Editing Pindar (section)

====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>