des Savants'' (Jan. 1898), quoted in translation by Burnett 1985, p. 3</ref>

The image of the eagle occurs in Ode 5, which was composed for [[Hieron of Syracuse]] in celebration of his Olympic victory with the race-horse Pherenicus in 476 BC. Pindar's ''Olympian Ode 1'' celebrates the same race and the two poems allow for some interesting comparisons. Bacchylides's Ode 5 includes, in addition to a brief reference to the victory itself, a long mythical episode on a related theme, and a gnomic or philosophical reflection – elements that occur also in Pindar's ode and that seem typical of the [[Epinikion|victory ode]] genre.<ref>{{harvnb|Jebb|1905|pp=34–38}}</ref> Whereas however Pindar's ode focuses on the myth of [[Pelops]] and [[Tantalus]] and demonstrates a stern moral about the need for moderation in personal conduct (a reflection on Hieron's political excesses),<ref>Pindar, p. 1</ref> Bacchylides's ode focuses on the myths of [[Meleager]] and [[Hercules]], demonstrating the moral that nobody is fortunate or happy in all things (possibly a reflection on Hieron's chronic illness).<ref name=c423/> This difference in moral posturing was typical of the two poets, with Bacchylides adopting a quieter, simpler and less forceful manner than Pindar.<ref>{{harvnb|Jebb|1905|p=59}}</ref> [[Frederic G. Kenyon]], who edited the papyrus poems, took an unsympathetic view of Bacchylides's treatment of myth in general:
{{Quotation|The myths are introduced mechanically, with little attempt to connect them with the subject of the ode. In some cases they appear to have no special appropriateness but to be introduced merely at the poet's pleasure. There is no originality of structure; the poet's art is shown in craftsmanship rather than in invention. – Frederic G. Kenyon<ref name="Google preview">Frederic G. Kenyon, [https://books.google.com/books?id=xpICzeSHMM8C ''The Poems of Bacchylides; from a Papyrus in the British Museum''], Longmans and Co. (1897), Introduction: ix.</ref>}}
Bacchylides however might be better understood as an heir to [[Stesichorus]], being more concerned with story-telling per se, than as a rival of Pindar.<ref>Segal 1985, p. 235</ref> But irrespective of any scruples about his treatment of myth, Bacchylides is thought to demonstrate in Ode 5 some of his finest work and the description of the eagle's flight, near the beginning of the poem, has been called by one modern scholar "the most impressive passage in his extant poetry."<ref>Campbell 1982, p. 424</ref>

:::::::::...Quickly
::::cutting the depth of air
:::on high with tawny wings
::::the eagle, messenger of Zeus
:::who thunders in wide lordship,
::::is bold, relying on his mighty
:::strength, while other birds
::::cower, shrill-voiced, in fear.
:::The great earth's mountain peaks do not hold him back,
::::nor the tireless sea's
:::rough-tossing waves, but in
::::the limitless expanse
:::he guides his fine sleek plumage
::::along the West Wind's breezes,
::::manifest to men's sight.

:::So now for me too countless paths extend in all directions
::::by which to praise your [i.e. Hieron's] prowess...(Ode 5.16–33)<ref name="Stephen Trzaskoma 2004 pages 64-5">Stephen Trzaskoma, R. Scott Smith, Stephen Brunet, ''Anthology of classical myths: primary sources in translation'', Hackett Publishing Company (2004), pp. 64–5 {{ISBN|0-87220-721-8}}</ref>

Bacchylides's image of the poet as an eagle winging across the sea was not original – Pindar had already used it earlier (''Nemean Odes'' 5.20–21). In fact, in the same year that both poets celebrated Pherenicus's Olympic victory, Pindar also composed an ode for [[Theron of Acragas]] (''Olympian'' 2), in which he likens himself to an eagle confronted with chattering ravens – possibly a reference to Bacchylides and his uncle.<ref>Pindar, p. 16</ref> It is possible in that case that Bacchylides's image of himself as an eagle in Ode 5 was a retort to Pindar.<ref>Campbell 1982, p. 426</ref> Moreover, Bacchylides's line "So now for me too countless paths extend in all directions" has a close resemblance to lines in one of Pindar's Isthmian Odes (1.1–2), "A thousand ways&nbsp;... open on every side widespread before me"<ref>Pindar, p. 246</ref> but, as the date of Pindar's Isthmian Ode is uncertain, it is not clear in this case who was imitating whom.<ref>Campbell 1982, p. 427</ref> According to Kenyon, Pindar's idiosyncratic genius entitles him to the benefit of a doubt in all such cases: "... if there be actual imitation at all, it is fairly safe to conclude that it is on the part of Bacchylides."<ref name="Google preview"/> In fact one modern scholar<ref>Maehler 2004, p. 22</ref> has observed in Bacchylides a general tendency towards imitation, sometimes approaching the level of quotation: in this case, the eagle simile in Ode 5 may be thought to imitate a passage in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (375–83), and the countless leaves fluttering in the wind on "the gleaming headlands of Ida", mentioned later in the ode, recall a passage in ''[[Iliad]]'' (6.146–9). A tendency to imitate other poets is not peculiar to Bacchylides, however – it was common in ancient poetry,<ref>Segal 1985, p. 236</ref> as for example in a poem by [[Alcaeus of Mytilene|Alcaeus]] (fragment 347), which virtually quotes a passage from [[Hesiod]] (''Works and Days'' 582–8).

Pindar's Olympian Ode 1 and Bacchylides's Ode 5 differ also in their description of the race – while Pindar's reference to Pherenicus is slight and general ("...speeding / by Alpheus' bank, / His lovely limbs ungoaded on the course...": ''Olympian'' I.20–21),<ref>Pindar, p. 3</ref> Bacchylides describes the running of the winner more vividly and in rather more detail – a difference that is characteristic of the two poets:<ref>{{harvnb|Jebb|1905|pp=56–57}}</ref>{{refn|group=n|A better example of his descriptive reporting of a victory can be found in fr. 10, honouring a runner who won two events at the Isthmian games: "For when he had come to a halt at the finishing line of the sprint, panting out a hot storm of breath, and again when he had wet with his oil the cloaks of the spectators as he tumbled into the packed crowd after rounding the course with its four turns, the spokesmen of the wise judges twice proclaimed him Isthmian victor..."<ref>{{harvnb|Campbell|1992|p=172}}</ref>}}

:::When Pherenicos with his auburn mane
::::ran like the wind
:::beside the eddies of broad [[Alfeios|Alpheios]],
::::[[Eos]], with her arms all golden, saw his victory,
:::and so too at most holy [[Delphi|Pytho]].
::::Calling the earth to witness, I declare
:::that never yet has any horse outstripped him
::::in competition, sprinkling him with dust
:::as he rushed forward to the goal.
::::For like the North Wind's blast,
:::keeping the man who steers him safe,
::::he hurtles onward, bringing to Hieron,
:::that generous host, victory with its fresh applause.(Ode 5.37–49)<ref name="Stephen Trzaskoma 2004 pages 64-5"/>

Ultimately, however, Bacchylides and Pindar share many of the same goals and techniques – the difference is largely one of temperament:
{{Quotation|They share a common repertory of motifs, images, conventions, diction; and they affirm and celebrate the heroic values of an ancient aristocracy. Both seek to bridge the gap between the fleeting present in its glorious display of beauty and energy and the eternal world of the gods. Pindar however grasps the contrasts between the extremes of mortality and divinity with greater intensity than Bacchylides and for this reason seems the more philosophical and meditative, more concerned with ultimate questions of life and death, transience and permanence. Bacchylides prefers to observe the gentler play of shadow and sadness over the sensuous surface of his brilliant world. – Charles Segal<ref>Segal 1985, p. 239</ref> }}
{{Quotation|You, Pindar, holy mouth of the Muses, and you, talkative Siren, Bacchylides&nbsp;...-anon. in [[Palatine Anthology]]<ref>''Anth.Pal'' 9.571.4, cited by Campbell 1982, p. 113</ref>}}